I’ve been interested in the concept of servant leadership for a while. It seems to be an approach to leadership that’s well aligned with how Jesus led; after all, he literally said, “For even the Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many” (Mark 10:45). It’s also one that appears to be a feminine approach to leadership; indeed, there is research to suggest that women are gifted servant leaders.
It’s also occurred to me recently that motherhood is a form of servant leadership. In fact, the description of servant leadership provided by Robert K. Greenleaf, who coined the term, also sounds like a description of a mother:
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. The best test, and difficult to administer, is: Do those served grow as persons? Do they, while being served, become healthier, wiser, freer, more autonomous, more likely themselves to become servants? And, what is the effect on the least privileged in society? Will they benefit or at least not be further deprived?
Of course, as mothers and as leaders, we must care for ourselves as well, in order to effectively care for the people God has given us to serve. You’ll find among my favorite content from this week a blog post that addresses this point.
Content I Liked This Week:
I think I like
’s writing even more than her podcast (which is also good). This (free) edition of her Substack newsletter, , addresses an interesting and important topic: Can our culture recognize the “bad guy” anymore?This Forbes article by writer and marketer
takes an interesting approach to self-care and the loneliness epidemic that I hadn’t considered before.The Center for Creative Leadership provides some advice on how to care for yourself as a servant leader. (It’s reminiscent of
’s first book, It’s OK to Start with You*.)
Books I’m Reading:
I’ve been waiting to read Vienna Pharaon’s The Origins of You: How Breaking Family Patterns Can Liberate the Way We Live and Love* since I first heard of it, and it finally was available at our library. I devoured it in two days. While there were one or two things I disagreed with (she doesn’t appear to be Christian), overall, I found it to be a helpful and engaging read.
*Affiliate link