The True Essence of Leadership

If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader. - John Quincy Adams

Welcome to September and the ninth of my ten leadership tips: “Inspire others your way.”  This tip is connected to the Fruit of the Spirit, Kindness.  In Galatians 5, the Greek word used for kindness means helpfulness, benevolence, and friendliness—which also could tie in to last month’s tip to “Help Others Win.”

When you practice kindness, you become a blessing to those around you.  Let’s explore how to do that.  In the ninth chapter of Mark, Jesus provides his leadership philosophy.  His twelve disciples had been arguing about who was the greatest on their walk to Capernaum.  Verse 35 says, “Sitting down, Jesus called the Twelve and said, ‘Anyone who wants to be first must be the very last, and the servant of all.’”

While the ideas behind servant leadership are ancient, Robert Greenleaf published his seminal essay on “The Leader as Servant” in 1970.

This is the style and philosophy I try to practice, so I was excited to use my Barnes & Noble gift card for my birthday in November 2014 on James Hunter’s The Servant:  A Simple Story About the True Essence of Leadership.  Hunter provides some ideas and lessons worth considering.

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