Servant leadership is based on leadership through serving rather than managing or controlling. According to Larry C. Spears, CEO, The Greenleaf Center for Servant-Leadership, there are 10 characteristics of the servant leader (abridged):

• Listening. He or she listens receptively to what is being said and unsaid.

• Empathy. The servant-leader strives to understand and empathize with others.

• Healing. . . . One of the great strengths of servant-leadership is the potential for healing one's self and one's relationship to others.

• Awareness. General awareness, and especially self-awareness, are strengths of the servant-leader.

• Persuasion. Another characteristic of servant-leaders is a reliance on persuasion, rather than on one's positional authority, in making decisions within an organization. The servant-leader seeks to convince others, rather than coerce compliance.

• Conceptualization. Servant-leaders seek to nurture their abilities to dream great dreams, . . . to encompass broader-based conceptual thinking, . . . to provide the visionary concept for an institution.

• Foresight. Closely related to conceptualization, the ability to foresee the likely outcome of a situation . . . by understanding the lessons from the past, the realities of the present, and the likely consequence of a decision for the future.

• Stewardship. The servant-leader assumes first and foremost a commitment to serving the needs of others by using openness and persuasion rather than control.

• Commitment to the growth of people. The servant-leader is deeply committed to the growth of each and every individual within his or her organization.

• Building community. The servant-leader seeks to identify some means for building community among those who work within a given institution (pp. 2-4).

L. C. Spears, "On Character and Servant-Leadership: Ten Characteristics of Effective, Caring Leaders." The Robert K. Greenleaf Center for Servant-Leadership, Indianapolis, IN, 2002. Retrieved March 24, 2003, from http:// www.greenleaf.org/leadership/read-about-it/articles/

On-Character-and-Servant-Leadership-Articles-Book-Reviews.html.

1		To what extent could servant leadership work for small, problem-solving classroom discussions?
2		Does servant leadership appear to be something easy to implement? Why or why not?
3		Would you ever want to serve under a servant-leader? Why or why not?