HUMILITY - LEADERSHIP'S GREATEST VIRTUE
Volume 8; Issue 1
When most people think of greatness, they imagine being an admired leader with an honorable reputation that enjoys prestige, privilege and promotion. But when Jesus spoke of greatness, He used the term “servant.” It’s a term that speaks of very low prestige—of diminishing one’s own importance in deference to the needs of others.
This is what servants do. A servant is more concerned with meeting the needs of those he serves, than he is with his own needs. By calling his disciples into servanthood, Jesus intended they use their positions of leadership to serve the needs of those they are leading.
By contrast in Mark 10, James and John were caught up in a worldly attitude regarding leadership. They said to Jesus, “Grant us that we may sit, one on Your right hand and the other on Your left, in Your glory” (Mark 10:37). James and John thought leadership was about advancing and promoting themselves. They thought it was about being admired, gaining authority and exercising control over others. Such is the attitude of worldly leaders: their authority is often seen as an opportunity to hold others down and use them to fulfill their own ambitions.
This is the danger that comes with leadership. It is the tendency to think, “Because I am the leader, I am the important one. Because I have a title and authority, I am more important than the people I lead and my needs matter more.” It is the dark side of leadership and the root of corruption: when the leader’s ego is inflated with self importance and he abuses his authority to serve himself rather than his followers.
There is no greater protection a leader has against corruption than the mindset of a servant. This is one reason why Jesus made it a prerequisite for leaders in the kingdom of God; it keeps one's pride in check. This quarter we celebrate Humility - Leadership's Greatest Virtue and invite you download your free copy today.
