Monday, September 12, 2011

SERVANT LEADER OR SELF-SERVING LEADER?

How can you tell the difference between a servant leader and a self-serving leader? Gordon McDonald in his book Ordering Your Private World gives us some clues. He describes two kinds of people in the world: “driven” people and “called” people.

Driven people think they own everything; their relationships, their possessions, their position. Consequently they spend most of their time protecting what they own. Everything they do is controlled by their own self-interest. Therefore when they praise or encourage you, they’re really doing it for their own good.

Called people think everything in life is on loan; their relationships, their possessions, their position. Consequently they are not defensive or protective about their position as a leader. The truth is if a better leader comes along, they will partner with that person and sometimes even step aside and take a different role because the only reason they are leading is to serve people.

Ken Blanchard, author of The One Minute Manager, says the key to a servant leader’s heart is humility. People with humility don’t think less of themselves; they just think of themselves less. Jim Collins in his book, Good to Great, says when things go well leaders with humility look out the window and give everyone else the credit. But when things go poorly, they look in the mirror and say, “What could I have done differently that would have helped these people be the best they could be?” Servant leaders are willing to take the hit. They know that all people are human and make mistakes.

On the other hand, when things go well for self-serving leaders they look in the mirror and beat on their chests like King Kong, thinking how great they are. When things go wrong, they look out the window and blame someone else. They’re so self-absorbed that everything is filtered through an “I” orientation instead of a “we” orientation.

So how can you tell the difference between a servant leader and a self-serving leader? Watch how they react to feedback. If you give them feedback on how they’re leading and they “kill the messenger”, they’re self-serving. When you give them feedback you ignite their worst fears. You’ve pointed out a flaw in their character, in their leadership. They interpret that to mean that you don’t want them to be involved in any way anymore. To lose their position is their worst nightmare because it defines who they are. Consequently, they have to dismiss you and your feedback. “Self-serving leaders are only interested in maintaining their position and maintaining control.” – Ken Blanchard.

If you give feedback to servant leaders they consider it a gift. They will say “Thank you. This is helpful. I didn’t intend to do that. Is there anyone else I should talk to? Is there anything else I need to do differently? Tell me more.” Servant leaders love feedback because the only reason they lead is to serve.

The question we must all ask ourselves is, “Am I a servant leader or a self-serving leader?” Jesus was quick to answer that question: "The Son of Man came not to be served but to serve others", Matthew 20:28 (NLT).

Our journey through life is to move from a self-serving heart to a serving heart. You mature when you realize that life is about what you give rather than what you get.

1 comment:

  1. Thanks Pastor David for this message that tightened the consciousness of my heart strings. I would have to be perfectly honest and say that I've experienced both more often than I would like to admit. I'm learning that without developing a more deeper relationship with God I fail miserably on the slippery slope between self serving and being a servant leader. I'm becoming more and more aware that there is never a satisfying peace when trying to gain and protect what I feel I have earned. However, there is great peace and joy in helping others. For today Lord, I pray that you will let my ears hear the loud clanging noise of my self serving ways so that I can run to you to fine tune the strings of my heart so that it will be music to your ears. I pray that I'll remain ever mindful of my life as a gift and not as an entitlement I've earned. Thank you for sharing all that is good and help me to be a more effective servant to others. Help me to bring a more perfect harmony into my spiritual life so that others will want to be part of your symphony. I give you all the glory and ask these things in your precious sons name...Jesus.

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