Transcript Presented to Tabernacle of David Assembly, Lusaka Building Principles and Practices of Servant Leadership Adapted from Robert Greenleaf’s book on Servant Leadership and Materials from.

Presented to Tabernacle of David
Assembly, Lusaka
Building Principles and Practices of
Servant Leadership
Adapted from Robert Greenleaf’s book on Servant Leadership and Materials
from Pathways to Leadership Program
Presented By:
Elder Fordson Kafweku
(Christian Education Department, Tabernacle of David Assembly Of God)
Outline of Sessions
Session 1: Introduction; What is Servant Leadership?
Session 2: Jesus as a Servant Leader (John 13:1-17)
Session 3: Why Servant Leadership? (Mathew 20:20-24)
Session 4: How we can be Servant Leaders (Four
Essential Decisions towards being a Servant Leader)
Session 5: Characteristics of a Servant Leader
Session 1
Introduction
Introduction – Mathew 20:20-28
• Leadership of this age is that of a “self centered” nature
(Matthew 20:21) rather than that of “other centered”
nature (Matthew 20: 26) or servant leadership. It is the
leadership that Greenleaf (2002) suggests as the leaderfirst.
• Servant Leadership is a principle of Relationship. It is not
a skill like accountability, communication skills,
empowerment etc.
• Servant Leadership is founded on Relationships. Just
like exhortation, healthy alliances, power and influence;
Servant Leadership is much stronger as it is a byproduct of ones character, relationship and dependency
on God.
What is Servant Leadership?
Definition (s)
• A servant leader is a Leader who puts the welfare of others first
(Servant-First).
• According to Robert Greenleaf, Servant leadership “..begins with the
natural feeling of wanting to serve, to Serve-first. The conscious
choice brings one to aspire to lead. That person is sharply different
from one who is leader-first, perhaps because of the need to
alleviate an unusual power drive, or to acquire material possessions.
For such it will be a later choice to serve-after leadership is
established. The Leader-first and the Servant-first are two extreme
types. Between them are shadings and blends that are part of the
infinite variety of human nature.”
• Moral authority is another way to define Servant-Leadership
because it is a reciprocal choice between leader and follower. If the
leader is principle centered, he/she will develop moral authority. If
the follower is principle centered, he/she will follow the leader. The
essential quality that sets Servant-Leaders apart from the others is
that they live/lead by their conscience – the inwards moral sense of
what is right and what is wrong.
What is Servant Leadership? (continued)
• The difference manifests itself in the care taken by the
Servant-First to make sure that other people’s highest
priority needs are being served.
• The natural servant, the person who is a servant-first, is
more likely to persevere and refine a particular
hypothesis on what serves another’s highest priority
needs than is the person who is leader-first and who
later serves out of promptings of conscience or in
conformity with normative expectations.
• The question each leader needs to ask him/herself is:
– Do those served grow as persons?
– Do they, while being served become healthier, wiser, freer, more
autonomous, more likely themselves to become servants? And,
what is the effect on the least privileged in society? Will they
benefit or at least not be further deprived
Session 2
Jesus as a Servant Leader (John 13:1-17)
• Serving others can be tough, expending
your energies and resources in the interest
of others can be exhausting. Yet the most
effective leaders are servants.
• No body demonstrates this better than
Jesus on the night prior to his crucifixion.
(In many cultures the words of a dying person are respected – in this case
the disciples too realized later that this was a great commission!)
• Jesus did the unthinkable – the custom of
foot washing, Jesus assumed the role of a
servant by washing his disciples’ feet. The
master became the servant.
Jesus as a Servant Leader (Continued)
• What made Jesus do this?
– He was secure in himself
– He knew who he was and where he was going (it didn’t make
him any lesser!) (v 1)
– Because He loved them (v 1)
– He wanted to set an example (growth/influence) (v 15)
• Vs 13-15 Jesus demonstrates the upside-down values of
God’s Kingdom: The greatest leader is the lowest
servant.
• Real Servant Leadership follows this radical directive. He
didn’t ask them to do “what” he had done. He
commanded them to do “as” he has done. In other words
they were not to be full-time foot washers, but rather full
time servers of men and women. (Leaders who are servants
(at heart) of men and women!!!!)
