The Similarities Between Servant Leadership And Cultural Differences

Servant Leadership is a model of a leadership style that is commonly misunderstood. On top of that, many people believe that servant leadership is directly connected to Christianity and no other religion applies. Christianity is not the only religion that demonstrates servant leadership; other religions have examples of servant leadership within their core beliefs. The title itself does bring some confusion, with word servant being connected to the word leadership. Not to mention that in different regions of the World; culturally these two words have different meanings. For example, in the Chinese’s region they have difficultly separating servant and the leadership concept within their mindset (Dierendonck & Patterson, 2010). Servant leadership
As pervious stated, in China and other Asian communities the concept of servant leadership is foreign to them. China culturally is organized as a patriarchal society, meaning that leaders assume the role of the father in the work family (Liden, 2011). This role of the “work father” can led to abuse of power and treating their subordinates as children and not members of a team. Treating your subordinates as children and not listening to their suggestion is not making them feel as if their opinion matters. Liden describes how the Asian’s business leadership typically is focused on the company and not on the individual’s workers (2011). In this type of work environment the leadership is in control of the power and maintains it at all times. Furthermore, it is against social norms for the leadership to interact with their employees in a non-work environment (Liden, 2011). This style of leadership is different from the servant leadership style in several ways. One being that the leader is available to interact with their subordinates at anytime. Whether or not it is in a private setting or in a public interaction. The servant leader does not hold on to the power but empowers their subordinates to make the right decisions. The subordinate has the power in the servant leadership model and the leader provides them the tools and education needed to complete the mission statement (Dierendonck &
According to Winston and Ryan (2008), “ the focus in Tao of love and respect is in line with servant leadership”(p 218). Servant leader should love his employees and treat them with respect. By giving them respect and taking care of their needs, the employee’s productivity will increase which drives sales and return customer service. Confucianism preaches for one to receive love they must know love themselves; the idea of loving others and serving others are in line with servant leadership principles (Winston& Ryan, 2008). There are several examples in Judaism that share the same principles that are found in Christianity and servant leadership. Cohen describes (as stated in Winston & Ryan, 2008), how the leader is responsible for the welfare and wellbeing of their servant. The philosophies of taking care of one servant are directly related to the beliefs of Robert Greenleaf servant leadership model. Muhamad, Khairuddin, Azila and Rapiah describe Islam and construction managers as doing Allah’s will by taking care employees and not to waste any resources or the land they are building the construction on (p 49). In all the religions discussed there are examples of servant leadership in their writing’s. Robert Greenleaf believed that leadership is learned and those who posses potential should be protected (Dierendonck & Patterson, 2010). Fostering an environment of