Robert K. Greenleaf: A Life of Servant Leadership

by Don M. Frick and Peter M. Senge

Book Overview

Greenleaf's surviving children authorized this biography on their father, whose work influenced everything from management training and education to corporate ethics and religious missions. This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1576752763
• Release Date: June 2004
• Publisher: Berrett-Koehler Publishers
• Length: 456 Pages
• Weight: 0.26 lbs.
• Dimensions: 9.6" x 1.1" x 6.4"

Customer Reviews

A Brilliant Book on Greenleaf

This is a splendid book that beautifully captures the spirit, the ideas, and the intellect of an American giant in management thought. Don Frick is a masterful biographer whose grasp of his subject matter treats us to tantalizing pieces of information about Greenleaf even as he recreates the complex, often paradoxical mosaic of his life, artfully illuminating the man and the extraordinary legacy he left behind. Engaging, insightful, deeply fascinating and, ultimately, prophetic, this book is not about management in the 20th Century when its subject lived, but about managing in the Information Age of the 21st century. Fortunately, Frick's biography is no hagiography, which makes it all the more powerful, but the careful consideration of a man's life-a man who had a deep impact on society, yet who wrestled with inner demons and speaks to us out of his humanity. Frick gives us a feel for Greenleaf himself by inserting excerpts of his writings throughout the book, yet he never disrupts the continuity of the text. It's as if Greenleaf has whispered something in our ear at just the right moment. The real story here is not just servant-leadership, but what Greenleaf can teach us about living as well as about managing in today's turbulent environment. I can't get over how well Frick has told his story, how engaging he has made it, and how much he has to offer us in its pages. I enjoyed the biography immensely and am grateful to Don Frick for creating a comprehensive portrait of Greenleaf's remarkable life. The book is a pleasure to read as well as a exciting journey of the mind and spirit. Enjoy!

Ken Lay: Take Note

In the wake of the Martha Stewart and Ken Lay trials it is important to keep in mind that this behavior is the exception and not the rule. In my experience, the people who succeed in business are those who are aware of the contribution that they make to society. Robert K. Greenleaf: A Life of Servant Leadership sketches a history of the evolution of the concept of Servant Leadership, a concept that has been a cornerstone of thought for many great philosophers such as St. Francis, Lou Tzu, Confucius, Rumi and Gibran. The life of Robert Greenleaf is a living testimony to how the principles of Servant Leadership can be successfully applied to ones professional and personal life. From Greenleaf's example, we learn that effective leaders, lead out of service to their fellow man. Just imagine the strength of a business community that embraces this standard of conduct. The impact that Robert Greenleaf has had on corporate America is truly revolutionary. Robert Greenleaf was an enlightened, twentieth-century business executive practitioner and a twenty-first century visionary whose work is rooting in fertile ground in a global economy and WORLD PEACE!

The Secret of Success: "Service"

As a University Professor, what I really like about Robert K. Greenleaf: A Life of Servant Leadership is how well Don Frick reflected on the people, historical events and experiences that evolved Greenleaf's management style and ultimately the Servant-Leadership Philosophy. It is one thing to understand the concept but the richness of that understanding is greatly enhanced with an understanding of the experiences that supported Greenleaf's theories. I think the book will have a very broad appeal. It is a "How To: management book that comes alive in the form of a BIO. I think it will appeal to a broad audience. The Greenleaf bio with appeal to research scientists, because of how effectively Greenleaf understood the human factors of scientific research and how those factors drove results and the success of large corporate projects. Bob was a research scientist for ATT. Finally in terms of a broad appeal, this is a story of a man whose integrity and personal values were reflected in how a corporation managed a business. His priority in life was to serve his fellow man. The corporation can be tool of service and everyone benefits. It is a great contrast to the ENRON and TYCO stories in which the lack of integrity and personal values ultimately resulted in the demise of the company and the retirement funds of thousands of people.

The First and Truly Definitive Biography of Robert Greenleaf

This book is a labor of love and will likely stand for a very long time as the definitive biography of Robert Greenleaf. The author had access to Greenleaf's family and private papers. You will learn how and why Greenleaf was able to develop his ideas about leadership and their vital connection to altruistic service, stewardship and a higher standard of ethics in our world today. Frick relates how he grew up, what his family life was like, what his career in corporate America was like and how his unusual 'second career' as a writer and consultant shaped his thinking. If you wish to understand servant leadership, Greenleaf's gift to humanity, and perhaps our only true hope of finding the leaders we need to create a better planet, then you need to read this book. FIVE STARS EASILY!