LEADERSHIP Series: Continuing Education

Of course, leaders must be schooled. But it’s not only Harvard, Yale, Northwestern, Wharton or Stanford where this education must be sought. That’s because money not only does not buy happiness, but it also does not buy wisdom; and in the end, it is wisdom that counts.

There is another school where the tuition is paid with a different kind of money. The tuition for servant-leaders is paid with the coin of “service” from the bank of “humility” for the school of “others.” The rewards of this education are impact well beyond the personality of the person. People are moved to follow those who demonstrate by behavior that they care for others and have a vision and plan for moving ahead and accomplishing a goal.

Proverbs 17:16 (NLT) It is senseless to pay tuition to educate a fool who has no heart for wisdom.

In our culture, there are unintended consequences to using the term “servant-leader:” the word “servant” today is often confused with a sense of over-weaning self-effacement - a sad change of the meaning of the word. To serve a person of standing and quality used to be a priority of the first order because that singular association painted the one serving with the same brush as the master. The servant had standing – the master’s standing. The symbiotic relationship brought power and influence.

Serving the living God and intentionally dying to self yields the kind of love that put the needs of others we lead, first. Education in the heart is the first step to real leadership and wealth that matters.

Where are you going to school?

Copyright ©2009 by P. Griffith Lindell