Roundtable Hosts Webinar on Servant Leadership
“I know a man… He didn’t have much. He never wrote a book. He never held an office… He never went two hundred miles from where he was born. He did none of the usual things that the world would associate with greatness… Nineteen centuries have come and gone and today he stands as the most influential figure that ever entered human history. All of the armies that ever marched, all the navies that ever sailed, all the parliaments that ever sat, and all the kings that ever reigned put together have not affected the life of man on this earth as much as that one solitary life…
Yes, if you want to say that I was a drum major, say that I was a drum major for justice… We all have the drum major instinct. We all want to be important, to surpass others, to achieve distinction, to lead the parade…And the great issue of life is to harness the drum major instinct. It is a good instinct if you don’t distort it and pervert it. Don’t give it up. Keep feeling the need for being important. Keep feeling the need for being first. But I want you to be the first in love. I want you to be the first in moral excellence. I want you to be the first in generosity.”
- Martin Luther King, “Drum Major for Justice” Sermon, 1968
On March 21, 2011 the Roundtable hosted author Dan Ebener for a webinar discussion on servant leadership in our dioceses.
Roundtable members shared their own descriptions of leadership, which included “part coach, part backstop,” “someone who keeps the group together,” and “someone with pure motivations, following the example of the Sermon on the Mount.”
During the conversation, Dan offered some Organizational Citizenship Behaviors, behaviors we’d like to see parishioners in our dioceses engaged in, and the group discussed how leaders can facilitate an environment to enable followers to practice those behaviors.
Members shared challenges in their own practice of servant leadership, such as feeling responsible for taking 
care of everything on their own, or feeling that their lack of capacity prevents them from investing time into developing new leadership. They also shared ways in which the content of the conversation made them feel affirmed. One participant shared that she can see her work in this context as creating “programs that are helping people develop the right motives, then accompanying those participants on the follow through.”
Framing diocesan social action work in the language of servant leadership helped to remind members that our work involves developing leaders, which through one-on-one meetings can be like conducting a “talent search” for potential leaders to share the vision of diocesan social action. One participant shared that she would seek to engage the wives of deacons, who accompany their husbands in formation, in this work. Participants agreed there were a number of takeaways from the conversation that can enrich their work.
Did you miss the conversation? Visit the Virtual Roundtable to stream or download the webinar. – Note: Many members streaming or downloading the webinar simultaneously may overwhelm the server.
Also, check out Dan’s February 2011 article in Sojourners Magazine: On Becoming a Servant Leader – Seven myths and seven paradoxes of Christian leadership.
Tags: capacity, Drum Major for Justice, leadership development, one-on-ones, organizational citizenship behaviors, servant leadership, Sojourners magazine, Virtual Roundtable, webinar