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Servant Leadership : Robert Greenleaf As A Servant Leadership

Decent Essays

Robert Greenleaf was the first individual to introduce the concept of a servant leader. Greenleaf was born in 1904 in Terre Haute, Indian. In 1970, after spending the majority of his professional career with AT&T as their director of management development, he released an essay entitled “The Servant as Leader”. This essay described the servant leadership style in detail. Greenleaf stated that he believed the best leader is one who is a servant first. He stated that there were a few key factors for being a servant leader which included; listening, persuasion, access to intuition and foresight, and use of language. A servant leader for me is an individual who simply puts others ahead of themselves, with the main purpose of achieving results for their organization, by keeping in mind the needs of everyone else around them. A servant leader is one with personality traits like; empathy, compassion good listening skills, stewardship, and an honest commitment to the growth of others. Servant leaders are individuals who have a natural inclination to serve, and such a conscious choice makes them desire to lead. This is in sharp contrast to the traditional leaders who aim to gain power or to acquire material belongings. To be a successful servant leader one must have a true honest desire to want others around them to be successful. The major strength of the servant leader is their contribution of the organization they are leading. I believe this type of leadership really aligns

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