What is
Servant Leadership?
Source:
Greenleaf
The phrase “Servant Leadership” was coined
by Robert K. Greenleaf in "The Servant as Leader," an essay that
he first
published in 1970. In that essay, he said:
"The servant-leader is servant first… It begins with
the natural feeling that one wants to serve, to serve first. Then
conscious choice brings one to aspire to lead. That person is sharply
different from one who is leader first, perhaps because of the need
to assuage an unusual power drive or to acquire material possessions…The
leader-first and the servant-first are two extreme types. Between
them there are shadings and blends that are part of the infinite
variety of human nature."
"The difference manifests itself in the care taken by the servant-first
to make sure that other people’s highest priority needs are
being served. The best test, and difficult to administer, is: Do
those served grow as persons? Do they, while being served, become
healthier, wiser, freer, more autonomous, more likely themselves
to become servants? And, what is the effect on the least privileged
in society? Will they benefit or at least not be further deprived?"
More organizations can also be found in the Greenleaf
Center book, "Servant
Institutions in Business," available in the online catalog.
In his second major essay, The Institution
as Servant, Robert K.
Greenleaf articulated what is often called the "credo." He
said:
"This is my thesis: caring for persons, the
more able and the less able serving each other, is the rock upon
which a good
society is built. Whereas, until recently, caring was largely person
to person,
now most of it is mediated through institutions—often large,
complex, powerful, impersonal; not always competent; sometimes corrupt.
If
a better society is to be built, one that is more just and more
loving, one that provides greater creative opportunity for its people,
then
the most open course is to raise both the capacity to serve and
the very performance as servant of existing major institutions by new
regenerative forces operating within them."
There are many excellent books and articles about
Servant Leadership. For a short bibliography on
servant leadership. Also, books by Robert K. Greenleaf and colleagues
of The Greenleaf Center can
be found in their online bookstore.
Here are some organizations applying Servant
Leadership principles:
•TDIndustries
• PPC Partners
• The Schneider Corporation
• Broetje Orchards
• SBLI USA Mutual Life Ins.
• Schmidt Associates
