Robert K. Greenleaf Quotes

One of the topics I'm most passionate about is servant leadership - the greatest leaders recognize that they're here to serve, not to be served.

...the best leaders are servant leaders - they serve those they lead.

The beginning and the end of all Christian leadership is to give your life for others.

Leadership is about being a servant first.

The secret to greatness is in serving everyone else.

I believe that to command is to serve and only gives one the right to serve.

You know that he who would be the greatest among you must become the servant of all.

Jesus measured greatness in terms of service not status. God determines your greatness by how many people you serve, not how many people serve you.

One of the deepest principles of life and leadership: it's not about you.

One of the most amazing things ever said on this earth is Jesus's statement: "He that is greatest among you shall be your servant." Nobody has one chance in a billion of being thought really great after a century has passed except those who have been the servants of all. That strange realist from Bethlehem knew that.

It's really hard to be a servant leader because we come into this world as a baby in a self-survival mode. Life is a journey toward service.

...because with us what is highest must be at the service of others.

Self-sacrifice is essential to leadership. You will give, give all the time.

Above all, leadership is a position of servanthood.

It was actually the opposite of what a director once said to me. He said, 'Remember, everyone is here to serve you.' And as he walked away, I thought to myself, 'It's exactly the opposite: I'm here to serve everyone.

Leadership is a choice to protect the person to the left of us, and protect the person to the right of us, and sometimes that may come at a cost. It may cost us our benefits, it may cost us our comfort, it may sometimes cost us our perks, whatever it is, credit.

True leadership is servanthood. Put the interests of others at the center of your decisions.

The princes among us are those who forget themselves and serve others.

Among us, who is above must be in service of the others. This doesn't mean we have to wash each other's feet every day, but we must help one another.

I believe in servant leadership, and the servant always asks, 'Where am I needed most?'

You can only govern men by serving them. The rule is without exception.

The first responsibility of a leader is to define reality. The last is to say thank you. In between, the leader is a servant.

I never thought in terms of being a leader. I thought very simply in terms of helping people.

The purpose of human life is to serve and to show compassion and the will to help others.

Being of service is not enough. You must become a servant of the people. When you do, you can demand their commitment in return