Here at Agape, we believe in servant leadership. By going that extra-mile in serving others, this focus has lasting benefits to employees, clients, the community, and the company overall.

“Life’s most urgent question is, ‘What are you doing for others?’” ~ Martin Luther King, Jr.

Even though the popularity of servant leadership ebbs and flows, the roots of servant leadership go back to biblical times. In the modern day, this organizational style was popularized in 1970 in the book The Servant as Leader by Robert Greenleaf and more recently Dare to Serve by Cheryl Bachelder among others.

“Good leaders must first become good servants.” ~ Robert K. Greenleaf

“True leadership must be for the benefit of the followers, not to enrich the leader.” ~ John C. Maxwell

Inc. magazine gives 10 reasons why servant leadership is an effective management style and viable organizational structure:

1. Organizational effectiveness is high.
2. Servant Leadership pumps up the team with confidence, which leads to higher performance.
3. Servant Leadership leads to more helping and creative employees.
4. Cleveland Clinic study showed significant increased employee engagement and overall satisfaction when Servant Leadership was woven into the corporate culture.
5. Greater job satisfaction.
6. Jason’s Deli study saw measurable increases to several business metrics: job performance, customer service, and employee retention.
7. Proven track record with several high-performing and profitable organizations:
   
   • Chick-fil-A
   • Home Depot
   • U.S. Marine Corps
   • UPS
   • Ritz Carlton
   • Room & Board
   • Whole Foods
   • Starbucks
   • Southwest Airlines
   • Levy Restaurants
   • San Antonio Spurs
   • TSYS
8. Incredible turnaround of Popeye’s Louisiana Kitchen using this business model.
9. Datron World Communications went from 10 million to 200 million company in 5 years transitioning to a servant leadership model.
10. Servant Leadership companies outperformed good to great companies with average returns of 24.2%:
    • Toro Company
    • Southwest Airlines
    • Starbucks
    • AFLAC
    • Men’s Wearhouse
    • Synovus Financial
    • Herman Miller
    • ServiceMasters
    • Marriott International
    • FedEx
    • Medtronic

“Service is the very purpose of life. It is the rent we pay for living on the planet.” ~ Marian Wright Edelman

When you start building lasting relationships with your employees first, it is one of the best things you can do for your customers. Simply put, when you take care of your employees they will take care of your customers. That is why we believe that serving others first is critical to the success of our organization, our employees, our community, and our clients no matter what your role is here at Agape.

“Make sure your business is creating a service experience so good that it demands loyalty.” ~ Steve Maraboli