Leadership and Service to Others

The best way to find yourself
is to lose yourself in the service of others.
(Mahatma Gandhi)

Who are the great leaders of our time? Some of us might immediately imagine charismatic people who are powerful, people who travel the country or the world spreading important messages, or people who shape the world’s history through their own force of character and gravitas.

Iconic leaders like Mahatma Gandhi, Dr Martin Luther King Junior, Mother Teresa, and the Dalai Lama embody many of the defining qualities of a great leader – people with vision, integrity, strong moral purpose, a judicious sense of social justice and a willingness to sacrifice everything to serve others first.

Regardless of race, region or religion, these leaders have stood the test of time in respect to these leadership qualities. They have transformed the hearts and minds of millions of people for the better and transformed whole nations’ attitudes and beliefs because of their unwavering commitment to the betterment of others less fortunate, downtrodden and disenfranchised.

Albert Einstein once opined:
Only a life lived in the service to others is worth living.

Good leadership cannot be defined by a person’s status, station or title in life. For many years to come, Captain Francesco Schettino of the ill-fated cruise ship Costa Concordia will serve as a cautionary tale of poor leadership and ‘what not to do’ in a time of crisis. Images of the tilted, half-sunken luxurious cruise ship will stay in the collective minds of people around the world for many years to come. Abandoning the cruise ship before his passengers, refusing to return to the vessel to help others and his cavalier attitude has made this captain one of the most disgraced and despised people of this century.

In contrast, Dame Elisabeth Murdoch, who turned a grand 103 this week, is a person who has dedicated her life to helping others – not just through her generous philanthropic work – supporting over a hundred charities - but also through her work (in her younger years) in hospitals, respite centres and a myriad of organisations by giving freely of her time, energy and resources.

Dame Elisabeth tells the story of how as a young girl she visited a hospital and was so moved by the children there that she returned regularly as a volunteer. This experience was a defining moment that changed her life forever. Dame Elisabeth set about working with the less fortunate and disadvantaged all of her life. Her extraordinary charity work earned her the Victorian of the Year award in 2005 at the age of 96; this alone speaks volumes about Dame Elisabeth’s commitment and service to others. Dame Elisabeth has made a life by helping others and probably shares Gandhi’s perspective on service:

Consciously or unconsciously, every one of us does render some service or other. If we cultivate the habit of doing this service deliberately, our desire for service will steadily grow stronger, and will make, not only our own happiness, but that of the world at large.

The challenge for all of us is to find a way to help and serve others. We don’t set out to do this to become a leader or someone famous, rather we set out to help others because by helping others, we help ourselves. How? We grow in wisdom and understanding when we stand in the shoes of others for a while. I have a good friend whose mother use to say, "If we all threw our problems in a pile and saw everyone else's, we'd grab ours back very quickly."

I ask only, that each of us consider, how we might best serve those around us and determine to do so to the best of our ability always.

If you want to be important, wonderful.
If you want to be recognized, wonderful.
If you want to be great, wonderful!
But recognize that he [or she] who is greatest among you is your servant.
That’s the new definition of greatness. …what I like about it is that by giving it the definition of greatness, it means everybody can be great because everyone can serve.
You don’t have to have a college degree to serve.
You don’t have to make your subject and your verb agree to serve.
You don’t have to know about Plato and Aristotle to serve.
You don’t have to know about Einstein’s Theory of Relativity to serve.
You don’t have to know the Second Theory of Thermodynamics in Physics to serve!
You only need a heart full of grace.
A soul generated by love. You can be that servant.
(Dr Martin Luther King Junior, Excerpt from “The Drum Major Instinct”.)

As a servant and a willingness to serve others, oh what a great leader you can be too!

Karon Graham