Do Christian School Leaders Really Get It?

In Jesus own words, He came to serve, not be served (Matt. 20:28). This is usually discussed in the context of demonstrating the humility of Christ. Rarely discussed is that Christ is using Himself as an example for the style of leadership He is calling His followers to. In the few verses prior Jesus instructs, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and the great ones exercise authority over them. It shall not be so among you. But whoever wants to be great among you must be your servant” (Matt. 20:25-26).

The benefits of servant leadership are well documented in the writings of Greenleaf, Rodin, Maxwell, Kouzes & Posner, Blackaby, Sergiovanni, and more. The question is if Christian leaders in Christian organizations really understand and practice the principles of Servant Leadership? Many have tried to identify what servant leadership looks like. The definition I like is the Servant Leader Profile – Revised developed by Page & Wong. They not only defined the positive traits of a servant leader, but also include two key indicators of leadership that are contrary to servant leaders. The positive factors are Empowering and Developing Others, Serving Others, Open and Participatory Leadership, Inspiring Leadership, Visionary Leadership, and Integrity and Authenticity. The negative factors to servant leadership are Power and Pride.

A study in 2015 found that most Christian school leaders who identify themselves as servant leaders struggle to meet the standard in 3 of the 6 positive categories: Empowering and Developing Others, Inspiring Leadership, and Visionary Leadership. This means that it is possible that those that self-identify as servant leaders don’t really get it. They are caring and involve others in decision making. They can be compassionate when one of their teachers is going through trials. But Servant Leadership goes well beyond those traits. It includes training teachers and staff to meet their full potential, inspiring the faculty in understanding that their calling to Christian education is a service to Christ first, with great eternal value. Servant Leaders in the Christian school convince those who work under them that the mission of the school is valuable for the future of the students and the school. The Servant Leader is also able to make everyone of their staff feel personally valued and important to the success of the mission and vision of the school.

This not only applies to school leaders. Classroom teachers who are most effective are also Servant Leaders in their classroom. The same study on Servant Leadership in Christian schools found that teachers scored surprising low in Empowering and Developing Others. How can this be? The very nature of a teacher’s job is to develop students. Another finding in the study that was concerning was the number of teachers who self-identified as authoritative leaders in their classroom management.

The beginning of a new year often spurs our thoughts to focused improvement. This may be the time to begin evaluating our leadership as leaders, be it in the school or in the classroom. Leverage Educational Services can help with that evaluation with our Servant Leader Analysis tool. Through a simple survey we can determine your servant leader score and specific strengths and weaknesses as a biblical leader. If you would like to learn more contact me at John.Furrow@leverageeducational.com.