Comments on: Servant Leadership: Where’s the Organizational Payoff? http://www.alanmorantz.com/servant-leadership-controversy/ people management research decoded :: by alan morantz Fri, 28 Jan 2011 04:58:04 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3 By: Sandra Oliver http://www.alanmorantz.com/servant-leadership-controversy/comment-page-1/#comment-55 Sandra Oliver Thu, 21 May 2009 14:24:37 +0000 http://www.alanmorantz.com/?p=200#comment-55 Leadership is situational and personal. Any leadership theory that purports to have the "right approach" to leadership will always be somewhat simplistic and suspect. Here's a situation where I think it is working -- a professional service firm that has just experienced a difficult and painful leadership coup. In this organization, leadership is an obligation to serve. You are asked to serve and you do it as a way to "give back" to your firm. As in most firms all partners are peers whether they are in leadership or not. This particular organization needed also needed some healing. Servant leadership is a fit in this case. The criticisms of this style are valid and are being leveled at the leader in question in this firm. Is this a sustainable style? We'll see. Is any leadership style sustainable? Leadership is situational and personal. Any leadership theory that purports to have the “right approach” to leadership will always be somewhat simplistic and suspect.

Here’s a situation where I think it is working — a professional service firm that has just experienced a difficult and painful leadership coup. In this organization, leadership is an obligation to serve. You are asked to serve and you do it as a way to “give back” to your firm. As in most firms all partners are peers whether they are in leadership or not. This particular organization needed also needed some healing. Servant leadership is a fit in this case.

The criticisms of this style are valid and are being leveled at the leader in question in this firm. Is this a sustainable style? We’ll see. Is any leadership style sustainable?

]]>