There are many organizations that value servant leadership. However, I was unable to locate a consolidated list of these organizations. Therefore, in the interest of supporting servant leadership and those who seek to practice it’s principles, I created the table below. Whether you seek an employer that values servant leadership, data for research on leadership styles, servant leadership companies with which to network, or have some other interest in leadership, this list can help. The data is by no means comprehensive, yet. Please, if you have an organization to add, be sure they meet the qualifications below the table and please contact me with the details.
Companies Seeking Servant Leaders
| 7-Eleven | Dallas | TX | 7-eleven.com |
| 501c Solutions | Baltimore | MD | amazingnonprofits.com |
| Accretive Solutions | Troy | MI | accretivesolutions.com |
| ACT, Advocates for Community Transformation | Dallas | TX | actdallas.org |
| AFLAC | Columbus | GA | aflac.com |
| Agape Flights | Venice | FL | agapeflights.com |
| Alpha Kappa Psi | Indianapolis | IN | AKPsi.org |
| Altarum Institute | Ann Arbor | MI | altarum.org |
| American Medical Response | Greenwood Village | CO | amr.net |
| Arrow Stage Lines | Norfolk | NE | arrowstagelines.com |
| Astonish Results | Warwick | RI | astonishresults.com |
| ATI Career Training Center | North Richland Hills | TX | aticareertraining.edu |
| Atwood Associates, LLC | Madison | WI | atwoodrecruiting.com |
| Azusa Pacific University | Azusa | CA | apu.edu |
| Balfour Beatty Construction | Dallas | TX | balfourbeattyus.com |
| Banner Baywood Medical Center | Mesa | AZ | bannerhealth.com |
| Bradley Group | Nashville | TN | thebradleygrp.com |
| Broetje Orchards | Prescott | WA | broetjeorchards.com |
| C3 Consulting | Nashville | TN | c3-consult.com |
| CAP Carpet, Inc. | Kansas City | MO | CAP Carpet |
| Catholic Relief Services | Baltimore | MD | crs.org |
| Cengage Learning | Farmington Hills | MI | cengage.com |
| Centro | Chicago | IL | Centro.net |
| Centura Health | Englewood | CO | centura.org |
| CH2M Hill | Englewood | CO | ch2m.com |
| Chick-Fil-A | College Park | GA | chick-fil-a.com |
| Common Ground | Seattle | WA | commongroundwa.org |
| Company Name | City | State / Region | Website |
| Container Store (The) | Coppell | TX | containerstore.com |
| Darden Restaurants (Red Lolbster, Olive Garden...) | Orlando | FL | darden.com |
| Datron World Communications | Vista | CA | dtwc.com |
| Dawn Food Products | Jackson | MI | dawnfoods.com |
| Delek US Holdings | Brentwood | TN | delekus.com |
| Evergreen Freedom Foundation | Olympia | WA | effwa.org |
| Festival Foods | De Pere | WI | festfoods.com |
| Flow Companies | Greensboro | NC | flowauto.com |
| Food For The Hungry | Phoenix | AZ | fh.org |
| Gabriel Center | Marietta | GA | gabrielcenter.org |
| Green Dot Public Schools | Los Angeles | CA | greendot.org |
| HCA | Nashville | TN | hcahealthcare.com/ |
| Heartland Health | St. Joseph | MO | heartland-health.com |
| HEMCO Gages | Holland | MI | hemcogages.com/ |
| Herman Miller | Zeeland | MI | hermanmiller.com |
| Herritage Community | Kalamazoo | MI | heritagecommunity.com |
| Hess Corporation | Houston | TX | www.hess.com |
| High-Tech Professionals | Mexico City | Mexico | hightechpros.com |
| Hill House Association | Pittsburgh | PA | hillhouse.org |
| Insperity Business Solutions | Kingwood | TX | insperity.com |
| Interstates Companies | Bloomington | MN | istate.com |
| Invision, Inc. | New York | NY | invisioninc.com |
| JTC Education | Atlanta | GA | www.javelintraining.com |
| Kaiser Permanente | Oakland | CA | kp.org |
| Keller Williams Realty | San Diego | CA | kw.com |
