Much of the leadership literature includes as an implicit assumption the belief that positive characteristics can-and-should be encouraged and practiced by leaders. I particularly like Warren Bennis’s (1989) short list as contained in his book, On Becoming a Leader, in which he identifies, “vision, inspiration, empathy and trustworthiness” as key characteristics of effective leaders (p. The literature on leadership includes a number of different listings of character traits as practiced by leaders. Character refers to deep structures of personality that are particularly resistant to change” (p. James Hillman (1996), in The Soul’s Code: In Search of Character and Calling, describes the “invisible source of personal consistency, for which I am using the word `habit,’ psychology today calls character. A number of noted leadership authors have looked at issues of a leader’s character. The nature of character and its relationship to leaders has also taken on increased significance in recent years.
That program has been adopted by a number of schools and communities nationwide and teaches core values which they call “Six Pillars of Character.” Those six particular character values are: trustworthiness, respect, responsibility, fairness, caring, and citizenship. Many people today are familiar with the Character Counts! (sm) program of the Josephson Institute of Ethics. In recent years there has been a growing interest in the nature of character and character education, based upon a belief that positive character traits can be both taught and learned. Our fundamental understanding of character has much to do with the essential traits exhibited by a person. This piece was originally published in 2000 in Volume 8, Issue 3 of Concepts and Connections, the newsletter of the National Clearinghouse for Leadership Programs. They are: listening, empathy, healing, awareness, persuasion, conceptualization, foresight, stewardship, commitment to the growth of people, and building community. This article examines a set of ten characteristics of the servant leader that are of critical importance. Servant leadership seeks to involve others in decision making, is strongly based in ethical and caring behavior, and enhances the growth of workers while improving the caring and quality of organizational life.
We are experiencing a rapid shift in many businesses and not-for-profit organizations- away from the more traditional autocratic and hierarchical models of leadership and toward servant leadership as a way of being in relationship with others.
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