It’s no secret that I’m a huge proponent of servant leadership. There’s a depth and richness to the philosophy of servant leadership that really can’t be reduced to bullet points, but one thing I’ve found that’s helped folks as I’ve discussed this at conferences and during consulting engagements is drawing contrasts between servant leadership and other types of leadership or management.

One of those types of leadership with which I often draw a contrast is command leadership. As you peruse the contrasts between servant leadership and command leadership below, you’ll likely begin to realize how startlingly commonplace command leadership still is within many organizations. Further, you’ll quickly see why that style of leadership can be so detrimental to teams and organizations.

So let’s take a look at some of the differences between the two.

The commanding leader’s objective is to be served. The servant leader’s objective is to serve others.

Commanding leaders desire to be envied by others. Servant leaders fight against unchecked ego and endeavor to embrace humility.