I’ve written before about the kinds of leaders that equitable education reform needs. However, this Giving Tuesday, I’d like to talk about the leadership philosophy that needs to be the backbone of everyone’s leadership approach in education transformation—servant leadership. If you’re a leader, you will be expected to give your time, effort, patience, grace, and grit. At some point, it will all be asked of you, and I say that’s a good thing.
Servant leadership is rooted in a commitment to the welfare of all. As popularized by Robert K. Greenleaf, servant leadership focuses on serving others and prioritizing their needs before your own. In his pioneering 1970 essay on the subject, Greenleaf says,
“The servant-leader is servant first. It begins with the natural feeling that one wants to serve, to serve first. That person is sharply different from one who is leader first. The difference manifests itself in the care taken by the servant-first to make sure that other people’s highest priority needs are being served.”
I can’t think of a better measure of effective equitable education reform leadership than that. I think many of us working toward a brighter future for all children feel this instinctually. We weren’t called to lead but rather compelled to serve. Leadership is the necessary byproduct of that calling.
Giving Tuesday is a global day of charity on which individuals and organizations come together to elevate and support the causes they care about. And its formative idea reads like a rallying cry for servant-leaders: “Whether it’s making someone smile, helping a neighbor or stranger out, showing up for an issue or people we care about, or giving some of what we have to those who need our help, every act of generosity counts and everyone has something to contribute toward building the better world we all want to live in.”
Sounds a lot like the undertaking of a servant-leader to me!
With servant leadership as a guiding ethos, education reform leaders can rise to their responsibilities with clarity and confidence of purpose. Calling upon Greenleaf again, we must remember, “A servant-leader focuses primarily on the growth and well-being of people and the communities to which they belong. While traditional leadership generally involves the accumulation and exercise of power by one at the ‘top of the pyramid,’ servant leadership is different. The servant-leader shares power, puts the needs of others first and helps people develop and perform as highly as possible.”
This Giving Tuesday, I challenge you to give. It doesn’t have to be financial. It doesn’t even have to take much of your time. Choosing simply to add your voice to the chorus is a good first step in channeling the spirit of Giving Tuesday and the promise of servant leadership into tangible actions that support schools that are under resources and students farthest from access and opportunity.
With a generous heart,
Lisa