Servant Leadership is a way of life characterized by a commitment to personal awareness, service to others, and leadership which empowers an enlarging circle of compassion.
In his definitive essay “The Servant as Leader”, Robert Greenleaf writes: “The servant-leader is servant first… It begins with the natural feeling that one wants to serve, to serve first. Then conscious choice brings one to aspire to lead. That person is sharply different from one who is leader first, perhaps because of the need to assuage an unusual power drive or to acquire material possessions…The leader-first and the servant-first are two extreme types…The difference manifests itself in the care taken by the servant-first to make sure that other people’s highest priority needs are being served.”
In this time of rapid change, uncertainty, and depersonalisation, a servant leadership philosophy and practice restores a humanising environment in which to value the person, nurture the community, and approach problem solving.
As a servant leader or would-be servant leader, your primary area of influence may be your home, your workplace, your faith community, or your neighbourhood. You may have arrived here focused on self-discovery, or a desire to serve, or in response to an opportunity to lead. The one-to-one learning environment that coaching provides is of benefit whatever one’s focus.
Wherever you desire to serve or are called to lead, the coaching partnership can strengthen your ability to realise your best self; to maintain clarity of purpose; to relate compassionately to others; and to anticipate and respond to changing needs and circumstances.
Contact me for a conversation to explore how coaching may serve you and your servant leadership.
More information on coaching may be found on this website at About Coaching.