Transformational Leadership vs. Servant Leadership: Understanding the Difference
Many leadership styles exist today. They’ve evolved to account for shortcomings with the outdated transactional leadership model used for so many decades. There’s democratic leadership, laissez-faire leadership, bureaucratic leadership, coaching leadership, and more.Two of the most popular types are transformational leadership and servant leadership. On a superficial level, these two models look pretty similar, but they’re actually very different. In this post, we’ll compare transformational leadership vs. servant leadership to help you understand what each one offers.
What Is Servant Leadership?
Servant leadership is a unique leadership philosophy in which leaders commit to serving others and helping them thrive. This is as opposed to amassing wealth and power for themselves or following a transactional relationship with team members. This philosophy is marked by several factors, including the following:
- A focus on the greater good rather than on benefits for individuals.
- A focus on putting the team’s needs ahead of the leaders (and often ahead of individual team members).
- Prioritizing employee growth, development, and well-being.
- Developing a decentralized “flat” organizational structure.
According to SHRM, servant leadership “aims to foster an inclusive environment that enables everyone in the organization to thrive as their authentic self.”
What Is Transformational Leadership?
Transformational leadership shares many of the characteristics that mark servant leadership, and includes many of the best values and principles of it. For instance, transformational leaders prioritize employee well-being, development, and growth. They also focus on encouraging everyone in the organization to develop their skills, capabilities, and individuality, valuing contributions based on passion, lived experience, and firsthand knowledge.
Yet transformational leadership is also about positively disrupting the status quo and driving forward continuous adaptation, change, and transformation so the organization fits and forges the future of its industry (rather than fades and fails).
Transformational leadership leverages both flat, open, transparent organizational structures when they are appropriate and more hierarchical, centralized, and systemic approaches when they are appropriate.
Transformational leadership invites leaders and employees to connect with one another on a deeper, more personal level. It values input from all sides and encourages active discussion among team members and leaders. Within this leadership model, everyone within the organization is seen as a leader in training with the potential to rise to any position they want.
Key Differences: Servant vs. Transformational Leadership
We’ve highlighted some of the similarities between servant and transformational leadership, but now it’s time to identify what sets them apart from one another. You’ll see that, despite some common instances, the two leadership styles are not the same (although the best transformational leaders include yet transcend the key principles of servant leadership).
Transformational Leadership Is About Transformation
There’s a lot of focus in transformational leadership on transformation. Specifically, it’s about using influence and energy to guide employees in developing their capabilities to build a thriving culture capable of necessary change and adaptation to stay relevant in challenging times.
Employees are empowered to seek out what they need to grow and improve and to take the initiative to unlock innovation and business transformation. The result should be a win win win. A win for the leader, a win for the organization, and a win for the world. Servant leadership is more focused on support and ensuring that employees are happy and fulfilled over the long term. Similar, yes, but not quite the same.
Servant Leadership Is About Service
Servant leadership is about, well, service. It focuses on lifting all positions within the organization and serving each other. In contrast, transformational leadership is more about co-creating and co-implementing a big and bold vision for the organization, leading to a win-win-win. While transformational leaders certainly focus on employees, they also focus on the overall organization and how they can transform others, themselves, and the business through creativity, connection, influence, and engagement.
Which Is Better?
Transformational leadership and servant leadership are sometimes seen as being at loggerheads. However, both seek to resolve the problems created by transactional leadership methods. Servant leadership can be included in a holistic form of transformational leadership that addresses complex challenges at all levels of an organization.
Deciding what’s right for your organization requires taking a deep dive into its culture, goals, ambitions, context, history, and challenges and then being honest about the issues that might be preventing growth, sustainability, and success.
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