In Praise of Selflessness

My friend Jon recently pointed out that Inc. Magazine has a wonderful article on Servant Leadership. It is clear that the author did their homework; if you haven't seen the article yet, please take the time to read it here.

Bees and Flowers Part Two.

In my last post I quoted from a speech written by Robert Greenleaf where he wrote that the “bee fertilizes the flower it robs.” Greenleaf used this simple lesson from nature as a reminder that we human beings need to become more aware of how we interact with those around us and to make sure that we always leave something of greater value then what we take away.

I also came across the same honeybee and flower reminder in David Korten’s book The Great Turning: From Empire To Earth Community. Korten writes, “Every child is familiar with the example of the flower and the honeybee. The flower provides the honeybee with sweet, life-giving nectar, and the honeybee pollinates the flower to facilitate its reproduction. In this simple example, the relationship is directly reciprocal.” The premise of Korten’s book is that we need to change the focus of our societies based on building empires of hierarchy and instead develop communities that focus on cooperation and harmony with the natural world.

Although Korten does not mention the concept of servant leadership in his book, it is filled with ideas that mesh well with Robert Greenleaf’s. In the “Acknowledgements" section of the book he credits Meg Wheatley as one source of the framing ideas for his book. Wheatley has written much on servant leadership in her work. Korten’s writings on the history of empires reminded me of Greenleaf’s account of how our society became so bureaucratic in his essay “The Individual as Leader” from the book On Becoming A Servant Leader.

In the essay, Greenleaf explains how Moses was struggling to keep order among his followers and his father in-law Jethro advised him that the answer to his problems were to set up a bureaucracy to manage the work and workers. This was not the solution that would best serve the people, but it did make Moses’ job a lot easier. In the end, God was not happy with Moses performance and fired him from leading the people into the Promised Land.

Now back to the bees. I read an article in the paper today about how honeybees are suffering from what has been called “colony collapse disorder” where honeybees are dieing off in large numbers. It seems that in this case we are not giving much back to the honeybees. Could it be that the demise of the honeybee colonies is an indication that empire as an organizational principle might be coming to the end of its 5000-year or so reign? If it is, who is the prophet that will lead us to our promised land, and what will be the organizational principle to get us there? According to Korten, “we are the ones we have been waiting for” and Greenleaf’s concept of servant leadership is a likely path to take us there.

Power, Violence, and Stars.

Abuses of power and violence dominate the news stories this week. These stories included coverage of the shootings at Virginia Tech, bombings in Iraq, or US Senate Hearings on the firings of US attorneys. Often this focus on the big stories diverts our attention from what the real source of the problems that occur every day in our lives.

During times like these, it can be difficult to hold on to hope for where our world is going. Looking to find some hope, I turned to THE PRIVATE WRITINGS OF ROBERT K. GREENLEAF, which is a collection of Greenleaf’s writings that was edited by Don Frick and Larry Spears. I came across the speech ghostwritten by Greenleaf for a university president during the late 1960’s that was apparently given to some university students.

The world of the 60’s was dominated by many of the same tragedies that we continue to face today, which makes me wonder if we are ever going to figure out a better way. But like many of Greenleaf’s writings, in them I find hope that there can indeed be a better way. And so, I thought I would share some quotes from that speech titled “Lessons on Power” that might bring some hope to our world today.

“One of the new awarenesses of our times is the realization of the centrality of language in the complex of forces that make a social structure. [. . .]. This has been augmented by the candid television portrayals of the war in Vietnam, the race riots in our cities, and the eruption of our campuses, which have immersed the home, the family, and the emerging generation of young adults day after day, for some years now, in the stark realities of power carried to violence. What makes this different from the occasional violence of crime, which has always been the experience of men, is the moral confusion that surrounds this panorama of power carried to violence that is the daily diet of most people in the world over.”

“Disorder is always threatening. But it also opens opportunities that might not otherwise be sought. In my experience, opportunities do not present themselves; they are always there for the taking. Things happen when people seek out opportunities. And one of the by-products of moral disorder is that it spurs the individual search for a new, more enabling ethic. […]. So I am hopeful that out of the stress of these times, which are hard on all of us, will come a new searching, especially by this college generation.”

