Servant Leadership Prevalence Rates
In the contemporary world, large-scale application of servant leadership in existent organizations remains uncommon. That is for sure given the large proportion of institutions, which are yet to implement this concept despite the efficacy depicted in the current state of evidence. In essence, this paper seeks to identify the reasons for the low prevalence rates of servant leadership in the various contemporary organizations. By so doing, a new understanding of the barriers to implementation of servant leadership is inevitable.
Primarily, servant leadership is not prevalent because current unsupportive leadership environments. According to Heskett, (2013) the current leadership environments are breeds leadership characterized by power, selfishness and control. Such a leadership environment is not supportive of the servant leadership concept because it views this new form of leadership as a hindrance of exercising power and control. As such, the contemporary leadership environment has no room for this type of leadership.
Notwithstanding, the leadership qualities required for servant leadership are very hard to find and thus hindering the creation of an organizational culture that supports such kind of leadership. For instance, courage, humility and high self-control demonstrated by servant leaders are rare among young leaders. Such is the case given that their ego, greed and unhealthy aspiration to be in control curtail their suitability to become servant leaders (Heskett, 2013).
Lastly, the silent nature of servant leadership is also to blame for its low prevalence rates. That is for sure because servant leadership does not open opportunity for individuals to display their way of leading, which makes it uncommon. Without such publicity, the success stories of individuals relying on this kind of leadership remain unheard and therefore other organizations cannot emulate a similar approach(Bachelder, 2015). As such, servant leadership remains localized and unpopular.
Concisely, this paper aimed at identifying the reasons for the low prevalence rates of servant leadership in the several contemporary organizations. Indeed, from the discussion, the three main reasonshighlighted for this low prevalence are the nature of servant leadership, unsupportive leadership environment and scarcity of the prerequisite leadership qualities. As such, going forward, organizations must address these issues if they are to inculcate a servant leadership culture.
References
Bachelder, C. (2015). Dare to Serve: How to Drive Superior Results by Serving Others. Berrett-Koehler.
Heskett, J. (2013). Why Isn’t ‘Servant Leadership’ More Prevalent?. HBS Working Knowledge. Retrieved 10 September 2017, from http://hbswk.hbs.edu/item/why-isnt-servant-leadership-more-prevalent
