What are the principles of servant leadership in Christianity? How can you serve as a leader in your company or community?
Leadership is a serving position, Clay Scroggins says. The vision of the future that you use to inspire people must benefit others, not just yourself.
Continue reading to learn how to be a servant leader, based on Christian values.
The Biblical Roots of Servant Leadership
Servant leadership in Christianity is supported by the biblical Book of Genesis, in which God tasks humanity with subduing the Earth. In this context, he says, to “subdue” doesn’t mean to dominate or exploit. Rather, it means to direct the world in a way that helps it flourish and increase in beauty and usefulness. In other words, we’re responsible for helping the world (including other people) reach its full potential. Jesus epitomizes this kind of servant leadership: Despite having ultimate authority as God, he didn’t exploit humanity for his own benefit. Instead, he improved the lives of the poor, the sick, and the marginalized, helping them flourish.
You can follow Jesus’ example and embrace servant leadership by building strong relationships with the people around you and creating positive change wherever you can. This increases other people’s confidence and trust in you, so they’ll be more likely to accept you and help you achieve your goals, even if you don’t have any official authority. (We’ll discuss Scroggins’s specific methods for embracing leadership throughout the guide.)
(Shortform note: In The 21 Irrefutable Laws Of Leadership, John C. Maxwell says serving others makes them more likely to follow you and help you succeed because it shows you care about them. When people know you care about them, they’re happier and more loyal, which in turn makes them more productive and inspired to do good work. To show care for people, learn about their interests and dreams and incorporate that knowledge into your leadership style. For instance, you may offer to mentor them in a skill they want to learn. This mirrors Scroggins’s advice to build strong relationships. Maxwell also suggests improving your own skills so you can better help others—in Scroggins’s framing, so you can create greater positive change.)
| The Relationship Between Servant Leadership and Religion In Servant Leadership, Robert K. Greenleaf agrees with Scroggins that servant leadership is altruistic, focused on meeting others’ needs instead of your own (helping them flourish instead of exploiting them, in Scroggins’s framing). However, Greenleaf defines this as a social responsibility, rather than one given by God. Religion is one way of uniting individuals with the world around them, Greenleaf says, implying that this unity is what inspires altruism. It’s not the only way, though, so servant leadership isn’t limited to the traditionally religious. While servant leadership may not be limited to religious individuals, research suggests it may be more common in these groups. One study of almost 180,000 people from 126 countries found that religious individuals (and even non-religious individuals living in highly religious countries) were more likely to help others. Thus, the researchers suggest that religion might encourage altruistic behavior. It may do this by promoting altruism as a social norm or by promoting the belief that God (or gods) rewards altruism and punishes selfishness. By connecting servant leadership to God’s command in Genesis and using Jesus as an example of this leadership, Scroggins arguably supports these interpretations. God’s command sets an expectation for how humanity should behave, and Jesus’ example reinforces that expectation, solidifying it as a social norm for Christians. God’s command and Jesus’ example also show that God values altruism and dislikes selfishness, suggesting that he would reward the former and punish the latter. |
