Tracing Spiritual Capital in the World: Robert Greenleaf’s Servant-Leader Philosophy

As individual readers form into collections of communities of readers based on their interest in Hesse’s texts in a concretization of the literary imagination (for example, as formal associations or more loosely configured internet groups), the outcome can provide a “powerful cognitive phenomenon that affects wider social processes.”1Rebecca Braun, Authors and the World: Literary Authorship in Modern Germany (New York: Bloomsbury Academic, 2022), 4. We turn now to an example of those wider social processes to explore a further iteration of spiritual capital and examine how reading The Journey to the East helped to develop a new management philosophy. Management theorist Robert K. Greenleaf was inspired by his reading of The Journey to the East to form the Servant Leadership Movement, which he conceived as “a specific leadership and management approach.”2Larry Spears described it thus: a model “that attempts to simultaneously enhance the personal growth of workers and improve the quality and caring of our many institutions through a combination of teamwork and community, personal involvement in decision making, and ethical and caring behavior.” Larry Spears, “Introduction: Servant-Leadership and The Greenleaf Legacy,” in Reflections on Leadership, ed. Larry Spears (New York: Wiley, 1995), 1–2. Greenleaf’s moment of inspiration came from reading Hesse’s short novel in the 1960s. Greenleaf posited that, as we see in the figure of Leo in the novel, a great leader is first a servant to others.3R. K. Greenleaf, The Servant Leader Within: A Transformative Path (New York: Paulist Press, 2003), 15. Greenleaf suggested that the two roles could be merged in “one real person.”4Greenleaf, The Servant Leader Within, 32. Emphasis in original. The role of the servant would be one of “integrity and spirit” and trust-building, thereby helping people to “grow,” while the leader could influence “other’s destinies by going out ahead to show the way.”5Greenleaf, The Servant Leader Within, 32. For Greenleaf, Leo demonstrated “powerful leadership,” as even in his menial tasks his spiritual core radiated through his physical being, thereby inspiring and uplifting others on the journey.6Greenleaf, The Servant Leader Within, 68. Greenleaf concluded that “Leo’s servant nature was the real person, … and not to be taken away. Leo was servant first.”7Greenleaf, The Servant Leader Within, 247. Of course, Hesse’s protagonist in The Glass Bead Game is Josef Knecht. Knecht in English means “servant.” Greenleaf’s interpretation of and deep connection with the spiritual narrative of Hesse’s story exemplifies not only how Hesse’s works actually impact readers, but also how the generation of spiritual capital can play out in real yet creative and empathetic attitudes in organizational culture.