The Men or the Mission: Can an Army of Servants become an Army of Servant Leaders?

This paper evaluates the theory of servant leadership as a viable solution to the Army’s sometimes toxic leadership problem. The research question this paper asks is: is servant leadership a viable option for official U.S. Army leadership doctrine? We build the case that while servant leadership is fundamentally incompatible with Army Leadership and is not a viable option for official U.S. Army leadership doctrine, some of the basic tenets of servant leadership are adoptable and adaptable by the U.S. Army. Furthermore, we recommend that the U.S. Army focus on better communicating their existing leadership doctrine throughout the organization rather than revamp it