In our first Humphrey seminar, we have learnt about Servant –Leadership characteristics. When i came back home, i read it again and thought about that. Remember the characteristics: listening, empathy, healing, awareness, persuasion, conceptualization, foresight, stewardship, commitment to the growth of people and building community.
It is a new version of leadership. In past and still in many places people recognized as “good” leaders have a strong ego. They rule and they really want to feel that they rule. They take all decisions and but to be able to do that they consume the labor of the others. However they behave as if they don’t! With that way they guarantee that they are respected by the people working for themselves.
If you consider the characteristics of servant -leadership, to internalize these characteristics one really should be free of his ego. And “The paradoxes of Being a Servant-Leader Poem (by Brewer ” seems to explain me how to become a “true” person. I have just picked some of its nice lines to share with you:
“…wise enough to say “I don’t know”
Right enough to say “I am wrong”
Mature enough to be childlike
Important enough to be the last
Knowledgeable enough to ask questions
Great enough to be anonymous…”
I think every single line of this poem (including the ones that I have not written here) is worth to digest. This poem is going to be my guide not only for this year but also for during the whole life.
Thanks very much to Dr. Bill for sharing it with us.
Best,
Serpil
Thanks for sharing this Serpil. Very inspirational indeed. I will share something else with you and the group. One of the most famous management gurus, Prof. Prahalad, of Michigan University, said leaders should be like ‘sheep-dogs’. Not shephards, but sheep-dogs. What does this mean? 3 things-
1. Sheep dogs are always BEHIND the flock
2. Sheep dogs NEVER loose any sheep; they are ready to fight when needed
3. Sheep dogs know where they are going.
-Chev.
thats great! Thanks very much Chev.
I really love the idea of being “great enough to be anonymous.” One of the greatest leaders I have ever met said that being a good leader means creating something that can run itself without that leader. In other words, good leaders are pulling the strings behind the curtain. They rarely receive recognition and can do their job in total secrecy.
Dear Sebastian, thanks for your comment. It is the first time that I am posting and it is really nice to be followed and sharing ideas with people whom I haven’t met before. I can send you the whole poem if you don’t have. Doing your job in total secrecy necessitates a full self confidence. I think the good leaders are the ones who actually do not care about being a “good leader”. They are simply born to be a good leader.