Interdependence.

As folks around the nation celebrate Independence Day, it seems fitting to reflect on some of the servant leaders who played a role in Declaration of Independence. Robert Greenleaf mentions Thomas Jefferson and his mentor George Wythe in several of his writings on servant leadership. In his essay “The Servant As Leader” he points out that Wythe was “a signer of the Declaration of Independence and a member of the constitutional congress. But his chief claim to fame is as Thomas Jefferson’s mentor.” His point in mentioning Wythe is to remind us that “old people may have a part to play in helping potential servant-leaders to emerge at their optimal best.”

Regarding Jefferson, Greenleaf believed that his most important acts were not the drafting of the Declaration of Independence, nor his role as president, but what he did during the during the Revolutionary War. He went back to his home in Virginia, got elected to the state legislature and “proceeded to write new statutes embodying the new principles of law for the new nation.” For Greenleaf this showed that Jefferson “knew who he was, and he resolved to be his own man. He chose his own role.” This independence could not have come about without the help of the mentors in his life.

In the essay “The Future is Now” Greenleaf again mentions these two founding fathers and uses them as examples of leaders to emulate. He writes, “Somebody needs to paint the big dream, to give our age a goal that will lift the eyes of young people off the ground and make them want to stretch their horizons. The future is being made now. The future is now!”

So when you hear the explosions and see the fireworks bursting forth, take a moment to reflect on the deeper meaning of Independence Day and look for the interdependence that makes it all possible.