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1 of 1 found the following review helpful:
 Groundbreaking but laborious to read... Jun 07, 2010
If you read anything about the idea of servant leadership, you are likely to encounter a passing reference to Robert Greenleaf's work, if not an outright declaration of adoration. His book "Servant Leadership" and the essay entitled "The Servant as Leader" which is the first chapter of the book have now influenced multiple generations of leaders. He has shaped the language and cast a vision for effective and ethical leadership based first and foremost on serving others, which continues to gain traction in a culture where servanthood may elicit initial impressions of weakness or ineptitude. For offering a compelling alternative to cut-throat, me-first leadership, we all owe Greenleaf a debt of gratitude.
Nonetheless, as truly groundbreaking as this book and its ideas have been over the past 40 years, it's a chore to read. Greenleaf's writing style is rather cumbersome, and his points are sometimes difficult to understand. He writes primarily from an abstract, theoretical perspective, and I found myself often wishing that he would have integrated more stories, more practical examples into his writing. I often felt like he was possibly offering a reasonable idea, but I'd need to read about its actual implementation in a real-life setting to really understand what he was saying. But those examples were few and far between.
It is clear that Greenleaf was a brilliant man, and his influence in leadership within corporate, educational, and religious institutions continues to resonate into the 21st-century. But rather than reading this book, I'd recommend that those who are interested in servant leadership should read his initial essay ("The Servant as Leader") and then move on to books written by more accessible authors (i.e. Ken Blanchard). I'm glad to have plowed through this book because of its place in the modern leadership canon, but I'm hard-pressed to recommend it to anyone but the most serious of servant leadership scholars.
1 of 1 found the following review helpful:
Nothing new Feb 11, 2010
The idea of servant leadership isn't new to me. I thought this book was going to redefine how I looked at servant leadership but it didn't. However, it was still a good book. The author of this book actually coined the idea of servant leadership back in the early 1970's and he had devoted his life to the study of servant leadership.
If you are going into any leadership position, this is a good book to look over, but not an essential.
2 of 4 found the following review helpful:
 Difficult to read Oct 16, 2009
This is definitely not a page turner. No doubt there are some good truths in the book but the style of writing makes it difficult to remain interested.
1 of 1 found the following review helpful:
Idealistic, Judeo-Christian approach to long-time, visionary business management Oct 07, 2009
If we invest in people by valuing them as the reason we are here on earth, then our behavior, thoughts, and deeds will force us into the role of servants. The best servants become people whose service causes them to be viewed as leaders. Once cast into the role of servant-leader, the individual must develop and hone leadership capabilities and qualities that make life better for everyone: clients, customers, community, etc.
People tend to be loyal to the servant-leader. Loyalty, in turn, becomes a solid footer of the foundation on which the long-lasting enterprise is built.
 Leadership as it must be Feb 16, 2009
Anyone can be a leader. Of course, there are good, better and best ways to approach leadership. This book explains the best way to approach leadership. Not just a leader however, but a great leader. Greenleaf adds something extremely important to the discussion of leadership in this book. Its an easy read and definitely worth the time. He looks at the subject of leadership through examples of great leaders.
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