What is Servant Leadership?

We made this short video to help leaders and colleagues at Barclaycard to learn more about Servant Leadership. Our people loved it so we decided to share it with everyone.

Let us know what you think, leave a comment, share your story about leadership in your organisation or team. Enjoy!

About Servant Leadership:

Servant Leadership is a participative form of leadership that shares some of the characteristics of transformational leadership. It blends a concern for transformation at an organisational level with individualised consideration.

It emphasises the need to replace self-interest with service to others as the basis for using power. Servant Leadership is opposed to the command-and-control type of autocratic leadership. There is now a clear consensus among modern management theorists that autocratic leadership needs to be replaced by leadership that empowers workers. In today’s environment, command-and-control leadership no longer works, because leaders must earn people’s respect and trust.

For us at Barclaycard, Servant Leadership:

- Is about influence rather than power and control
- Is about inspiration rather than position and title
- Is about focusing on others’ strengths rather than weaknesses
- Is about listening rather than giving orders
- Is about humility rather than pride, ‘ the big picture rather than self interest
- Is about long-range benefits rather than short-term profits
- Is about creating new futures rather than maintaining the status quo