Summary of Servant Leadership 25th Anniversary

Servant Leadership

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 . (Greenleaf , 2002 . This quotation sums up Robert Greenleaf 's idea of what a servant leader is . A good leader must begin by being of service to other people and from that passion the person would learn how to lead . He further discuss this in his book entitled Servant Leadership : A Journey into the Nature of Legitimate Power and Greatness

This

book is among the first to explore and study the characteristics of leaders and followers . One of the focal points of the book is his discussion of why a leader needs to be attentive of other people 's needs . A true leader is someone who put the needs of other people first before thinking about ones ' own needs and desires . The idea of service should be one of the most important characteristic of a leader that makes his position distinct from the others

Robert Greenleaf further emphasizes that having leaders who know the true value of serving is very beneficial not only in terms of creating a better and a more stable society but also because the leaders themselves would find satisfaction and contentment in what they are doing . Leaders would find greater happiness in their lives that would aid in establishing more serving institutions . Furthermore , a servant leader possesses characteristics which are very beneficial in times of volatile situations as they are alert to new possibilities , open-minded , and always ready to listen . Servant Leadership is more of an inner quality rather than merely exercising a legitimate authority

This 25th anniversary edition of the book also contains Greenleaf 's previous works namely : The Servant as Leader , The Institution as Servant ' and Trustees as Servants ' The other chapter of this book also discusses servant leaders in various institutions . Servant leaders in the field of education , business , foundations , churches , and many more . Moreover , the book also tackles the prominent servant leaders that are observable around the world

This book takes a different approach in looking at leadership . It forgo of the traditional idea of hierarchal or vertical leadership but rather highlights the concept that to be an effective leader one must humble him /herself and learn the value of serving . This introduces service as a pre-requisite of leadership . It is only in knowing how to prioritize other people first that someone could be an effective leader

The aspect of servant leadership which I appreciated the most is the idea wherein it gives leadership the ethical and moral perspective . The process by which the leader asks oneself if what he /she is doing is for the well-being of those people whom he /she serves only proves that this kind of leadership is selfless in nature . The objective of ones authority is not merely self-beneficial but rather it gives premium to the idea of satisfying other people . Moreover , Greenleaf 's approach to...