Greenleaf's surviving children authorized this biography on their father, whose work influenced everything from management training and education to corporate ethics and religious missions.
Taking a page from the servant leadership ideas of AT&T's Robert Greenleaf--America's true business visionary--Spears encourages managers to act as facilitators and coaches who empower employees and lead by example, rather than beating them over the head with programs and inflexible demands.
"A collection of eight of Greenleaf's most compelling essays on servant-leadership, ... [an] approach to leadership ... which puts serving others, including employees, customers, and community, first."--Back cover.
This book is an introduction to servant leadership. The author argues that servant leadership is ethical, practical, and meaningful. He cites the universal importance of service, defines servant leadership, compares the power model of leadership with the service model, describes some key practices of servant-leaders, explores the meaningful lives of servant-leaders, and offers questions for reflection and discussion. The new second edition of the book provides additional quotations and examples; summaries of scholarly definitions of servant leadership and research on the impacts of servant leadership in the workplace; an appendix on servant leadership compared with other ideas or theories of leadership; and a list of sources for those who wish to explore servant leadership further.
Servant-leadership may be the answer to the current demand for a more ethical, people-centred leadership where humility, servitude and contribution are key elements. The purpose of this book is to provide an overview of current thinking and empirical research of the determinants, underlying processes and consequences of servant leadership.