When it comes to leadership styles, the terms “selfish” and “servant” evoke strong reactions. No one wants to be branded as selfish, and the idea of being labeled a servant might not sound particularly appealing either. However, these labels carry significant weight in describing how leaders influence their teams and organizations.
Understanding the differences between selfish and servant leadership can reveal which approach truly fosters success and which one undermines it. In this article, we’ll explore what sets these two leadership styles apart and why the words themselves matter less than the impact they have on the people they lead.
Your Motives Determine Your Leadership Style
In selfish leadership, the primary motivator is the leader’s own self-interest. This can include personal gain, recognition, power or advancement. The leader’s actions are driven by what benefits them directly, often prioritizing their desires and goals over the needs of the team or organization. The focus is on achieving outcomes that elevate the leader, sometimes at the expense of others’ well-being or the long-term success of the company.
In servant leadership, the motivator is the well-being and growth of others—team members, the organization and even the community. A servant leader is driven by a genuine desire to support and uplift those they lead. Their decisions and actions are guided by what benefits the collective, often putting the needs of others before their own. The focus is on creating an environment where everyone can thrive, leading to sustainable success for the team and entire organization.
Servant Leadership and Personal Fulfillment
Research has shown that motives make a huge difference in finding fulfillment in your success. Fulfillment is so much greater for a leader who is focused on everyone’s success and not just their own.
Being a servant leader leads to greater fulfillment in your job because it aligns your work with a sense of purpose and meaning. When you prioritize the growth, well-being and success of others, you create a positive impact that extends beyond personal achievements. This focus on serving others fosters deep connections, trust and a supportive work environment, where collaboration and mutual respect thrive.
As a servant leader, you’re not just chasing short-term goals or personal accolades; you are contributing to something bigger than yourself. This sense of contributing to the greater good, seeing others succeed because of your guidance, and knowing you’re making a difference leads to a profound sense of fulfillment and satisfaction in your work. Additionally, the positive feedback and gratitude from those you help can reinforce your motivation, making your job more rewarding and meaningful on a daily basis.
Which Direction Do You Lean: Servant Leader or a Selfish Leader?
Assessing your leadership style requires honest reflection on your behavior, attitude and decision-making processes. Here are some indicators to help you determine whether you lean more toward being a selfish leader or a servant leader:
- Decision-Making Process
- Servant Leader: Do you seek input from your team before making decisions? Are you willing to adapt your plans based on their feedback?
- Selfish Leader: Do you primarily make decisions based on what benefits you personally or what you believe is best, without considering others’ perspectives?
- Response to Success and Failure
- Servant Leader: Do you give credit to your team when things go well and take responsibility when things don’t? Are you focused on learning and improving together?
- Selfish Leader: Do you take credit for successes and shift blame to others when things go wrong? Is protecting your reputation a primary concern?
- Prioritization of Team Needs
- Servant Leader: Are you consistently attentive to the needs of your team, offering support and resources to help them succeed? Do you invest time in their professional development?
- Selfish Leader: Do you prioritize your own goals, tasks or comfort over the needs of your team? Do you expect them to meet your demands without considering their workload or challenges?
- Approach to Delegation
- Servant Leader: Do you delegate tasks to empower your team members, giving them opportunities to grow and trusting them to handle responsibilities?
- Selfish Leader: Do you delegate only to offload work you don’t want to do, without considering the developmental value for your team members? Do you micromanage to ensure everything is done your way?
- Attitude Toward Team Success
- Servant Leader: Are you genuinely invested in the success and well-being of each team member? Do you find satisfaction in seeing them grow and succeed, even if it doesn’t directly benefit you?
- Selfish Leader: Are you more concerned with how the team’s success reflects on you personally? Do you feel frustrated or threatened by others’ achievements?
- Communication Style
- Servant Leader: Do you listen actively, show empathy and encourage open, two-way communication? Are you approachable and willing to address concerns or feedback?
- Selfish Leader: Do you dominate conversations, prioritize your own opinions and dismiss others’ ideas or concerns? Do you communicate primarily to assert your authority or push your agenda?
- Focus on Long-Term vs. Short-Term
- Servant Leader: Are you focused on building sustainable success for the team and organization, even if it means sacrificing short-term gains or personal accolades?
- Selfish Leader: Are you primarily concerned with achieving quick wins or milestones that enhance your standing, even if they don’t contribute to long-term stability?
- Emotional Reactions
- Servant Leader: When faced with challenges, do you remain calm, supportive and solution-oriented, focusing on how to help your team navigate the situation?
- Selfish Leader: Do you react defensively, prioritize damage control for your image or distance yourself from problems rather than addressing them constructively?
By reflecting on these indicators, you can gain a clearer understanding of your leadership style. Honest self-assessment, combined with feedback from others, can help you identify areas where you may need to shift your focus to become a more effective and supportive leader.
Why Be a Servant Leader?
The purpose of being a servant leader isn’t to wear the badge of ‘nice person’. Your effectiveness and your fulfillment are closely tied to how much you are serving others.
Inc. has a great article that shares some very compelling reasons why servant leadership just makes great business sense. The article also shares some great data and videos, but here’s a short list why the author found servant leadership to be the style to model:
- Teams are pumped with confidence, which leads to high-performance
- Employees are more helpful and creative
- Job satisfaction is greater
- Many successful (really successful) businesses are led by servant leaders.
So rather than grabbing all the attention for yourself, consider how you can help people around you. You’ll find there’s plenty of success to go around and it’s a lot more fun!
Centennial is an Executive Search Firm that strives to create unified, powerful leadership teams. We believe servant-leadership is a key part of the best teams.
This article was originally published in October 2017 under the title “Servant Leader vs. Selfish Leader – and Why It Matters.” It has been updated and expanded in this version to provide additional information.