Servant Leadership

You are listening to the Spark influence podcast with Spark Media Founders Peter and Misty Phillip. Spark Influence is a podcast about living a life with intention in marriage, family, ministry, and as business leaders. The show is brought to you by the Spark Media Podcast network. Visit Spark Media.Ventures for more inspiring Christian podcasts. "Leadership is not a rank or a position; it is a choice – a choice to look after the person to the left of us & the person to the right of us." — Simon Sinek

Peter and Misty Phillip discuss the idea of Servant Leadership in family, business, and spiritual life. They discuss how servant leadership has been modeled for them by family and church leaders and how they've implemented this practice in their life and leadership. What is servant leadership? Jesus modeled servant leadership for us admirably in how we lead others. Put the last first and the first last. You put others before you. You become the example. Lifting everyone else up and looking after growing, mentoring, and leading others. James and John wanted a position in Heaven, but Jesus chastised them. Saying, "But whoever would be great among you must be your servant, 44 and whoever would be first among you must be slave of all. 45 For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many." Jesus was the suffering servant who lived on a mission to do the Father's will to lay down his life as a ransom, a sacrifice, and a propitiation. True leaders put others first. People think servant leadership is just about the workplace. Peter says, "There are a lot of bosses, not a lot of leaders." Military leaders and moms alike eat last. "A mom is a good example of servant leadership where your concern and your goal is to raise up and empower, and help, and grow and shepherd and mentor." Peter learned servant leadership from his Father, who was honorable, moral, and upright. Peter says, "If you apply that across-the-board if you have that same level across your personal life, your business life, your friend life, right that's servant leadership is reflecting and all the things that you do." Misty brings up the Golden Rule: treat others as we want to be.

They discuss leadership skills and an example of servant leadership. Being a hard worker is not the same as being a good leader. When leaders trust their employees, they empower them with the tools they need to do their job. Larry Hack surrounded himself with intelligent people and empowered them to do a great job. He was a great leader and a champion of his team. Larry is a man of faith and brings that faith element into the workplace. Misty says, "It is a principle that we live out where ever we are home or in the office." A problem they've seen with leaders is the sin of pride. People care about themselves and what can help them, not building others up. Pride is treacherous—a prideful leader who wants to take all the credit for others' work to build themselves up. In a relationship, one of the spouses is selfish. It becomes a tango between pride and narcissism. The goal should be supporting others. In his consulting, Peter often says he is in the hero business, which means he wants his client to be the hero. He is there to raise them, grow them, and help them.

Misty talks about winning your husband over without saying a word, even when he is not a good leader, and applying Biblical principles to your relationship. Peter shares the story of his brain cancer and how his boss Larry handled the situation. Misty recalls the eulogy given by Jeffrey Hildebrandt of Hilcorp for Peter's dad, and it was all about servant leadership. Peter and Misty close the show with the idea that people just want to be seen and heard. Connecting with people, creating empathy, being present with them, acknowledging and treating others the way you want to be treated. Ideas Behind Servant Leadership "Good leaders must first become good servants." The ideas behind servant leadership are ancient, but Robert K. Greenleaf is the person who first articulated them for our time. Many entrepreneurs aim for what Robert Greenleaf first described in his essay The Servant as a Leader. As he put it, "servant leadership "begins with the natural feeling that one wants to serve, to serve first. Then conscious choice brings one to aspire to lead. That person is sharply different from one who is leader first, perhaps because of the need to assuage an unusual power drive or to acquire material possessions." - Robert Greenleaf Resources Mark 10: 35-45 ESV 35 And James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came up to him and said to him, "Teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we ask of you." 36 And he said to them, "What do you want me to do for you?" 37 And they said to him, "Grant us to sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, in your glory." 38 Jesus said to them, "You do not know what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I drink, or to be baptized with the baptism with which I am baptized?" 39 And they said to him, "We are able." And Jesus said to them, "The cup that I drink you will drink, and with the baptism with which I am baptized, you will be baptized, 40 but to sit at my right hand or at my left is not mine to grant, but it is for those for whom it has been prepared." 41 And when the ten heard it, they began to be indignant at James and John. 42 And Jesus called them to him and said to them, "You know that those who are considered rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. 43 But it shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant,[d] 44 and whoever would be first among you must be slave[e] of all. 45 For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many."

Books LEADERS EAT LAST | BY SIMON SINEK https://simonsinek.com/books/leaders-eat-last/

SERVANT LEADERSHIP | BY ROBERT K. GREENLEAF https://www.greenleaf.org/products-page/servant-leadership-a-journey-into-the-nature-of-legitimate-power-and-greatness/

LEAD LIKE JESUS | BY KEN BLANCHARD AND PHIL HODGES https://www.kenblanchardbooks.com/book/lead-like-jesus/