Northouse, Leadership 8e
SAGE Publications, 2019
Case 10.1: Everyone Loves Mrs. Noble
Case Synopsis and Analysis
Sharon Noble is the secretary at Essex High School. She is a servant leader who is beloved at
the school by students, alumni, and staff. Sharon knows the in’s and out’s of the school, and
is the “go to” person for day–to-day needs. She is of great personal assistance to students,
helping them understand changes at the school and even assisting with their college
applications. She has delivered homework to students’ homes, donated large sums of money
Learning objectives:
• Students should be able to apply the servant leader behaviors to a leader.
• Students should begin to understand some of the strengths of being a servant
leader.
Answers to questions in the text:
1. What servant leader behaviors would you say Mrs. Noble demonstrates?
There are seven servant leader behaviors that are at the core of the servant leadership
process. They are conceptualizing (the leader’s thorough understanding of the
organization), emotional healing (being sensitive to the needs and concerns of others),
2. Who are Mrs. Noble’s followers?
Northouse, Leadership 8e
SAGE Publications, 2019
3. Based on the model of servant leadership (Figure 10.1), what outcomes did Mrs.
Noble’s servant leadership attain?
Mrs. Noble obtained a number of outcomes as a result of her servant leadership. She
4. Can you think of someone at a school or organization you were part of who acted like
Mrs. Noble?
Potential teaching approaches:
Below is a way to structure a class based on Servant Leadership and Case Study 10.1:
• Hold a lecture on servant leadership.
• Ask students to read Case 10.1 and answer Questions 1–4.
• Discuss Question 4 together as a class.
• Discuss Questions 1–3 in the case study as a class.
• Finally, the professor may choose to conduct in-class exercises listed below.
Exercises for this case study:
1) Students work individually or in small groups to apply the 10 characteristics of a
2) Mrs. Noble is about to retire. In small groups or individually, students should draft a
Northouse, Leadership 8e
SAGE Publications, 2019
3) In a brief essay (200–250 words), explain why a school community needs a Mrs.