Servants leaders don’t serve themselves. They always serve someone or

something outside themselves. In the case above, God calls the servant

leader “my” leader. Servant leaders may also serve the vision or mission of

the organization they lead.

Servant leaders also serve the people with whom they work. Their delight

comes from a higher source of satisfaction, seeing people fulfilled and work

accomplished in an atmosphere of peace.

Servant leaders are concerned with justice. What is justice? It is fair and

equitable treatment for all people according to common sense standards. As

a servant leader would like to be treated, so they treat others.

This requires that the leader understand what motivates people, which of

course is different from person to person. What is just for one may not be fair

and just for another. At the same time, there need to be policies that allow

everyone the chance to have input into the work done, how it will be done,

and how they will be compensated.

Servant leaders are not demonstrators. They don’t utilize authoritarian tactics

in their service or leadership. Anger isn’t a usual motivating tool that they

have the luxury of using. They use power to serve, not to break people or

draw attention to themselves. This doesn’t mean that servants won’t speak

up. They are reluctant to draw attention to themselves, however, for others

must be front and center in the servant’s work.

If servant leaders are visible in the work, they use their visibility to serve the

vision, not to build their own kingdom

They do, however, usually draw attention to themselves when things go

wrong. At that point, they cover for their team until the real issues can be

identified and resolved.

Servants work with whatever they have been given. They are careful not to

discourage the smallest work that may be going on in someone’s life. A

servant leader does not set the agenda for other people, rather follows the

other person’s agenda to serve that person effectively.

If the person’s agenda doesn’t match the organization’s agenda, then a

servant leader must take steps to see that this is rectified. That may mean

assisting the person in finding a place where their person vision is more in

line with the corporate goals. This is never done in a condescending or

harmful manner.

To not break a reed or snuff out a flame, a servant leader must be gentle with

people. The servant is not the center of attention, but rather makes the other

person the focal point.

This is the third time in four verses that the word justice is used. What does

this Hebrew word mean?

mishpat (mish-pawt')--properly, a verdict (favorable or

unfavorable) pronounced judicially, especially a sentence or

formal decree (human or participant's divine law, individual

or collective), including the act, the place, the suit, the crime,

and the penalty; abstractly, justice, including a participant's

right or privilege (statutory or customary), or even a style:

How are some of the ways this word is translated in the Old Testament?

adversary, ceremony, charge, X crime, custom, desert,

determination, discretion, disposing, due, fashion, form, to be

judged, judgment, just (-ice, -ly), (manner of) law (-ful), manner,

A servant is concerned with what is fair: fair pay for work, a person’s feelings

taken into consideration when decisions are handed down, humane treatment

for the least and greatest. For fairness to occur, the servant must make sure

that all sides have been heard. Thus, the servant must be a good listener.

No work situation is perfect, even in a church or charitable organization.

When things happen that aren’t right, servant leaders work as quickly as

possible to resolve them. This involves listening to the perspective of all

involved and working toward a satisfactory resolution.

The islands, symbolic of those cut off from all sources of help or

communication, will put their hope in the law of one who is fair. Servant

leaders help the weak when they can’t always help themselves.

The role of a servant is a calling. The Lord chooses His servants. No one

decides to take the role by an act of the will.

Service begins with a sense of purpose that comes from the still voice within.

From that knowledge, leaders desire to serve out of a sense of duty and

calling, not for personal gain.

It isn’t always easy to find a servant leader. The Lord has prepared them

through a work of His own hands. Very often they appear on the scene

suddenly but were there all along, being prepared by the Lord in a secret

place, the “shadow of his hand.” King David, Daniel, and Joseph in Egypt

were all servants that fit the description above. God hid them in His quiver

and then when they burst on the scene, they were an “overnight” success,

years in the making.

Sharpened swords and polished arrows are effective weapons that pierce

through opposition to hit the target. Servant leaders are effective leaders;

they hit the mark. Yet they see themselves as a means that God uses, not

the end unto themselves.

Once again, we see that servants of God belong to God alone. They aren’t

for hire, nor do they build their own kingdom. They represent God.

Servant leaders in a non-religious setting belong to the organization. They

serve the vision that they may have helped formulate. Servant leaders do not

build kingdoms, unless a kingdom is part of the vision.

God will reveal His gentle splendor in the lives of those He has prepared to be

servant leaders. There is a sense of satisfaction that comes to all servant

leaders that is their reward. Often, they serve in obscurity so that reward

must satisfy them or they will feel cheated.

The results of servant leadership are often slow and hard to measure.

Because servant leaders don’t draw attention to themselves, often others can

take the credit for what they have accomplished. Thus, servant leaders can

be easily discouraged.

God Himself rewards servant leaders. They cannot allow themselves to take

the rewards that others claim and demand.

Servant leaders don’t establish their own kingdom, but build God’s kingdom.

God promotes servant leaders once they have restored and brought back the

lost ones. Servant leaders make other people the focus, not their own vision,

ministry, building program or desires.

God increases the influence of servant leaders. God is their agent and

spreads their fame without them having to do so. Servant leaders do not

have a staff that serves them. The servant leader serves the staff.

Servant leaders will help set the vision and direction and then become the

servant of the vision and direction they helped set. Since people usually

achieve the vision, servant leaders ultimately serve people.

Servant leadership isn’t doing demeaning work, although there may be times

when that needs done. Servant leaders understand that they are there for

others, to help them “win”,” to help build a team that will accomplish the goals.

