Gary Roberts

• PhD
• Emeritus Professor of Government at Regent University

The Role and Value of Servant Leadership in Improving Performance Appraisal Practices Abstract One of the most enduring challenges in human resource management is the performance appraisal process. The purpose of this conceptual analysis is to summarize the relevancy and efficacy of servant leadership to positively influence the key interpersonal...

Servant Soldiers: Profiles in Courage of Rear Admirals Larry C. Baucom and William McCarthy Abstract By its very nature, the United State military embodies the foundational attributes of servant leadership, from entry level enlisted personnel to the highest executive level officers. These include a commitment to stewardship by agreeing to give one’...

Public Service Motivation and Servant Leadership: A Synergistic Relationship Public Service Motivation (PSM) has been linked to a wide variety of beneficial attitudes such as job satisfaction (Homberg et al., 2015), organizational citizenship (Shim & Faerman, 2017) and job performance (Belle, 2013). PSM was proposed by Perry (1996, 1997) and is an...

Christian servant followership is at the core identity of Christian servant leadership ((Roberts, G., Christian scripture and human resource management: Building a path to Servant leadership through faith. Palgrave Macmillan, New York, 2015)). The universality of the “Golden Rule” principles of human conduct promoted in Christian scripture is refle...

Religious identity is a vital and vibrant influence on the nature and implementation of leadership in organizations and the workplace (Héliot et al., 2020). Servant leadership is explicitly values and morals based on character and practice and its foundational principles are embedded in all of the major world religions (Roberts, 2015). This chapter...

This chapter critiques the fundamental principles, values, management, leadership and policy assumptions of Conscious Capitalism from a Christian worldview including Christian servant-leadership. Conscious capitalism possesses many attributes consistent with Christian worldview including promoting the greater good, collaborative stakeholder relatio...

Christian servant leadership is by its essence conceptually, morally and ethically compatible with the theory and practice of sustainable leadership in a post-Covid-19 world. This chapter explores how the attributes of Christian servant leadership reinforce sustainable leadership practices from a conceptual, empirical and Christian social justice t...

One of the enduring images of Christianity is that of Christ as the good shepherd, which is a relevant metaphor for servant leadership’s emphasis on promoting enduring and desirable organizational change. Functional organizational change is a global construct that reflects the overall efficacy of servant leadership in promoting desirable employee a...

Extant research has demonstrated a positive effect of ethics education in public affairs and administration programs, yet the same suggests the lack of a unifying framework for teaching ethics in the discipline. Since the ratification of the 2013 revised ASPA Code of Ethics, scholars have called for NASPAA programs to incorporate the Code in their...

A PowerPoint presentation summarizing the servant leadership research of Dr. Gary Roberts on the global scope of servant leadership.

This book presents an up-to-date and comprehensive survey of the field of Workplace Spirituality. It uses a structured yet open-ended schema to capture the best of research and practices on the subject. Presenting a clear and concise approach to spirituality in the workplace, it traces the genesis and growth of this burgeoning field and suggests tr...

The authentic implementation of servant leadership within the workplace is a foundational challenge. Proponents must establish both its theoretical and applied efficacy and the adherent's personal leadership credibility. One of the great challenges with servant leadership research and practice is the absence of consensus on its conceptual and opera...

Christian workplace spiritual intelligence (CWSI) is the integration and application of Christian principles in the decision-making process. This chapter illustrates key elements of CWSI (identifying and managing character strengths and weaknesses, overcoming negative emotions, servant leadership, managing difficult people, and overcoming temptatio...

Servant leadership is a rapidly growing and influential research and practice domain (Roberts, Christian scripture and human resource management: building a path to servant leadership through faith. Palgrave Macmillan, New York, 2015). The contemporary focus on servant leadership was given impetus by the work of Robert Greenleaf (Servant leadership...

This book presents an up-to-date and comprehensive survey of the field of Workplace Spirituality. It uses a structured yet open-ended schema to capture the best of research and practices on the subject. Presenting a clear and concise approach to spirituality in the workplace, it traces the genesis and growth of this burgeoning field and suggests tr...

This book addresses how Christian leaders integrate faith into the workplace, through a love-based altruistic system of Christian Servant Leader Spiritual Intelligence (CSLSI). It hypothesizes how CSLSI positively influences a range of desirable employee attitudes and behaviors including servant leadership and followership, organizational citizensh...

CSLSI begins with the health of the spirit. This chapter presents eight foundational attributes that underlie the eternal element of our being. These include our call to salvation, the possession of a Christian worldview, spiritual discipline practices (prayer, scripture reading, and church attendance, among others), the nature of our relationship...

This chapter provides a summary of the conceptual and empirical literature on the nature and influence of spiritual intelligence. It presents a detailed analysis of the conceptual definitions of CSLSI and its influence on key job-related attitudes, behaviors, and performance outcomes, including organizational commitment, job satisfaction, and well-...

Our holistic health is of great interest to the Lord. This chapter presents sections on the key elements of promoting life margin and securing balance and rest. From a workplace standpoint, a key section addresses the presence of life harmony and balance between work, family, and our spiritual life to preserve margin and promote godly life prioriti...

A high degree of CSLSI maturity requires emotional intelligence and the ability to identify and regulate the emotions in others and ourselves. It begins with our heartfelt desire to give a precious gift to others—our time and attention through the active listening process. The goal is to develop a high degree of emotional empathy. Conversely, the w...

This final chapter provides an opportunity to summarize reader progress. The reader should complete again the burnout and work-related job attitude questions on pages xx and zz, and compare their results with earlier administrations. CSLSI growth is a lifelong process and the book concludes with final reflections and encouragement on CSLSI growth i...

God grants our gifts and abilities without repentance, and we must choose how to use what God has graciously granted us. The goal of CSLSI is to promote our Christ-based transformation, and this requires excellence of godly character, the indwelling Holy Spirit that produces godly virtue. Competency without character is a house built upon a flawed...

The validation of our growth in CSLSI is the generation of the fruits of the spirit (Galatians 6:10): love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, and self-control. This chapter illustrates the behavioral manifestations of the fruits in the workplace as we esteem others greater than ourselves. One of the overlooked elements of Chri...

Servant leadership entails key CSLSI skill sets. It begins with elements such as God-directed public-speaking skills, the humility and ability to empower others, making ourselves dispensable and creating disciples who do greater things, providing corrective feedback with godly love and skill, and driving fear from the workplace to promote innovatio...

This chapter provides the reader with an introduction to the definition, nature, and importance of CSLSI and to the growth of Christian sanctification. A summary of the academic literature on spiritual intelligence from a conceptual and empirical focus illustrates the diversity of thought in the field and the absence of mainstream Christian worldvi...

The final element of the triune nature of health relates to our mind, a battlefield of the worldview realms between our eternal spiritual nature, the natural desires and instincts of the flesh, the allure of worldly success, pleasure, and power, and the influence of the demonic realm of evil. The focus is to identify the flawed and dysfunctional th...

A high level of CSLSI requires healthy relationships as articulated in the Great Commandment. This includes a foundational level of humility and relationship accountability by first “removing the log from our eye.” This chapter reinforces our calling to work with difficult people and provide support and encouragement to others. It concludes with th...

God has endowed all Christians with a general and specific followership and leadership calling. The workplace is a vitally important domain for working out our salvation with fear and trembling, and this chapter delineates key elements of our irrevocable leadership calling such as defining success in God’s terms, not the desires of the heart or the...

Human resource management is a foundational element for an ethical and moral organizational culture and a humane and just employee work environment. Christian Scripture and Human Resource Management provides a much-needed Christian faith-based perspective on human resources management written for both line and human resource managers using the fram...

A controversial concept in the modern workplace, servant leadership is the management philosophy that balances morality, mission achievement, and promoting the best interests of the key business stakeholders. Developing Christian Servant Leadership provides a Christian faith-based perspective on servant leader character development in the workplace...

Improving our leadership skills is a lifelong pursuit. From a Christian worldview perspective, when we seek leadership skills first, we are placing the proverbial “cart before the horse.” Jesus was an effective leader because he practiced servanthood first! Jesus set the standards for both leadership and followership by his complete obedience to th...

As Christian servant leaders, God blesses us with unconditional love, grace, and mercy. God meets us where we are, whether it is at the height of heaven, the pit of hell, or somewhere in between. This is a wonderful and comforting Kingdom principle, given our physical, spiritual, and emotional wanderings. Wherever and whenever we call upon the name...

One of the great paradoxes of the Christian faith is that the foundational principles are simple to grasp and communicate, but extremely challenging to practice. Salvation is freely given to all those who confess Jesus as Lord, but confession is an insufficient though necessary condition for achieving the fruits of the Holy Spirit and “working out...

Praise God, I pray for the strength to be thankful for today and the moment, to enjoy the now in the midst of challenges, and to thank God for his favor and grace. Lord, help me to focus on what the Holy Spirit is doing in my life and starve the flesh. Praise God, I am not alone in my fight against fear; I have the Holy Spirit and the angels. The H...

Dear Lord, help me to understand that both belief and doubt are verbs and we can have intellectual doubts and intellectual unbelief, but still retain our faith. True belief and faith require us to be a hearer and doer. To truly doubt and disbelieve, we must have both thought and action. Lord, do not let the enemy steal our victory. Praise the Lord...

In this concluding chapter, I would like to provide a final framework for cultivating ongoing growth as a servant leader. The first element is to renew our commitment to God every day. The key is to recognize that the only means for long-term change and growth is to receive a never-ending supply of God’s saving, healing, and empowering grace. When...

What do you say to a friend who is in the grip of a desert experience and gripped by an overwhelming sense of failure and condemnation? What do you say to yourself when you are in the midst of the storm? Below is a letter that expresses important scriptural truths: Hello My Friend As I was praying today, the Lord prompted me to search for Bible pas...

Servant leaders are called to make difficult decisions regarding staffing and other human resource system issues. One of the key biblical principles relates to God’s concern for the individual. In Matthew 18 and Luke 15, the shepherd cares deeply and passionately for each sheep. There is no question of viewing employees as resources and costs to be...

Jesus, please help me to find peace in your presence irrespective of the buffeting of my mind, body, and spirit by the waves. I believe that Jesus will get me safely to the other side of the lake. My heart is like the boat that the disciples used to cross the Sea of Galilee. Help me in the middle of this ocean storm to invite you into my boat. Plea...

A great lie of the devil is that in order to be brave you must be fearless. If that were the case, most of the heroes of history would fail to pass this test. When God states, “let not your heart be troubled (John 14:1),” he is communicating a powerful truth. We must make a free-will decision to agree with God’s promises of victory and protection....

One of the great temptations in leadership is the desire to be worshipped. Not, of course, in a formal religious fashion, but on a practical level. The power associated with leadership roles is a great temptation to our pride, ego, and insecurities. Servant leaders are to be respected, but not feared or made into idols. Perfection as a leader is, o...

One of the most important leadership dimensions relates to the judgment process. Servant leaders are called upon to make important decisions in such areas as performance management, selection and promotion, discipline, and the cultivation of organizational ethics and morality, among other key areas. By judgment, we are referring to the process of d...

One of the great scenes in all of Scripture is the conversation between Jesus and Peter in John 21. Pastor Mike Bickle in a powerful sermon (2014) presented a compelling interpretation of this encounter. To set the background, Peter was despondent and humiliated after he denied knowing Jesus three times, even though he had adamantly declared just a...

This book is dedicated to assisting Christian leaders and managers to assume the mantle of servant leadership, the God-directed and God-endorsed means for achieving the foundational mission requirements of Christianity, the Great Commandment and the Great Commission. Servant leadership is the approach to leadership promoted by Scripture, and it pro...

Have you ever felt like your life as a servant leader is like a small ship being tossed to and fro by the wind and waves? When we are circumstance-focused as a Christian, the inevitable result is a “sea sickness” of mind, body, and spirit. A major element of our growth in Christ is keeping our mind and heart focused on Jesus in the midst of the tri...

As servant leaders, we are faced with many challenges in promoting a work/life balance. However, there is a hidden challenge in the well-meaning literature and research that emphasizes this often elusive concept, and that is in the inherent complexity and unpredictability of life. Balance is best achieved in systems that are relatively stable and p...

One of the great classics of English literature that speaks volumes on key spiritual issues is John Milton’s epic poem Paradise Lost. The central figure is Satan and Milton’s artful poetic prose develops key aspects of Satan’s character. One classic line captures the essence of the spirit of rebellion that is the foundation of the original sin of p...

