Top Five Servant Leadership Books

Servant Leadership plays a large part in the role of a superintendent. The position is one of service to the school district, including the students, staff, faculty, parents and citizens. It is not a position that cannot simply be “turned off,” because the track to keeping a school district healthy and successful is never ending. To be an effective superintendent, it is necessary to understand what servant leadership is and how it connects to the role. Below are the top five servant leadership resources:

1. The Servant as Leader – Robert Greenleaf’s essay on servant leadership, which was first published in 1970. This book explains the foundation of servant leadership, including the characteristics needed to be a servant leader.
2. The Secret: What Great Leaders Know and Do – Ken Blanchard and Mark Miller provide an uplifting parable about a manager forced to rethink her definition of leadership. The 10th Anniversary edition includes a leadership self-assessment and answers to frequently asked questions about the SERVE model.
3. The Leadership Challenge: How to Make Extraordinary Things Happen in Organizations – Executive educators Jim Kouzes and Barry Posner provide the five practices of exemplary leadership in this evidence-based resource.
4. Multipliers: How the Best Leaders Make Everyone Smarter – Leadership expert Liz Wiseman introduces the “multipliers” and the “diminishers,” two types of leaders that can be found in every organization. Which one are you?
5. Give and Take: Why Helping Others Drives our Success – Adam Grant, a Wharton professor, describes three interpersonal styles (taking, matching and giving) that shape the people who rise to the top and those who don’t. What is interesting is that in today’s workplace, success is dependent on how we help others.

While some of these books provide practical guidance on servant leadership, others offer leadership principles that align with it. It is vital that we explore not just servant leadership, but all avenues connected to it. Anyone can possess leadership qualities; it is understanding their power and using them productively that will produce exceptional results, such as having faculty that utilizes creative learning practices to improve test scores or a staff that creates a positive school environment.

Originally published at frankcostanzo.org on September 23, 2019.