The Power of Servant-Leadership

Abstract

“The servant-leader is servant first. It begins with the natural feeling that one wants to serve. Then conscious choice brings one to aspire to lead. The best test is: do those served grow as persons; do they, while being served, become healthier, wiser, freer, more autonomous, more likely themselves to become servants?” Robert K. Greenleaf, The Servant as Leader, 1970 With that initial definition of servant-leadership in 1970, Robert K. Greenleaf planted a seed of an idea that continues to grow in its influence on society with each passing year. In fact, during the 1990s, we have witnessed an unparalleled explosion of interest and practice of servant leadership. In many ways, it can be said that the times are only now beginning to catch up with Robert Greenleaf’s visionary call to servant leadership. Servant-leadership, now in its third decade as a specific leadership and management concept, continues to create a quiet revolution in workplaces around the world. This introduction is intended to provide a broad overview of the growing influence this unique concept of servant-leadership is having on people and their workplaces. As we prepare to enter the 21st century, we are witnessing a shift in many businesses and nonprofit organizations—away from traditional autocratic and heirarchical modes of leadership and toward a model based on teamwork and community; one that seeks to involve others in decision making; one that is strongly based in ethical and caring behavior; and one that is attempting to enhance the personal growth of workers while at the same time improving the caring and quality of our many institutions. This emerging approach to leadership and service is called “servant-leadership.” The words servant and leader are usually thought of as being opposites. When two opposites are brought together in a creative and meaningful way, a paradox emerges. And so the words servant and leader have been brought together to create the paradoxical idea of servant-leadership.