Servant leadership model

The servant leadership model is based on Jesus’ life, in which he served the people rather than leading them. It focuses on empowering people to be self-sufficient, autonomous, and free, as well as teaching them how to make sound decisions (Rachmawati, & Lantu, 2014).

Challenges in adopting the servant leader concepts

The Koreans’ weak view is a barrier to the adoption of servant leader concepts. Weakness in leadership poses a risk since it decreases an organization’s ability to impose commands and complete tasks. They cannot afford to demonstrate weakness in its leaders. According to surveys, the Koreans believe in wielding power, which should be spiritual authority. A second challenge is that the Chinese separate the leader and the servant in their minds. Yet the leader by portraying servant traits nurtures employees to becoming future servants. The Chinese uphold hierarchical leadership thereby giving people different positions of power (Dierendonck, & Patterson, 2010).

Respecting cultural diversities while implementing change

Cultural diversities are inevitable, and people need to respect them while trying to bring in a change in what people believe. Thereby, as a leader in such an environment, I would engage the employees to get their ideas implement them with adequate consultation with the other leaders. A critical step in implementing change is creating an understanding that employees are a vital resource to the entity. Treating them as valuable is motivational and creates a sense of belonging. It is evident that acting as a servant reduces work related stress and enables people to adapt smoothly to a new environment (Dierendonck, & Patterson, 2010). It would give leeway to mentoring the individuals in a bid to elevate them in their roles as employees without feeling they are looked down on.

References

Dierendonck, D., & Patterson, K. (2010). Servant leadership: developments in theory and research (1st ed.). UK: Palgrave Macmillan UK.

Rachmawati, A., & Lantu, D. (2014). Servant Leadership Theory Development & Measurement. Procedia - Social And Behavioral Sciences, 115, 387-393. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.sbspro.2014.02.445