I’m reading a really interesting book that I got given recently (thanks Peter!) called Synchronicity: The Inner Path of Leadership. I’m only part way through but I thought that I’d share a part of the introduction that really touched a cord and put in words what I have felt for a long time. The concept is servant leadership which was raised by Robert Greenleaf in his book of the same name.
The idea is that the “first and most important choice a leader makes is the choice to serve, without which one’s capacity to lead is profoundly limited”. The focus is on the relationship between the leader and the led and that “only when the choice to serve undergirds the moral formation of the leaders does the hierarchical power that separates the leader and those led not corrupt”.
This is a far cry from the, I will lead and you shall follow “leadership” that many whom aspire to (and even more scary, are often already in) leadership positions assume. As a wonderfully graphic expression that a good friend of mine loves using says, being a leader is not about being above someone so you can pooh on them (and they in turn can pooh on the next person). It is rather looking to do what you can to uplift those you are leading, helping them be better at what they are doing (and hopefully also better people in the process).
It means that, as a leader, you often look to do the dirty or undesirable work, not hoard the nice work and delegate to others the work you would rather not do (note this is entirely different to delegating work that you are not good at doing to those that are). In doing so you are able to build real relationships between members of the team that transcend the everyday into something really special – something worth working at.
