I started this post many years ago but due to circumstances, did not publish it yet. But now, with the global chaos that threatens us all, it feels that a conversation about what Servant Leadership means is more salient than ever!
Servant Leadership : what is it? Does it fulfill the Bhagavad Gita's idea of action performed without desire for results? Is it selfless? Is selfless action what the Bhagavad Gita teaches?
The phrase “Servant Leadership” was coined by
Robert K. Greenleaf in The Servant as Leader, an essay that he first
published in 1970. In that essay, he said:
"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. Between them there are shadings and blends that are part of the
infinite variety of human nature."
"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. The best test, and
difficult to administer, is: Do those served grow as persons? Do they, while
being served, become healthier, wiser, freer, more autonomous, more likely
themselves to become servants? And, what is the effect on the least
privileged in society? Will they benefit or at least not be further deprived?"
In his second major essay, The Institution as
Servant, Robert K. Greenleaf articulated what is often called the
"credo." He said:
" This is my thesis: caring for persons, the
more able and the less able serving each other, is the rock upon which a good
society is built. Whereas, until recently, caring was largely person to person,
now most of it is mediated through institutions - often large, complex,
powerful, impersonal; not always competent; sometimes corrupt. If a better
society is to be built, one that is more just and more loving, one that
provides greater creative opportunity for its people, then the most open course
is to raise both the capacity to serve and the very performance as servant of
existing major institutions by new regenerative forces operating within
them."
A question I am asking myself, when reflecting on the Bhagavad Gita in modern life, whether we can find in this model, a congruence with its spiritual teachings. I think of this especially for those for whom the old traditional ways are no longer a reality- for those who have already become immersed in corporate urban life, who are either westerners by birth, or for Indians who have become westernized but who still at heart wish to live a spiritual life rooted in their ancient scriptures. And perhaps we need to revitalize those whose traditional ways are still very vibrant, but who follow their traditions more by rote than from the heart. I think the world over, we need renewal of our desire, our capacity and will to serve each other.
"Who burns with the bliss
And suffers the sorrow
Of every creature
Within his own heart,
Making his own
Each bliss and each sorrow:
Him I hold highest
Of all yogis."
Bhagavad Gita Chapter 6: The Yoga of Meditation
