Tags
Authenticity, Guidance, Helper, Jesus, Leadership, Love, Nazareth, Respect, Servant
I’ve been reading a book called the Servant Leader by James C Hunter.
This book is about authenticity and leading others through your servitude,
it’s about pushing people to gently achieve they’re needs which in-return builds
trust and creates a eagerness to follow you through they’re own will rather then
any forceful cohesion. Heres some of my notes:
‘Forceful cohesion’ = Power: The ability to force or coerce someone to do your will, even if they would choose not to, because of your position or your might.
- Do it or I’ll fire you,
- Do it or we’ll bomb you
- Do it or I’ll beat you up
- Do it or I’ll ground you for two weeks
- Do it or else!
The problem with power is that people can be placed into it. Power can be bought and sold, given and taken away. People can be in positions of power because they’re some ones brother-in-law, some ones buddy or because they’ve inherited money or power.
In the end you can get a few seasons out of power but over time relationships will deteriorate and so will your influence. The Solution is – Authority. Authority: The skill of getting people to willingly do your will because of your personal influence. Authority can not be bought or sold, given or taken away. Authority is about who you are as a person, your character and the influence you’ve built with people. How do we develop authority? We must be patient, kind, humble, respectful, selfless, forgiving, honest and committed. These behaviors require us to serve and sacrifice for others. Which requires us to sacrifice our desires to blast at someone rather be assertive with them. Meaning that we literally have to extend ourselves for people we may not even like. So HOW do we do that? By loving others In the English language when we say love we associate it with a feeling:
- I love my dog
- I love my cigarettes
- I love my booze
In Servant leadership we refer to the greek version (the original biblical meaning of love) – Agape. Agape is unconditional love, rooted in behavior toward others without regard to their due. It is the love of deliberate choice – love of behavior and choice, not a feeling of love. (Agape) love it is referring to the verb describing the behavior and not a noun describing feelings – “Love is as Love does” “I can not always control how I feel about other people but I certainly am in control of how I behave toward other people” Your neighbor may be difficult and you may not like him very much, but you can still behave lovingly. Being patiant with him, honest and respectful, even though he chooses to behave poorly Corinthians, chapter thirteen “Love is patiant, kind, not puffed up or arrogant, does not behave unbecomingly, does not seek its own, does not take into account a wrong suffered, does not rejoice in unrighteousness but rejoices in the truth, bears all things, endures all things. Love never fails.” Summary of what love is:
- patience,
- kindness,
- humility,
- respectfulness,
- selflessness,
- forgiveness,
- honesty,
- commitment
Again, love is not how you feel toward others but how you behave toward others. It is the act or acts of extending yourself for others by identifying and meeting their legitimate needs. Needs & Wants A leader must always identify and meet the legitimate needs of who he is serving. “slaves do what others want while servants give what others need” For example: If I were to allow my children to do whatever they want, there wouldn’t be many people willing to spent time at my home, because the kids would be running the place. There’d be anarchy. By giving them what they want you certainly aren’t giving them what they need. Children (and adults) need an environment with boundaries and accountability. They may not want boundaries and accountability but they Need boundaries and accountability. Nobody is having any favors done for them by having undisciplined homes or departments. The leader should never settle for mediocrity or second best. People have a need to be pushed to be the best they can be. It may not be what they want, but the leader should always be more concerned with needs than wants. How do you clearly differentiate between needs and wants? A want – is simply a wish or desire without any regard for the physical or psychological consequences. A need – is a legitimate physical or psychological requirement for the well-being of a human being.
Maslow’s hierchy of needs The lower-level needs must first be met before the higher-level needs become motivators. So on the lowest tier , I suppose paying a fair wage and benefit would sufficiently meet the food, water ,and shelter needs. The second-tier needs would include safety and security needs , which at work could mean a safe work environment along with providing boundaries and ‘setting the standards’ This provides consistency & predictability. Once those needs are met, the belonging and love needs become motivators. As I recall, that includes the need to be a part of a healthy group with accepting and healthy relationships. Once those needs are met, the motivator becomes self-esteem, which includes the need to be valued, treated with respect, appreciated, encouraged, to receive recognition, rewards, and so on ‘Once these needs are met, the need moves to self-actualization, which many have struggled trying to define. What I got out of it was that to self-actualize is to become the best you can be or are capable of becoming. Not everyone can be president of the company, All-American, or valedictorian. But everyone can be the best employee, player, or student possible. And if I’m understanding Simeon correctly, the leader should push and encourage people to become the best they are capable of