I recall my first big leadership role and, like many, I had very little understanding of the organization I was asked to lead. I was only aware of how I wanted to live my leadership life – my [...]

As the second plane flew into the World Trade Center, it was obvious to the members of the New York City Fire Department that the organization was overstrained from the onset. A single incident [...]

What an unassuming symbol! We know what it means but have we ever given it any thought? Our colloquial use of the word dash represents the richness that is created when we use a hyphen in [...]

The story lines are unavoidable.  Communities facing housing shortages, increasing rents and lack of affordable housing report the growing presence of people experiencing homelessness.  It is no [...]

To my surprise people ask me to guest lecture on the philosophy of servant leadership and the audiences that I speak to are always receptive. Personally, the last thing I would want to do is [...]

On a day when love is held up as that sacred bond that forges one to another, let’s examine the meaning of the word according to Robert Greenleaf. “Love is an undefinable term, and its [...]

One of the critical services of the leader is to move people from fear of feedback to anticipation of coaching, Most of us have experienced “constructive” criticism that came across as negative, [...]

Our family recently had a wonderful opportunity to travel around England. During that memorable vacation, we rented a car to see the beautiful villages that compose the Cotswalds region. The [...]

In his epic 12th century tale Yvain, the Knight of the Lion, the French poet Chrétien de Troyes puts forth a poetic narrative of a knight that befriends a lion after saving the lion from a [...]

Do you have a young person in your life graduating from High School, College or accepting an advanced degree this or next month? I do. We often search for that perfect gift that conveys our love [...]

It’s hard to deny the presence of trendy coffee shops, new boutique businesses, and soaring housing costs as signs of gentrification for pockets of urban cities historically kept for low income [...]

Of course! The servant-leader is most assuredly human. Why take the time to write about it? When I ask groups to describe servant-leaders in their lives, they speak of leaders who could easily be [...]

Greenleaf wrote that “Leading entails risk or requires a venturesome spirit, or both.”   What does that say to us if we don’t like to take risks or don’t have a [...]

If you weren’t at the conference, imagine this. You’ve been working all week hosting 600 of your colleagues for a huge culture committee event. You committed back in June to come out to speak at [...]

I met John Beede via video conference a few months back as we started planning for the 25th Greenleaf Conference. Both his story and his passion convinced me he needed to open our session in [...]

Don Frick penned Robert Greenleaf’s biography. He often regales audiences with the stories of the man who started a movement almost 50 years ago. Don often marveled at the way “Bob” listened: [...]

Aristotle said, “Knowing Yourself is the beginning of all wisdom”. My friend, Isabel, says “Knowing Self + Faith = Wisdom.” Knowing self is also a cornerstone theme in Greenleaf’s writings [...]

Someone recently suggested to me that “Employee engagement has been written about and talked about so much that it’s really a tired topic.” I’ve heard this before, and in part I think it’s a [...]

During a recent workshop with an amazing group of dentists, I was struck by how similar our “leadership” challenges are. They are so busy serving their patients everyday that they search for the [...]

My favorite movie is The Wizard of Oz. Honest … ask my family! While each character is packed with life’s lessons, Lion’s longing provides an amazing metaphor for courage at work on the [...]

Are we conscious of the most vulnerable among us? Do those of us gifted with privilege, power and say reflect upon the ramifications of our actions and the impact our decisions have on the most [...]

My friend Isabel reminds me frequently that Greenleaf is not a cheap date. She was proven right today!Sitting down to pick up my theme focusing on the tools needed to Start by Seeking. Searching [...]

Two weeks ago, I reflected on the fact that society suffers when the natural servant doesn’t stand up and lead. As I moved through the last 14 days, I challenged myself to lead differently; [...]

Trust matters. No organization—whether it’s a small business, a Fortune 100 global giant, or the government of a nation—can function effectively over the long term unless its people basically [...]

“…the enemy is strong natural servants who have the potential to lead but do not lead, or who choose to follow a non-servant. They suffer. Society suffers.” Robert K. Greenleaf included these [...]

The most important single driver of employee engagement is whether or not employees feel that their leaders, at every level, really care about them. So how do you create a caring mindset in your [...]

If a good society is to be built, one that is MORE JUST AND CARING, and where the less able and more able serve one another with unlimited liability, then the best way is to raise the performance [...]

Can you be both a servant and a leader? If so, can you be effective in the real world? I think the answer to both questions is yes. The purpose of this essay is to explain why and how. The idea [...]

Successful, lasting change takes time. If you’re committed to building, and sustaining, an engaged enterprise, you’ll need to keep making the business case for change when others turn their [...]

