Servant Leader Roles
Cathie Leimbach • August 6, 2024
Leaders who serve their organization and its people are breaking away from the mold of the autocratic and controlling boss. They are engaging and empowering others to build trust and enhance both satisfaction and productivity in the workplace.
Let's look at five roles of these servant leaders:
- Visionaries: Servant leaders articulate a clear vision that inspires and aligns the team. By sharing the organization's mission and goals, they provide direction and purpose, motivating employees to work towards a common objective.
- Business Architects: They design and structure the organization to ensure that processes, resources, and systems support the team's efforts. This involves strategic planning and creating an environment where innovation and efficiency thrive.
- Catalysts: Servant leaders act as catalysts for change by encouraging new ideas and fostering a culture of continuous improvement. They empower employees to take initiative and drive positive transformation within the organization.
- Coaches: They invest time in mentoring and developing their team members. By providing guidance, feedback, and opportunities for growth, they help individuals enhance their skills and advance their careers.
- Humans: Above all, servant leaders demonstrate empathy and genuine concern for their employees' well-being. They build strong relationships, showing that they value and care about each person's contributions and overall happiness.
Through these five roles, servant leaders create a thriving, dynamic, and supportive workplace where both organizations and individuals flourish.
Herminia Ibarra’s research offers compelling insight into why leadership development should be viewed as a strategic priority. Her work shows that helping leaders grow isn’t just beneficial for individuals—it significantly improves how organizations operate and perform. Ibarra explores how leadership identity evolves over time. When managers step back from daily tasks and begin thinking and acting more strategically, it creates ripple effects across the organization. Teams become more engaged, decision-making improves, and execution becomes more effective. These shifts enhance productivity, innovation, and retention—key drivers of long-term success. Her research also highlights the value of building strong leadership pipelines. Companies that invest in leaders who are adaptable, self-aware, and skilled at big-picture thinking tend to be more agile and resilient. These organizations are better equipped to respond to change and seize new opportunities. By reframing leadership development as a strategic investment rather than a soft skill, Ibarra shows how it creates measurable improvements in performance across the organization. Growth in leadership capacity leads to smarter decisions, healthier cultures, and stronger overall results. 👉 For a deeper dive into the data, click here to view Insights from Herminia Ibarra’s Research on Leadership Development and its Measurable Impact.
In today’s evolving workplace, one constant remains: employees want to feel valued. Interestingly, research comparing data from before and after COVID-19 shows that employees' preferred languages of appreciation have remained remarkably consistent over time. However, age and gender differences reveal important nuances leaders shouldn’t ignore. Gender differences are clear. Men more frequently chose Acts of Service as their preferred form of appreciation (26%), while women gravitated toward Words of Affirmation (46%). When asked about their least preferred language, women were more likely to rank Acts of Service at the bottom, while men showed a strong dislike for Tangible Gifts. Age also matters. Employees over 60 overwhelmingly preferred Words of Affirmation (48%), while the youngest generation (under 20) leaned toward Quality Time (33%). These trends suggest that life stage and workplace experience shape what appreciation feels most meaningful. The takeaway? While core preferences haven't shifted dramatically post-COVID, effective leaders need to understand and respond to individual differences. Avoid blanket strategies and invest in knowing how each team member feels most valued. Personalized appreciation builds stronger teams—across every generation and gender. For further details, see Dr. Paul White’s article on gender differences in appreciation preference.