Opinion: Where are the Servant Leaders?

Where have the “Servant Leaders” gone?  They are not around anymore…Oh, maybe one here and one over there, but truly they are difficult to find.  Not like in days past when those choosing to run for public office did so to give back in gratitude for all this exceptional Nation had provided them.  Yesteryear, people ran for public office to make a positive difference that would contribute to a legacy left upon their death.  In a bygone era people stood for public office and viewed election as a sacred trust, a bond so-to-speak between themselves and those who elected them.  I knew several public officials like this, and I was most fortunate to have several mentors along my path of development who taught me the meaning of becoming a “Servant Leader” no matter what position of leadership from which I may be operating.  As a child, I was taught to lead, but to lead all into a better performance for the public good, for the improvement and enjoyment of those with whom I may be leading, and to leave the business or school or wherever I may be better for my having been there.

Can a Servant and a Leader be fused into one real person?  I have observed that the great leaders are seen as servants first, and this simple fact is the key to that leader’s greatness.  “No man is a leader until his appointment as a leader is ratified in the minds and hearts of his men.” – The Infantry Journal.  True leadership comes from influencing, and that must be earned.  A misconception held by many is that leadership and managing are one and the same.  Leadership is about influencing people to follow for the greater good, while management focuses on maintaining systems and processes.  In the same breath, true leadership is quite different than positional leadership.  A person who has position or power has incredible leverage, and people may follow these positional leaders cooperatively because their livelihood or freedom are at stake.  But true leadership brings people out of bondage, it allows them to experience freedom – freedom of thought, of ideas, of expression.  True leadership encourages followers to believe in themselves and to rise above what they thought possible.  True leadership influences people to work toward a mutual vision, to invite the followers to be partakers in the fruits of the labor; thus a servant leader empowers others to reach their full potential.  Along with this ideal the servant leader makes personal integrity a product of his vision.  People may think if a plan or a vision is sufficiently good people will automatically buy into it and follow, but this is a charade and not true leadership.  A servant leader has personal integrity as a part of his/her demeanor and this translates into credibility from which a leader can have the privilege of influencing lives and the environment for better.  A servant leader makes integrity a cornerstone of his being, and thus will find people drawing closer to him, not staying away out of fear.

A Servant Leader places his people, his family, his organization, and his area of representation before himself.  This attitude of sacrifice understands that the development of people is the highest calling of a true leader; not gaining power, higher office, more center stage time.  Elected officials at the national level of our country should be placing America First; not all sorts of personal or political agendas, not causes ripping the very fabric of our country, not pitting one group of citizens against another hurting all.

We are at a pivotal point in our country.  We are coming to a juncture where we will either stand up for the ideals, values, and principles that founded our Great Nation or we shall perish from the face of the earth into being a footnote in history.  We are coming to a point in time where the people of America will either stand up and push out those in positional leadership who would rather bring strife and confusion, emotional rhetoric that stirs people into rage rather than into making America what our Founders always envisioned, an exceptional nation because we chose to honor the Lord as our Forefathers did, and who guided the development and early years of this Great Republic.  We have been granted a reprieve, a window of time, to decide if we will reverse the godless Marxist path of destruction Venezuela is experiencing right now; or return to our foundational structure unlike any other in the global community.  We have been given a man who understands Servant Leadership.  You may not like portions of his personality or demeanor, but just like God called Cyrus in the Old Testament, Isaiah Chapter 45, to lead the people of Israel away from their own destruction, the Lord called Trump to lead the people of America away from a modern-day destruction well underway by the time Mr. Trump took office.  America was not created, nor built, for any other form of government other than as a Republic.  It seems few are the servant leaders in government fighting to keep America alive.  The majority of positional leaders in both political parties are banking on selling the American People a plan that sounds good and tickles the ears, hoping American citizens will automatically buy into their plan of chaos and destruction.

So…where have the Servant Leaders gone?  They are not around much anymore.  Come forward if you are a true Servant Leader, this is your time and you are desperately needed.  If you agree with me then pass this message around making it go much further than I can.