The authenticity of servant leaders significantly shapes and affects
their relationships to others. Servant leaders engage with and accept others for who they
are, not for how they make servant leaders feel (Greenleaf, 1977). This unqualified
acceptance enables other people to experiment, grow, and be creative without fear (Daft
and Lengel, 2000). Unlike most leaders who protect status symbols as a means of
establishing distance between themselves and their followers, servant leaders treat all
people with radical equality, engaging with others as equal partners in the organization
(Marshall, 1991). De Pree (1989) and Graham and Organ (1993) characterized this type
of relationship as a covenant-based relationship, which is an intensely personal bond
marked by shared values, open-ended commitment, mutual trust, and concern for the
welfare of the other party. The strong ties that bind covenantal partners produce a
relationship that is not easily stretched to breaking point or threatened by disagreement
or conflict.