Servant not Slave

Servant not Slave     by Leadership Freak

 

Leaders serve. They aren’t slaves.

Slaves are owned, oppressed, and abused. Servant leadership has nothing to do with slavery.

Servant leadership:

1. Servant leaders make life better for others. Influence is portional to the extent you improve life for others.
2. Resentment and bitterness reveal self-serving leadership. Servant leaders serve freely and joyfully. Service is privilege and opportunity not oppression. Resentment indicates you didn’t get what you expected.
3. Servant leaders experience freedom by giving themselves to others.
4. Servant leaders seek the advantage of others without degrading themselves. Values, gifts, and self-respect guide servant leaders. You can’t walk on servant leaders. They are the strongest people I know. Servant leaders don’t violate their values or ethical standards – they serve them.
5. Servant leaders place organizational interests above their own. The day you receive more value than you give is the day to find a new place of service. The question servant leaders ask is, “What value can I bring?”
6. Servant leaders thrive in organizations that believe in serving. Dog-eat-dog cultures build self-protective, self-serving environments that abuse those who serve. Run!
7. Servant leaders enjoy reciprocity when recipients are capable. Service is it’s own reward. Some are not able to return benefit. But, the best way to server takers is not to serve them.
8. Servant leaders choose development before discipline. Poor performers are moved or removed so they can find success and fulfillment elsewhere. But, servant leaders give maximum effort to developing team members, before taking corrective action.

Self-serving leaders are what’s wrong with organizations today.

Organizations exist to serve. Period.
Leaders live to serve. Period.

Tom Peters

Don’t worry about perfect solutions. Just pour from your cup into another’s. See what good comes. Repeat.