Servant Leadership

Matthew 20:20-28; Mark 10:42-45
cf John 13:1-17

This is the 100th post on this blog. Plus this is the first post of 2011. As I looked at the notes that I've made on my recent readings for this blog, one of the really important topics that stands out to me is servant leadership, so I wanted to start the year with a discussion of that topic.

In some ways, servant leadership has been a popular buzzword since Robert Greenleaf's 1978 book by that title. In fact, a niche market has sprung up talking about how your business can benefit if you adopt Jesus' principles of leadership (Nehemiah and Moses are also popular models, for good reasons--both were excellent leaders). But here's the thing. When Jesus talks about leadership, he doesn't talk about it in ways that will make a company profitable. If anything, just the opposite may be true. "Whoever wants to be great among you must be your servant." Jesus washed the disciples' feet, not because He thought it would make them more persuasive evangelists, but because He wanted to model the humility that He expected from them. The result of this kind of leadership may be that your employees respond in ways that make the company more successful, but that should not be the motivation. The motivation should be to honor God and to follow Jesus.

How can you exercise servant leadership? First, think about your position of authority. Do you "lord it over" you subordinates? When there's a decision to be made that affects everyone, do you make a unilateral choice, or do you allow others to share input? When someone has a suggestion or complaint, do you reject their feedback just because it challenges the status quo or because you didn't think of it first? When a subordinate comes up with a way of doing things, do you criticize it because it's not how you would have done it? All of those are ways of lording your authority over others. And be careful. It's easy to rationalize doing those things with excuses like "they just don't see the big picture," "I've been doing this longer than anyone here," or similar ideas. Remember James and John were among Jesus' closest apostles. Along with Peter, they did things with Jesus that no one else got to do. So if anyone should be recognized as the greatest, surely they deserved a shot? Even if you deserve the authority, Jesus says to serve.

Notice the other disciples' reaction. They "became indignant." Why? Possibly because they wanted the same thing, to have authority over others (and not to have anyone in authority over themselves). It's tough to serve, to be "last." It takes lasting commitment. And it doesn't always "pay off" in a financial sense. But it's the kind of leadership that honors God.

As you begin 2011, make a commitment to serve others in your workplace, no matter what your position.