Books Play an Important Role In Every Servant Leader's Life
It’s no secret that reading books on servant leadership can improve your skills as a leader. But before we talk about some of my recommendations on servant leadership books, let’s first discuss what servant leadership is and how reading great books can make you a better leader.
What exactly is a servant leader? From the name, we can see that servant leaders are servants first. This distinction is important because leadership is often conflated with power and control when it’s something entirely different.
The main thing that drives a servant leader is putting people first. As servant leaders, we prioritize the well-being and success of others over our own need for power and recognition. This is why being a servant leader is often talked about and lauded by many because not everyone can put other people’s needs and success before their own.
Like most things in life, becoming a good leader is something that we can learn through education and practice. Now, the education I’m referring to has absolutely nothing to do with school. Most of the best leaders I had the honor of following didn’t have a college degree, but they were all well-educated. They were all students of their craft.
The most successful leaders I’ve ever met owed some of their success to the wisdom they found in a book. Before we dive into some of my recommendations on the best servant leadership books, let’s take a look at the 10 principles of servant leadership.
The 10 Core Principles of Servant Leadership These Books Teach You
1. Empathy
One of the most important principles in servant leadership. Empathy goes beyond knowing how our team, and the people on it, feel. To be effective leaders, we have to know who they are. This means getting to know their strengths, weaknesses, aspirations, fears, and anything else that can help us better relate to him or her.
2. Self-Awareness
While empathy is important, we cannot afford to neglect understanding ourselves, especially when leading others. All of our strengths, weaknesses, aspirations, fears, and everything else we thought was hidden from the world will find a way to come to the surface. The burden of leadership has a way of bringing out the best and worst in all of us. That’s why we need to take the time to sit alone and get to know ourselves.
3. Listening
One of the important skills of any servant leader is to be a good listener. As leaders, we sometimes feel the need to talk more than we need to, but there are plenty of moments where shutting up and listening is all that’s needed. If we want the people around us to feel valued, we must talk less and listen more.
4. Healing
Everyone we deal with has some personal baggage we know little to nothing about. Most people we lead will have negative experiences from a former boss or a toxic work environment that will influence how they view leadership. As their leader, we are responsible for making them feel welcome and showing them what healthy leadership looks like.
5. Conceptualization
Leaders need to be able to internalize the strategic direction of any initiative. As servant leaders, we need to be able to move from the strategic vision to the tactical, daily implementation.
6. Stewardship
People are any organization’s most valuable resource. And stewardship, at its core, is taking proper care of those resources. As servant leaders, we should be obsessed with good stewardship. We are responsible for setting the cultural tone for our team. We are also responsible for making the tough decisions that may hurt now but are ultimately for the best.
7. Persuasion
We need to be able to persuade people around us with facts and sound reasoning. If it’s the right decision or direction, a well-laid out case should make that clear. Having the patience to hear other people’s concerns is also a crucial part of leadership.
8. Foresight
Another important principle is foresight. We should be able to read trends from the past and apply that knowledge to current and future situations.
9. Building Community
Building a good team goes beyond functioning properly. As leaders, we are responsible for creating the conditions to build community. This means helping the individuals on our team establish good relations with each other.
10. Commitment to the Growth of People
We can loosely define an investment as something we put time, money, or effort into with the hope that it grows. And as leaders, we must invest in our people. We should be committed to helping them grow to their full potential.
Who is a good example of a servant leader?
- Jesus Christ
As a devout Christian, there is no greater example of servant leadership than Jesus Christ.
Self-sacrifice is at the center of everything He did. His willingness to pay the ultimate price for us captures the essence of what being a leader is all about.
- Abraham Lincoln
And if Jesus Christ is too high a standard, another great example is Abe Lincoln.
He is one of the most famous servant leaders of all time.
His entire political career was marked by difficult decisions and pressure most leaders would’ve crumbled under. Lincoln had many choices to make, either what was easy or what was right, and he chose the latter.
6 Insightful and Recommended Servant Leadership Books
So now that we’ve got all of that out of the way, here are 6 of my top servant leadership books to become a better leader:
- The Bible
- Team of Rivals
- Once an Eagle
- Extreme Ownership
- The Servant Leader: How to Build a Creative Team, Develop Great Morale, and Improve Bottom-Line Performance
- Leaders Eat Last: Why Some Teams Pull Together and Others Don’t
The Bible
Written by many authors, all inspired by God
There is no better book to guide your life as a person and a leader than the Bible. Studying Scripture, and the lives of the people in it, is a great way to see the good, the bad, and the ugly sides of leadership.
If you need a recommendation on where to start, I recommend reading the Life of Jesus in the four gospels.
Team of Rivals
Written by Doris Kearns Goodwin
I thoroughly enjoy reading stories of past leaders. One of my favorite leaders to study is Abraham Lincoln, and I think Team of Rivals is a great exploration of his political life.
This book analyzes Lincoln’s rise to power and how he turned enemies into allies.
Once an Eagle: A Novel
Written by Anton Myer
Once an Eagle is one of my favorite books that just happens to convey timeless leadership wisdom.
This story follows Sam Damon’s life as a soldier and a leader. Damon’s character puts duty above self-interest, which is directly at odds with his rival, Courtney Massengale.
Extreme Ownership: How U.S. Navy SEALs Lead and Win
Written by Jocko Willink and Leif Babin
I understand Jocko’s style isn’t for everyone, but this book is great for anyone serious about becoming a better leader. As leaders, the success and failure of our team is our responsibility. We can’t be willing to accept the wins without also owning the losses.
This book explores leadership examples from the Teams, but the wisdom shared in this book is applicable to everyone’s life.
The Serving Leader: Five Powerful Actions to Transform Your Team, Business, and Community
Written by Ken Jennings and John Stahl-Wert and published in 2016
In this book, Jennings and Stahl-Wert write about:
- Real people
- Real organizations
- What they had done and gone through to achieve the results that are also written in the book.
This is a good book to read if you want to know some concrete examples of how servant leadership helps in the success of people.
Leaders Eat Last: Why Some Teams Pull Together and Others Don’t
Written by Simon Sinek and published in 2014
This has become one of the most popular leadership books in the past decade for good reason. Sinek shed light on:
- Building a workplace that encompasses trust among its team members.
- Avoiding failures that can be brought about infighting.
In his latest paperback version of this, he also includes a little snippet about the leading millennials.
What is the best leadership book of all time?
You may be wondering which of these books is the best one.
Like any good MBA, my answer is, “it depends.” The best servant leadership book is the one that helps you think in new ways so you can better serve your team. For me, that book is the Bible, but it might be entirely different for you.
While this is my list of some of the books that helped me understand servant leadership, don’t stop here. Explore new books and learn from the leaders who have come before you
Anyone can become a better leader
You can start by reading all the leadership books I have on my list.