American Heart Association as a Servant Leader

American Heart Association as a Servant Leader Student’s Name Institutional Affiliation American Heart Association as a Servant Leader Greenleaf (2017) defines servant leadership as a philosophy and set of practices that builds people’s lives, enriches their well-being, and helps the, help and serve others. Institutions that employ this philosophy help develop employees and their clients alike by creating a favorable environment for individual and group development. Servant leadership is drawn from Biblical teachings of Jesus Christ. The American Heart Association is among the powerful health institutions in the United States that have embraced the philosophy of servant leadership. This paper discusses characteristics of servant leadership at the American Heart Association. Servant Leadership Characteristics at American Heart Association The mission of American Heart Association is to build healthy lives free of cardiovascular diseases and stroke (American Heart Association, 2019). In the process of implementing this on-going mission, the organization has streamlined its services through a servant leadership philosophy. American Hearts Association has realized the need to empower populations about caring and understanding the risks of cardiovascular diseases and stroke. The characteristics of servant leadership evident through implementation of this mission include empathy, healing, persuasion, stewardship, listening, and building the community. American Hearts Association exhibits empathy as a servant leader by researching and treating stroke and cardiovascular diseases. According to McCan (2016), servant leaders realize issues in the community and act accordingly to alleviate the harm. Greenleaf Center for leadership also adds that servant leaders listen more than commanding others. The American Hearts Association has exhibited these attributes by listening to people with stroke and cardiovascular diseases and creating public campaigns on social media and other platforms to create awareness. The organization also builds the community by advocating for stroke-free society. Its website talks about how members can volunteer to help and create awareness in their communities. Some of the major accomplishments of American Hearts Association include automated electric defibrillators (AEDs) placed in airports and malls. AEDs are used during emergency to restart failed hearts (About American Heart Association, 2019). The organization has also enhanced public awareness programs by targeting ki...