Servant Leadership
Shannon King, Charity Director
I’ve recently come home from an extended leadership training program through Boy Scouts known as Wood Badge. One of the concepts we discussed on the last day was that of servant leadership. When we think of servant leadership, most first think of Jesus.
John 13:12-16 (NIV)
12 When he had finished washing their feet, he put on his clothes and returned to his place. “Do you understand what I have done for you?” he asked them. 13 “You call me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord,’ and rightly so, for that is what I am. 14 Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet. 15 I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you. 16 Very truly I tell you, no servant is greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him.
The modern idea of servant leadership came from Robert K Greenleaf. The concept is that the person in leadership finds him / herself there because they have the heart of a servant. The servant heart is the foundation of who they are. They have heard the call to service and have responded, yes! My very first blog is entitled Answering the Call to Service.
Greenleaf says, “The servant-leader is servant first… It begins with the natural feeling that one wants to serve, to serve first. Then conscious choice brings one to aspire to lead. That person is sharply different from one who is leader first, perhaps because of the need to assuage an unusual power drive or to acquire material possessions…The leader-first and the servant-first are two extreme types. Between them there are shadings and blends that are part of the infinite variety of human nature.”
“The difference manifests itself in the care taken by the servant-first to make sure that other people’s highest priority needs are being served. The best test, and difficult to administer, is: Do those served grow as persons? Do they, while being served, become healthier, wiser, freer, more autonomous, more likely themselves to become servants? And, what is the effect on the least privileged in society? Will they benefit or at least not be further deprived? “
So, why do you lead? Do you want to be the “Boss” or do you want to be one who leads others by example? Will those you lead be happy to part ways with you or will they be inspired and eager to pick up the baton when you are finished and want to carry on your legacy? Are you training workers or creating leaders? We have the opportunities in our lives to choose how we influence others. I hope that you will ask yourselves this question and feel the answer within your heart. I hope to be a good servant leader, to show others the way through compassion and kindness. I want to show others that they can do and be more as I push myself to do the same. I hope that I can inspire people with ideas and the desire to go out and lead others. We can all help to make the world a better place by showing patience, understanding, compassion, and the willingness to work side by side with those whom we are teaching and leading.
“I alone cannot change the world, but I can cast a stone across
the waters to create many ripples.”
Mother Teresa