| Kimpton Hotels | San Fransisco | CA | kimptonhotels.com |
| Koch Companies | State University | AR | kochcompanies.com/ |
| Landry's Bicycles | Natick | MA | landrys.com |
| Liberty Dialysis | Mercer Island | WA | libertydialysis.com/ |
| Louisiana Hospital Association | Baton Rouge | LA | lhaonline.org |
| Luna Data Solutions, Inc. | Austin | TX | lunadatasolutions.com |
| MAPCO Express | Little Rock | AR | mapcoexpress.com/ |
| Marian University | Fond du Lac | WI | marianuniversity.edu |
| Marriott International | Bethesda | MD | marriott.com |
| Matrix Information Consulting | Rochelle Park | NJ | matrixcc.com |
| McKinney Capital & Advisory | San Diego | CA | mckinneycapital.com |
| Medtronic | Minneapolis | MN | medtronic.com |
| Men's Wearhouse | Houston | TX | MensWearhouse.com |
| ModCloth | San Fransisco | CA | modcloth.com |
| Nordstom | Seattle | WA | nordstrom.com |
| Nugget Market | Woodland | CA | nuggetmarket.com |
| Oakwood Village | Madison | WI | oakwoodvillage.net |
| Ochsner Health | New Orleans | LA | ochsner.org |
| Opportunity International | Oak Brook | IL | opportunity.org |
| Organisations That Matter | Melbourne | Australia | orgsthatmatter.com |
| Oschner Health System | New Orleans | LA | ochsner.org |
| Paragon Solutions | Cranford | NJ | .consultparagon.com |
| Pi Beta Phi Fraternity | St. Louis | MO | pibetaphi.org |
| PPC Partners, Inc. | Milwaukee | WI | pieperpower.com |
| QuikTrip | Tulsa | OK | quiktrip.com |
| Rally Software Development | Boulder | CO | rallydev.com |
| REI | Kent | WA | REI.com |
| SAS | Cary | NC | sas.com |
| Savage Companies | Salt Lake City | UT | savageservices.com/ |
| Schmidt Associates | Indianapolis | IN | schmidt-arch.com |
| Schneider Corporation | Indianapolis | IN | schneidercorp.com |
| Service Master | Memphis | TN | ServiceMaster.com |
| ServiceMaster | Memphis | TN | servicemaster.com |
| Sonrise Christian School | Covina | CA | sonrisechristian.org |
| Sophia Foundation | Fond du Lac | WI | fdlsophiafoundation.com/ |
| Southwest Airlines | Dallas | TX | southwest.com |
| Sowing Empowerment & Economic Development, Inc. | Riverdale | MD | seedinc.org |
| St. Joseph Regional Medical Center | Lewiston | ID | sjrmc.org |
| SunDurance Energy | Edison | NJ | sunduranceenergy.com/ |
| Synovus Financial | Columbus | GA | synovus.com |
| TD Industries | Dallas | TX | tdindustries.com |
| Toro Company | Bloomington | MN | toro.com |
| Trilogy Health Services | Louisville | KY | trilogyhs.com |
| U.S. Cellular | Chicago | IL | uscellular.com |
| United States Air Force | Washington | D.C. | af.mil |
| United States Army | Washington | D.C. | army.mil |
| United States Marine Corps | Washington | D.C. | marines.mil |
| United States Navy | Washington | D.C. | navy.mil |
| Vanderbilt University | Nashville | TN | vanderbilt.edu |
| Viterbo University | La Crosse | WI | viterbo.edu |
| WageWorks | Leawood | KS | wageworks.com |
| Wal-Mart Stores | Bentonville | AR | walmartstores.com |
| WD-40 Company | San Diego | CA | wd40.com |
| Wegmans | Rochester | NY | wegmans.com |
| WesleyLife | West Des Moines | IA | wesleylife.org |
| West Coast Consulting | Irvine | CA | westcoastllc.com |
| Whitepages.com | Seattle | WA | WhitePages.com |
| Whole Foods | Austin | TX | wholefoodsmarket.com |
| Witt Kieffer | Springfield | IL | wittkieffer.com |
| YUM Brands (KFC, Pizza Hut, Long John Silver's & more) | Louisville | KY | yum.com |
| Zappos.com | Las Vegas | NV | Zappos.com |
| Zingerman's Community of Business | Ann Arbor | MI | zingermans.com |
Qualifications
In order to be considered for this list, an organization must meet the following qualifications. I may update these qualifications from time to time.
