Servant leadership means that leadership is exercised as a SERVICE to the organization, because the leader has a permanent concern for the needs of the teams. He/she feels responsible to create the conditions that will allow employees to be successful in any given situation. That is a big shift from the traditional top down perspective where leadership is seen as a prerogative to set direction and to hold other accountable for their achievements. Such decisive decision making is part of a service oriented leadership and should be exercised when required to provide clear direction. But leaders should also be inspirational, create great working conditions and be able to coach team members when needed. This is a much broader understanding of leadership and can be seen as the black belt we should strive for during our lifelong leadership learning journey.
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