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Servant Leadership

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Servant Leadership

Why is it someone can achieve things that seem to defy all the odds? Why is it George Washington, a Virginia farmer with a love for the military became the “Father of our Country” ? An honorable, virtuous, adventuresome, solider who fought for independence from the British. Why him? Why is it that Mahatma Gandhi was the architect of civil disobedience that influenced the world? A struggling, shy, student who had tremendous difficulty speaking in public. Gandhi was unsuccessful as a lawyer in Bombay. He found his calling working for the downtrodden Indian minority in South Africa. Why him? Why is it Mother Teresa, a convent school teacher dedicated to her student’s education became a Noble Prize humanitarian? Her clinics now care for tens of thousands. Why her? Why is it that Jesus, (whether one believes he is just a man or truly the Son of God), became the most influential person who ever lived? Born in a barn to poor parents; Jesus relied on friends and strangers for food and shelter. He changed the culture of the world. Why him? There is something else at play here, Servant leadership. Servant leaders show proof of their character through behavior. They display the common practices of model leadership by modeling the way, inspiring a shared vision, challenging the process, enabling others to act and encouraging the heart (Kouzes & Posner, 2007). Leadership is about service, stewardship, and shepherding those; at home, work, and in the community. Washington, Gandhi, Mother Teresa, and Jesus’ effectiveness as leaders reflects courage, vision, values, and commitment to change. They have the heart, head, hands and habits of a servant leader. (Blanchard & Hodges, 2003). One of my main themes from StrengthsFinder is context (Rath, 2007). The lessons learned by studying historical servant leaders will make

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