Jesus as a Servant Leader (Continued)
Who being in the very nature of God, did not consider equality with God something to
be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made
in human likeness.” Philippians 2:6-7 NIV
• Jesus “in the very nature of God”, which means he was
fully and completely God. Deity was his nature ad his
being
• He made himself nothing, literary emptied himself of
certain things and he took to himself other things
• He took the nature of a servant, meaning he was as fully
and completely a servant by nature as he was God by
nature
• The servant nature was a human nature, injected into
the bloodstream of humanity, as it were, so that it could
become accessible and available to us in Christ.
• Then Jesus took that servant nature, and exposed it to
all the stresses and circumstances of human life.
Adapted from Marshall, Tom’s book: Understanding Leadership
Session 3
Why Servant Leadership? (Mathew 20:20-24)
• Because Jesus, our master left this commandment with us, as His
disciples (Christians, Christ-like) we need to follow Him.
• To avoid us doing the opposite of what God wants to be. As
Christian Leaders we are not to LORD over one another and
exercise authority but to serve one another.
• Jesus makes a very profound statement when he says in verse 26
“Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among
you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be
your slave…”
• Matthew 20:28 – Jesus Presented A Powerful Model of What He
Taught “……just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but
to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many."
• He brought in a Principle of: The Way of Going Up, comes by Going
Down.
• Ken Jennings and John Stahl-Wert in the Ken Blanchard Series
“Serving Leader”, calls this Upend the Pyramid –You qualify to be
first by putting other people first.
Why Servant Leadership? (Continued)
• “When a leader keeps personal ego in check – and
builds the confidence and self esteem of others – its then
possible for the team to work together.” Jennings, Ken and John
Stahl-Wert. 2003. Serving Leader. San Francisco: Berrett – Koehler Publishers.
•
•
•
•
Jesus’ example of service (Matthew 20:29-34)
Service to the blind beggars (regarded as lowest in the society)
The crowd rebuked them (Natural Lording over tendencies, leader first!)
They said to Him, "Lord, we want our eyes to be
opened." (personal need )
Moved with compassion, Jesus touched their eyes
(Service/Servant Leadership)
• They regained their sight and followed Him (Transformational )
Serving Leader - Upend the Pyramid 2/3
The People being Served
Team
Transformed &
empowered
people
Transformed &
empowered
people
Servant Leader
Adapted (with modification) from Ken Jennings and John Stahl-Wert in the Ken Blanchard Series “Serving Leader”,
Session 4
How we can be Servant Leaders
(Four Essential Decisions Necessary To Move Towards Servant Leadership)
First Step
Serve God (As a disciple)
(Committed to Serve/Be
devoted to a person of God)
Luke 14:26-27; 33
“If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother, his wife
and Children, his brothers and sisters – yes, even his own life – he can not
be my disciple. 27 And anyone who does not carry his cross and follow me
can not be my disciple.”
33 “In the same way, any of you who does not give up everything he has can
not be my disciple.
26
How we can be Servant Leaders
(Four Essential Decisions Necessary To Move Towards Servant Leadership)
Second Step
Serve God’s Kingdom
33
Serve God’s Kingdom
(Be Driven by a Passion)
Matthew 6:33
But Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things
Will be given to you as well.
How we can be Servant Leaders
(Four Essential Decisions Necessary To Move Towards Servant Leadership)
Third Step
Obey Him in Your Service
(Obedience is better than sacrifice)
Obey Him in Your Service
(Directed by a Principle)
Matthew 20:25-28
Jesus called them together and said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles
Lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them.
26 Not so with you. Instead, whoever want to become great among you must be your
Servant, 27 and whoever wants to be first must be your slave – 28 just as the Son of Man
did not come to be served, but to serve, and give his life as a ransom for many.”
25
How we can be Servant Leaders
(Four Essential Decisions Necessary To Move Towards Servant Leadership)
Fourth Step
Serve His People
(Impacting People Around You)
11It
Serve His People
(Doing the Process)
Ephesians 4:11-16
was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be
evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, 12to prepare God’s people
for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach
13unity in faith and in knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining
to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.
