Abstract
This study explored the tenets of modern servant leadership originated by Greenleaf (1970), as applied to the self-perception of AmeriCorps volunteers who committed to one year of service. The purpose of this mixed-method study was to determine whether volunteers who commit to one year of national service identify with characteristics and behaviors of modern servant leadership in order to operationalize the volunteer leadership experience for both the volunteer and the sponsoring agency, and to provide volunteers with personal awareness of their experiences. A literature review described the histories of AmeriCorps and servant leadership as well as the significance for this study. The quantitative survey employed the self/leader portion of Barbuto and Wheeler’s (2006) Servant Leadership Questionnaire (SLQ), and results showed no significance (p <. 05) between the two sections in the areas of altruistic calling and wisdom. The results in the remaining three areas, emotional healing, persuasive mapping, and organizational stewardship, however, did show significance (p <. 05) at the 0.05 levels. In all three areas, the means in this study were the same or higher than the means in the Barbuto and Wheeler study (2006). The qualitative portion involved gathering information from semi-structured, individual interviews. Analysis revealed two major themes: personal awareness responses and direct action responses. These themes supported favorable responses to the research questions. Empirical and narrative responses allows directors and leaders of AmeriCorps and long-term service programs to consider alternatives by which to discern incoming applications, reinforce candidate self-awareness, and provide a foundation for future research.