Page 185 - Harnessing the Strengths

168 ■ Getting Started with Servant-Leadership

“We must be servants of the poor,” said Mahatma
(“Great Soul”) Gandhi.
A few hours before Martin Luther King Jr. was assas-
sinated, he told his followers:

We’ve got some diffi cult days ahead. Some worry
about what might happen to me from some of our
sick, white brothers. But I’m not worried about
that now . . . longevity has its place. But He’s taken
me to the mountaintop and I’ve seen the promised
land. I may not get there with you, but we, as a
people, will get to the promised land. 3

It was Nelson Mandela who often repeated, “My imprison-
ment symbolizes our cause and serves my people.”
The servant-leader is of course a paradox and thereby
represents a dilemma. It is a form of “psychic crucifi xion”
between two opposed values, symbolic not just of Christi-
anity but the human condition in general. When Jesus died,
the Temple curtain tore in half. Losing one’s life and saving
it is a single process, as is descending only to rise again. This
is integrity of the highest order.
It is not easy to measure such a dual concept, but it can
be done.

Where Should One Begin with the
Implemention of Servant-Leadership?

Few people would fundamentally disagree with the descrip-
tion of servant-leadership above. However, this small minor-
ity would say that, just like Peter Webber, they are challenged
by having to work with specifi c goals and practical applica-
tions and that nice words only go so far.