servant leadership – phil invites

This buzzword often feels positive, is something we look for, aspire towards, or seem to enjoy.

But what does it really mean for us?

If this is how you intend to lead, as a servant of a cause or for people around you, truly serve those people well by defining servant leadership for yourself and clarifying how it shows up in your world.

Where does this ideology show up in your day to day? What are examples of how you’ve lived this out? If this idea were to live out in its best/purest way, how would it look? What would it do? Feel free to think nuts and bolts specifics or consider the three P’s.

Sometimes we can define what it is not to discover what it is.

A quote I love that embodies how I see servant leadership from Lao Tzu (original pronouns “he” changed to “she”):

The wicked leader is she whom the people revile.
The good leader is she whom the people revere.
The great leader is she of whom the people say, “We did it ourselves.”
La o Tzu

This idea sparked in me from two sources: (1) The Fifth Discipline by Peter Senge (feels like a must read book for anyone looking to do effective leadership) quotes Lao Tzu. (2) Coaching Real Leaders Podcast Episode “Bridging the Gap Between Me & My Team” shows a process we can clarify and understand more deeply the meaning of core values like “servant leadership.”