Transformational leadership Vs Servant Leadership

 

Introduction

A simple definition for leadership is that it is the art of motivating a group of people to act towards achieving a common goal. Leaders direct and guide employees or followers to achieve the organizational goals. Leadership is a module and a topic which has gained the attention of several research studies in present context due to the increasing and important role of leaders to achieve the organizational success and enhance employee motivation. Different leadership theories and leadership styles can be discussed on the topic of leadership (Allen, 2016 ) .

Out of all leadership styles transformational leadership style and servant leadership style marks significant part in organizations.

Transformational Leadership

According to Kettunen (2015) transformational leadership is a theory of leadership where a leader works with a team to identify the need of change and creates a vision to guide the change through inspiration and execution of the change among the organization by ensuring the commitment of group members

 Servant leadership                                               

According to Randall(2016) Servant leader is a servant who leads and a leader who serves.

“servant leadership is a leadership philosophy in which the main goal of the leader is to serve”(Kettunen,2015)

This is different from traditional and other leadership styles where their lead focuses thriving on their organization.

                                          Transformational leader vs Servant leader/Source: Youtube

Diferences

It is very difficult to suggest one leadership style which organizations can practice to achieve the common goals and objectives (George, 2011).

Ali et al., (2015) emphasized that each leadership style has different characteristics and leaders should select the leadership style according to the situation and nature of the organization. “There are certain differences between transformational leadership style and servant leadership style” (Nanjundeswaraswamy & Swamy, 2014). 

“Transformational leadership guides and inspires employees to achieve the organizational goals. But the servant leadership style emphasizes on listening and supporting employees as well as treating employees not only as heroes” (Khajeh, 2018).

 Also the transformational leadership aims at the bigger picture only focusing just the employees. They consider how people can grow and transform both employees and organization to achieve the competitive advantage in the industry. Same time servant leadership emphasizes on setting the examples of facing and serving others and it is good for creating organizational culture and collaboration among people (Kaleem, 2016).

Difference between servant leadership and transformational leadership/Source:www.differencebetween.com

Conclusion

It can be concluded that the both transformational leadership approach and servant leadership approach have advantages and benefits for the organization. It is selective but it can be emphasized that the transformational leadership approach is more effective than servant leadership style. Modern business environment is highly changing and organizations should implement change strategies to achieve the competitive advantage while maintaining the competitive position. Therefore, it is recommended organizations to highly focus on transformational leadership approach.

Author: Thejani Jayasinghe

References

Ali, N.M ., Jangga.R., Ismail, M., Kamal., S., Ali, M.,  2015. Influence Of Leadership Styles In Creating Quality WorkCulture. Procedia Economics and Finance , Volume 31.

Allen, G. P., 2016 . The Role of Servant Leadership and Transformational Leadership inAcademic Pharmacy. American Journal of Pharmaceutical Education, 80(7).

George, W. M., 2011. Servant leadership versus transformational leadership in voluntaryservice organizations. Leadership & OrganizationDevelopment Journal, 32(1), pp. 60-77.

Kaleem, Y., 2016. Leadership Styles & Using Appropriate Styles in Different Circumstances.

Kettunen, J., 2015. Transformational And Servant Leadership: Evidence From Indian HigherEducation. The Online Journal of Quality in Higher Education, 2(4).

Khajeh, E. H. A., 2018. Impact of Leadership Styles on Organizational Performance. Journalof Human Resources Management Research .

Nanjundeswaraswamy T.S. & Swamy D.R., 2014. Leadership styles. Advances InManagement , 7(2).

Piyu, (2019), Difference between servant leadership and Transformational leadership. [ONLINE]. Available at: https://www.differencebetween.com/difference-between-servant-leadership-and-transformational-leadership/ [Accessed 5 June 2020].

Randall, D., 2016. A Guide To High Definition Servant Leadership. 1st ed. online: lulu.com.

Youtube. (2018). Transformational Leader v. Servant Leader. [Online Video]. 9 November 2018. Available from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6l0Xcqcw3Rg. [Accessed: 5 June 2020].