Primary Purpose.
Linda Chezem, who was a trustee at the Greenleaf Center for Servant-Leadership, wrote an article “Leadership that is Quietly Changing the World: Exploration of the Roots of Two Movements.” The article compares the leadership principles of Robert Greenleaf with the two founders of Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) Bill W. and Dr. Bob. Chezem writes that AA’s “Twelve Traditions are leadership lessons in how groups can function.” She also points out that “these gentlemen developed, not simultaneously, and from different experiences and resources, the same premise that leadership comes from within the individual and from within the group to enable the group to function for the common welfare of the members of the group or community.” She closes her article with a reminder that “Because both servant leadership and A.A. are premised on a sense of spirituality, the work of servant leadership can benefit by the research into the effects of the spiritual aspects of A.A.”
With that reminder, I would like to continue delving into the spiritual aspects of AA’s Twelve Traditions and their relationship to servant leadership with:
Tradition Six: A group ought never endorse, finance, or lend the group name to any related facility or outside enterprise, lest problems of money, property, and prestige divert us from our primary purpose.
In the publication The Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions , the authors share the story about how in the early days of AA, a member approached AA’s General Office with question on the possibility of accepting a job as a spokesperson for a group of alcohol distillers. This organization was interested in educating the public that “liquor should be enjoyed, not misused; hard drinkers ought to slow down, and problem drinkers-alcoholics-should not drink at all.” Who better to spread this message than an official member of Alcoholics Anonymous? At first glance, this did not seem like such a bad idea. (Think of the potential earnings that an advertising contract with the liquor industry could bring in.) As the details of the proposal became clear, it was obvious that affiliating the members of Alcoholics Anonymous with the liquor industry was not a good idea and would result in much controversy among the members. Through this and other experiences, the founders of AA realized the importance of not affiliating their organization with any other outside organization, no matter how good or similar a cause the other group might represent. AA existed for one reason and one reason only and that was to help drunks get and stay sober.
Controversy or not, affiliation with groups who have other interests can only lead to distraction from the primary purpose of the group. In his essay "The Institution as Servant", Robert Greenleaf points out the importance of staying focused on the primary purpose where he wrote, “Defining the institution and stating its goals and purposes is probably the most critical task that confronts trustees. Everything else the trustees do rest on this one basic decision.” The Twelve Traditions are great examples of one institution’s attempts at defining goals and purposes, and the Sixth Tradition is an important requirement to ensure that that focus is maintained.
So how do we keep our groups from being diverted from their primary purpose?
With that reminder, I would like to continue delving into the spiritual aspects of AA’s Twelve Traditions and their relationship to servant leadership with:
Tradition Six: A group ought never endorse, finance, or lend the group name to any related facility or outside enterprise, lest problems of money, property, and prestige divert us from our primary purpose.
In the publication The Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions , the authors share the story about how in the early days of AA, a member approached AA’s General Office with question on the possibility of accepting a job as a spokesperson for a group of alcohol distillers. This organization was interested in educating the public that “liquor should be enjoyed, not misused; hard drinkers ought to slow down, and problem drinkers-alcoholics-should not drink at all.” Who better to spread this message than an official member of Alcoholics Anonymous? At first glance, this did not seem like such a bad idea. (Think of the potential earnings that an advertising contract with the liquor industry could bring in.) As the details of the proposal became clear, it was obvious that affiliating the members of Alcoholics Anonymous with the liquor industry was not a good idea and would result in much controversy among the members. Through this and other experiences, the founders of AA realized the importance of not affiliating their organization with any other outside organization, no matter how good or similar a cause the other group might represent. AA existed for one reason and one reason only and that was to help drunks get and stay sober.
Controversy or not, affiliation with groups who have other interests can only lead to distraction from the primary purpose of the group. In his essay "The Institution as Servant", Robert Greenleaf points out the importance of staying focused on the primary purpose where he wrote, “Defining the institution and stating its goals and purposes is probably the most critical task that confronts trustees. Everything else the trustees do rest on this one basic decision.” The Twelve Traditions are great examples of one institution’s attempts at defining goals and purposes, and the Sixth Tradition is an important requirement to ensure that that focus is maintained.
So how do we keep our groups from being diverted from their primary purpose?
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