Larry C. Spears, Editor
The Undergraduate Journal of Servant-Leadership
Welcome to the premier issue of The Undergraduate Journal of Servant-Leadership, a joint publication of Gustavus Adolphus College (Saint Peter, Minnesota) and The Spears Center for Servant-Leadership (Indianapolis, Indiana).
In 2010, Gustavus Adolphus College established The Center for Servant Leadership, dedicated to encouraging the understanding and practice of servant-leadership by everyone associated with the college. Now, with the creation of The Undergraduate Journal of Servant-Leadership, Gustavus Adolphus College also hopes to serve the wider community of undergraduate colleges and universities as a source of inspiration and ideas for all who have an interest in servant-leadership and undergraduate education.
This journal has been designed as an electronic publication so that it may be disseminated widely. This initial issue contains a mixture of articles about the meaning of servant-leadership as well as stories of servant-leadership in practice at Gustavus Adolphus College. We look forward to including articles about servant-leadership at other undergraduate institutions in the future.
Some thoughts regarding the presence or absence of the hyphen in servant-leader and servant-leadership are in order—
While the word “servant leader” can be found without the hyphen in some publications, Robert Greenleaf believed the inclusion of the hyphen was critical in emphasizing the idea of serving first, then leading. I also think it is critical to do so, and so within this journal we will seek to include the hyphen in “servant-leader” wherever it appears, as a means of emphasizing the primacy of serving. While I am convinced that the same reasoning also applies to the inclusion of a hyphen in “servant-leadership,” in this particular instance the rules of grammar tell us that while it is fine to include the hyphen in “servant-leader,” such is not the case when we are talking about “servant leadership,” and so English grammar would have us leave the hyphen out of “servant leadership.” In a way, we are left with a philosophical dilemma of choosing between established rules of grammar vs. a profound difference in the intended meaning of not only a word, but an idea.
David Wallace addresses this dilemma in his recent chapter titled, “The Power of a Hyphen: The Primacy of Servanthood in Servant-Leadership,” (The Spirit of Servant-Leadership, Paulist Press, 2011). He writes the following—
“This priority on servanthood in servant-leadership has profound significance. It sets servant-leadership apart from other forms of leadership. Other types of leadership are defined in the context of leadership. In contrast, servant-leadership is first an expression of servanthood, not simply a way of leading. Servant-leaders are servants first, then leaders.
If the primacy of servanthood in servant-leadership is not maintained, servant-leadership might be approached as simply a technique…. This denies the very nature and heart of the servant-leader…. I would suggest that when it is possible, we affirm the primacy of servanthood in servant-leadership by using the hyphen in both terms, servant-leader and servant-leadership.”
David Wallace’s view is also my own. As journal editor, the answer that I have come to in this instance is the same one that I have come to each time that I have addressed this challenge as an editor of books and journals over the years: On the matter of “servant-leader,” it will be our policy to include the hyphen as Robert Greenleaf did, and as most authors continue to do. On the matter of “servant-leadership” or “servant leadership,” we will honor the choice and preference made by the author of each article. This means that we are taking a conscious and principled stand in favor of a little grammatical inconsistency in order to honor both the preferences and deeply held beliefs of those authors for whom this is a matter of considerable consequence.
We cordially invite servant-leadership submissions from our readers—with or without the hyphen! Please send articles and information regarding servant-leadership and undergraduate education to me at lspears@spearscenter.org.
Welcome!
About the Author
LARRY C. SPEARS is President & CEO of The Spears Center for Servant-Leadership (www.spearscenter.org), an international not-for-profit based in Indianapolis. From 1990-2007 he served as President & CEO of The Robert K. Greenleaf Center. A noted thought-leader and speaker on servant-leadership, he is author and editor of a dozen books, including The Spirit of Servant-Leadership (2011). Larry also teaches a graduate courses in servant-leadership for Gonzaga University (Spokane) and serves as Advisory Editor of The International Journal of Servant-Leadership—a joint publication of Gonzaga University and The Spears Center.