Conversation on Servant-Leadership: Don Frick, Part I
The highlight of our 1st Annual Conversation on Servant-Leadership was our keynote speaker, Don Frick. Don wrote the book on Robert Greenleaf....literally! His biography of Greenleaf, titled Robert K. Greenleaf: A life of Servant-Leadership is a must read for all Greenleaf enthusiasts.
I want to start tonight with just a small glimpse into the powerful talk that Don gave. All three of the points provided below provide a great opportunity for reflection, and I don't want to overwhelm you to the point that you miss something. Here are just a few things that Don spoke about:
1) A servant-leader is never confident they got it right - they are always seeking answers. I think this is an important part of what it means to be a servant-leader. But you may be asking yourself: How do I go about consistently seeking answers?
2) The core of servant-leadership can be found in silence, reflection, and spirituality. In order to be an effective servant-leader, we need to be willing to take the time to be silent! If we wish to seek answers to improve our ability to both serve and lead, they will not come while responding to 10 phone messages, 25 e-mails, or in the middle of six meetings we're trying to cram into 3 hours!
3) A great way to think about servant-leadership can be found in the story of Indra's Net. Indra's Net comes from the Buddhist tradition; it speaks not only of the interconnectedness of all things, but also the notion of 'not-self'. It is a story that takes some time to work through and ponder. You can find more information, with additional links, here. The story of Indra's Net, in case you are not familiar, goes like this:
FAR AWAY IN THE HEAVENLY ABODE OF THE GREAT GOD INDRA, THERE IS A WONDERFUL NET WHICH HAS BEEN HUNG BY SOME CUNNING ARTIFICER IN SUCH A MANNER THAT IT STRETCHES OUT INDEFINITELY IN ALL DIRECTIONS. IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE EXTRAVAGANT TASTES OF DEITIES, THE ARTIFICER HAS HUNG A SINGLE GLITTERING JEWEL AT THE NET'S EVERY NODE, AND SINCE THE NET ITSELF IS INFINITE IN DIMENSION, THE JEWELS ARE INFINITE IN NUMBER. THERE HANG THE JEWELS, GLITTERING LIKE STARS OF THE FIRST MAGNITUDE, A WONDERFUL SIGHT TO BEHOLD. IF WE NOW ARBITRARILY SELECT ONE OF THESE JEWELS FOR INSPECTION AND LOOK CLOSELY AT IT, WE WILL DISCOVER THAT IN ITS POLISHED SURFACE THERE ARE REFLECTED ALL THE OTHER JEWELS IN THE NET, INFINITE IN NUMBER. NOT ONLY THAT, BUT EACH OF THE JEWELS REFLECTED IN THIS ONE JEWEL IS ALSO REFLECTING ALL THE OTHER JEWELS, SO THAT THE PROCESS OF REFLECTION IS INFINITE.
There is a lot more to come, but that is all for today. My wife goes in for surgery in a couple of hours. I will be posting more on Don's talk later this week. Since my wife will be staying overnight tonite, I'm not sure how our 3 1/2 year old will respond staying home alone with dad. If it goes well, I'll post again Wednesday; if you don't see anything, you'll know it was a long evening! :-)
I want to start tonight with just a small glimpse into the powerful talk that Don gave. All three of the points provided below provide a great opportunity for reflection, and I don't want to overwhelm you to the point that you miss something. Here are just a few things that Don spoke about:
1) A servant-leader is never confident they got it right - they are always seeking answers. I think this is an important part of what it means to be a servant-leader. But you may be asking yourself: How do I go about consistently seeking answers?
2) The core of servant-leadership can be found in silence, reflection, and spirituality. In order to be an effective servant-leader, we need to be willing to take the time to be silent! If we wish to seek answers to improve our ability to both serve and lead, they will not come while responding to 10 phone messages, 25 e-mails, or in the middle of six meetings we're trying to cram into 3 hours!
3) A great way to think about servant-leadership can be found in the story of Indra's Net. Indra's Net comes from the Buddhist tradition; it speaks not only of the interconnectedness of all things, but also the notion of 'not-self'. It is a story that takes some time to work through and ponder. You can find more information, with additional links, here. The story of Indra's Net, in case you are not familiar, goes like this:
FAR AWAY IN THE HEAVENLY ABODE OF THE GREAT GOD INDRA, THERE IS A WONDERFUL NET WHICH HAS BEEN HUNG BY SOME CUNNING ARTIFICER IN SUCH A MANNER THAT IT STRETCHES OUT INDEFINITELY IN ALL DIRECTIONS. IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE EXTRAVAGANT TASTES OF DEITIES, THE ARTIFICER HAS HUNG A SINGLE GLITTERING JEWEL AT THE NET'S EVERY NODE, AND SINCE THE NET ITSELF IS INFINITE IN DIMENSION, THE JEWELS ARE INFINITE IN NUMBER. THERE HANG THE JEWELS, GLITTERING LIKE STARS OF THE FIRST MAGNITUDE, A WONDERFUL SIGHT TO BEHOLD. IF WE NOW ARBITRARILY SELECT ONE OF THESE JEWELS FOR INSPECTION AND LOOK CLOSELY AT IT, WE WILL DISCOVER THAT IN ITS POLISHED SURFACE THERE ARE REFLECTED ALL THE OTHER JEWELS IN THE NET, INFINITE IN NUMBER. NOT ONLY THAT, BUT EACH OF THE JEWELS REFLECTED IN THIS ONE JEWEL IS ALSO REFLECTING ALL THE OTHER JEWELS, SO THAT THE PROCESS OF REFLECTION IS INFINITE.
There is a lot more to come, but that is all for today. My wife goes in for surgery in a couple of hours. I will be posting more on Don's talk later this week. Since my wife will be staying overnight tonite, I'm not sure how our 3 1/2 year old will respond staying home alone with dad. If it goes well, I'll post again Wednesday; if you don't see anything, you'll know it was a long evening! :-)
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