“Do those served grow as persons? Do they, while being served become healthier, wiser, freer, more autonomous, more likely themselves to become servants.”
It is through Servant Leadership that a leader truly influences the future. The goal is for the team – and all the members of the team- to succeed. All members of the team should strive for collaboration or “others-first.” In essence it is helping others become the person God engineered and designed them to be. It is a journey that requires the development of the Appreciation of Diversity and Empathetic Listening; and the use of Shared Visioning and the Art of Feedback.
The concept of Servant Leadership is centuries old and is found in many cultures and religions. In the 1970, Robert Greenleaf summarized the concept of Servant Leadership as follows: 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 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.”