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of you know I spend a lot of time on the computer putting together
the sermons and articles that are part of the life of our community.
As I was doing some research this week I came upon a number of business
oriented sited that focused on the idea of servant leadership. Secular
authors that many of us might have read like Stephen Covey and Robert
Greenleaf as well as the Harvard business school have all published
books and articles on this topic that are addressed at the business
community. As a result a number of companies like Starbucks, Southwest
Airlines and Toro have adopted Servant Leadership as a major part
of their business strategy. It is pretty impressive, but what makes
it more impressive is that unlike a lot of business practices like
goal setting, management by committee and the like which have found
their way into the church from the business community, this is something
that has made its way into the business community from the community
of faith.
Most of the leadership courses I took in my doctoral work focused on servant leadership. The starting point was not various business practices; instead it was the ethics and personality of Jesus Christ. Our calling as a people of God is not to emulate the world, it is to take up our cross and follow him. For those of us who would lead in the world of faith the shape of our cross is outlined in Jesus words from the Gospel of Mark; "Whoever wants to be first must be last of all and servant of all." (Mark 9:35) Servant Leadership “encourages leaders to serve others while staying focused on achieving results in line with the organization's values and integrity.” This way of doing business is a direct reflection of Jesus’ words to his disciples when they were arguing about leadership and status among themselves. "You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones are tyrants over them. It will not be so among you; but whoever wishes to be great among you must be your servant, and whoever wishes to be first among you must be your slave; just as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life a ransom for many." (Matthew 20:25)
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Robert Greenleaf’s web site tells us the ten characteristics of servant leadership are Listening, Empathy, Healing, Awareness, Persuasion, Conceptualization, Foresight, Stewardship, Commitment and Community. Looking at that list is like looking a description Of Jesus. Listening, Empathy, healing, awareness and persuasion all make us very aware of the value Jesus puts on individuals. Jesus did not lead from an autocratic top down position. Instead he formed relationships, taught and healed. His disciples did not understand his purpose at first and it was not until after his death and resurrection that they understood the depth of his love and his commitment to serve. He empathetic and aware of their limitations and
this awareness defined the way he led them, the way he used persuasion
instead of the authority that he made so obvious in his dealing
with evil sickness and a few storms on the Sea of Galilee. The most common criticism of this form of leadership is that it is soft and leaders who use this style will be overwhelmed with people problems and not be able to make the hard decisions needed compete in this profit oriented world. Tell that to Starbucks. Pastor Jim
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