I appreciate your post.
I usually appreciate Blanchard's work too. I am troubled by the thought that servant-leaders can only belong to a specific religion.
I agree that servant-leadership is larger than an approach only for Christians or people of a specific faith. We may come from many different places and beliefs to be servants to others.
Trevor,
I would have to agree with your concerns about Blanchard's quote.
I have to disagree with another statement from the interview from the quote from Rick Warren regarding "Now, two thousand years later, Jesus has over 2.1 billion followers, which makes Him the undisputed greatest leader of all time. No one else comes close!" It has been my experience that simply claiming to be a follower of Jesus does not make one a servant-leader, (nor does the number of followers you have) and in many instances quite the opposite is true (in both cases). Through history the teachings of Jesus have been twisted and used to control and coerce people to follow hierarcical type leadership which has nothing to do with servant leadership. The danger in making claims that leadership without Jesus is not servant leadership is that it is likely to alienate those you are trying to serve who may have a different, yet equally valid role-model who exemplifies servant leadership. The true power of servant leadership is not that it comes from one particular leader, but rather then it exists in everyone. It is my belief that using the claim that "my religion" or "my leader" is the only way, causes more damage to followers then probably any other form of leadership.
That is not to say that Jesus and his teachings should not be used to exemplify servant leadership, and I would hope that is more what Blanchard had intended. I will have to read his book and find out.
My thoughs for what they are worth.
Tom Jablonski
I'd say that servant-leadership resonates well with my Christianity, and that therefore, for me, Christ is the ultimate model, but not the only one. For another person it could be Mohammed, for another a wise rabbi might be inspiration, and for some there may be no "religious" figure at all who serves as their example, but rather, just the impulse to serve humanity is enough to draw them to servant-leadership. Greenleaf quotes Camus, after all. It's an interfaith, ecumenical, open-to-all-comers way of being that is equally accessible to all, and I don't see the need for anyone to stake a proprietary claim. This diminishes its potential and begins to make rigid what I really believe is best kept a fluid, organic concept. The last thing servant-leadership should engender is an us-them framework.
Jesus himself claimed to be the way the truth and the life. He said that there is no other way to the Father but through him. When a person claims to be a Christian he is saying that this is what he believes to be true that is what true Christianity is all about. Jesus did not leave us with any other alternitive. I have not read Blanchard's book but if that is what he is saying then he is right. I have read Rick Warren's Book and he is right on target. The true servant is willing to lay down his life for those he is leading. Where else in history do you find that kind of sacrifice then in Jesus and those who follow his leadership plan.
Tough topic Trevor, and one I happen to agree with you on. Gayland's point about those willing to lay down one's life for who they are leading could be any number of leaders, not just Christ, though Christ is of course the first on we all think of because He exemplifies this.
Servant leadership is about serving others. Period. Does that mean Christ? Of course, though not just Christ. Before Christ, there were servant leaders, after Chris, there were servant leaders, and that label alone does not say Christian.
GREAT Comments everyone....appreciate your insights!
Trevor,
I will have to pick up a copy to read. From my experience with Blanchard he is not ashamed of his Christian Heritage! Would you really expect a diffeent statement from him with a title "Lead Like Jesus"? I may be too simplistic here in my thought, but with a title like that...should you expect anything different?
This is a great post that touches on a topic that has been bothering me for quite some time now - the active coopting of servant leadership by the Christian churches. As some of your commentors have stated, servant leadership is of sufficient theoretical depth and breadth to allow for alternate claims of underlying philosophies. For instance, some claim that virtue ethics drives our ideas about character and what it means to be a servant leader. This humanistic approach is quite at odds with the Christian concepts of faith, hope, love, and humility because it is centered on Aristotle's idea of arete and how to achieve it.
I've finally reconciled myself to the fact that the Christian churches will continue to claim servant leadership as their own, and I'm actually okay with that - as long as they don't also claim virtue ethics as the foundation of their belief system (doubtful they would do that, I suppose I should look into this).
I have also found some interesting articles on Muslim applications of servant leadership in the Bedouin-Arab environment. I don't have the reference handy, but would be happy to pass it along to anyone interested in learning more.
Darin,
I would be interested in the references you mentioned about servant leadership in the Bedoouin-Arab environment. If it's not too much trouble, please either post them here or drop me an email with the info.
Thanks,
Tom
Tom,
I was able to locate the article I mentioned above:
Sarayrah, Y. K. (2004). Servant leadership in the Bedouin-Arab culture. Global Virtue Ethics Review.
I only have access to this article via my HighBeam Research account - I do not have local or university access to Global Virtue Ethics Review, so I do not have any more information on this reference (i.e., volume number, etc.).
This just happens to be my research focus as a doctoral student at Capella University. I am intending to test the pan-cultural applicability of servant leadership using Jim Laub's Servant Organizational Leadership Assessment (SOLA) survey instrument. If all continues to go well, I will be starting the dissertation in April. I will probably find a way to post something here on my discoveries, as they relate to the topics at hand, of course!
Darin,
Thanks for the reference. I will see if I can get a copy of it. Looking forward to reading about your discoveries, sounds like an interesting research project.
Tom
The article Darin mentioned goes a long way to showing that Muslims have indeeded practiced servant leadership, even before Robert Greenleaf coined the term. The article titled "Servant Leadership in the Bedouin-Arab Culture" written by Yasin Khalaf Sarayrah, discusses two examples of servant-leaders from the Islamic world, Omar Bin al-Khattab who died in 634 AD and Shaykh Hajj Ali who did his servant-leading in the 1960's and 70's. The article is worth putting together a separate post all it's own, but it will have to wait for another time. The article also discusses how the practice of servant leadership has been corrupted at times in the Muslim world, in a similar manner to how it has been corrupted in Christianity.
I accessed the article at the site below after entering my library location and library card number.
http://www.accessmylibrary.com/c...86-
12060674_ITM
Thank you Darin for pointing out this great reference.
I have read all of the posts and am intrigued by the conversation. I am currently reading, "Lead like Jesus," and recommend you do the same to get a grasp of the point Blanchard is attempting to make. As what often happens to the holy scriptures of CHristianity, Ken Blanchard's quote is isolated and left up to much interpretation.
But what I hear Ken saying in context of the book's central message is that the man Jesus of Nazareth was the greatest servant leader of all time. From the historical record that we have, we hear his philosophical approach as well as see it put into action. We see his one-on-one relationships and team building resulting in an organization that has stood the test of time, despite the faults of members of that organization.
If we look at this great servant leader for wisdom in our pursuits, we must listen to the wisdom teachings and actions associated with them in light of the central thrust of his message. Though the organizational structure of the Christian church did not require Jesus the Messiah to be present in body, the founders claim that his leadership was still very much in effect via his continued presence with them ever since his resurrection from the dead.
This is what I believe Ken Blanchard is speaking of. The greatest servant leader in all of recorded history is still leading his servants, through communication in prayer and through guiding us with the scriptures. One may choose not to follow Jesus as their leader and guide, and then they would be practicing something else, "another personal growth, another leadership concept," as Blanchard says. But those who have discovered the risen Christ as leader have discovered a resource far beyond that of books and conferences on the subject. We have encountered one who has gone before us and led by example.
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