Servant Leadership - History of Servant Leadership

History of Servant Leadership

The general concept has existed since ancient times. Chanakya wrote, in the 4th century B.C., in his book Arthashastra:

"the king shall consider as good, not what pleases himself but what pleases his subjects " "the king is a paid servant and enjoys the resources of the state together with the people."

There are passages that relate to servant leadership in the Tao Te Ching, attributed to Lao-Tzu, who is believed to have lived in China sometime between 570 B.C. and 490 B.C.:

The highest type of ruler is one of whose existence the people are barely aware. Next comes one whom they love and praise. Next comes one whom they fear. Next comes one whom they despise and defy. When you are lacking in faith, Others will be unfaithful to you. The Sage is self-effacing and scanty of words. When his task is accomplished and things have been completed, All the people say, ‘We ourselves have achieved it!’

The concept has been included in many religious text such as this quote from the Christian New Testament (Authorized King James): "But ye not so: but he that is greatest among you, let him be as the younger; and he that is chief, as he that doth serve" or this quote from Islam's texts: "the leader of a people is their servant".

"But Jesus called them to Himself and said to them, “You know that those who are considered rulers over the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. Yet it shall not be so among you; but whoever desires to become great among you shall be your servant. And whoever of you desires to be first shall be slave of all. For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.” Mark 10:42-45

The term of modern Servant Leadership and servant leader were coined by Robert K. Greenleaf in 1970. He coined this phrase in his essay "The Servant as Leader" . Greenleaf worked a long time at AT&T Corporation and spent most of his career on management studies, management development and management training. After working at AT&T he started a career as visiting lecturer and management consultant for many companies, universities, churches and non-profit organisations, for example at the Harvard Business School, University of Virginia, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) or Ford Foundation. In 1964 he founded the Greenleaf Center for Servant Leadership (first called the "Center for Applied Ethics").

The idea for his essay, "The Servant as Leader," came out of reading Hermann Hesse`s Journey to the East. The story is about a travel group on an exceptional mythical journey. The main character of this story is Leo. Leo is the companion and servant of the group, but he also sustains them with his charisma and spirit, and gives them well-being. Everything was going well until Leo disappeared; the group fall apart and the journey had to be prematurely interrupted. The group cannot exist longer without their servant Leo. After reading this story Greenleaf comes to the knowledge that a good leader is primarily a servant. A good leader must first be a good servant. Therefore he wrote down his essay The servant as leader, which has sold over 500 000 copies.