I am reading a book called Practicing Greatness and meeting with a peer group to discuss it. We were revealing the first chapter on the art of self-awareness. It seems to me that all that we do as good leaders’ starts with self-awareness. If we do not know who we are then we cannot ensure that we are not letting things blind us to our opportunities and keep strengths hidden and not used.
As part of the discussion, the concept of servant leadership came up. This is a topic that has been around for a long time especially with the seminal book by Robert Greenleaf call Servant Leadership. It has also been a focal point of Christians as we look to the example of Jesus and what He might model to us about leadership.
For example in Matthew 20:25-28 we get the following passage “25Jesus called them together and said, ‘You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. 26Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, 27and whoever wants to be first must be your slave— 28just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.’” This is similarly quoted in Mark 10:42-45.
But what is the key to servant leadership. The corporate world would seem to severely contradict this type of model, but I am sure that there are some that do it. Churches nowadays seem to follow the corporate model to set up its hierarchy, so can the church practice servant leadership this way.
It would seem to me that the key to this concept is “humility.” While Jesus was the ultimate example of what it means to be a servant leader, He is also the ultimate example of humility. Imagine what it took to be God, yet decide that in all His power and glory that He would in term lower Himself to the level of a human and in order to save us. This is the ultimate practice of humility and the example that we should look to in order to determine how to be a self-aware, humble, servant leader.
So what can we do to help us become self-aware and humble servant leaders? I think the first thing that we do is look to other great leaders who exhibited these qualities and read about them and see what it is that they did that helped them to get to where they are and how they practiced their habits to developed these characteristics.
Look for ways to have an impact on others. Great leaders bless, inspire and encourage others. They help them to become something bigger than they are themselves, but they do it at a personal cost. Being a servant leader takes time and resources if we are going to help others. Just as the Good Samaritan gave of his time and money to help the injured man, so we must be willing to do so to if we are going to build up the body. This also means that we might just being creating people who are even great that we are and that requires a great amount of humility to be able to handle that.
Disciplines or practices can also help us grow in this area. Reggie McNeal in the Practicing Greatness book talks about self-awareness, self-management, self-development, mission, decision making, belonging and aloneness as some practices that will help us along the way.
For me there are some things that I do daily to help in this. One is that I surround myself with people who I can trust to tell me about the good and bad about what I do. I call it my “Board of Jim.” Only when we are open to people who can point out both our weaknesses and strengths, can we find ways to grow as individuals and become better leaders.
I also would like to expand on the concept of mission. As much as it sounds weird, along with my board, I also have a mission statement, just as most companies do. This is a very helpful document as it helps me to know what things to do in life and what things to say no to. Plus it is rejuvenating each day to read my mission and to remind me about what it is that makes me tick.
I also find time to carve out of my day for quite time, devotional time, prayer and Bible Study, each important for the development of oneself, personally and spiritually. This also helps to make sure that I am right with God before I try to be right with everyone else.
Hopefully this will give you some thoughts to think about and it will peek some interest into what it means to become more like a servant leader and also how to develop oneself to become formed, or better yet transformed into the image of Christ.
May the grace of the Lord be with you.
