In today’s episode, we’ll unpack the third key aspect of servant leadership which is healing, how it can guide you to shape meaningful relationships, and we’ll answer critical questions on this topic. Start challenging yourself to walk in a healing that truly helps followers through caring and compassion!
Key Takeaways To Listen For
Resources Mentioned In This Episode
Steven Covey’s Pillars of Trustworthiness
Connect With Us
Master your context with real results leadership training!
To learn more, visit our website at www.greatsummit.com.
For tax, bookkeeping, or accounting help, contact Dr. Nate’s team at www.theincometaxcenter.com or send an email to info@theincometaxcenter.com.
Follow Dr. Nate on His Social Media
In today’s episode, we’ll unpack the third key aspect of servant leadership which is healing, how it can guide you to shape meaningful relationships, and we’ll answer critical questions on this topic. Start challenging yourself to walk in a healing that truly helps followers through caring and compassion!
Key Takeaways To Listen For
Resources Mentioned In This Episode
Steven Covey’s Pillars of Trustworthiness
Connect With Us
Master your context with real results leadership training!
To learn more, visit our website at www.greatsummit.com.
For tax, bookkeeping, or accounting help, contact Dr. Nate’s team at www.theincometaxcenter.com or send an email to info@theincometaxcenter.com.
Follow Dr. Nate on His Social Media
Dr. Nate Salah
[00:00:00]
Before we can even get to anyone else, we have to be healed. We must be working toward wholeness because every one of us has experienced brokenness. Welcome back my friend. So glad to have you on this fourth installment of our miniseries on servant leadership. Really just unpacking some characteristics of what servant leadership is, how servant leaders operate, and some practical ways we can become leaders who serve.
[00:00:35]
It's so incredibly attractive to be a leader who serves rather than a leader who is to be served. And this is straight out of Jesus' playbook for what he aimed for greatness and saying that the one who is greatest among you is your servant. If anyone wants to be great, learn to serve. That is the attractive leader. That is the leader who walks in humility. That's the leader that walks in meekness, which meekness is not being weak. Many people confuse meekness for weakness. It's been said that meekness is power under control and in Jesus' model, it's power under God's control.
[00:01:20]
And it's also been said that the meek are those who have their swords sheathed. In other words, they have them in their sheath. They don't need to brandish their sword because they're not threatened. In fact, they are a part of a solution that goes far beyond today and tomorrow, and even generations to come.
[00:01:47]
I mean, look at Jesus' model 2000 years ago. It's still alive and well. As we move forward and learn how to serve one another in leadership, a deeper understanding of those characteristics. So as we unpack these, if you hadn't heard the first episodes, definitely go back and listen because we talked about two aspects of servant leadership, and these are extracted from Larry Spears’ understanding of Robert Greenleaf's servant leadership model.
[00:02:21]
And so Greenleaf, in the seventies, began to popularize this philosophy around servant leadership. And so it's been taking hold to understand how we can first be transformed and then help to transform others as servants, as leaders. And so Greenleaf's litmus test was difficult to administer. He said, but do those who are servants while being served, and I'm paraphrasing, become healthier, wiser, freer, more autonomous, more likely themselves to be servants.
[00:02:57]
And what about the least deprived in society? At least will they not be further deprived? So this is the model. And so, as we walk through, we talk about different aspects of it. The first one we talked about was listening. The servant leader is a listener.
[00:03:16]
They are communicators in terms of how they first, listen well and learn from others and listen to themselves before they make decisions. They're committed to listening with undivided attention. They're committed to listening in wholeness with integrity, and they help and seek clarification, reception, and of course, your own inner voice. Listening to God, moments of meditation and reflection rather than deflection.
[00:03:48]
The second aspect we looked at was then empathy. Once we learn to listen, we can then learn to empathize and understand others to actually care because others are longing for us to help them understand, recognize, where they can grow and be the best version of themselves so that they can be where they're missing the mark, not to be rejected, but to be accepted unconditionally. That's the servant leader. The servant leader walks in the love that looks beyond the faults and has empathy for the situation, so once we can listen, then we can empathize.
[00:04:29]
And the third aspect that we're going to cover today is the idea of healing. Servant leaders are healers. One of the most impactful aspects of servant leadership is, first, self-healing. Before we can even get to anyone else, we have to be healed. We must be working toward wholeness because every one of us, every one of us, has experienced brokenness, whether spiritual brokenness, physical brokenness, emotional brokenness. It's all part of the human experience.
[00:05:10]
And so, think of those who reach out and help to heal us. Those who serve us in healing. You think, okay, well, physical ailments, who do you go to see? You go to see a doctor. And a doctor has tremendous influence when they are both competent and when they have a high level of character, actually, Stephen Covey called those the pillars of trustworthiness. And so the healer, the great physician, of course, Jesus was called the great physician. Why did people go to Jesus so often? Because they wanted to be healed, many physical, also spiritual, and emotional healing. And they came by the thousands because he had the power to make them whole.
[00:06:00]
And so people desire healing, they desire wholeness, we all do. And so, as we move into a position of serving, we must move into a position of healing and first being healed. We spend so much time and money, and energy, many people do in the healthcare industry, right? Whether it's the doctor's office or whether it's supplements, or the gym. It's interesting. I've observed this, and I wonder if you have too when you share with a friend that you have your new gym membership, and you're gonna go get in shape, and of course, they're excited for you, and they're cheering you on. And then you share, oh also, I'm seeing a counselor about my mental and emotional health.
[00:06:46]
And then, of course, then the demeanor changes. Oh, my goodness. I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry. And I can understand empathy, but at the same time, why don't we cheer on people in the same way we do when they are going out to get physical wellness, as well as their spiritual, emotional, and mental wellness? If someone has joined a church or worked on or begun to work towards spiritual healing. Why don't we cheer them on too? Why do we only look at the external? And I know I've been guilty of it too. And so being intentional about supporting and having empathy to elevate and uplift people, no matter what section, if you will, or quadrant or sphere of healing that they are attempting to become whole in.
[00:07:40]
So next time someone says I'm seeing a counselor, encourage them, cheer them on, say, that's fantastic that you're seeking emotional and mental wholeness. More of us should just as much as any other part of our entire being. And so, as we work towards serving others as servant leaders, let us first work on self-healing for the wrongs, the hurts, the challenges in the past and, and they manifest in all different kinds of ways.
[00:08:09]
In fact, I can remember when I was young, we were poor, and I grew up very shrewd. Because we just lived without, and just me and my mom when we were little, and then she remarried. And during those early years, it was very, very difficult. And I watched her hustle. She was a hustler, and God bless her. And I had a very scarcity mentality because you live without. If you remember those little Totino’s pizzas? They're about six inches.
[00:08:43]
Well, there would be three mouths to feed, and we'd just eat one together. And I remember that little pizza would be so good, but of course, I only got a tiny bit, and I was always still hungry because I was never fully satisfied. So this was a lack of wholeness in my own life. And I know that as I grew up, I became very shrewd because I wanted to keep as much as possible, and I would take advantage of others because of it.
[00:09:10]
In fact, I remember years ago when I had my pivotal moment when I moved from a scarcity mentality to an abundance mentality and began really truly healing in that area was I was going to buy, of all things, some rims for my Mercedes. And I had my cousin with me, and we were gonna go, and I saw them on Craigslist. So I met with a guy, and we were just talking about life and things like that. And he said, yeah, I had a really rough go I'm out of work. And I'm just trying to get by. And I thought, wow, he's out of work. He'll probably take a whole lot less for these wheels because he's probably desperate. So inevitably, he did.
[00:09:51]
He took a lot less for the wheels than what they were worth. And I left feeling good, and I got about halfway down the road, and it just hit me. You know, Nate, you're taking advantage of someone else's misfortune because years ago, you had a misfortune, and you have not healed, and you're still grasping. And I turned the car around, and my cousin's like, what are you doing? I said, I'm going back, and I'm gonna give the guy a fair amount back. And he looked at me, he's like, Nate, are you serious? Like, you're the, the surest person I know. You're like the deal maker. You always get insane deals. And I said, no, it's, it's just the right thing to do. And I went, and I knocked on the door. He had already left. His mom was there. Man, I can't remember what it was, a hundred, hundred-fifty bucks? I gave it to her, and I said, this is for your son. Let him know the guy that bought his wheels gave it back to him. That's what's right, and that's what's fair. And from that day on, I began healing in that area. I, I began feeling whole in that area.
[00:10:54]
And that's what I'm talking about when we're talking about healing. Because when you start to heal, then you can listen and empathize and help others heal. Now how does this work in a business environment? I mean, does it really belong in a company? Well, we're all broken people, and we might hide stuff. But if we're able to listen and empathize. And sometimes, listening and empathizing with someone, what's going on in their life can bring about healing.
[00:11:23]
Sometimes, you don't have to be the problem solver to help people heal, but you can be there and offer whatever is necessary that you have to offer to help someone along their way. It could be a word of advice. It could be a word of encouragement. It could simply be silence. It could be monetary, some material help.
[00:11:47]
I recently had a situation with a friend who is in a, just a really bad spot, and I offered to help in any way I could materially. And this is a moment where you can be a part of someone else's healing, whatever it might be. And, of course, you'll use discernment and help someone along their journey. I actually tried to do that recently with somebody who asked me for money on the street. And we were in St. Augustine, Florida, and a couple of people walked up to the window, and we were actually eating in the car, my wife and my son and I. And they said we're hungry. Can you help us? And I got out of the car, and I said, yeah, I can help you. And we started walking. I said, let me take you to this place because there was a grilled cheese sandwich place right up the street that we ate.
[00:12:33]
And I thought it was great. Let me take you there. And so we're starting to walk, and they say, well, Hey, we also have this other problem. We're looking for some money for the cataracts for my, my wife. And I said, well, let me help you with the sandwich, and we'll talk from there. And so I said, what kinda sandwich do you want? And so we went, and they told me what kind of sandwich they wanted. And I went into the store, I got to the counter, and I looked back, and they had left. And I looked outside, and they were already halfway down the street. They didn't really want the sandwich. They didn't want that kind of healing.
[00:13:04]
And that's okay too because I was willing to help them. And sometimes you can't always help people because sometimes they don't want the kind of help that you have to offer, and that's okay too. But at the end of the day, to be the kind of person who is listening, who has empathy, and who is seeking healing. Then you will be the kind of person who's moving into a servant leadership role.
[00:13:29]
And there's great liberation in that. And every conversation you have, know that people are broken, people are hurting to have the kind of listening and empathy that leads to healing in relationships is another step toward walking as a servant leader. Well, my friend, we did it again. I'm so glad you joined me on this episode of a call to leadership.
[00:13:52]
If you've been with me on the show, listening in, you'll know this, but if you're new, you may not know that I created a free course for you, that you don't need to provide an email address. You don't need to go anywhere, but to stay right here in the podcast, I created the very first six episodes of the podcast because I wanted you to have the kind of value that you need to take advantage of to thrive as a leader. So if you haven't done that yet, listen to episodes one through six, and I'll see you on the next episode. I'm Dr. Nate Salah, and this is a call to leadership.