ABSTRACT
This chapter provides a historical foundation for understanding essential elements of leadership in our profession. This includes philosophical values of those who wish to serve. It provides a brief account of events that have shaped its status to date and a perspective on how it can evolve in the future. Counseling has attained the status of a profession through sustained and effective leadership resulting in national preparation standards; accreditation of preparation programs; credentialing of practitioners both through state legislative means and national certification; ethical standards for its membership; advancement of its knowledge base through research and scholarly publications; professional development of its membership through continuing education and competency standards related to settings, clientele, diversity, and cultural plurality; and through its organizations which structurally support these endeavors. Servant leaders evolve out of a conviction that they care enough to invest personal time, talent and resources to serve a greater good for others as whatever level they can, i.e., local, state, etc. This chapter is a call to those who would respond, and subsequent chapters are a means to discovering for whom and why.
