The Hope College Anchor

Last night, I was honored to participate in a panel on Servant Leadership at Hope College’s Center for Faithful Leadership.  The panel was part of the college’s mentoring program. Below are the questions we covered and my responses (including more content than covered in the session) :

1. What does Servant Leadership mean to you?

For me, Servant Leadership is the only real form of leadership.  After all, if you’re not serving others, you are not leading.  If your primary ambition is self-motivated for personal success, fame and fortune and not for a greater cause, then all you’re really doing is pursuing vain ambitions.

In contrast to the self-serving individual, servant leaders seek to help others become something greater.  They put all stakeholders before themselves in some degree.  Some people think servant leadership means only serving your employees, the poor or any singular constituency, but it’s really about understanding the needs of the broader organization.  So, in business for example, this means yes, serving your employees, but it also means serving your customers, supervisors and investors. » Read more: Servant Leadership Panel at Hope College