Abstract
This chapter is about a dark side of Servant Leadership in the context of religious and other normative organizations. The metaphor the leader as servant can become a tool for the abuse of power. Since the concept of Servant Leadership is rooted in the Judeo-Christian worldview, it is quite popular within churches and Christian organizations. I present eight mechanisms by which the metaphors serving/servant can be abused by leaders: (1) serving a transcendent goal, (2) increasing commitment, (3) the principle of reciprocity, (4) creating dependency, (5) pretending to be powerless, (6) servant leaders as saints, (7) infantilization of the followers, and (8) servant leaders as martyrs. Six of these mechanisms can be applied for good and for bad. The misuse can be found both on the personal level and on the institutional level. My conclusion is that we should aim for Servant Leadership but also be aware of the potential for abuse. And leaders should never call themselves “servant leaders” any more than truly humble persons would call themselves “humble”.
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Notes
- 1.
The title was inspired by The dark side of Transformational Leadership (Tourish 2013).
- 2.
- 3.
Johnson (2018, p. 254) lists four cautions about Servant Leadership in general: (1) seems unrealistic, (2) may not work in every context, (3) poses the danger of serving the wrong cause or offering unwise service, and (4) the term servant carries a negative connotation.
- 4.
For instance four recent PhD dissertations in four different disciplines, submitted in four different countries on three continents: Kgatle (2016) in New Testament, South Africa; Detje (2017) in Practical Theology, Germany, Nuijten (2009) in Management Sciences, the Netherlands, Lemoine (2015) in Organizational Behavior, USA.
- 5.
- 6.
Since the following four quotations were translated by myself, I provide the German original quotes: “Macht als Dienst gelebt, verführt individuell und kollektiv leicht zur Heuchelei” (Josuttis 1993, p. 132).
- 7.
Original: “Verschleierung des Hierachiemodelles als Dienstmodell” (Breitenbach 1994, p. 313).
- 8.
Original: “Das unerkannte Paradoxon: Es ist ein Dienen, das doch ein heimliches Herrschen ist” (Eickhoff 1999, p. 38).
- 9.
Original: “der als Dienst getarnten Macht” (Detje 2017, p. 337).
- 10.
A quote from the US psychologists Cloud and Townsend (Detje 2017, p. 338).
- 11.
Original: “Es gab sehr viel Unselbstständige, man könnte sagen, ihr Wort war Gesetz” (YYY 2007).
- 12.
Original: “Die Kanzel ist in dieser Hinsicht ein rhetorischer Thron” (Josuttis 1993, p. 134).
- 13.
Original: “Und Du maßest Dir an, ein Urteil darüber zu fällen?” (XXX 2005).
- 14.
For example, Moses disregarded God’s commandment by hitting the rock (Num 20:7–13); David became an adulterer and murderer, which is revealed by the prophet Nathan (2 Sam 12:1–13).
- 15.
In a similar context Blessin and Wick (2017, p. 1) mention the “infantilizational feature” within charismatic/transforming/visionary leadership concepts.
- 16.
Original: “Die evangelischen Gemeinden in volkskirchlicher wie in freikirchlicher Form werden bei uns leider geführt, als seien sie geistliche Behindertenanstalten” (Eickhoff 1999, p. 39).
- 17.
For example, Acts 20:28ff, 1 Peter 5:2, Judas 12.
- 18.
Greenleaf (1977, pp. 49–90) had a full chapter on “The Institution as Servant”.
- 19.
According to Northouse (2017, p. 230) the authors Wong and Davey, Dennis and Bocarnea, van Dierendonck and Nuijten list humility as a key characteristic of Servant Leadership.
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Kessler, V. (2019). The Dark Side of Servant Leadership: Power Abuse via Serving. In: Bouckaert, L., van den Heuvel, S. (eds) Servant Leadership, Social Entrepreneurship and the Will to Serve. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-29936-1_6
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