The Servant

There is a world-wide thirst for authentic leaders who are somehow able to create school learning communities characterized by the purveyance of flourishing faith, hope, and love. Servant-leadership for Catholic school principals is considered one of the most meaningful and effectual callings imaginable. Informed by conversations with six exemplary servant leaders, this book explores the servant-leadership vocation of Catholic school principals. The culminating conceptual framework emphasizes the importance of personal identity and Faith formation as foundational to the exercise of authentic servant-leadership. As each Catholic school community lives out its unique features, signature history, a particular call to meet community needs, and its leader-shaped personality, this book serves to remind educators to clarify and sharpen their service toward the common mission of Catholic schooling. The relevance of servant leadership in the Catholic school principalship is demonstrated through the experiences, insights, narratives and expertise of the principals and then synthesized with conceptual reflections. An underlying theme in this book is that the exercise of servant-leadership provides hope for followers because of its exceptional interest in helping all constituents develop their own capacities, capabilities and potentials such that each person becomes a servant leader.