What it is
Robert Greenleaf described servant leadership as leadership oriented toward the growth and wellbeing of the people being led. The cost flows inward, toward the leader.
Its shadow performs service while extracting value. The cost flows outward, toward the people. Posturing is claiming the title without absorbing the cost, which disorients everyone who needs to know who is actually holding what. And “collateral damage” isn’t a sacrifice the leader made. It’s a sacrifice the people made.
How it shows up for me
I believe in it, and I’ve also hidden behind it. Carrying everything felt like service until I saw it was control. The question I ask now: in this decision, which way is the cost flowing?