Robert K. Greenleaf Quotes

On this page you can find the TOP of Robert K. Greenleaf's best quotes! We hope you will find some sayings from Robert K. Greenleaf's in our collection, which will inspire you to new achievements! There are currently 27 quotes on this page collected since 1904! Share our collection of quotes with your friends on social media so that they can find something to inspire them!
All quotes by Robert K. Greenleaf: more...
  • Moral authority is another way to define servant leadership because it represents a reciprocal choice between leader and follower. If the leader is principle centered, he or she will develop moral authority. If the follower is principle centered, he or she will follow the leader. In this sense, both leaders and followers are followers. Why? They follow truth. They follow natural law. They follow principles. They follow a common, agreed-upon vision. They share values. They grow to trust one another.

    Law   Choices   Leader  
  • The quality of a society will be judged by what the least privileged in it achieves.

    Robert K. Greenleaf (1998). “The Power of Servant-Leadership”, p.264, Berrett-Koehler Publishers
  • The servant leader is servant first. It begins with the natural feeling that one wants to serve.

    Leader   Feelings   Want  
    "The power of servant-leadership". Book by Robert K. Greenleaf, 1998.
  • The most serious failure of leadership is the failure to foresee

  • Ego can’t sleep. It micro-manages. It disempowers. It reduces our capability. It excels in control.

    Robert K. Greenleaf, Larry C. Spears (2002). “Servant Leadership: A Journey Into the Nature of Legitimate Power and Greatness”, p.20, Paulist Press
  • The servant-leader is servant first... It begins with the natural feeling that one wants to serve, to serve first. Then conscious choice brings one to aspire to lead. That person is sharply different from one who is leader first.

    Robert K. Greenleaf, Larry C. Spears (1998). “The Power of Servant-leadership: Essays”, p.123, Berrett-Koehler Publishers
  • A statement of vision is the overarching purpose, the big dream, the visionary concept-something presently out of reach-so stated that it excites the imagination and chlalenges people to work for something they do not yet know how to do.

  • Behind every great achievement is a dreamer of great dreams.

    Dream   Men   Behinds  
    Robert K. Greenleaf, Larry C. Spears (2002). “Servant Leadership: A Journey Into the Nature of Legitimate Power and Greatness”, p.40, Paulist Press
  • One must not be afraid of a little silence. Some find silence awkward or oppressive. But a relaxed approach to dialogue will include the welcoming of some silence. It is often a devastating question to ask oneself, but it is sometimes important to ask it - 'In saying what I have in mind will I really improve on the silence?

    Silence   Awkward   Mind  
    Robert K. Greenleaf, Larry C. Spears (2002). “Servant Leadership: A Journey Into the Nature of Legitimate Power and Greatness”, p.41, Paulist Press
  • Nothing much happens without a dream. For something really great to happen, it takes a really great dream.

  • For the person with creative potential there is no wholeness except in using it.

    Robert K. Greenleaf, Hamilton Beazley, Julie Beggs (2003). “The Servant-leader Within: A Transformative Path”, p.41, Paulist Press
  • Even the frankest and bravest of subordinates do not talk with their boss the same way they talk with colleagues.

    Boss   Way   Owners  
    Robert K. Greenleaf, Larry C. Spears (2002). “Servant Leadership: A Journey Into the Nature of Legitimate Power and Greatness”, p.73, Paulist Press
  • Good leaders must first become good servants.

  • Leadership must first and foremost meet the needs of others.

  • Faith is the choice of the nobler hypothesis.' Not the noblest, one never knows what that is. But the nobler, the best one can see when the choice is made.

    Robert K. Greenleaf, Larry C. Spears (2002). “Servant Leadership: A Journey Into the Nature of Legitimate Power and Greatness”, p.38, Paulist Press
  • Love without laughter can be grim and oppressive. Laughter without love can be derisive and venomous. Together they make for greatness of spirit.

  • Where there is not community, trust, respect, ethical behavior are difficult for the young to learn and for the old to maintain.

  • Who is the enemy? Who is holding back more rapid movement to the better society that is reasonable and possible with available resources?...Evil, stupidity, apathy, the 'system' are not the enemy...The real enemy is fuzzy thinking on the part of good, intelligent, vital people...In short, the enemy is strong natural servants who have the potential to lead but do not lead, or who choose to follow a non-servant.

  • On an important decision one rarely has 100% of the information needed for a good decision no matter how much one spends or how long one waits. And, if one waits too long, he has a different problem and has to start all over. This is the terrible dilemma of the hesitant decision maker.

    Long   Decision   Waiting  
  • The best leaders are clear. They continually light the way, and in the process, let each person know that what they do makes a difference. The best test as a leader is: Do those served grow as persons; do they become healthier, wiser, freer, more autonomous, more likely themselves to become leaders?

  • Not much happens without a dream. And for something great to happen, there must be a great dream. Behind every great achievement is a dreamer of great dreams. Much more than a dreamer is required to bring it to reality; but the dream must be there first.

    Robert K. Greenleaf, Larry C. Spears (2002). “Servant Leadership: A Journey Into the Nature of Legitimate Power and Greatness”, p.40, Paulist Press
  • A Leader is one who ventures and takes the risks of going out ahead to show the way and whom others follow, voluntarily, because they are persuaded that the leader's path is the right one-for them, probably better than they could devise for themselves.

    Leader   Risk   Going Out  
    Robert K. Greenleaf, Larry C. Spears (1998). “The Power of Servant-leadership: Essays”, p.44, Berrett-Koehler Publishers
  • Servant leadership always empathizes, always accepts the person, but sometimes refuses to accept some of the person's effort or performance as good enough.

    Robert K. Greenleaf, Larry C. Spears (2002). “Servant Leadership: A Journey Into the Nature of Legitimate Power and Greatness”, p.43, Paulist Press
  • The only test of leadership is that somebody follows.

    Robert K. Greenleaf, Larry C. Spears (1998). “The Power of Servant-leadership: Essays”, p.31, Berrett-Koehler Publishers
  • The work exists for the person as much as the person exists for the work.

    Work   Persons  
    Robert K. Greenleaf (2002). “Servant Leadership: A Journey Into the Nature of Legitimate Power and Greatness”, p.127, Paulist Press
  • Purpose and laughter are the twins that must not separate. Each is empty without the other.

  • Don't assume, because you are intelligent, able, and well-motivated, that you are open to communication, that you know how to listen.

Page 1 of 1
We hope you have found the saying you were looking for in our collection! At the moment, we have collected 27 quotes from the Robert K. Greenleaf, starting from 1904! We periodically replenish our collection so that visitors of our website can always find inspirational quotes by authors from all over the world! Come back to us again!
Robert K. Greenleaf quotes about: