Servanthood as Love, Relationships, and Power: A Heideggerian Hermeneutic Study on the Experiences of Servant-Leaders

This study is to revisit the meaning of servant leadership, especially what it means to be "the servant as leader" in organizations. In order to appreciate nuances in the multifaceted nature of servanthood, this study engages in a hermeneutic analysis using a Heideggerian hermeneutical methodology, and converges study participants' voices, pertinent philosophical and non-philosophical literature, and the researcher's experiences and pre-understandings. Fifteen servant-leaders across the United States were selected based on nominations, and were interviewed in person. The interpretive work explores the nature of servanthood in three themes (constellations) from the data: Servanthood as (a) Love and Care, (b) Relationships and Connections, and (c) Power, all of which are interconnected. The various facets of servanthood as love are explored in how the servant-leaders experience humanistic love (Agapao), friendship (Philia), aspiration toward the ideal (Eros), and altruism (Agape). Servanthood as relationships is interpreted in authenticity as ownedness (relationships to self) and the one-ness with others as I-Thou (relationships to others). Servanthood as power highlights how the servant-leaders engage in unconventional power such as letting go and vulnerability. The reflective syntheses of the three constellations discuss the complexity of servanthood in its paradoxical and organic nature, and examine servanthood through a gender perspective.