Robert K. Greenleaf

Life

Robert Kiefner Greenleaf was born in 1904 in Terre Haute, Indiana. For nearly forty years he worked at AT&T, where he was responsible for management development and research. After retiring in 1964 he founded the Center for Applied Ethics, later renamed the Greenleaf Center for Servant Leadership. He consulted for universities, foundations and churches. He died in 1990.

Greenleaf was a Quaker; the tradition of the Religious Society of Friends, with its emphasis on communal discernment and respect for every voice, shaped his thinking.

Works

• The Servant as Leader (1970) - the essay that introduced the idea of the servant-leader, inspired by Hermann Hesse's Journey to the East; see The Servant as Leader.
• The Institution as Servant (1972) - on institutions that serve people.
• Servant Leadership: A Journey into the Nature of Legitimate Power and Greatness (1977) - a collection of essays, including on servant leadership in business, education and churches.

Significance

Greenleaf's concept influenced many organisations, authors (including Ken Blanchard, Stephen Covey and Peter Senge) and researchers. His “best test” of leadership - whether those served grow as persons - remains one of the most quoted criteria of good leadership. See servant leadership.