Trainers Toolchest

The Meaning of the Compound Word “Servant-Leader” 
Dr. Kent M. Keith, CEO, Greenleaf Center for Servant Leadership

The term “servant-leader” was coined by Robert Greenleaf in his classic essay, “The Servant as Leader,” that he first published in 1970. That essay launched the modern servant leadership movement. I have met many people who struggle with the meaning of “servant-leader.”  Some think you can’t be a servant and a leader because those are two separate and opposite things that logically can’t be combined. I call this the “irreconcilable opposites” idea of servant leadership. If you think that a servant is fawning and compliant, and you think that a leader is powerful and commanding, then indeed the words will seem to be opposites that can’t be joined. That may lead to a discussion of how the joining of opposites is more often seen in Eastern philosophies than in Western thought. Some people get around this apparent problem by...read full article

Trainer's Toolchest's release of Servant Leadership, the video program, helps move your organization's servant leaders in waiting beyond the idea of "separate and opposite" functions of leadership. The Latin root of the word "Hero" also means Servant. Heroes become heroes by serving others.