1. Would you characterize Paul Farmer as a servant leader? Explain your answer.
2. Putting others first is the essence of servant leadership. In what way did Paul Farmer put others first?
3. Another characteristic of a servant leader is getting followers to serve. Who were Paul's followers, and how did they become servants to his vision?
4. What role do you think Paul's childhood had in his development as a servant leader?
This case study portrays Paul Farmer, founder and head of Partners in Health (PIH), a non-profit organization dedicated to bringing health care to impoverished individuals across the globe. Paul went to Haiti after graduating college and discovered his calling: to be a doctor to poor people. He created Partners in Health in 1987 and began building schools and clinics in Haiti to prevent disease through treatment and education. He did this while attending medical school at Harvard University. After completing his medical degree, he became a fellow with Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston but remained in Haiti during most of his fellowship. Eventually, he helped spearhead programs to assist with tuberculosis; AIDS; and other diseases in Africa, Peru, and even the United States. By 2009, PIH had grown to 11,000 employees working in 11 countries. Paul continues to travel the world, monitoring these programs, raising money for PIH, and leading the Department of Global Health and Social Medicine at Harvard.