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Global Encyclopedia of Public Administration, Public Policy, and Governance pp 1–4Cite as

Servant Leadership

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Synonyms

Stewardship; Transformational leadership

Definition

Servant leadership is a values-based approach to leadership that emphasizes putting the needs of others before oneself.

Servant Leadership

Robert K. Greenleaf (1977) developed the concept of servant leadership from an intuitive insight gained while reading Herman Hesse’s book, Journey to the East. In the book, a band of men undertakes a long journey. The main character is Leo, a servant, who does the menial chores for the group. Along the way, Leo sustains them with his spirit and his song. When Leo disappears, the group falls apart and abandons the journey; the group cannot function without him. Years later, the narrator finds Leo and discovers that he is in fact the head of the Order that sponsored the original journey. Leo, who is first encountered as a “servant,” is in fact a great leader.

From this story, Greenleaf drew many lessons about the role of the leader, and over time these lessons evolved into his concept of...

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References

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Augusta University, Augusta, GA, USA

    Saundra J. Ribando

Authors
  1. Saundra J. Ribando
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Saundra J. Ribando .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Florida Atlantic University, Boca Raton, Florida, USA

    Ali Farazmand

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© 2016 Springer International Publishing AG

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Ribando, S.J. (2016). Servant Leadership. In: Farazmand, A. (eds) Global Encyclopedia of Public Administration, Public Policy, and Governance. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-31816-5_1929-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-31816-5_1929-1

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-31816-5

  • eBook Packages: Springer Reference Economics and FinanceReference Module Humanities and Social SciencesReference Module Business, Economics and Social Sciences

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