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Article: Servant leadership--an introduction.
- Article from:
- Global Virtue Ethics Review
- Article date:
- July 1, 2004
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2004 Southern Public Administration Education Foundation, Inc. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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The Concept
The paradoxical term, "servant-leadership," which appears to touch an innate need in many of us, and which therefore harks back to the beginning of time, became popularized twenty-five years ago by Robert Greenleaf in his books Servant Leadership (1977) and Teacher as Servant (1979). The servant-leader first has the desire to serve others, and then learns to lead as a servant. The ideas of serving, helping, self-effacing, and effectiveness permeate the servant-leadership concept. Greenleaf, for many years an executive at AT&T, sought to express his desire to serve, while making use of his executive talents. By serving on the boards of non-profit ...