Role of a leader
by Simon Longstaff
This issue of City Ethics leads with an exploration of the idea of the leader as servant. As most people realise, this is a concept with a considerable history.
As Joseph Campbell has shown, accounts of leaders offering their lives for the sake of their people occur in the histories and myths of most civilisations. For example, Christians will immediately relate to the image of Christ washing the feet of His disciples and later sacrificing His life in the service of humankind. Other religions and cultural groups will have their own points of reference.
In my opinion, the success of a leader should be best measured according to two criteria. Firstly, how does the organisation fare in the pursuit of its aims and objectives – does it meet the needs of those that it serves through the provision of goods and services; does it exceed expectations? Secondly (and directly related to the first question) to what extent do people associated with the organisation flourish as a result of their involvement – do they enjoy the experience of being challenged; growing and succeeding in new areas of engagement?
In order to meet each criteria for success, a leader will need to go beyond a mastery of the technical competencies of management. Indeed, the role of the leader will be transformed away from that of prime mover driving change and development and towards acting as a resource that can be drawn upon by those who are responsible for the day-to-day delivery of programmes and services. This is not to say that the leader as servant needs to occupy a passive or reactive role. The role demands initiative – especially in discerning areas of support that might be offered to others – especially in circumstances where a colleague would never even think to ask for assistance.
Being a successful servant-leader primarily depends on meeting two conditions. Firstly, the person needs to have a genuine orientation towards helping others. Any special skills, knowledge or understanding should be made as widely available as possible and not hoarded in order to preserve power or position. Secondly, it is essential that the servant-leader continue to develop the bank of knowledge and skills that he or she wishes to place at the service of others. There is no point in reaching a position of leadership if this is taken to be a cue that it is no longer necessary to keep learning and developing.
And this, of course, is why the idea of serving others can be so liberating. After all, if the aim is to keep learning so that you can be a better resource in support of others, then who better to rely on for fresh ideas and perspectives than those with whom one works. But this requires the one indispensable tool that leaders can never be taught and which can only be gathered over time.
Beyond knowledge and skills, the servant-leader's greatest asset is a store of wisdom – a store that must be replenished on an on-going basis. For it is through wisdom that we come to be truly useful to those who seek assistance when confronting an increasingly daunting array of new and complex problems.
It is through wisdom that we come to understand that there is a particular dignity in service. And it is through wisdom that we come to understand that the central truths captured in myths and stories from our past might still be of some use to us – perhaps offering a stable platform on which we can build for a better future in which people really matter most.
discuss this articleDr Simon Longstaff is Executive Director of St James Ethics Centre.
This article was first published in City Ethics (now Living Ethics), issue 20, winter 1995.
© St James Ethics Centre