1. For-Profit / Non-Profit / Government: All types of organizations will be considered.
2. Not a Primarily Religious Organization: Unfortunately, I need to exclude churches and religious organizations whose primary mission is progressing their religion or faith. There are simply too many to list.
3. References to Servant Leadership: There must be at least one, publicly documented reference to the organization and its view of, support for, or belief in servant leadership principles. This may be in job descriptions, news articles, employee posts or other publicly available sources.
Great list! Thanks for compiling this!
I work on staff at Food for the Hungry, one of the org's listed, and just wanted to shoot you a correction. Our org is actually located in Phoenix, AZ (not CA).
Thanks again for your list…glad I stumbled across this today!
Peace.
Thanks for the compliment and the correction Mark. I'm glad you appreciate the list. I've made the correction for Food for the Hungry. Keep up the great work there!
Love it. This movement is really taking off. I own a company founded in S.L. My biggest client as a TV rep started my ad agency. He introduced me to S.L. I wasn't being intellectually honest if I grew my marketing firm and didn't offer an education to my future client's leaders. This is at the heart of all communication.
I now teach it and the clients we serve are grateful as well as we are humbly honored to teach and coach.
Keep pushing@
Thank you for the compliment and positive reinforcement Joe. The fields in which you operate undoubtedly have unique challenges to the practice of these principles. I’d welcome a guest post on your experiences here any time! Thank you for sharing.
[…] of industries and functions that are more receptive to servant leadership careers. For a list of organizations that practice servant leadership, you can review the resource list of these companies here.Industries for Servant Leadership […]
Benjamin,
You might want to add Robert Greenleaf’s Servant Leadership “best test” to your qualifications for making the list. The best test, from Greenleaf’s essay “The Servant as Leader”, “Do those served grow as persons? Do they, while being served become healthier, wiser, freer, more autonomous, more likely themselves to become servants? And what is the effect on the least privileged in society? Will they benefit or at least not be further deprived?”
Unfortunately, I believe that many on your list fail this test, and only make the list by claiming to use servant-leadership in name only. When you dig deeper into the list, I think you will find many examples where the ultimate goal is not about helping those served to grow, but to instead to pad the purses of those at the top or to keep the least privileged in their place. It has been my experience that Greenleaf’s complex concept of servant leadership is rarely practiced in most of our institutions.
See my latest for more on the topic here http://ecologicalleadership.blogspot.com/.
Fortunately that means we have many opportunities to improve. Just some thoughts.
Excellent point Tom. Greenleaf had an excellent way of framing his views. Therefore, his test you quoted would be an excellent structure for certification of servant leadership practices. To be clear though, this list should not be considered a certification or validation of comprehensive servant leadership practices.
Instead, the list is intended to represent organizations that at worst have expressed an interest in servant leadership, in most cases likely have pockets of servant leadership practitioners and at best, strive for servant leadership in all they do. If you know of anyone certifying organizations as consistent practitioners and documenting the validated list, please do let me know.
Thank you for your contribution Tom. I look forward to reading more about ecological leadership as well..
Benjamen,
When it comes to servant leadership, I am skeptical of those who claim to possess it. Servant leadership by it vary nature is not about becoming certified, or making top ten lists, etc. It is about a way of life, a way of being. So I am not aware of any certification organizations, and would be skeptical of any I come across. So keep on delving into it.
Tom
More excellent points – I agree. Thank you for your continued contributions here.
—
Benjamin S. Lichtenwalner
Web: ModernServantLeader.com
Skype: Lichtenwalner.net
Twitter: BLichtenwalner
Also, check out http://www.giantworldwide.com/executive-core/Worldwide. Very impressive! GiANT Impact is a class act, global corporation. Teaching and mentoring executives worldwide.
For some reason the link to the core page is broken. Try this: http://giantimpact.com/. Also, Leadercast 2014 is May 9th. You can tune in from wherever you are. Last years Leadercast was spectacular! Many speakers that are relevant to this group.