Servant leaders are careful what they say, because they don’t speak for

themselves. They know they are where they are to encourage and sustain

the weary. People aren’t there to serve the leader; the leader is there to

serve the people.

God gives servant leaders daily instruction. It seems that these leaders have

an intuitive sense of what people need to carry on and be effective.

As I am writing, I had an appointment with a man whose pastor resisted his

desire to leave and plant a church after four years of faithful service. That

pastor is not a servant leader. He was more concerned with his own work

and how this man’s departure was going to affect the pastor’s work. The

pastor was not concerned with this man’s call or welfare. The pastor was

simply concerned with how this was going to hurt his world.

But you ask, “What if that pastor is truly concerned and doesn’t feel the man

is ready?” A servant leader would give the man hope, establish a plan of

what he needed to do to get ready, and pledge the church’s resources to help

QUESTION: Are you using people for your own ends or are you

working with them to see God’s will done in their lives?

Servant leaders are excellent listeners. They don’t talk at or down to people,

but listen carefully to what others are saying. They let other people set the

agenda or guide it in a gentle way. When a servant leader has to assume

leadership, they base it on who people really are, not who they want them to

be. Listening requires practice and patience. It also requires that leaders

keep their mouths shut so that others can say what is on their heart. Good

listening also requires asking questions to insure that the true intent of what

was said is understood.

Servant leaders practice the fifth habit of highly effective people: seek first to

understand, then to be understood.

Servant leaders can be found among the people they are serving. That

makes them vulnerable to criticism and pain. That is the price that any leader

pays to lead and serve.

Leaders aren’t perfect people. That is why they receive what people say

about them, because they know those things may be true. That isn’t always

easy.

Servant leaders throughout history have been abused and misunderstood.

Martin Luther King is one example that comes to mind. At one time or

another, every group he tried to help was disillusioned with his leadership.

He had many enemies who portrayed him either as a communist or one who

didn’t go far enough in civil rights reforms.

Today there is a U.S. national holiday honoring his memory. The Lord truly

vindicated him.

Nelson Mandela is another servant leader who comes to mind. He was

imprisoned for 27 years for opposing a corrupt apartheid system. Yet when

he became the first elected president of South Africa, his vindication was

complete. He did not use his power, however, to seek revenge, but became

a servant of all the people, even those who had imprisoned him.

Strong, authoritarian leaders usually don’t leave a positive legacy behind.

They may be remembered, but usually for their mistakes and not their

achievements. The Bible is correct: they wear out like a garment and get

eaten up by the moths of history.

Know-it-all leaders seldom do. No one person is smart enough to lead any

organization of significance. The above passage is encouraging leaders that

they don’t have to be afraid of the dark—not knowing all that has to be done.

There is help outside of the leader’s abilities if they will trust in God.

Authoritarian leaders tend to rely on fads and “new” plans and strategies to

keep things moving. These are called “torches you have set ablaze” that

enable leaders to “walk in the light of your fires.” Strong leaders pride

themselves in shaking things up and setting new directions in a crisis. They

walk in the light of their own understanding for no one is as smart or clever as

they. Servant leaders walk in the light that is outside of their own existence.

That light emanates from the collective wisdom of those around them.

Servant leaders are wise in how they lead and in the speed with which they

implement changes.

Jesus is the model servant leader. He was meek, humble, patient, worked

with just a few key followers, yet was able to launch a worldwide movement

that has survived for 2,000 years. This passage holds additional insight for

the servant leader who would follow in Jesus’ footsteps.

Through suffering, others will see what the servant leader could never

communicate. The lessons from Nelson Mandela and Martin Luther King go

beyond what they ever said publicly. People studying their lives have learned

what they never said and understood what they did not hear from either of

those two men.

The goal of servant leadership is not control but influence. Influence requires

time, patience and suffering.

Servant leaders aren’t always the most visible or charismatic. They are

faithful to the vision and work, and have the interests of others at heart.

Servant leaders aren’t always recognized at first glance.

Servant leaders have been trained by experience that is rooted in their own

suffering and pain and that of others.

It’s easy to overlook a servant leader. They don’t always stand out in the

crowd.

It’s easy to misinterpret what a servant leader is trying to do. Servant leaders

can be agents of change, and any change can bring with it criticism,

misunderstanding, and people protecting their own positions.

The pain of the servant leader will become someone else’s gain as they help

others interpret the sufferings necessary for success.

A servant leader understands that life isn’t perfect and no organization can be

perfect when imperfect people work there. While every work team strives for

perfection, it’s seldom achieved in reality. Thus, effective leaders work with

the imperfect people around them toward achieving common goals.

Servant leaders work well with imperfect people, because they know that they

are imperfect themselves.

Often office or church politics and the quest for power cause the credit to go

to someone else. Servant leaders take risks daily by leading from a position

of vulnerability. Their only “power” is the benefit they bring to the

organization, which often isn’t visible.

Many feel that the servant leader’s role is expendable, but it isn’t. Often the

true leaders isn’t recognized until that leader is removed. Then the people

see who the true leader was.

A saying goes, “When the leader leads well, the people say, ‘We did it

ourselves.’”

Servant leaders must have faith: faith that their work will be rewarded, if not

where they are, then someplace else; faith that some people will see and

understand what they did; faith that they will have another opportunity to

serve if the current situation didn’t work out as they had hoped.