About the Editor
and The Greenleaf Center
for Servant-Leadership

Larry Spears is the editor of two acclaimed collections of essays on servant-leadership—Insights on Leadership: Service, Stewardship, Spirit, and Servant-Leadership (1998) and Reflections on Leadership: How Robert K. Greenleaf’s Theory of Servant-Leadership Influenced Today’s Top Management Thinkers (1995)—both published by John Wiley & Sons. Spears has previously co-edited two books by Robert K. Greenleaf, On Becoming a Servant Leader (1996) and Seeker and Servant (1996)—both published by Jossey-Bass Publishers. He is also a contributing author to Stone Soup for the World (1998) and Leadership in a New Era (1994). Since 1970, Spears has published many articles, essays, and book reviews. Among his more recent articles are “Reflections on Robert K. Greenleaf and Servant-Leadership” and “Being a Servant-Leader.”

Spears was named CEO of the Robert K. Greenleaf Center for Servant-Leadership in 1990, shortly before Robert Greenleaf died. Under his leadership, The Greenleaf Center has experienced tremendous growth and influence. As a manager and leader, Spears has been noted for his successes in applying entrepreneurial methodologies to nonprofit organizations. He also speaks on the topic of servant-leadership. The titles of several of his addresses include “Servant-Leadership and the Honoring of Excellence” and “Understanding Robert K. Greenleaf and Servant-Leadership.”

In addition to his involvement with the Center, Spears is a member of the National Society of Fund Raising Executives, the World Futures Society, and the American Society of Association Executives. Like Robert Greenleaf, Larry Spears is a Quaker. In the 1980s, Spears worked on the staff of the Quaker magazine, Friends Journal. From 1988–98, Spears has served as a board trustee for Friends Journal where he chairs its advancement committee. Prior to joining The Greenleaf Center, he served as Managing Director of The Greater Philadelphia Philosophy Consortium, and as a staff member with the Great Lakes Colleges Association’s Philadelphia Center.

The Greenleaf Center for Servant-Leadership, headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana, is an international, nonprofit, educational organization that seeks to encourage the understanding and practice of servant-leadership. The center’s mission is to improve the caring and quality of all institutions through a new approach to leadership, structure, and decision making.

The Greenleaf Center’s programs include the worldwide sale of books, essays, and videotapes on servant-leadership and the preparation and presentation of workshops, seminars, institutes, retreats, an annual international conference, a partnership program, and consultation.

Through the dissemination of Robert Greenleaf’s idea about servant-leadership, a number of institutions and individuals have been changed. Servant-leadership is now used as an institutional model, as the basis for educating and training board trustees and community leaders, as the foundation of college and university courses and corporate training programs, and as a vehicle for personal growth and transformation.

For further information about the resources for study and programming available from the Center, contact:

The Greenleaf Center for Servant-Leadership
921 East Eighty-Sixth Street, Suite 200
Indianapolis, IN 46240
Phone (317) 259-1241; Fax (317) 259-0560
E-mail: [email protected]
Visit us at http://www.greenleaf.org

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