Community service, serving others and our position of power

As I mentioned in yesterday's post, I will be teaching both an undergraduate and graduate course on servant-leadership this semester. I hope to be able to share with you some of the discussions that come up during class as it seems appropriate.

One of the discussions that we'll be talking about when classes begin is how we serve others. Many of the service-related projects that people choose to do for various reasons are not really focused on truly serving others. What I mean is that many will do community service, but it is meant as a way to help 'fix' other people and/or their problems. In other words, we come into the situation being in a position of power (I can do something for you that you cannot do yourself) and that is how we lend a hand to others. Any many wrongfully consider this to be servant-leadership!

When we look at organizations, we would never consider a boss to be a true servant-leader if this was their attitude towards employees. Going out into the community and helping others is only servant-leadership when we truly serve others and show our vulnerability - when we enter the situation looking at ourselves not as a "fixer," but as a servant.

What are your opinions on this "criticism" of community service as it relates to servant-leadership? Does it make sense?