Servant Leadership

  1. Servant leadership goes very closely with divine centered leadership in my opinion. I really liked the quote by President Monson that said, "Remember that the mantle of leadership is not the cloak of comfort but rather the robe of responsibility." Servant leadership is not easy, and like President Monson said, it's not always comfortable. Servant leadership is not asking those who work under you to do things that you won't do, and leading with humility and respect.

2. To me, my grandma is an excellent example of servant leadership. There many aspects of her life that exemplify servant leadership, but I can't discuss all of them here. One that really sticks out to me is sacrifice. My grandma is very considerate of those around her and often sacrifices her comfort to help others. She also is not afraid to admit her weaknesses. I think this is important, because none of us are absolutely incredible at everything we do. In a book I was reading recently, the chapter discussed how sometimes the really good leaders aren't the ones that know everything, but they surround themselves with people who specialize in those areas and together they are stronger than anyone was alone. With these two characteristics comes another one that I think fits hand in hand. Although my grandma doesn't pretend to know everything and she sacrifices for those around her, she takes the time to build herself as a person. You can't help others until you have helped yourself, and I think that personal development is essential to being a good servant leader as well as the specific leadership attributes.

3. I love the quote by Stephen R. Covey that is at the front of the office, “You’ll find that as you care less about what others think of you, you will care more about what others think of themselves and their worlds, including their relationship with you.” I was talking to Karen about this last night. We were talking about how to get volunteers to be accountable and to take action proactively. She told me that maybe I need to think more about the development of my volunteers than the success of the programs. In Sarah's lesson for our retreat she used a quote by Barbara Johnson that teaches us that "a problem to be solved is never more important than a person to be loved." If we love those we work with, we will be more willing to help them, and they will be more willing to do what we ask of them. Good businesses and work relationships (and relationships in general) are based on trust and respect.