Stewardship as Leadership

This article examines the factors that stymie contemporary leaders in their quest to practicalize the concepts of stewardship as an alternative form of leadership. Stewardship is herein argued to be a more viable form of leadership than current leadership concepts, and nine dimensions have been identified as personifications of the stewardship concept. The results show that stewardship, as a leadership alternative, has not yet begun to supplant traditional forms of leadership. The concept of leadership and the promises – and failures – that it has held for humankind over the centuries is a well-researched area. Burns (1978) asserts that leadership is one of the most observed, but the least understood phenomena. Goodwin (1998) asserts that there are as many different leadership styles as there are leaders. Consequently, the theories of leadership are many and they originate from diverse sources. Various leadership theorists, in defense of their leadership models, have suggested various definitions of leadership. Burns (1978: 43-44) asserts that: “The essence of leadership in any polity is the recognition of real need, the uncovering and exploiting of contradictions among values and between values and practice, the realigning of values, the reorganization of institutions where necessary, and the governance of change.” Bennis and Nanus (1985: 225) describe leaders as individuals who “lead by pulling rather than by pushing, by inspiring rather than ordering, by creating challenging, but achievable, expectations and rewarding progress towards them rather than by manipulating, and by enabling people to use their own initiatives and experiences rather than by denying or constraining their experiences and actions.” The theories and models of leadership that have been mentioned supra have in common their focus on the leader as a pedestal personality who is separate from the people being led. However, as Zaleznik (1996: 2) points out: “Leadership is not restricted to the occupants of formal positions.” Therefore, we must begin to