Skip to main content

Responding to Misconceptions and Objections to Servant Leadership

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
Leveraging the Power of Servant Leadership

Abstract

In addition to understanding servant leadership through research-based model building we also seek to understand servant leadership better by addressing objections and misconceptions that come from those who challenge the validity or usefulness of the concept. This chapter considers the most common misconceptions and objections that some have about servant leadership as a viable understanding and practice of leadership; misconceptions such as servant leadership has a problematic name, is opposed to the use of power, is situationally limited, is too long-term-oriented, too religious, too utopian, and is, or appears to be, a weak form of leadership. Misconceptions are met head-on with explanations that seek to address a clearer understanding of what servant leadership is while the dark side of servant leadership is honestly explored.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 29.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 37.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 139.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

References

  • Bowie, N. (2000). Business ethics, philosophy, and the next 25 years. Business Ethics Quarterly, 10(1), 7–20.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cain, S. (2015). Quiet: The power of introverts in a world that can’t stop talking. New York, NY: Crown Publishing Group.

    Google Scholar 

  • Collins, J. (2001). Good to great: Why some companies make the leap … and others don’t. New York, NY: Harper Collins Publishers.

    Google Scholar 

  • Editorial Page Board. (2014). Editorial: Fixing the prison problem. Brown Daily Herald. Retrieved from http://www.browndailyherald.com/2014/11/06/editorial-fixing-prison-problem/

  • Eicher-Catt, D. (2005). The myth of servant-leadership: A feminist perspective. Women and Language. Urbana: Organization for the Study of Communication Language and Gender, 28(1), 17–25.

    Google Scholar 

  • Galagan, P., & Bingham, T. (2011). M’m m’m good: Learning and performance at Campbell Soup Company. Association for Talent Development. Retrieved from https://www.td.org/Publications/Magazines/TD/TD-Archive/2011/03/MM-MM-Good-Learning-and-Performance-at-Campbell-Soup-Company

  • Grant, A. (2013). Give and take: A revolutionary approach to success. New York, NY: The Penguin Group.

    Google Scholar 

  • Greenleaf, R. K. (1977). Servant leadership: A journey into the nature of legitimate power and greatness. Mahwah, NJ: Paulist Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Herman, R. (2008). Servant leadership: A model for organizations desiring a workplace spirituality culture. Doctoral dissertation, Capella University.

    Google Scholar 

  • Heskett, J. (2013, May 5). Why isn’t servant leadership more prevalent? Retrieved from http://hbswk.hbs.edu/item/why-isnt-servant-leadership-more-prevalent

  • Jennings, K., & Stahl-Wert, J. (2016). The serving leader: Five powerful actions to transform your team, business, and community. Oakland, CA: Berrett-Koehler, Inc.

    Google Scholar 

  • Laub, J. A. (1999). Assessing the servant organization: Development of the servant organizational leadership (SOLA) instrument. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, Florida Atlantic University.

    Google Scholar 

  • Laub, J. A. (2010). The servant organization. In D. van Dierendonck & K. Patterson (Eds.), Servant leadership: Developments in theory and research (pp. 105–117). Hampshire: Palgrave Macmillan.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Lussier, R. N., & Achua, C. F. (2001). Leadership: Theory, application, skill development. Cincinnati, OH: South-Western College Publishing.

    Google Scholar 

  • McCloskey, M. W. (2014). Learning leadership in a changing world: Virtue and effective leadership in the 21st century. New York, NY: Palgrave Macmillan.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Northouse, P. G. (2016). Leadership: Theory and practice (7th ed.). Los Angeles, CA: Sage.

    Google Scholar 

  • Northouse, P. G. (2018). Introduction to Leadership: Concepts and practice (4th ed.). Los Angeles, CA: Sage.

    Google Scholar 

  • Peters, T. (1992). Liberation management: Necessary disorganization for the nanosecond nineties. New York: Alfred A. Knopf.

    Google Scholar 

  • Senge, P. (1995). Robert Greenleaf’s legacy: A new foundation for twenty-first century institutions. In L. C. Spears & M. Lawrence (Eds.), Reflections on leadership: How Robert K. Greenleaf’s theory of servant-leadership influenced today’s top management thinkers (pp. 217–240). New York, NY: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

    Google Scholar 

  • Trompenaars, F., & Voerman, E. (2009). Servant-leadership across cultures: Harnessing the Strength of the world’s most powerful management philosophy. Oxford: Infinite Ideas Limited.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wong, P. T. P., & Davey, D. (2007). Best practices in servant leadership. Paper presented at the Servant Leadership Research Roundtable, Regen University, Virginia Beach, VA.

    Google Scholar 

  • Worth, R. (1995). A model prison: McKean, a federal correctional institution, does everything that “make ‘em bust rocks” politicians decry—Imagine, educating inmates!—And it works. The Atlantic. Retrieved from https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/1995/11/a-model-prison/308518/

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2018 The Author(s)

About this chapter

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this chapter

Laub, J. (2018). Responding to Misconceptions and Objections to Servant Leadership. In: Leveraging the Power of Servant Leadership. Palgrave Studies in Workplace Spirituality and Fulfillment. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-77143-4_6

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics