Self-Transcendence and Servant-Leadership

Covid-19 presents a real challenge to leadership in corporations, nonprofits and all levels of the Government. The current crisis in Washington and many other capitals calls for a different kind of leadership characterized by the spirit of self-transcendence and serving others rather than egotism, corruption and abuse of power. This presentation first introduces Viktor Frankl’s principles of self-transcendence and responsibility and shows how these principles enable him to function as a strong and influential leader in very trying circumstances. Frankl’s logotherapy becomes the foundation for Wong’s (2009, 2020) existential positive psychology and servant-leadership based on self-transcendence (Wong, Ivtzan, & Lomas, 2017). It then introduces the concept and practices of servant leadership as first developed by Greenleaf (1977). There is now a clear consensus among modern management theorists ( Crippen, 2004; Sendjaya & Sarros, 2002; Spears, 2005) that suggest that servant leadership may be the leadership of choice for the 21st century, because it frees people from egoistic needs. My presentation concludes with describing the best practices of servant leadership (Wong & Davey, 2007; Wong & Page, 2003) and the dialectic process of simultaneously overcoming the dark triad of narcissism, psychopathy and Machiavellianism and cultivating self-transcendence as a virtue (Wong, 2020)