How did Robert Greenleaf come to emphasize the importance of listening? What ideas did he use in teaching others to listen? The answers are in a new essay by Don Frick, “Greenleaf and Servant-Leader Listening.” To get your copy, click here.
How can servant-leaders make a difference as board members? In Servant Leadership in the Boardroom: Fulfilling the Public Trust, Dr. Kent Keith, Greenleaf Center CEO, presents and augments the views of Robert Greenleaf on the opportunity of board members to truly lead and make a difference for their organizations and those their organizations serve. To get your copy, click here. click here.
Margaret Wheatley gave a talk on “The Work of the Servant Leader” at the 1999 conference. In her talk, which was published in Focus on Leadership, she said:
"There are many patterns, many beliefs, out there about leadership, about people, about motivation, about human development. The essential truth I’m discovering right now is that when we are together, more becomes possible. When we are together, joy is available. In the midst of a world that is insane, that will continue to surprise us with new outrages…in the midst of that future, the gift is each other. We have lived with a belief system that has not told us that. We have lived with a belief that has said, ‘We’re in it for ourselves. It’s a dog-eat-dog world out there. Only the strong survive and you can’t trust anybody.’ That’s the belief that’s operating in most organizations if you scratch the surface. The belief that called you to be a servant-leader, I believe, is the belief of who we are as a species. We have need for each other. We have a desire for each other, and, more and more, I believe that if the real work is to stay together, then we are not only the best resource to move into this future—we are the only resource….We need to learn how to be together: that is the essential work of the servant-leader."
