The Impact of the GLS in Prison | From Followers to Leaders

“A great leader’s courage to fulfill his vision comes from passion, not position.” John Maxwell

The GLS was held in 43 prisons in 2016, up from 11 prisons in 2015. The hope and desire from the field only grows to bring the GLS into more US prisons in the future. One of the prisons that’s been participating in the GLS  is Southeast Correctional in Missouri. To document and measure the way the GLS influences prisoners, our friends at Southeast Missouri State University have been conducting a study on prisoners who attended the GLS at Southeast Correctional over the last two years.

The results are astounding.

What they’ve discovered is that by delivering quality leadership training to prisoners, they establish the potential to transform followers to leaders, create a more receptive and peaceful inmate culture and better prepare inmates for release and reintegration into society.

The findings of this study support the idea that when prisoners attend the Global Leadership Summit they develop characteristics of servant leadership. Specifically, after participating in the GLS, prisoners reported increased feelings about their ability to:

• be a leader
• lead people who may be different from them
• support people and their decisions
• see their own strengths and weaknesses

They also reported that the GLS helped them to become a better leader.

Studies have shown that being a “follower” is a contributing factor in many prisoners’ entrance into criminality. But by strengthening servant leadership characteristics in prisoners, not only can they transform into leaders, but human capital is established and reentry/reintegration can be positively impacted. This innately aligns with the restorative justice competencies of healing, reintegration and personal change.

Something to note, most of the prisoners included in the GLS training are housed in a Level 5 (maximum security) prison. Whereas some participants will eventually transfer their servant leadership characteristics to life outside of prison, thereby having an impact in their families and communities, many participants are serving sentences of life without parole. Consequently, they are placed in a unique position to use their leadership skills to positively change the culture of the institution. Anecdotal reports from prison staff suggest that this change in institution culture is already notable.

Can you imagine what could happen if every prisoner, in every prison in the US had access to servant leadership development training?

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The research team from Southeast Missouri State University includes: Raleigh Blasdell, Michelle Kilburn, and John Wade of Southeast Missouri State University. The findings presented are part of an ongoing evaluation of the impact of the GLS on offender participants.  An earlier version of the material presented here was included in the Newsletter of the Restorative and Criminal Justice Section of The Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences.