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BY Joel Junker

Servant Leadership and the JMO (E203)

When I interview junior military officers (JMOs) to determine their fit with the Cameron-Brooks program, I ask them to describe their leadership style. They often label their style as “I am a servant leader.” When I help the officers in our program prepare answers to the question, “What is your leadership style, or similarly, how do you build a team?” I hear much of the same, such as, “I use a servant leadership style approach.” When I hear JMOs describe what they mean, I wonder if they genuinely understand servant leadership.

To help gain clarification, I interviewed Dr. Michael Carey, a professor at Gonzaga University School of Leadership Studies who was the first director of the Organizational Leadership program in 1987 to be a guest on the show. Dr. Carey is the coordinator for the Master in Servant Leadership program and teaches several classes. Gonzaga University is recognized as one of the leading institutions in Servant Leadership.

I am currently a graduate student in the Gonzaga Master’s of Organizational Leadership and have taken two classes in the Servant Leadership concentration, one of them with Dr. Carey and another with Larry Spears, the founder of the Spears Center for Servant-Leadership and former longtime President and CEO (1990-2007) of The Robert K. Greenleaf Center for Servant-Leadership.

My conversation with Dr. Carey aims to easily define and explain Servant Leadership and how we can all be Servant Leaders at work, at home, and in other organizations. In addition to Servant Leadership, we also cover Transformational Leadership, which is related.

The conversation is not academic at all and is highly applicable to military officers still serving, those preparing for the transition, and the Cameron-Brooks Alumni listeners as well. Listen and learn more about servant leadership and the JMO.

To learn more about Servant Leadership, Dr. Carey recommended the topics listed below.

Robert Greenleaf is considered the founder of the Servant Leadership concept. He wrote the essay “The Servant as Leader” in 1970. The institute he started on Servant Leadership is now based at Seton Hall University. You can find numerous resources and articles on Servant Leadership at the Robert K. Greenleaf Center for Servant Leadership at https://www.greenleaf.org/.

He also referenced the Spears Center for Servant-Leadership, which I had described previously.

Both of these websites have blogs and book recommendations.

Here is my favorite Robert Greenleaf quote that I try to follow each day, “The servant-leader is servant first, it begins with a natural feeling that one wants to serve, to serve first, as opposed to, wanting power, influence, fame, or wealth.”

Thank you for listening to the Cameron-Brooks podcast! As you consider your potential transition from the military to the business world, if you’d like to discuss your marketability or how Cameron-Brooks can guide you to launch your career, please contact us directly. Schedule a call here. 

Cameron-Brooks has a 50-year track record of guiding military officers to create a step-by-step plan to learn about their options, connect their military experiences directly to opportunities in corporate America, craft a resume that will stand out to hiring managers, and ultimately launch a successful business career. 

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