Why do people think they can not be a leader? Why is the term "leader" so commonplace and yet the actual process of being a leader so elusive? Here are my thoughts. While I may not be the best at leadership, I have been in many leadership positions over the years, and I keep learning about what can make me a better leader. There are many types of leadership. There are those who will just take charge and do things, there are those who sit back and sip on some sweet tea while watching everything unfold, and there are those who try to manage everything. I call these three types of leaders the General, the Vacationer, and the Nanny. While all of these leaders can be effective in getting things done, none in and of themselves are the best leaders in my opinion. I believe that the best type of leader knows when to adapt his skills to bring about the best leader needed at a given time. I believe that type of leadership is not so elusive, but servant leadership is.
Servant leadership is learning to serve others by always being there for them and yet at the same time being someone who people respect and look up to. You do not just wake up and say doodle-dah, I'm going to be a servant leader today. People do not just automatically start serving others. My parents have always told me that giving back to others in any way is worth way more than receiving from others. It is written that it is more blessed to give than to receive. Our society teaches us to be independent, but it does not teach us to be servant oriented. Interestingly, our generation is known for being the most giving, and in terms of stuff given I believe we may have given the most so far, but then again we have more to give.
One truly begins to give when one begins to truly give. What this means is that when you are giving from the heart and not from your pocketbook that you actually start to give something of yourself. A piece of you is in the gift, not just a piece of your money. What if instead of writing a check, you spent the year in a third world country giving back, or in a classroom teaching the next generation, or developing the next generation of farming techniques to give away to others. That is truly giving. And I must admit I have done none of these things, but I hope to be able to one day. In order to lead, one may or may not have followers, in fact I believe some great leaders in history may not have had any followers when they began to lead. I believe that leading an audience of one might actually be more eye opening than leading an audience of thousands. What I mean by this is that you must be comfortable in your own shoes. You must focus your mind, body and spirit and this requires leading oneself. One starts to lead when one believes that there is a purpose he or she can fulfill in order to make life better not only for oneself, but also for others. That is servant leadership. I encourage you to become a servant leader and make the true leader more commonplace.