Robert Greenleaf once wrote that one of the “marvelous” things about servant leadership was that there was no easy definition for it. We know what it is for – to use and share power wisely with [...]

“Not much happens without a dream. And for something great to happen, there must be a great dream.” Robert K. Greenleaf said this in one of his most famous books, The Servant as Leader. [...]

There is an ongoing battle to not lose humanity in both the organization and the classroom. A battle over what truly matters, the person or the process. Central to this fight is the question: is [...]

Let’s say that you’ve concluded that your organization needs to change if it’s going to build a highly engaged workforce. You know you can’t make that change happen by yourself: you’re going to [...]

Do you remember the children’s story of Pollyanna? Pollyanna is an orphan taken in by her reclusive aunt. Despite a difficult life, she always looks for the positive; searches for the best in [...]

For years, Betsy Hine has donated her time and expertise to develop this bibliography on servant leadership. She has continued to update it, adding entries and annotations. This book contains [...]

Have you ever noticed how many holidays or days of remembrance are celebrated in the month of September? Each brings focus to the contributions of some on behalf of the many. Greenleaf talked [...]

By Kelly Spors, Writer and Editor for Greenleaf Center for Servant Leadership Jack Lowe Jr. became CEO of TD Industries, a Dallas -based builder and facilities management company in 1980 after [...]

Happy Summer! For some, vacations are behind us and the first day of school will be here before you know it.   Others have just kicked off their summer with the fire works that celebrated our [...]

By Kelly Spors, Writer and Editor for Greenleaf Center for Servant Leadership The Home Depot, the world’s largest home-improvement retailer, is known for its employee- and store-centric [...]

With the great success of the first two Academy course offerings, we are once again offering The Foundations of Servant Leadership and The Key Practices of Servant Leadership course starting this [...]

Merriam-Webster defines Wisdom as “knowledge that is gained by having many experiences in life; the natural ability to understand things that most other people cannot understand; the [...]

Business leaders often have conflicted feelings about flexible scheduling. On the one hand, it’s an affordable benefit to offer employees, and it can sometimes even save employers money. But it [...]

Dear friends, Over this past month, I have had the great fortune to meet with groups who are starting or in the midst of their servant leadership journey.   While we have covered a great deal of [...]

Starbucks has gained respect for not just being the largest coffee chain in the world, but also for creating a culture of openness and putting employees first. Howard Behar, who served as company [...]

Bruce Byington Executive Vice President – Americas Region Experience Bruce has been with the Center for Creative Leadership (CCL®) since 1991 and currently serves as Executive Vice President [...]

Greetings friends! I have just returned from a short break with my family at the “Happiest place on Earth”. While spring break at Walt Disney World is hardly restful and relaxing, it [...]

In 2007, plans were initiated to construct a replacement building for a Dallas-area medical facility, Parkland Hospital. To effectively assist in the project, Ann McGee-Cooper & Associates [...]

Kylie Langer, CTRS Character Development Teacher Cherry Gulch Therapeutic Boarding School Emmett, ID Leadership doesn’t mean “being the boss”, receiving an entitlement to more benefits than [...]

The Hine Bibliography of Resources in Servant-Leadership, last published in 2008, is being revised and expanded and is projected to be ready late summer of this year. Editor, Betsy Hine, is being [...]

In Give and Take, Adam Grant tells the story of Sampson who decided to make a bid to run for election into the U.S. Senate after serving eight years in the Illinois State Legislature. Polls [...]

Happy New Year from the Greenleaf Center! For me, January is a month marked by inward reflection and outward resolve. Everything seems possible at the beginning of a new year. I have 12 months [...]

Anita Hurst Director, Student Programs Greenleaf Center When I was a sophomore in college, I was questioning my faith. I did not grow up in a religious or spiritual home. My very close [...]

Linda W. Belton, FACHE Director, Organizational Health VHA National Center for Organization Development Last spring I made major presentations at the International Servant [...]

Pat Falotico CEO, The Greenleaf Center President Woodrow Wilson first proclaimed Armistice Day on November 11, 1919, an occasion marked with "solemn pride in the heroism of those who died in [...]

Atlanta / Indiana — The board of the Greenleaf Center for Servant Leadership announced today the selection of Patricia (Pat) Falotico as the CEO. Falotico recently retired from IBM where she led [...]

Garry is CEO of the WD-40 Company headquartered in San Diego, California. WD-40 Company is the maker of the ever-popular WD-40® multi-use product, and, 3-IN-ONE®, and WD-40 Specialist™ product [...]

