On Servant Leadership

Servant Leadership

The concept of Servant Leadership brings in my consciousness three frameworks which I find very valuable as an Atenean, as a Catholic and as an Ayala Young Leader. First of which is that of Christ. Christ is in Himself the ultimate servant leader. He is God yet he immersed himself humbly to the human family. Born by a virgin in a manger, He offered Himself as the fulfilment of the Father’s promise of Salvation. Mocked and fixed on a cross, He died because of His great love for us. He could have saved us by picking us up from the trash bin where we find ourselves sinful and not worthy of the Father’s love yet He chose to go down the bin to help us get out of our tragic condition. He chose to be Emmanuel – God with us – who came to call sinners and who came for the forgotten, the poor, the last, the lost and the least.

The second framework which I find worthy of exemplifying is that of Robert Greenleaf. He said:

The Servant leader is a 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. The difference manifests itself in the care taken by the servant – first to make sure that the other people’s priority needs are being served.

Greenleaf’s idea of servant leadership shares that of Christ that a leader must be servant first -  a servant of all. Nobody leads because he wants to lead. Rather, one decides to lead because he wants to serve. He wants to improve the quality of life of the person dear to his heart. He wants to see them grow and be freed from the shackles of inhumane conditions just as what Christ did. Leadership must always begin and end with others. In fact, Greenleaf elaborated that the first responsibility of a leader is to make sure that the other people’s priority needs are being served. This principle follows Marlow’s hierarchy of needs. If we want to see growth in people, we must first address the needs at the bottom of the pyramid. We can never achieve self-actualization if the need for good working and learning environment, the need for food, shelter and water, and the need for security and association have never been addressed.

Greenleaf also added, “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?” We serve others so that they themselves may grow as leader. Is this not the same principle which Christ taught the night before He was betrayed? He was a master, a teacher and a rabbi yet He washed His disciples feet so that they may also do the same to one another. He showed love and service by dying on the cross so that we, His disciples, may do the same.

The third framework which I also value is the leadership framework of consisting of four major principles: awareness, vision, stewardship and community. These principles serve as guidelines into becoming real servant leader.

Awareness is the value of knowing and recognizing the needs of the people leaders ought to serve. The line “A leader is deeply awake and reasonably disturbed” summarizes what awareness entails. It talks about the ability of the leader to listen, to know and to understand with depth first his heart and second, the heart of his master. Nobody becomes a leader without knowing himself first. Nobody can give himself truly if he does not know who he is. This is the reason why Greenleaf pointed out that leadership is a conscious choice, a knowledgeable choice that is rooted at the very heart of a person who aspires to lead. This choice of service and of leadership then leads him to reach out to others, to listen to others and more importantly to immerse himself with the community he ought to serve to know their priority needs. His heart and the cries of the hearts of the people he ought to serve must disturb him and push him to work for change and development.

Vision talks about the grand dream of the leader. It is that which he wants his community to achieve. It is very important for him to be able to communicate this vision to his community. It is very crucial that this vision penetrate and sip through the very hearts of the members of team, of the entire organization, that it may guide them in all decisions and actions they will be undertaking. Caution however must be put when we talk of this grand dream. Vision must never be superficial. It follows the language of idealism and that of a visionary but, as Hoffer said, it must work within the premise of practicality and realism. I believe he means that the vision must be rooted at the core of the needs of the persons the leader ought to serve.

Stewardship on the other hand talks about responsible use of pooled resources. Leaders are stewards and not owners of public funds and resources. These they must use to achieve their vision and to serve the needs of the people they ought to serve. These they must use responsibly to provide opportunities for growth and development of people.

            Lastly, the concept of community revolves at the need to be associated, the need to feel that one belongs to a group where he is truly cared for, a group which he can trust, a group which he considers to be a family and a group which shares his interest and cause for life that is a community.