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Philosophy of Leadership 1

Philosophy of Leadership

Samuel Flemming

Azusa Pacific University

LRDS 595

Dr. Barron

September 27, 2017


Philosophy of Leadership 2

Leadership is serving others, helping individuals change for the better, and

being able bring people together to reach a common goal. Serving is the most

important aspect of leadership. Through servant leadership leaders put followers

before themselves, and show them appreciation through it. Being a servant leader

means to serve in a fashion that concentrates on the development of individuals as

well as the neighborhoods they live in. The servant-leader is first a foremost a

servant, this state of mind begins with the natural feeling that one wishes to serve,

to serve first (Greenleaf, 1970). Being a leader also means to bring about change in

your followers. The main thing to bring about change in followers is gaining trust

and more importantly getting them to take significant risk (Quinn, 1996, p. 5).

Change comes from helping followers to break out of systemic cycles and trying

something new that can also benefit their life. It is the duty of the leader to guide

followers through these changes and help throughout the process. Lastly, and most

importantly leaders are able to unite. Being able to understand that in any situation

each person has something unique to bring to the table. People are attracted to you

because you are so obviously passionate about their particular expertise, and

because you have many practical ideas about how their expertise can be combined

with others (Buckingham, 2015, p. 56). Leading from these three perspectives are

ingredients in the making of an excellent leader.


Philosophy of Leadership 3

Reference

Buckingham, M. (2015). StandOut 2.0: assess your strengths, find your edge, win at

work. Boston, MA: Harvard Business Review Press.

Quinn, R. E. (1996). Deep change: Discovering the leader within. San Francisco, CA:

Jossey-Bass.

Greenleaf, R. K. (n.d.). What is Servant Leadership? Retrieved September 28, 2017, from

https://www.greenleaf.org/what-is-servant-leadership/

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