The phrase, Servant Leadership, was coined by Robert K. Greenleaf [1]Greenleaf first set forth the idea in "The Servant as Leader", an essay that Greenleaf first published in 1970. In this essay, Greenleaf explains how and why he came up with the idea of Servant Leadership, as well as what a Servant Leader should be [2]. Greenleaf gave this idea an extensive amount of thought before bringing it to life. Larry Spears, CEO of the Greenleaf Center for Servant Leadership, stated in a interview:
"Greenleaf credited his reading of Hesse’s book, Journey to the East, as the personal source of inspiration in his coining the term, “servant-leader” in his 1970 essay, The Servant as Leader."[2]
In this story, the main character named Leo is a servant just like all the others. They all work well together, until one day when Leo disappears. When the servants or employees realize that things weren't the same without Leo, they came to the realization that Leo was far more than a servant, better yet he was actually their leader.
Greenleaf came to the realization that a new found leader should be someone that servants or workers can relate to[3]. Leo was seen as a servant, but when the other servants realized that things fell apart without him he became far more than just a servant to them. Hence Greenleaf's idea of what a Servant Leader should be[4]. Greenleaf first put his idea of Servant Leadership to use in an organizational sense while he was working as an executive at AT&T[4].
The most important characteristic of being a Servant Leader, according to Greenleaf, is making your main priority to serve rather than lead[3]. Ginny Boyum states that Greenleaf proposed that a servant leader should serve first, the needs of others are their main priority, they find success and "power" in the growth of other, and "A servant can only become a leader if a leader remains a servant"[3]. In simpler terms, a Servant Leader should seek to be a servant first and care for the needs of all others around them. In possessing these traits, an individual would be classified as a servant leader because, overall, they are causing the servants to become healthier, wiser, achieve self-improvement, and eventually possess the traits of a Servant Leader as well.
Although Greenleaf first coined the phrase Servant Leadership, the idea came about years before in a religious context. In the bible, Jesus Christ presents the idea in his teachings to his disciples. According to Sendjaya and Sarros (2002), similar to Greenleaf's idea, Jesus Christ saw a leader as someone who was committed to serving their servants, and seeing their servants as equals.[4] Jesus Christ not only teaches his disciples about what a servant leader should be, but he also demonstrated their characteristics by washing the feet of his disciples[4]. This not only portrayed that he wasn't afraid to be seen as equal in the eyes of his servants but it also shows that he prioritized his servants first, as a servant leader should do, because foot washing wasn't a job for someone who was looked upon as he was.
In an act to extend on the work of Greenleaf, Larry Spears proposed the idea of there being 10 characteristics of a Servant Leader. These 10 characteristics were listening, empathy, healing, awareness, persuasion, conceptualization, foresight, stewardship, commitment to the growth of people, and community building.[5] In addition to doing what Greenleaf said a Servant Leader should do, Spears put forth the idea that they should also posses these characteristics that will aid in their ability to complete those tasks[5].
- ^ "Robert K. Greenleaf", Wikipedia, 2018-01-02, retrieved 2018-10-26
- ^ a b Dittmar, James K. (2006-09-01). "An Interview with Larry Spears". Journal of Leadership & Organizational Studies. 13 (1): 108–118. doi:10.1177/10717919070130010101. ISSN 1548-0518. S2CID 143751887.
- ^ a b c "The Historical Development and Conceptual Influences of Servant Leadership" (PDF).
- ^ a b c d "Servant Leadership it's origin, development, and application in organizations" (PDF).
- ^ a b Barbuto, John E.; Wheeler, Daniel W. (2006-06-01). "Scale Development and Construct Clarification of Servant Leadership". Group & Organization Management. 31 (3): 300–326. doi:10.1177/1059601106287091. ISSN 1059-6011. S2CID 7892048.