Book Review: Servant Leadership



Book Review: Servant Leadership

Introduction

This book; Servant Leadership: A Journey into the Nature of Legitimate Power and Greatness, written by Robert K. Greenleaf in the year 1977, depicted a major breakthrough in the research and practice in the field of Leadership and the philosophy behind Leadership. The main idea that was created; rather highlighted at the back of this book is 'Servant Leadership'. This book pre-dominantly comprises of various articles and essays that revolved around the concept of Servant Leadership; through the discussion of context and major aspects of this approach to the Leadership.

Discussion

This leadership approach, as comprehended in this book, is considered to be profoundly transformational leadership technique where Greenleaf imparted the idea that a leader could truly exercise his duty and meet it more fully if he were to act as a servant rather than an autocrat. It inculcated a paradigm shift into the organizational structure and the leadership studies. But yet, although its importance is now a known fact for the progress of the people and the organisation as a whole; Greenleaf argues in his book that it would only be embraced by fewer larger organizations, for the change in perception along with the commitment among the leaders for the placement of servant hood above leadership attributes is difficult to develop. Thereby, this technique would not be able to gain access into the mainstream organizational culture and structure.

The book takes off with the account of Herman Hesse's Journey to the East. This story has in it the cues that form the baseline of the idea behind the Servant Leadership. It made Greenleaf unravel the thought that behind the selection of an individual as leader; it is the followers and their logic or sometimes instinct that makes their selected individual embark upon the throne.

This ...