Blog Posts

Servant Leadership in Action

The world is in desperate need of a different leadership role model. We all have seen the negative impact of self-serving leaders. A major goal of Ken Blanchard is to prove that servant leadership has application in both secular and spiritual leadership in every kind of organization, including businesses, government agencies, educational institutions, and places of worship.

Two thousand years ago, servant leadership was central to the philosophy of Jesus, who exemplified the fully committed and effective servant leader. Mahatma Gandhi, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., and Nelson Mandela are well-known modern examples of leaders who have exemplified this philosophy.

As John C. Maxwell observes, “When you become a leader, you give up your right to think of yourself first. Servant leadership is about always putting others first.”

Leaders throughout the world will be people who, in Robert K. Greenleaf’s terms, “serve first and lead second.”

Ken Blanchard’s Servant Leadership in Action: How You Can Achieve Great Relationships and Results features forty-four renowned servant leadership experts and practitioners—prominent business executives, bestselling authors, and respected spiritual leaders—who offer advice and tools for implementing this leadership model.

Click here for a summary of Servant Leadership in Action

Servant Leadership Roadmap: The 12 Core Competencies of Success

Consider the paradoxes of being a servant-leader in Brewer’s poem below:

Strong enough to be weak

Successful enough to fail

Busy enough to make time

Wise enough to say “I don’t know”

Serious enough to laugh

Rich enough to be poor

Right enough to say “I’m wrong”

Compassionate enough to discipline

Mature enough to be childlike

Important enough to be last

Planned enough to be spontaneous

Controlled enough to be flexible

Free enough to endure captivity

Knowledgeable enough to ask questions

Loving enough to be angry

Great enough to be anonymous

Responsible enough to play

Assured enough to be rejected

Victorious enough to lose

Industrious enough to relax

Leading enough to serve

Hansel, in Holy Sweat, Dallas Texas, 1987, p. 29

In 2017, Cara Bramlett penned a book, encouraging readers to master the 12 core competencies of management success with leadership qualities and interpersonal skills.

Click here for a summary of Bramlett’s Servant Leadership Roadmap