Daniel W. Wheeler - Servant Leadership for Higher Education: Principles and Practices

Daniel W. Wheeler

Kent M. Keith

Copyright 2012 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.

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Excerpt from The Servant as Leader by Robert K. Greenleaf. Reprinted by permission of the Greenleaf Center. Copyright Robert K. Greenleaf Center, 1991.

Excerpt from The Institution as Servant by Robert K. Greenleaf. Reprinted by permission of the Greenleaf Center. Copyright Robert K. Greenleaf Center, 1972, 2009.

Excerpt from Tales of Turnaround: Servant Leaders Making a Difference at Universities by Kent Keith. Reprinted by permission of the author. Copyright Kent M. Keith 2008.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Wheeler, Daniel W., date.

Servant leadership for higher education : principles and practices / Daniel W. Wheeler. 1st ed.

p. cm.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN 978-1-118-00890-4 (hardback); 978-1-118-18136-2 (ebk); 978-1-118-18137-9 (ebk); 978-1-118-18138-6 (ebk)

1. Universities and collegesAdministration. 2. Educational leadership. 3. Servant leadership. I. Title.

LB2341.W464 2012

378.1'11dc23

2011039778

• Jeffrey L. Buller, Academic Leadership Day by Day: Small Steps That Lead to Great Success
• Jeffrey L. Buller, The Essential Department Chair: A Practical Guide to College Administration
• Don Chu, The Department Chair Primer: Leading and Managing Academic Departments
• Robert E. Cipriano, Facilitating a Collegial Department in Higher Education: Strategies for Success
• Christian K. Hansen, Time Management for Department Chairs
• Mary Lou Higgerson, Communication Skills for Department Chairs
• Mary Lou Higgerson and Teddi A. Joyce, Effective Leadership Communication: A Guide for Department Chairs and Deans for Managing Difficult Situations and People
• Deryl Leaming, Academic Leadership: A Practical Guide to Chairing the Department, Second Edition
• Deryl Leaming, Managing People: A Guide for Department Chairs and Deans
• Jon Wergin, Departments That Work: Building and Sustaining Cultures of Excellence in Academic Programs
• Daniel W. Wheeler, Servant Leadership for Higher Education: Principles and Practices
• Daniel W. Wheeler et al., The Department Chairs Handbook, Second Edition

• The Department Chair

Visit www.departmentchairs.org for information on online seminars, articles, book excerpts, and other resources tailored especially for department chairs.

This book opens the door into an important fieldthe study and practice of servant leadership in higher education administration. It provides a comprehensive overview of the philosophy, principles, and practices of servant leadership that can make a positive difference in daily administrative work on campus. It is grounded in specific values and applied to real cases.

The book is timely because change is on us, and servant leadership offers a way to achieve the kind of thoughtful, positive change that addresses real needs. Institutions of higher education are complex and difficult to govern well. Typically, three groups have opportunities for leadership in governance and administrationthe board, the faculty, and the administration. If each group focuses only on its own power and prerogatives, little good is likely to occur. If instead all three groups work together to identify and address the highest-priority needs of the institution and those it serves, then authentic and lasting progress is possible. Bold plans can be developed and implemented; dreams can be fulfilled.

No one knew this better than Robert K. Greenleaf, who launched the modern servant leadership movement in 1970 with the publication of his classic essay, The Servant as Leader. The first edition of the essay was addressed to students, faculty members, staff, and board members in institutions of higher education. It was a result of the time he spent in the late sixties teaching and consulting on college campuses.

It is easy to imagine that Greenleafs best test of the servant leader was shaped by his extensive experience on campus. He wrote The best test, and difficult to administer, is: Do those served grow as persons? Do they, while being served, become healthier, wiser, freer, more autonomous, more likely themselves to become servants? This test is exceptionally relevant to the work of educators. We gather together in our campus communities to help each other learn and grow. We focus on the growth of students, of course, but to serve them well we also need to support the growth of faculty members, staff, and board members. Our effectiveness as leaders should be measured by that growth.