How many hours should we work? This is a profound and essential question, answered by addressing a series of principles noted below:1. The will of God as discerned through prayer, scriptural reflection, and other means for hearing God should be the directing force for our work hours and effort. We need to believe that God has a unique plan, purpose...

Compensation is a foundational component of the SLHRM system. As Christian servant leaders, our stewardship of money is a window on our spiritual state and character. The compensation process reveals important worldview elements that manifest profound implications for human resources (HR) practices. One of the most pernicious pathologies of the sec...

One of the great management challenges is cultivating long-term organizational culture change. There are many key decision points in the success of such a complex effort, and hence many “veto” opportunities to impede change progress. In this chapter, we present a diagnostic change resistance typology that identifies the various motivational attribu...

Human resource (HR) management is one of the foundational “windows on the heart” reflecting the individual and collective values and beliefs of leaders, managers, and employees regarding the “theology of work” and its relationship to human nature. Does the HR system honor biblical principles through shaping the values and incentives to serve, work,...

The nature and quality of the staffing process is another pillar of SLHRM. As Jim Collins (2001) notes in Good to Great, the key staffing factor is “getting the right people on the bus.” This entails hiring employees who passionately embrace the mission, vision, and values of the organization, possessing the appropriate combination of character and...

One of the great spiritual warfare battlegrounds relates to the integrity issue. The practice of SLHRM is challenging in all arenas, sacred or secular. We face great spiritual warfare temptations to renounce our godly inheritance of righteous conduct and adopt self-serving standards of success. Hence, like the nation of Israel, we “return to Egypt”...

Empowerment is a vitally important element in the successful implementation of SLHRM and requires the possession of virtuous character, maturity, and spiritual intelligence on the part of both the manager and the employee. Empowerment begins with followers who embrace the role of conscientious servants. Hence, it is important for SLHRM organization...

The SLHRM organization and leader can never lose sight that the collective policies and practices of human resource management are the product of individual and group decision making. The SLHRM culture rests upon a worldview and the associated attitudes and behaviors that construct the edifice of HR policies and practices. Hence, there is always et...

It is vitally important to establish the biblical foundation for the various servant leader principles that comprise SLHRM. This chapter provides a systematic list of key biblical attributes organized by five global servant leader attributes: servanthood, stewardship, servant leader behavior, servant leader character, and servant leader foresight....

SLHRM organizations possess a passionate commitment to dignified employee treatment. Employees are not just “resources,” but souls made in the image of God. Promoting employee rights is a foundational Christian servant leadership principle. How we treat employees is an essential interface between core servanthood and stewardship values in an organi...

Christian SLHRM entails making disciples. Hence, a foundational element of leadership DNA is developing subordinates, promoting the fulfillment of their purpose and calling. Several key character elements are at the center of this approach. The first is humility, in which we voluntarily step back and “decrease” so others can “increase” (excel) (Joh...

Performance management and performance appraisal is the single most important “window on the soul” SLHRM practice. An appropriate performance appraisal analogy is the tending of a garden. In securing a bountiful harvest, the most difficult work is at the beginning as we toil in clearing the land of rocks, brush, stumps, and trees. Then we must plow...

The nature and quality of the staffing process is another key element of SLHRM. The staffing process is another “window on the soul” test of SLHRM integrity. As a HR professional or manager, take the time to reflect on the factors contributing to the success of the selection process. Personnel selection is not an exact science for either employee o...

Compensation is a foundational component of the SLHRM system. As servant leaders, our stewardship of money is a window on our spiritual state and character. The compensation process reveals important worldview elements that manifest profound implications for HR practices. One of the most pernicious pathologies is defining self-worth and identity ac...

One of the great management challenges is cultivating long-term organizational culture change. There are many key decision points in the success of such a complex effort, and hence many “veto” opportunities to impede change progress. In this chapter, we present a diagnostic change resistance typology that identifies the various motivational attribu...

One of the great battlegrounds in organizations relates to the integrity issue. The practice of SLHRM is challenging in both the servant leader and greater leadership world. We will face great moral temptations to adopt instrumental standards to achieve success. It requires great character strength to resist the powerful incentives to compromise ou...

