Page 163 - Harnessing the Strengths

146 ■ Servant-Leadership in the Intercultural Practice

The Dilemma

Westerners are generally raised with the notion that they
should take destiny into their own hands and prevent unan-
ticipated events. A leader is often respected when he or she
is strong, bold, and outspoken. “Be assertive!” “Be brave!”
“Have courage!” These are expressions commonly heard.
In other parts of the world, a leader is more often someone
with emphatic capabilities, someone who can imagine how
it is to stand in the other’s shoes. Therefore, listening skills
are more developed than talking skills. Modesty is one
of the more common characteristics. Precaution is valued
more than bravado.
A servant-leader realizes that both viewpoints have
their pluses. Connecting willpower with modesty, internal
with external, and push with pull will ultimately lead to the
greatest effectiveness.
This dimension revolves around a relationship with
nature and the environment that we live in. Each culture
develops an attitude toward its natural surroundings; the
way people treat their habitat—internal or external—is
strongly related to the way in which one tries to control life
and fate. There are two basic attitudes: survival by adapting
or by fi ghting.
In cultures that thrive on “internal control” (push), vir-
tue is regarded as something that is within each person. The
soul, the will, convocations, and principles are what inform
one’s thinking and ways of acting and are at the core of one’s
identity. In such cultures, people thus work from their inner
strengths using their personal power. Here, “talking” comes
before “listening,” courage comes before caution, and will-
power before modesty. Fate and luck do not exist; thus, there
is an admiration of courage, control, and the expression of