A topic I should just leave alone
But here I am, writing about it!
I recently read this interview with Ken Blanchard discussing his new book, Lead Like Jesus. I have found Blanchard's books on Servant-Leadership to be quite good. I personally find great value in the work he does. At the same time, every so often I read something that Blanchard writes or says that bothers me a little bit. Here is the quote from his recent interview:
"If we talk about servant-leadership without a relationship with Jesus to be your guide, then it is just another personal growth, another leadership concept, but this one is really tied in to a walk with Him as your guide."
Where is the problem, you ask? As a self-proclaimed strong Catholic believer I don't think that you can talk about servant-leadership without holding Jesus up as the example of servant-leadership in action. But the question I have is this:
Can a devout Muslim who has read Greenleaf's materials, listens to a Sufi master, and does not have a personal relationship with Jesus be an effective servant-leader? Or is this muslim's practicing of servant-leadership merely another personal growth/leadership concept? In other words, is servant-leadership inherently tied to a relationship with Jesus, as Blanchard indicates?
I get the impression that Blanchard believes S-L is inherently tied to a relationship with Jesus. If he is talking only about Christian leaders, I could certainly understand. But isn't servant-leadership, as Greenleaf wrote about it, much larger than this?
I recently read this interview with Ken Blanchard discussing his new book, Lead Like Jesus. I have found Blanchard's books on Servant-Leadership to be quite good. I personally find great value in the work he does. At the same time, every so often I read something that Blanchard writes or says that bothers me a little bit. Here is the quote from his recent interview:
"If we talk about servant-leadership without a relationship with Jesus to be your guide, then it is just another personal growth, another leadership concept, but this one is really tied in to a walk with Him as your guide."
Where is the problem, you ask? As a self-proclaimed strong Catholic believer I don't think that you can talk about servant-leadership without holding Jesus up as the example of servant-leadership in action. But the question I have is this:
Can a devout Muslim who has read Greenleaf's materials, listens to a Sufi master, and does not have a personal relationship with Jesus be an effective servant-leader? Or is this muslim's practicing of servant-leadership merely another personal growth/leadership concept? In other words, is servant-leadership inherently tied to a relationship with Jesus, as Blanchard indicates?
I get the impression that Blanchard believes S-L is inherently tied to a relationship with Jesus. If he is talking only about Christian leaders, I could certainly understand. But isn't servant-leadership, as Greenleaf wrote about it, much larger than this?
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