Servant Leadership School Offers Inner Journey

Classes Starting in Bentonville, Fayetteville This Month

Last updated Friday, January 2, 2009 5:50 PM CST in Religion

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Yet explored more deeply, the concept leads to a holistic -- and innately spiritual -- form of leadership, one that puts the needs of others above personal prestige and power.

Such leadership is not limited to people in positions of corporate authority. It impacts every area of life -- from marriages and parenting to teaching and volunteer work. Servant leaders employ a collaborative style that builds trust and empathy. They call forth the best each person has to offer, encouraging all to cleave to the higher standards at the heart of family, community and organizational life.

"Servant leadership is neither dominance nor servility. Instead, it is the most enduring form of power, because it is congruent with the relational way things work in the universe," wrote the Right Rev. Bennett J. Sims, former bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Atlanta and founder of The Bennett J. Sims Institute for Servant Leadership.

"Servanthood has the power to transform human experience and, in consequence, the character of God's interwoven world."

The Servant Leadership School of Northwest Arkansas has offered classes since 2005. A program of St. Paul's Episcopal Church in Fayetteville, the school seeks to involve people from all denominations and faiths. About 125 people have taken the foundational course to date, said co-facilitator Kaye Bernard. Additional courses also are offered.

This semester, a class will be offered in Bentonville for the first time. Fayetteville classes include Servant Leadership I and II, and a new offering titled "The Journey to Authenticity."

The Greenleaf Model

The foundational course is based on the work of Robert K. Greenleaf, who coined the phrase "servant leadership" in 1970. Greenleaf spent 40 years in management research, development and education at AT&T. A second career as management consultant led him to high profile organizations such as Ohio University, MIT, the Ford Foundation, the R.K. Mellon Foundation, Mead Corp., the American Foundation for Management Research and the Lilly Endowment.

He also founded the Center for Applied Ethics, now called the Robert K. Greenleaf Center for Servant-Leadership.

Greenleaf was influenced by the Herman Hesse book, "Journey to the East," which centers around a band of spiritual seekers and the servant who cares for them. When the servant disappears, the group falls into disarray and eventually disbands. Years later, the narrator encounters the servant in the religious order that had sponsored the journey. There he learns that the man he knew as a servant was actually head of the order.

From this tale, Greenleaf developed his concept of servant leadership. It's a concept that stresses collaboration, rather than the top-down hierarchical structure found in many organizations. Instead of viewing employees as cogs in a machine -- the defining viewpoint since the days of the Industrial Revolution -- there is an appreciation of the humanity of each worker and the individual assets each brings.

Hallmarks of the leadership style include increased service to others, a holistic approach to work, a desire to promote a sense of community and a deepening understanding of spirituality in the workplace.

"The servant-leader is servant first," Greenleaf wrote. "It begins with the natural feeling that one wants to serve, to serve first. Then conscious choice brings one to aspire to lead. ... 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?"

A Paradigm Shift

The servant leadership course offered by the local school is patterned on a course designed by The Servant Leadership School of Greensboro (N.C.).

A small group from St. Paul's encountered the concept at a church retreat. They were so impressed they decided to bring the course here, Bernard said.

The model combines Greenleaf's theories with the work of other thinkers and teachers. The Church of the Saviour in Washington, D.C., has long promoted a spiritual approach that combines inner work with outer service. The Bennett J. Sims Institute for Servant Leadership explores Greenleaf theories in a Christian context.

Course readings include the essay "Leading from Within" by Parker Palmer, "Finding Our Way Home" by Killian Noe, "In the Name of Jesus" by Henri Nouwen and a wealth of excerpts from other authors.

The course is based on three assertions: Everyone is called to leadership. One's inner life impacts one's outer work. To a great extent, leadership development is spiritual development.

The curriculum leads participants on a journey of self-reflection, asking them to consider paradigm shifts in the way they view the world and their place in it. The biblical story of the Exodus is used as a metaphor for the individual journey from bondage to freedom.

Participants are invited to move from the three 'P's of possessions, prestige and power to the three 'C's of communion, compassion and co-creation. These themes are explored at depth, using the temptation of Christ in the desert as a template.

Class members are asked to commit to some regular, transformative, centering practice; to acknowledge their heart connection to other human beings; and to engage with others in a spirit of collaboration.

Eventually, the journey leads into the world, with participants asked to discern their "piece of God's dream." Small groups support the process, offering table members a safe place to share their hopes, fears and dreams. The "circles of trust" function as circles of accountability, Bernard said, offering feedback in a respectful, supportive way.

"We're working in community to become more of who we really are," she said. "If we take this inward journey, we're going to go outward in a different way. ...

"People who take the course just love it. They tell us that they regauge themselves -- where they are in their lives (and where they want to be.) It really helps them to grow as individuals -- and in community."

An Effective Way To Lead

Other courses develop the themes introduced in the foundational class. Servant Leadership II views servant leadership through the lens of Benedictine teachings on hospitality. The 11-week discussion group uses the book "Radical Hospitality: Benedict's Way of Love" by Daniel Homan and Lonni Collins Pratt.

New this semester is a course designed by St. Paul's staff to deepen the journey begun in Servant Leadership I and II. Participation in the first two classes is not required, Bernard said.

Titled "The Journey to Authenticity," the class consists of three parts. The first four weeks will focus on identity -- finding one's spiritual gifts. The second four weeks will focus on discernment -- listening to one's life. Part three begins a series of open-ended accountability circles. These ongoing groups will offer support for the spiritual journey. Participants will be asked to make a renewable three-month commitment.

"A lot of what servant leadership is about is 'how do we help each other be all we can be?'" said Jim Tatum, a Pineville, Mo., resident who served on the board of the Greenleaf Center for Servant-Leadership in the 1980s. Tatum is not directly connected with the Northwest Arkansas school, although he's interested in its development.

"That applies to marriages, to friendship, to schools and to businesses. ... It's everybody's role." Although the principles of servant leadership can be applied in any situation, it's incumbent on organizational leaders to create a climate that supports the ethic of service, he cautioned.

Bob McMath, dean of the Honors College at the University of Arkansas and interim provost, has integrated servant leadership with his work for a number of years. McMath teaches a segment of the Servant Leadership course titled "Spirituality and Leadership: Leading From Within."

"(Servant leadership) is a very effective way of leading people," he said. "It involves empathy and listening, encouragement more than coercion. ...

"It begins with knowing oneself -- not operating out of fear, but being self-reflective and self-confident. Then you can approach others from the standpoint of mutual trust and respect, and work together for solutions."

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