Servant Leadership

The concept of servant leadership was developed by Robert Greenleaf, who drew from his 40 years directing management research for AT&T to create a business and leadership consulting practice centered on his ideas about leaders as servants. After retiring from AT&T in 1964, Greenleaf launched his second career with the publication of the 1970 essay, “The Servant as Leader,” in which he acknowledged Herman Hesse's Journey to the East with providing the key insight for his theory of servant leadership. In this story, a group of men embark on a pilgrimage to the East, accompanied by their servant, the spiritual and charismatic character Leo. Deep into the journey, Leo mysteriously disappears and the men are so confused [Page 1896]and disorganized without him that they fail ...