Power, Authority, and Servant Leadership: Research Paper

Power, Authority, and Servant Leadership: Research Paper
Student name
Class
Date.
POWER, AUTHORITY, AND SERVANT LEADERSHIP
INTRODUCTION
Since the traditional periods, individuals have unknowingly exercised power and authority in leadership. Servant leadership is manifested in the Bible through Moses, Joshua, and Jesus, to mention a few. Power involves creating admiration, respect, and personal identification to specific followers by an individual. The followers follow them out of respect, trust, and admiration and act according to the leader's will. It enables one's will to be carried out despite resistance from others. Authority, on the other hand, is the ability to use power to control others. Power and authority are two aspects that are key in leadership. They greatly determine how successful a leader will be. Servant leadership is centered on identifying the needs of others first and basing leadership on solving these needs and problems. The aspect of leadership that has been having great roots has evolved. Traditionally, servant leaders believe that enduring power came from empathy, giving, expressing gratitude, and telling stories that unite (Lehrke 2017, 25-55). Therefore, this research paper will examine the adoption of power, authority, and servant leadership in the current world from a biblical perspective. In this research, I will use historical data and the Bible.
Overview of Power, Authority, and Servant Leadership
Servant leadership style has been in existence since ancient times until 1970 when Robert Greenleaf reinvigorated it. Ancient kingdoms believed that their leaders were to purely serve the people (Sendjaya 2002, 57-64). Servant leadership is sometimes thought to be a Christian paradigm, and it has influenced many cultures of the world. Sendjaya and Sarros (200) rooted servant leadership to Jesus Christ's teachings in the Jewish culture. Jesus introduced servant leadership more than 2 000 years ago. In modernizing the concept of servant leadership, which is rooted in Jesus's teachings in the 1st century, Greenleaf (1970) started applying the servant leadership style.
With the tremendous increase in the knowledge of servant leadership, the leadership style is not yet fully operationalized in our current day society. Servant leaders are generous with their power and authority. A servant leader cares more about his followers and their needs. They offer their time to the followers as they demand it. Though servant leaders can reject followers' requirements for their time, they usually perceive themselves as servants to the people and are supposed to offer all that is needed, including time (Keith 2013). According to Keith (2013), servant leaders focus on increasing the benefits realized by followers, encouraging their growth, and being guided by humility as their primary goal in meeting the needs of others.
Servant leadership has been linked with great success because it helps establish a good relationship between the leader and his servants. According to Keith (2013), the leader always has good listening skills and pays attention to all issues raised by the people they lead. In addition to being a good listener, Keith also implies that servant leaders should have self-awareness of the challenges facing the people they lead. She argues that when a leader knows the needs of his followers, he will solve them amicably. Servant leaders never force their power and authority on the people they serve. Instead, they work as a team leader to the people they lead. The servant-leader shares his power by involving others in exercising authority. They seek opinions, input, and assistance in making decisions.
Although Greenleaf brought into light the discussion about servant leadership, its base is well anchored in the Bible. According to the Bible (John 13), Jesus presented Himself as the most outstanding servant to human beings. During the Passover feast, the disciples had wanted a servant to wash their feet, and none of them volunteered to do so. On realizing this, Jesus offered to wash his juniors’ feet on this occasion. He acted as a servant to them and taught the entire world that servanthood is a crucial part of humanity. According to John 13: 1-2, servant leaders are motivated by unending love to the people they serve. These two verses clearly show that it was not the disciples’ worthiness that made Him wash their feet. Neither was He expressing gratitude. Love and grace made Jesus was their feet, even washing Judas, who would eventually betray him. With Jesus’ teachings in John chapter 13, where leaders practice Servant leadership, they add value to the people who receive the services offered. Servant leadership adds value to lead people and makes them feel worthy and better. According to Jesus, leaders should try to add something to peoples’ lives rather than taking away what they already have.
According to the Book of Joshua, servant leaders use their power and authority to prepare the next generation of leaders. God tells Joshua (Joshua 1:5) that just like He was with Moses, he will also be with Him. The Bible also presents Joshua a...