Project Management by a Servant Leader?
Can a project manager be a servant leader? The first answer would
have been no! Without knowing what a servant leader does, most would
say a manager couldn't be a servant leader. The project manager
can be a leader but to serve others as described by Greenleaf and
Spear surely is impossible.
Table 1 lists the various
characteristics needed by a manager, a leader, a project manager,
and a servant leader to be effective in their positions. These characteristics
were extracted from the references quoted. An X marks the characteristic
that the manager, leader, project manager, or servant leader should
possess as a minimum.
Note the differences between the two columns "Project manager"
and "servant Leader". It will be observed that the following characteristics
are not specifically required of a project manager:
- Coaches
- Self confident
- Truthful
- Provides comfort
- Intelligent
- Desire to achieve
- Optimism
- Organizational commitment
- Develops talent in others
- Serves
- Consistent
- Dependable
- Maintains confidences
- Fair
If a project manager is a servant leader, he or she should strive
to incorporate these servant leadership characteristics into his/her
daily work. Although these characteristics are not required to be
successful, with this approach the project outcomes should glorify
the whole and not just the project manager.
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Characteristics
Compared