How we can become Servant Leaders
(Four Essential Decisions Necessary To Move Towards Servant Leadership)
1st Step
Serve God (As a disciple)
(Committed to Serve/Be
devoted to a person of God)
Luke 14:26-27; 33
2nd Step
Serve God’s Kingdom
Serve God’s Kingdom
(Be Driven by a Passion)
Matthew 6:33
3rd Step
Obey Him in Your Service
Obey Him in Your Service
(Directed by a Principle)
Matthew 20:25-28
4th Step
Serve His People
Serve His People
(Doing the Process)
Ephesians 4:11-16
Characteristics of a Servant Leader
(First 10 are Adapted from Larry Spears)
1. Listen
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Intently to Others
With a Desire to Understand
Receptively to What Is Said and NOT Said
Encouraging Thoughtful Silence
To Your Own Voice
With Reflection On What Is Being Said
(What Is She Saying—Why Is She Saying it?—What Is Happening To Me
While She Is Saying It?)
2. Empathize
• Demonstrate Interest in and Affection for Others
• Recognize and Accept (Never Reject) the Gifts and Talents of
Others
• Tolerate Imperfections (As God Does)
• Assume the Good Intentions of Others
Characteristics of a Servant Leader (cont)
3. Healing
• Address Broken Spirits and Emotional Hurts
• Help Make Others Whole While Doing The
Same For Yourself
4. Awareness
• Be Self-aware and Cultivate A Sense of Inner
Security
• Foster Awareness In Others
• Be “Sharply Awake”
Characteristics of a Servant Leader (cont)
5. Persuasion
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Convince/Influence Other Rather Than Coerce/force.
Build Consensus Within Groups
Create A Climate of Influence
6. Conceptualization
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Nurture People’s Ability to “Dream Great Dreams”
Think Beyond Day-to-day Realities
Be A Visionary
Seek to balance between conceptual thinking and day
to day focused approach
Characteristics of a Servant Leader (cont)
7. Foresight
• Foresee the Likely Outcome of a Situation
• Understand - The Lessons From the Past; The Realities of the Present;
The Likely Consequences of A Decision For the Future
• Create a Climate of Anticipation
8. Stewardship
• Hold Something In Trust For Another
• Take Care of (Not Care-take) Others
• Choose Service Over Self-interest
• Be Accountable For Outcomes – Without Controlling
• Share Responsibility For What the Organization Will
Become
• Feel Ownership In the Success of the Organization
• Expect Others to be Stewards and Teach Them How
Characteristics of a Servant Leader (cont)
9. Commitment to the growth of people
•
Cultivate the Belief that People Have Intrinsic (inherent,
essential) Value
• Develop Commitment to and Model Efforts to foster the
Personal, Professional, and Spiritual Growth of ALL in
the Organization
10. Build Community
• Recognize Your Organization as a Community and
Build It.
• Understand That Your Community Can Shape Human
Lives and Change Perceptions (developing a culture)
Characteristics of a Servant Leader (cont)
(Adapted from Nancy Horn, especially for the SL in a Christian Context)
11. Love (1 Corinthians 13)
• Seeking the Highest Good for Its Object
• A Fruit of the Spirit and Basis For
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Joy
Peace
Patience
Kindness
Goodness
Faithfulness
Gentleness (Humility/Meekness)
Self-Control
12. Humility (Romans 12:10 “Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Honor one another
above yourselves.”)
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“…Give Preference to One Another in Honor”
Humble People…
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Know That They Do Not Know everything
Take Themselves Only As Seriously As Needed
Have a Sense of Awe
Don’ t Fear Failure – Risk Possibilities
Put Others First
Conclusion:
To be a SERVANT – leader, those actions must serve
God (1), God’s Kingdom (2), the Organization’s (in this
case the Church) mission (4) and the organization’s
members (5).
“Many of us who begin with a commitment to serve
people, get weary in (and of ) the task. We often find it
easier and more rewarding to just get things done
ourselves, or to exercise authority and make things
happen through command and control. If we begin with
Luke 14 (Serving God) and work our way to Ephesians
4 (Serving His people), the probability of consistently
functioning as a Servant Leader is much greater.”
:
“Its better to Win the War and lose the
battle, than Win the Battle and lose the
War.” (from the Book: The magic of Thinking Big)
David J. Schwartz says
ENDS
Thank you for Listening