An Overview and Reflections on My Journey in Servant-Leadership

Abstract

This concluding chapter provides a comprehensive summary of some of the significant attributes of servant-leadership and its growing influence as a philosophy and practice. It is presented through a series of three dozen vignettes, drawn from a selection of my servant-leadership writings and presentations since 1990. In this chapter, I have sought to provide insights on servant-leadership at many different levels, in an effort to illustrate the breadth and depth of the servant-as-leader concept. It may be best-viewed as a kind of distillation of my experiences and reflections from many years as a writer-editor, teacher, and organizational executive in servant-leadership. It also reflects some of my efforts in raising global awareness of both Robert K. Greenleaf’s essential ideas, as well as my own, in the ongoing development of servant-leadership. Throughout these many years, my foundational understanding of servant-leadership has remained the same as Robert K. Greenleaf’s: The servant-leader is servant first and the best test of a servant-leader: Is one healthier, wiser, freer, more autonomous, more likely themselves to serve others? And what is the impact on the least privileged in society? Will they benefit, or at least, not be further deprived?