During the course of a business discussion
yesterday, we talked about leaders developing ‘a servant attitude’ towards
their teams. A manager present at the meeting wondered aloud: Isn’t projecting a ‘servant attitude’ something negative?
The manager’s premise is symptomatic of
what ails society today. We have all become so obsessed with what we get than
what we can give. Let’s remember that the larger purpose of being born human is
to be able to serve, to touch another Life and to be able to make a difference.
But because most of us are caught in this trap of focussing on what we deserve, we rarely recognize the opportunity
and potential that exists in each moment, to serve,
to create value and to make this world a better place.
To serve, to give, is a blessing. It will
enrich the giver immeasurably when the act of giving is selfless and
spontaneous. True service is not to be done out of pity, as a charity. It
cannot be done to fulfil your ego either – to ‘feel good’. When you see people serving
communities through charities or social service organizations, they are doing
immense good no doubt, but much of it is also to ‘earn a good name’. Again that’s
not true service. In the context of true service the giver is indebted to the
receiver – for having got the opportunity to serve in the first place. This is
what having a servant attitude to leadership and to Life is all about. It is
being grateful for the opportunity, the experience, to give, to make a difference.
In effect, serving is humbling. That’s the reason why almost every religion and
scripture celebrates true service as an act of worship, as a means to ‘realize’
God.
I am not sure God exists outside of us.
But if an important port of anchor for many of us is indeed God, I can, from my
own experiences, share a little secret: You do connect with
the Godliness resident in you __ and in all fellow beings __ when you serve,
when you offer yourself to, another!
No comments:
Post a Comment