“It is difficult to see how our vast, complex, and soon to be overpopulated society can carry on without some concentrations of power. It is being mad with power that will anger the gods. It is the reckless, insensitive, not socially oriented use of power that is censored by destruction. Probably what is changing in the world today is a growing sense - among all people – of what is a legitimate use of power.”

“One by one the holders of power will be held in judgment. Reckless, insensitive, non-socially oriented use of power will be categorically condemned, and precise standards of legitimate, sensitive, socially constructive uses of power will take their place.”

“The bee fertilizes the flower it robs. What tremendous symbolism in this simple assertion! Never take anything from anybody, from any situation without leaving something of greater value then you take away. Never enter a situation without respect for integrity of personality of every individual involved. Take the wage worthy of your hire, if it is the job that supplies your livelihood, but leave a creative force in the situation where you work so that the effect of your presence is a sustained, living, growing, beautiful thing. You may have the power to destroy, to hurt, to demean; but you will remember the bee that fertilizes the flower it robs.”

“What nobler thought can one hold when the clouds are lowering, and the very air shakes with violence? When it is dark enough, you can see the stars.”

These quotes from Greenleaf are reminders to always find ways to show respect for individuals, failing to do so is ultimately one of the most violent acts we can commit; and to remember to look for the stars in the darkness.


So what do we do in these times of darkness to find hope, to see the stars?

A Wonderful Video

Here is a video that is well worth your time. Ken Melrose, former CEO of Toro Corporation and author of Making the Grass Greener on Your Side, spoke to the MBA students at Baylor University about Servant Leadership.

You can see the video here.

Links for Thursday, April 12, 2007

Here are two Leadership blogs that I have recently come across that are well worth the time to read:

• The Practice of Leadership focuses not on the theory but on the day-to-day living by Leadership Principles. Very well written!

• Leadership501 focuses on concrete issues around leadership.

While neither are focused specifically on Servant Leadership, they both are filled with great insight and should be on your list to check out.

Foresight.

“The failure (or refusal) of a leader to foresee may be viewed as an ethical failure, because a serious ethical compromise today (when the usual judgment on ethical inadequacy is made) is sometimes the result of a failure to make the effort at an earlier date to foresee today’s events and take the right actions when there was freedom for initiative to act.”

This quote comes from Robert Greenleaf’s essay “The Servant as Leader”. According to Greenleaf foresight is “The Central Ethic of Leadership.”

Thanks again to reader Chris for inspiration to delve into the topics of ethics in leadership. Chris posted a link to Michael Josephson’s Obstacles to Ethical Decision Making: Rationalizations in his recent comment to my last blog. After reading Josephson’s list of rationalizations for making unethical decisions, I could not help but be reminded of the controversy that United States Attorney General Alberto Gonzales is facing for the firings of U.S. attorneys.
What follows are some quotes from Gonzales’ recent interview on NBC regarding the controversy that are examples of Josephson’s rationalizations for failures to lead with foresight.

If It’s Necessary, It’s Ethical. “And our record here in the past two years in the area of civil rights, in the area of protecting our kids against child predators, protecting the country against terrorism, making our neighborhoods safe from drugs and gangs has really been outstanding.”

If It’s Legal and Permissible, It’s Proper. “The United States attorneys that were asked — to resign — were appointed by this president, they serve, like me, at the pleasure of the president.”

It’s All for a Good Cause. “So we've done some great things. I believe that that can still continue.”

It Doesn’t Hurt Anyone. “We have to reassure the American people that nothing improper happened here.”

Greenleaf went on to write that,

“Foresight is the “lead” that the leader has. Once leaders lose this lead and events start to force their hand, they are leaders in name only. They are not leading but reacting to immediate events, and they will probably not long be leaders.”

Time will tell if Attorney General Gonzales will face the consequences of failing to lead without foresight. These events are a good reminder of the need to think with the future in mind when we make leadership decisions.

So how do we remember to practice the art of foresight?