How to Determine Your Servant Leadership Quotient

Written by Gary Hardin

Jesus turned the power scale upside down when He sat the disciples down one day and said, “If anyone wants to be first, he must be last of all and servant of all” (Mark 9:35). Any ambition we have should be an ambition for kingdom advancement, not an ambition to promote ourselves. Servant leaders understand this truth.

Spiritual Leadership

What Is Servant Leadership?
For some people, servant leadership feels like trying to mix oil and water. “Serving” and “leadership” don’t appear to be compatible. Jesus, however, is the perfect example of how these two attributes can be combined. Jesus had the power to do whatever He wanted, but He chose to serve by giving His life on the cross. Jesus provided strong leadership, but at the same time servanthood and love for people permeated His leadership. Although Jesus never forced anyone to follow Him, people willingly followed because He earned their respect and obedience through His example of service.

A formal definition of leadership might be “influencing the attitudes and behavior of people toward the accomplishment of a goal.” A servant loves people and helps meet their needs. So a definition of servant leadership might be “influencing the attitudes and behavior of people toward the accomplishment of a goal while meeting the needs of people, including followers.”

Think of servant leadership as leading from the inside out. That is, servant leaders lead from a character base. Which character qualities mark capable servant leaders?

• Servant leaders love the people they lead. Jesus expressed His love for His friends through His sacrifice (see John 15:13). In the long run can leaders really serve people they do not love?
• Servant leaders are submissive. They submit on multiple levels: to authority, to God, to principles of wise living, to the commands of Scriptures, and to their obligations.
• Servant leaders possess a Christ-like attitude. What kind of attitude did Jesus have? John 21 gives us an astonishing picture of Jesus’ attitude. Jesus had risen from the dead as the Conqueror over sin, death, and Satan. To Christ all authority in heaven and on earth had been given. But what was the King of kings and Lord of lords doing? He served breakfast for the disciples (see John 21:12).
• Servant leaders are humble. A lack of humility before God might be at the root of nearly all failed leadership agendas. 
• Servant leaders do not fight for their rights. If God is in charge, and I am merely His servant, then why would I have to fight for my rights, anyway?
• Servant leaders view leadership as a relationship. Effective leaders do not demand that people follow them. Rather they earn the right to lead as they build loving, trusting relationships with those they lead.
• Servant leaders are not power hungry. Hans Finzel wisely observed that top-down leadership will always take you out of the game. In listing the top 10 leadership mistakes, Finzel lists the top-down attitude as the number one leadership hang-up.1
• Servant leaders are gentle but tough. They are tough because they stick to the tasks God has given them. They persevere through suffering, criticism, and the other hardships that come with leadership. When everyone else is ready to quit, servant leaders press on.

The Blessings of Servant Leadership
How does God honor and bless servant leadership?

• Servant leadership forges unity in the church. This happens because servant leaders model the three giant admonitions given to all would-be leaders. They serve “not . . . out of compulsion . . . not for the money . . . not lording it over those entrusted to you” (1 Peter 5:2-3). A servant leader’s obedience to these commands fosters a culture in which people willingly serve one another in unity and love.
• Servant leadership helps others be successful. A godly servant leader does not care who gets the credit for jobs well done. Servant leaders believe that God has them where they are to make followers successful, not vice-versa.
• Servant leadership builds a focus on others. James and John yielded to the temptation to serve and focus on themselves (see Matt 20:20-28). They wondered, what’s in this for us?  Jesus taught otherwise when He said, “Whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant” (v. 26). Servant leaders set the example of humble service performed for others.

Are You a Servant Leader? Click here to download a Servant Leader Questionnaire [PDF].

1. Hans Finzel, The Top Ten Mistakes Leaders Make (Wheaton: Victor Books, 1994), 21.

Gary Hardin is pastor, First Baptist Church, Shepherdsville, Kentucky.