Hello Tom,
Thank you much for comments. I am a student and I just recently did a write up on a company that does follow the concept of servant leadership. Now I have to write about one who may say they use the servant leadership model, but it only benefits them and no one else. My question: Is there such a list of these companies? Thank you so much. Camille
[…] Leadership and related topic updates.Powered by WP Greet Box WordPress PluginAs a follow up to the Servant Leadership Companies list, I finally got around to compiling a list of servant leadership academic programs. You can see the […]
Thanks, Ben, for your great effort in compiling this list. I am currently conducting a dissertation (PhD) study on servant leadership in for-profit organizations. I am glad you wrote that companies on your list “value servant leadership”, not that they necessarily practice servant leadership. There is much more to the practice of servant leadership than the name.
Tony
Agreed, Tony. You also run the challenge of pockets of servant leadership. Particularly in larger corporations, some departments, teams or individuals may practice servant leadership, while others do not.
Good luck in your PhD studies!
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I am also working on some research for my doctoral degree and found your site to be very helpful. Thanks!
My pleasure, Kelly. Glad it is of benefit. I’d love to hear more about your research and/or get a copy of it when complete. In the meantime, good luck. Keep serving.
Hello Ben,
I realize these posts are over 3yrs old, but was just wondering is there such a list of companies that claim they follow the concept of servant leader, but really do not. I am a student and looking to make a comparison.
Thank you, Camille
Hello Camille,
I am not aware of a list like that. If you find one, let me know.
May I suggest you consider looking at companies with morale problems (high turnover rates), legal or other ethical issues? Such lists are likely to be more common and, while not directly opposed to servant leadership, those indicators would suggest they do not value the same principles.
Good luck with your studies. I’d love to see a copy of your findings when complete!
Keep serving,
Ben
Yes, thanks Ben – great resource for those of us learning about Servant Leadership
I applaud the effort but I question the validity of the qualifications to be selected a Servant Leader company. A company that values good servant leadership through good PR does not make a company an authentic servant leader. The claims are misleading and at best, dubious without accountability and transparency metrics. B Lab (www.bcorporation.net) is a non-profit organization that certifies a company that meet high standards (Certified B Corporation).
Ben,
Just as an FYI, a company you can add to your list which subscribes to the servant leadership practice is Insperity Business Solutions, They have headquarters in Kingwood, TX and there website is http://www.insperity.com
Thanks Chris – I’ve added them.
As I insert footnotes into tomorrow’s sermon, I am reminded of a three-generation servant leader family corporation/conglomeration, “Country Cupboard,” in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania. I fondly remember being in the CEO’s office in the 1980s as he showed me the “Servant Leader Workbook,” which structured the style with which they operated … and grew … and grew.
(The Rev.) J. Jeffrey Zetto
Memorial Drive Lutheran Church
Houston, Texas
I am trying to find out how many servant leadership consulting business are in the US. Where can I find such data?
Home Properties, Bethlehem PA. This company serve their employees to the extent I have not seen. They provide them with the obvious needs, training and support, visions, goals, and stakeholder value creation. In addition they provide them with opportunities to learn new languages, provide winter shoes and coats, and summer shoes along with a uniform service. In addition, they celebrate each employees birthday by providing lunch for the group. My family member works for this company has stated ” I have never felt such support or cared about by any company” (name withheld- 47yr male). I extended to complete a study on this publicly traded company, for which I found they are a for profit realestate investment fund-REIF, but they also provide a serve to each community to decide to work in.
I completely agree that “valuing” servant leadership is only a first step towards actually practicing it. As to the study, it would be super cool if Anthony below (or someone) would include in his/her analysis the impact of SL on the bottom line. The last known tome that I can find is from 2008 in the book “The Business Case for Servant Leadership.” I’d love to see the info updated and to help persuade corporate types that it’s not the “soft” feel-good thing they think it is, but that there is demonstrable positive impact in dollars and cents and employee engagement (which affects dollars and cents).
Thanks for your Help Ben. Your site is really helping me in compiling my report
I’d add a few companies that are based in Columbus, GA that have formed a core foundation for Servant Leadership in the community. These include Synovus, W.C. Bradley Company and TSYS.
Thank you for this list. Do you happen to have one for the international servant leadership organizations?
Hi, Marcie. I would love to have more international companies to add to the list. Be certain to recommend any you feel should be added.