Given our work here at PEJE, I'm always interested in finding material about leadership that describes what makes for a good leader. The Extraordinary Leader by John Zenger and Joseph Folkman and From Sanctuary to Boardroom: A Jewish Approach to Leadership by Professor Hal Lewis are two great reads. Lewis' book is based on Jewish sources and focuses on character as being a particularly important trait for effective leaders. he defines character in a number of ways; one I would like to focus on is service to followers.
What does it mean to exhibit character through service to followers? Lewis associates it with the concept of servant-leadership, which was popularized a number of years ago by the essayist and philosopher Robert Greenleaf. The difference between servant-leaders and other leaders, Greenleaf wrote, is that "the servant-leader is servant first. It begins with the natural feeling that one wants to serve, to serve first. Then conscious choice brings one to aspire to lead."
In many respects, servant-leadership is the opposite of the traditional power-leadership model. Yes, there's a place for that, but once that leadership is established, there's great value to the servant-leadership concept, and I believe that it has implications for our boards, for our heads, and for our classrooms.
For boards, what does it mean to be a servant-leader?
Striving to subordinate any personal agenda to the needs of the school. I've observed board members who have taken off their "parent hat" and have voted for initiatives that may not serve their child's direct interest, but are for the betterment of the entire school.
Putting faculty and students first, serving their best interests at all times.
Caring for the head of your school. Yes, the board employs the head, but instead of a hierarchical relationship, it should be a collaborative one. It's important to help sustain this precious leader, even as he or she serves the entire school community.
A committee on trustees should keep servant-leadership in mind as it works to identify and recruit new people for the board.
Heads can act as servant-leaders in three ways:
First, to be a head and a servant-leader is to attend to the needs of one's leadership team. It means putting one's own work aside at times to deal with a crisis from a team member. It means more interruptions.
Second, it means nurturing faculty, recognizing them publicly and listening to them carefully, and creating formal channels of communication that will promote faculty and head ongoing communication.
Third is to keep students at the center of all decisions.
The classroom setting, at the heart of any school, is also a place for servant-leadership.
Create classroom environments where there is mutual respect and a collaborative spirit among faculty and students.
Students who are inclined toward leadership should be taught this concept of serving followers as a way of demonstrating leadership. It's a hard lesson to teach young people, but it is well worth it. The power-leadership model isn't all that it's cracked up to be.
Leaders and followers are interdependent, and that, in many respects, is the essence of servant-leadership. Professor Lewis concludes with a wonderful story. It's a story that was told about the Rabbi of Ger, who after many years of serving his own Hasidim was appointed to head the Kotzker sect as well.
When in his sixtieth year after the death of the Kotzker, the Gerer Rebbe accepted election as leader of the Kotzker Hasidim, the Rabbi said: "I should ask myself: 'Why have I deserved to become the leader of thousands of good people?' I know that I am not more learned or more pious than others. The only reason why I accept the appointment is because so many good people have proclaimed me to be their leader."
I think this is a great lesson for all of us to learn in our work in day schools, and it's particularly timely as the United States is about to elect its next president.
