Servant Leadership and Soft Management

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Reading Assignment: Servant Leadership
Various leadership approaches are associated with different practices undertaken while enforcing them. Servant leadership refers to leadership techniques whereby leaders put much emphasis on their followers' needs. They empathize with their followers and prioritize their needs to ensure they achieve their full personal capacities. Servant leadership has various features that differentiate them from other forms of leadership. Servant leaders believe that listening entails hearing and being receptive to whats is being said by others (Northouse 371). Servant leaders apply listening to acknowledge their followers and analyze their perspectives. Also, they practice empathy towards their followers. Empathy involves understanding your followers and attempting to see the world from their perspectives. By showing compassion to followers, servant leaders make their followers feel special since it confirms and validates them.
Another aspect of servant leadership is persuasion. It involves clear and persistent communication that encourages others to change. Servant leaders apply nonjudgemental arguments to create changes, unlike coercion that uses positional authority to force compliance. By engaging in nonjudgmental debates with their followers, servant leaders motivate them and make them feel significant in the organization. As per Greenleaf's observation, the first approach by a servant leader on various situations and the organization is usually from a servant's perspective (Northouse 374). They prioritize the needs and requirements of the stakeholders and pursue leadership afterward. The practice differs from a leaders-first standpoint, where leaders seek control over their followers, driven by material gain or influence. Servant leaders are more interested in developing and mentoring teams that abide by their instructions and prioritize personal evaluation. They encourage subordinates to prioritize...