The Institution as Servant

This is Robert Greenleaf's second major essay, which begins with his thesis that ôIf a better society is to be built, one that is more just and more loving, one that provides greater creative opportunity for its people, then the most open course is to raise both the capacity to serve and the very performance as servant of existing major institutions by new regenerative forces operating within them.

The essay calls upon trustees and other leaders to care about institutions and all the people that institutions touch--employees, customers, business partners, communities. Greenleaf challenges conventional wisdom about hierarchical organizational structures, and argues instead for a ôfirst among equalsö model. Trustees and leaders in businesses, universities, and churches will think about the impact and structure of their organizations in a new way after reading this essay.