763-545-5997
I gave a talk at my church yesterday on Servant Leadership. According to Robert K. Greenleaf, “the servant leader is servant first. It begins with the natural feeling that one wants to serve first. Then conscious choice brings one to aspire to lead.”
In the model of servant leadership, the CEO is at the bottom of the organization (envision an inverted pyramid), serving the needs of her or his Vice Presidents, who in turn serve the needs of their Directors, and so on. In this model, the customer is at the top of the pyramid. Contrast this with the typical top-down hierarchy model present in many organizations, where the leaders of the organization are served by the employees at lower levels of the organization, with the customer at the very bottom or even outside the organizational boundaries. In which scenario are employees most likely to develop and flourish, becoming more effective, engaged, and productive? Which scenario will result in more sustainable outcomes for clients and shareholders?
If you buy in to the model of servant leadership, you may wonder what it takes for a leader to be servant first. In short, humility. Wikipedia defines humility as the quality of being modest, reverential, even politely submissive, and never being arrogant, contemptuous, rude or even self-abasing. I define humility as a willingness to set aside our ego needs for power and status, sublimating the need to win or be right to the greater needs of those whom we serve. I view humility as a value – and a highly underrated one at that.
Imagine an organization where leaders are able to set aside personal agendas and politics and stop keeping score. Imagine a team where all members are not only created equal but contribute equally out of the humble desire to serve the needs of others. Consider an organizational culture that places a premium on humility and service – what success could be achieved in this scenario?
As leaders, we must make a conscious choice to lead by our values every day. I challenge you to adopt the value of humility – lead by example and serve the needs of others first – and see where it leads.
4 Comments
Martha, first of all THANK you for writing about this subject. While I agree completely that humility is under-appreciated, I believe you have the basis of the virtue under-developed.
Much of what you describe as humility (serving others ahead of self) is a better description of compassion, which may be the result or by-product of true humility. True humility begins with awareness of one’s very place (i.e., their lot in life), and the source of their blessings. For organization leaders, it begins with them understanding that the organization is not theirs, but only theirs to manage — or steward if you will.
For all people, no matter their place on an organization chart, humility begins by recognizing that all good things — gifts and talents, assets and resources — come from a source greater than themselves. I could go on (I often do when I forget my place), but I hope you see my point.
PS: Say hello to my good friend Kevin P.
Thank you for your comments, Jeff – your perspective is enlightening and takes the whole notion of humility to a much more elemental level. Thank you for contributing to the dialogue!
Warmly,
Martha
That was an amazing post and an amazing comment. Very elegantly put with total truth in every word. Our world needs more leaders like you. I think there should be more discussion and books on this topic.
@Jeff – I understand your point and you make a valid point, but if you look at this from a secular perspective it has to do more with the luck of the draw and what has been presented to by this draw. If you get what I’m saying? So basically what you said but replace “comes from a source greater than themselves” with “chance.” Since whatever that a person has is given to them by chance that person cannot boast about their talents or situations and is left to feel humble and egoless?
Unless what you meant by that was supposed to encompass what I’m saying too. Please add more of your thoughts on this.
Thank you for continuing the conversation, David! This is a deep topic. I’ve been reading the book “The Servant” by James C. Hunter – check it out if you are drawn to the broader topic of servant leadership.