In the world of business, there are few personal characteristics more important than strong and effective leadership. Yet, while managers, bosses, and executives may like to believe they’re all set in that department, statistics have shown that employees may not be so confident. According to a study performed by Brandon Hall’s State of Leadership, though the most resources are dedicated to leadership development, 71 percent of companies do not feel their leaders are able or capable of leading them into the future. With this insight in mind, it’s no surprise that industries are looking for a new approach to leadership, and many organizations have found success by turning to the concept of servant leadership. This concept places emphasis on serving individuals, as opposed to seeking out business goals or benchmarks. But how does this process work, and what applications might it have at work, with friends, or family?

Though the definition is generally ambiguous, many thought leaders have gone on to provide their take on what exactly makes up the servant leader. Larry Spear, who served as president of the Greenleaf Center for Servant Leadership, outlined ten significant characteristics for these types of considerate and selfless leaders. Let’s take a look to see what these characteristics look like and how they apply to work, friends, and family.

What makes a leader great? People have wildly different answers to that question. While there may not be one black and white answer, we can certainly look at the most common types of leader and see what makes them so effective. In 2000, Daniel Goleman did a study on leadership styles that garnered the best results while taking emotional intelligence into account. Four of the leadership styles resulted in positive impacts on the workplace environment. Let’s take a look at these types of leaders and see how they might improve further with the application of some servant leader concepts.