Our guest for this Servant Leadership Session is New York Times bestselling author, Jay Baer. In this conversation, we explore the concepts of Servant Leadership applied to the field of marketing [...]

by Susan Gilster, PhD, RN The Gilster Group Thursday, May 29, 2014   Serving others is an expectation in healthcare — it is our product, our business. People who choose to work in healthcare [...]

Dave Ridley currently serves as Senior Vice President of Business Development at Southwest Airlines. During his 26 years at Southwest he has developed a great appreciation for the unique culture [...]

by Jeff Harmon Brillance Within Coaching and Consulting Thursday, April 24, 2014   A company’s leadership team was frustrated by the “me first” behavior where knowledge sharing, [...]

by Monica R. Peterson Community Volunteer; Former Staff – Present Member Greenleaf Center for Servant Leadership Thursday, March 27, 2014   So what about the community of servant [...]

by Stuart Rayfield Frank D. Brown Distinguished Chair in Servant Leadership Columbus State University Thursday, January 23, 2014   I am so very fortunate to work at an institution that [...]

by Dan Lococo Barrier Knocker Downer Greenleaf Center for Servant Leadership Thursday, December 19, 2013   Over the past three years I’ve had the good fortune to facilitate a servant-leader [...]

by Kevin Monroe Director, Greenleaf Consulting Partners Greenleaf Center for Servant Leadership Thursday, December 5, 2013   Looking for a “performance enhancing drug” for your team? [...]

by Phil Anderson Greenleaf Consulting Partner Thursday, November 7, 2013     Recently I was in my car listening to a National Public Radio interview with author Leah Hager Cohen about [...]

by Ben Lichtenwalner Founder, Blogger and Speaker ModernServantLeader.com Thursday, October 24, 2013   I started ModernServantLeader.com back in 2006, in part because I sensed some major [...]

by Dr. Kent M. Keith Chief Executive Officer Greenleaf Center for Servant Leadership Asia Monday, October 14, 2013   Down Periscope is a 1996 film starring Kelsey Grammar as Tom Dodge, a Lt. [...]

by James Riley Former Director and Chair of Teacher Education at Manchester University Author, Consultant in Higher Education Thursday, September 26, 2013   Servant leadership has emerged as [...]

by Jeff Miller, Ph.D. Innovative Leadership Solutions, Inc.  Thursday, August 29, 2013   As we bound into another school year, emotions of excitement, anticipation, and apprehension surround [...]

by Cheryl A. Bachelder Chief Executive Officer Popeyes  Louisiana Kitchen Thursday, August 15, 2013   We are living in a bad boss reality. Are you doing anything to change it? In November, [...]

by Joseph J. Iarocci Chief Executive Officer Robert K. Greenleaf Center for Servant Leadership Thursday, August 8, 2013   Billy Peebles is the headmaster at The Lovett School in Atlanta, [...]

by Larry C. Spears Chief Executive Officer The Spears Center for Servant-Leadership Thursday, July 18, 2013   A few years back, I was invited to give several talks at St. Mary’s University [...]

by Jessica Zisa Freelance Writer & Social Media Intern Marylhurst Center for Servant Leadership Thursday, June 20, 2013   In a world driven by communication and a desire to connect, it [...]

by Judith W. Umlas Senior Vice President International Institute for Learning, Inc. Thursday, June 6, 2013   Grateful Leaders are those who see, recognize, and express appreciation and [...]

by Isabel O. Lopez Lopez Leadership Services Thursday, May 23, 2013   I first became entranced with Michael Pollan when I read his Botany of Desire. So when I saw a review of his latest [...]

by Irene Becker Chief Success Officer Just Coach It—The 3Q Edge Monday, May 13, 2013   Goodness does not mean dumbing down, nor does it mean living in the world of the warm and fuzzies. What [...]

by Dr. Kent M. Keith Chief Executive Officer Greenleaf Center for Servant Leadership Asia Thursday, April 25, 2013 Who can resist a movie about a cute talking pig who learns to be a sheep dog? In [...]

by Ann McGee-Cooper, Ed.D., CEO Ann McGee-Cooper & Associates Thursday, April 11, 2013   In the late 70s, thanks to my friends at TDIndustries and AT&T, I had the unique opportunity [...]

by Don M. Frick, PhD Author and Consultant Thursday, March 28, 2013   I believe in servant leadership because it resonates with mind and spirit and because it works. Servant leadership is an [...]

by Kevin Monroe Director, Greenleaf Consulting Partners Greenleaf Center for Servant Leadership Thursday, March 14, 2013 Words matter. The right word makes a world of difference in what’s [...]

by Joe Iarocci Chief Executive Officer Greenleaf Center for Servant Leadership Thursday, February 28, 2013 People often characterize servant leadership with words like “warm” or “fuzzy” or [...]