IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/h/spr/sprchp/978-3-031-69922-1_1.html
   My bibliography  Save this book chapter

Servant Leadership: An Introduction

In: Servant Leadership

Author

Listed:
  • Dirk Dierendonck

    (Erasmus University)

  • Kathleen Patterson

    (Regent University School of Business & Leadership)

Abstract

Traditional leadership models are increasingly inadequate in a globalized world facing disruptive changes. This text explores the rise of servant leadership as a more effective approach, emphasizing interdependence, ethical behavior, and long-term societal responsibility. Coined by Robert K. Greenleaf over five decades ago, servant leadership prioritizes the needs of people within organizations and the larger community. Empirical research has demonstrated its positive impact on job satisfaction, commitment, trust, and performance. Historical figures like Jean Monnet, George Washington, and William Wilberforce exemplify servant leadership's effectiveness. Unique elements of this leadership style include a genuine concern for individuals, leading by persuasion rather than command, and a focus on ethical, long-term outcomes. Servant leadership fosters strong interpersonal relationships, a sense of community, and trust, making it well-suited to address today's global challenges. By embracing these principles, leaders can navigate disruptions more effectively and contribute to a more sustainable and equitable society. This text underscores the need for virtuous leadership that embraces individuals as whole beings and inspires a collective sense of purpose, enhancing organizations and benefiting the world.

Suggested Citation

  • Dirk Dierendonck & Kathleen Patterson, 2025. "Servant Leadership: An Introduction," Springer Books, in: Dirk van Dierendonck & Kathleen Patterson (ed.), Servant Leadership, edition 0, chapter 0, pages 3-14, Springer.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:sprchp:978-3-031-69922-1_1
    DOI: 10.1007/978-3-031-69922-1_1
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    To our knowledge, this item is not available for download. To find whether it is available, there are three options:
    1. Check below whether another version of this item is available online.
    2. Check on the provider's web page whether it is in fact available.
    3. Perform a search for a similarly titled item that would be available.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:spr:sprchp:978-3-031-69922-1_1. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.