As I was reading the article with the list of servant leadership traits, I couldn’t help but think about those traits and how they interact with community service. That is what I think of when I hear servant leadership, community service. It teaches you a lot of the characteristics or at least makes you a better person. I’m not saying that if you do community service that you will be a good leader, but I believe that if someone has experiences with people of all different socioeconomic status, race, gender identity, and everything else that can create divisions between people, they will have a better view of the world and how their decisions might impact more than just the people and the community they grew up in. Greenleaf’s article talks about servant leadership and how “It begins with the natural feeling that one wants to serve, to serve first. Then conscious choice brings one to aspire to lead”. It is drastically different from the people who choose to lead first. Like I said earlier, I know that I have and I’m assuming other people have learned something when serving others. Volunteering and community service is a big part of my life and I believe that everyone should do it because it gives you a different perspective on life. Personally, it made me more appreciative of what I have but also taught me that you can find joy anywhere. There is no situation that is completely hopeless which just really changed my view of the world and I am grateful for that.
This interacts with leadership because I think that the valuable lessons that my experiences with service have taught me would give me some of the skills I need to prepare myself for leadership. It taught me humility and awareness. I grew up in an affluent area and had never really been faced with anything else until I went on a mission trip to Belize. I was astounded by the joy of the community despite the hardships they experience on a day to day basis and it taught me that other people have different experiences than me and that taught me how to listen. I am excited and willing to listen to others in order to learn more about the world. Sorry, I’m kind of going on a tangent, anyway I think that service can improve the leadership qualities of our leaders and that service leaders have a more well-rounded view of the world that we live in. Therefore they can make better decisions and be a superior leader.
I didn’t even think of community service! But that’s a really good point! Adding on to that, community service definitely would help with the “conceptualization” and “awareness” parts of leadership that the second article mentioned. Getting out of one’s circle and really trying to do good in other places can show what’s really important and round-out someone’s way of thinking.
I think service is a really good thing to mention here. Service allows us to step back from our own lives and look at the world around us and become more empathetic to the situations around us. Before doing service, you might never have realized the hardships others face, but service opens your eyes to that and makes you more understanding of other flaws, which would make you a more kind leader.