Called to Serve, Inspired to Lead

The concept of a servant nature is a prevalent theme and distinguishing feature in the servant leadership literature. Robert Greenleaf believed that the desire to serve comes from within and that inner feeling is what leads one into leadership.

During the late 1960s and early 1970s, Greenleaf’s focus was on colleges and universities and the campus turmoil that was occurring. It was during this time that Greenleaf read Hermann Hesse’s novel, The Journey to the East. The novel was a campus best-seller and Greenleaf thought it might provide him with insight for students. Instead, it proved to be a catalyst for synthesizing all of his thoughts and ideas on leadership and became Greenleaf’s inspiration for his first essay on servant leadership.

The story tells of a secret society (the League) setting off on a very unique and mythical journey. The central character is the servant, Leo, who not only carries out the daily chores but also nourishes the League with his uplifting spirit. When Leo disappears, the League can function no longer and the journey is forsaken. After years of wandering aimlessly, the narrator of the story is reunited with Leo and taken to the League where he learns that the president and spiritual leader is Leo, the servant. Greenleaf’s contemplation and analysis of Hesse’s story brought him to a critical and foundational insight about leadership: great leaders have a servant nature; they are servants first.

If great leaders are first called to serve, we must examine our motivations to determine WHY we are leading. Is it because we truly desired to serve? Are we merely doing what we believe others expect of us? Did we do this because it would look good on our resume? Are we seeking notoriety? Is it an ego thing?

Take a few moments for self-reflection and really determine your personal motivation for leading … what got you where you are today – or – what is driving you toward the direction you think you desire? While reflecting, also contemplate what is important to you … what are your most deeply rooted values. Ask yourself: What do I believe in and hold to be good and true?

With a solid understanding of what you believe in and what really drives you, it becomes clearer how you might personally be called to serve. Think of the leadership roles you have had in the past, hold now, or desire for the future … how do those roles align with your values? Are you following your heart’s desires? If so, that is wonderful and you are certainly on an appropriate path for you. However, if not, what can you do TODAY to correct this course? How can you make even small shifts in your direction to help you become aligned with your core values? Take a moment and write down some ideas – even better – make a to do list for today, this week, this month, and this year – then take ACTION!


References:

Greenleaf, R. K. (1977). Servant Leadership: A Journey into the Nature of Legitimate Power and Greatness 25th Anniversary Edition


Hesse, H. (1956). The Journey to the East

Hello and Welcome to Becoming a Servant Leader!

My hope for this blog is that it will enable you to truly become a servant leader. For some that may include simply understanding what it is and what it is not. For others, you may already have a good idea of what it is about but have never really focused on the specific behaviors that will help you “become” one. There may be some of you who are practicing servant leaders but you desire to dig deeper and really fine tune your servant leadership skills. Regardless of where you are in your servant leadership journey, I’m hopeful that you will find our topics and discussions to be fruitful.

Servant leadership dates back to biblical times; therefore, we certainly do not consider it to be a “fad” or a “latest” leadership approach. In fact, it has been tested many times in many environments and has consistently proven to be not only a rewarding approach to leading but also an effective one. Even with such success, servant leadership is often misunderstood and dismissed by many before even attempting to understand it or experience it first-hand.

What servant leadership is NOT:

·        It is not about taking a weak position

·        It is not about being soft with followers

·        It is not about religion

·        It is not only for non-profit organizations

I imagine that each of you nodded to at least one of those items and thought …. Really? That’s going to take some explaining! We will explore and do some myth-busting on many of the incorrect beliefs regarding servant leadership.

Who is a servant leader? What is servant leadership?

Servant leader. A leader who is servant first. Such leaders naturally want to serve and eventually aspire to lead and in doing so, help those who follow them to grow as individuals (Greenleaf, 1998).

Servant leadership is a form of leadership that places the self-interest of the leader behind what is best for those being led and is characterized by valuing and developing people, providing and sharing leadership all in the context of authenticity and building community for the greater good (Laub, 1999).

For much of our journey together, I will refer to some key books and I highly recommend that you add them to your personal library. In particular, I love the way Sipe and Frick (2009) conceptualized servant leadership into Seven Pillars and we will use their model as a foundation for our journey. According to Sipe and Frick, servant leadership includes the following characteristics/pillars:

Pillar I - Person of Character

Pillar II - Puts People First

Pillar III - Skilled Communicator

Pillar IV - Compassionate Collaborator

Pillar V - Has Foresight

Pillar VI - Systems Thinker

Pillar VII - Leads with Moral Authority

We will explore each of these pillars during our servant leadership journey. When you visit, please bring your thinking cap as I will regularly ask you to reflect and take purposeful action toward becoming a servant leader. This will be a mutual journey and one I hope will be fruitful for all.

Cheers to a great journey!

Rebecca

References:

The Power of Servant Leadership

Seven Pillars of Servant Leadership: Practicing the Wisdom of Leading by Serving

Laub, J. A. (1999). Assessing the servant organization: Development of the servant organizational leadership assessment (SOLA) instrument. Dissertation Abstracts International (UMI No. 9921922).

Welcome to Becoming a Servant Leader!

I am looking forward to taking a journey of servant leadership with you. Along the way, I will share various resources that have been instrumental in forming my understanding of the concepts. To start, we will walk through a terrific book by James Sipe and Don Frick ... I'm confident you will enjoy it!