It is generally agreed that the modern servant leadership concept has one founding father, the big thinker, author and consultant Robert K. Greenleaf. Servant-leadership rejects power-centered authoritarianism and underscores the leader role in achieving organizational goals by serving the needs of others.
In his 1970 essay The Servant as Leader, Greenleaf wrote of the differences between leader-first and servant-first leaders:
"The difference manifests itself in the care taken by the servant-first to make sure that other people’s highest priority needs are being served. The best test, and difficult to administer, is: Do those served grow as persons? Do they, while being served, become healthier, wiser, freer, more autonomous, more likely themselves to become servants?"
Over the years, Ken Blanchard, Stephen Covey, Peter Senge, Margaret Wheatley and scholars associated with the Greenleaf Center in Westfield, Indiana have refined the concept into a full-fledged movement whose leadership tenets include listening, empathy, self-awareness, humility, teaching and stewardship all coupled with a commitment to helping people grow. Not surprisingly, these collaborative, non-hierarchical characteristics are closely identified with the attributes of successful leadership "tags" working in complex adaptive systems, too.
The Boston Red Sox manager Terry "Tito" Francona would seem to be the embodiment of servant leadership. He knows that it is simply not all about him. Mediocre players such as Francona often become superb managers because they embrace - and maybe they have no choice but to embrace - the precepts of servant leadership. Everything Tito does works to steward organizational resources by letting talent emerge, repair and grow. He maneuvered endlessly this season to orchestrate, integrate and heal a revolving cast of frequently injured players, putting himself in front of the media so that his players could concentrate on baseball. Yes, some managers happily hog the media spotlight - Ozzie Guillen anyone? - because they want the attention. With Tito, however, one gets the sense that he does so to serve the needs of his players.
It is clear why Larry Bird, Magic Johnson, Michael Jordan and other sports superstars find it so difficult to succeed as coaches. They have always been leader-first oriented and likely lack the orientation let alone the disposition to "serve" others. Servant leaders like Tito Francona are superstars in their own right, however, which two World Series rings over the last four seasons surely underscores.
As we worry here in Boston about getting past the Los Angeles Angels in the playoffs, and for good reason, I must nonetheless add, Go Sox!
In his 1970 essay The Servant as Leader, Greenleaf wrote of the differences between leader-first and servant-first leaders:
"The difference manifests itself in the care taken by the servant-first to make sure that other people’s highest priority needs are being served. The best test, and difficult to administer, is: Do those served grow as persons? Do they, while being served, become healthier, wiser, freer, more autonomous, more likely themselves to become servants?"
Over the years, Ken Blanchard, Stephen Covey, Peter Senge, Margaret Wheatley and scholars associated with the Greenleaf Center in Westfield, Indiana have refined the concept into a full-fledged movement whose leadership tenets include listening, empathy, self-awareness, humility, teaching and stewardship all coupled with a commitment to helping people grow. Not surprisingly, these collaborative, non-hierarchical characteristics are closely identified with the attributes of successful leadership "tags" working in complex adaptive systems, too.
The Boston Red Sox manager Terry "Tito" Francona would seem to be the embodiment of servant leadership. He knows that it is simply not all about him. Mediocre players such as Francona often become superb managers because they embrace - and maybe they have no choice but to embrace - the precepts of servant leadership. Everything Tito does works to steward organizational resources by letting talent emerge, repair and grow. He maneuvered endlessly this season to orchestrate, integrate and heal a revolving cast of frequently injured players, putting himself in front of the media so that his players could concentrate on baseball. Yes, some managers happily hog the media spotlight - Ozzie Guillen anyone? - because they want the attention. With Tito, however, one gets the sense that he does so to serve the needs of his players.
It is clear why Larry Bird, Magic Johnson, Michael Jordan and other sports superstars find it so difficult to succeed as coaches. They have always been leader-first oriented and likely lack the orientation let alone the disposition to "serve" others. Servant leaders like Tito Francona are superstars in their own right, however, which two World Series rings over the last four seasons surely underscores.
As we worry here in Boston about getting past the Los Angeles Angels in the playoffs, and for good reason, I must nonetheless add, Go Sox!