Servant Leadership Beyond Servant and Leader: A Buddhist Perspective on the Theory and Practice of Servant Leadership

Abstract

Servant leadership transforms the relationship between leaders and followers through a conscious choice to focus on the followers: understanding their motivations, capabilities, and development potentials. It emphasizes a genuine care of common interest and shared vision. While there is ample research on what is servant leadership, further research is required to illustrate how servant leadership could be implemented and sustained. This chapter offers a Buddhist perspective on servant leadership. It first expounds the Buddhist teachings on the doctrine of dependent arising (paṭiccasamuppāda) and selflessness (anatta) through which the nature and identity of the leader and the servant, and hence servant leadership could be understood through different lens. These teachings could contribute to the philosophical foundations required to dismantle the barriers between these identities and resolve the dilemma of a servant leader—being both a servant and a leader, allowing for the full manifestation of the servant leadership ideals. This chapter further looks into the exemplary servant leaders in Mahāyāna Buddhism, the Buddha-s and Bodhisattva-s, who are the embodiment of profound compassion and wisdom in their selfless mission and unrelenting effort to teach and heal all sentient beings. The chapter draws upon some critical insights from the Heart Sūtra and the Diamond Sūtra to inspire a possible enhanced and sustainable servant leadership model of ‘Interdependent Leadership’ based on Buddhist philosophies, teachings, and practices. In particular, this enhanced model could help sustain servant leadership in social entrepreneurship and other professions demanding persistent and deep emotional and intellectual strengths. The chapter concludes with further discussions on how servant leaders could benefit from Buddhist teachings by going beyond any fixation on identities of the leader and the follower.