How many hours should employees work? Servant leaders must answer this profound and essential question for themselves and for their employees. The answer is neither a static nor a moving balance, but a shifting and dynamic harmony among our key life domains. These include the following elements: 1. Performing our work with excellence as broadly def...

The SLHRM organization and leader can never lose sight of the fact that the moral ethos is the collective sum of the implementation of the policies and practices of human resource management as reflected in individual and group decision making. The SLHRM culture rests upon a worldview and the associated attitudes and behaviors that construct the ed...

SLHRM organizations possess a passionate commitment to dignified employee treatment. Employees are not just “resources,” but human beings with emotions, families, and souls. Promoting employee rights is a foundational servant leadership principle. How we interact with employees is an essential interface between core servanthood and stewardship valu...

Performance management and performance appraisal is the single most important “window on the soul” SLHRM practice. An appropriate performance appraisal analogy is the tending of a garden. In securing a bountiful harvest, the most difficult work is at the beginning as we toil in clearing the land of rocks, brush, stumps, and trees. Then we must plow...

SLHRM entails making disciples. Hence, a foundational element of leadership DNA is developing subordinates, thereby promoting the fulfillment of their purpose and calling. Several key character elements are at the center of this approach. The first is humility in which we step back and equip our subordinates for a greater degree of success than our...

Empowerment is a vitally important element in the successful implementation of SLHRM and requires the possession of virtuous character, maturity, and spiritual intelligence. Empowerment begins with followers who embrace the role of conscientious servants. Hence, it is important for SLHRM organizations to cultivate the principles of servant follower...

Human resource (HR) management is one of the foundational “windows on the heart” reflecting the individual and collective values and beliefs of leaders, managers and employees regarding the “theology of work” and its relationship to human nature. Does the HR system honor servant leader principles through shaping the values and incentives to serve,...

Servant Leader Human Resource Management provides a comprehensive conceptual framework based on a dignity enhancing stewardship model that integrates and balances mission achievement with motive, means and ends integrity from both a line manager and human resource department perspective.

This article describes the yearlong process of systematically developing an MPA Major Field Test with a team of five schools in various regions of the United States. Each school professor on the test team interviewed numerous practitioners to determine current issues in the profession. The practitioner information was filtered through at least one...

This paper explores the nexus of contemporary leadership theory and postmodern worldview influences within the public sector with special emphasis on the staffing challenges of the federal government. The postmodern values embraced by the replacement cohorts (Millennial and Generation X) for the retiring baby boomers are in direct conflict with tra...

On November 4, 2008, America celebrated a historical event as Barack Obama was elected as the 44th President. This paper examines a historical event by exploring how Trait, Postmodernism, and Transformational Leadership theories provide insight on the election of President Obama and discusses the specific leadership concepts that influenced the ele...

For the Christian manager, the workplace is where our commitment to becoming more Christ-like is placed to the test. Are we both hearers and doers of the Word? Business researchers are studying in more systematic ways how scriptural leadership attributes are applied in the workplace. Servant leader workplace spiritual intelligence (SLWSI) is the...

This investigation explores the operational nature of virtual teams in the federal sector. As more federal agencies allow employees to work from home, there is an increasing problem with office staffing and organizational effectiveness. Utilizing the Department of Energy (DOE) employees as virtual participants, the investigation uses the triangulat...

The definition and nature of the public interest is an ongoing area of debate and controversy among public administration scholars and practitioners.This article’s main thesis is that there exists an identifiable public interest entailing both normative and pragmatic elements that should be a foundational concern of every practicing public administ...

Traditional and family-friendly benefits are an essential and costly component of the compensation and human resources management system. This research effort surveyed 427 local governments regarding their benefits practices. The results indicate that local governments provide a competitive traditional benefits package (health, pension, etc.) but p...

Employee benefits are an essential and costly component of the compensation and human resources management system. This research effort surveyed 358 municipal governments on their employee benefits practices. The survey results clearly indicate that municipal governments are very competitive in terms of traditional benefits (health, pensions, denta...

Family-friendly benefits are an essential and costly component of the compensation and human resource management system. The research literature clearly indicates that municipal governments offer family-friendly benefits at very low levels. One plausible hypothesis for their lower provision rate is the absence of a systematic needs assessment. In t...