Seated at the buildings reception desk a security guard questions an ordinary looking visitor ‘tum kaun ho’ the man replied ‘a servant like you’.
Feeling offended the guard rudely questions Konsa flat jana hai, naam aur mobile number entry karo. The guard then calls the flat owner and conveys ‘ek servant aya hai nam maharaj hai’. The call was abruptly disconnected, so the guard thought not an important visitor for the flat owner and rudely asks the man to wait on the side. In less than a minute husband and wife were down to receive the visitor touching his feet welcoming him. The guard realized his courtesies were bad and expected a firing. He apologetically looked at the visitor who smiled back. Walking past the lady tells the guard Maharaji ji must have said something that requires some learning.
Another incident that inspired the writing of this post was a friends experience at his last alumni association meeting. He observed after the meeting the chairperson of the board was picking up notepads, pamphlets and pushing the chairs orderly back. He asked him “Is there not someone else to do that?” The chairman responded, “If not me, then who”.
Servanthood is broadly understood as a person who perform duties for others and something that many want others to do, while not necessarily loving it for them. No one ever says I want to be a servant when I grow up. As a matter of fact, most people strive for the opposite. The few who consider they don’t want to rule over anyone else, they simply want to be self-sufficient, ruling over their own life. This is still on the opposite end of the spectrum from servanthood, as it is intentionally setting you aside for the sake of others.
The presence of servanthood in our domestic, public and corporate environment exists, but many lack the understanding of its nobility.
The phrase “servant leadership” was coined by Robert K. Greenleaf in an essay that he first published in 1970 although servant leadership has been a timeless concept in Indian traditions, but sadly its presence in this kalyug era is rare. The conventional model of servant leadership is about leading with your head, whereas the ‘unconventional’ servant leadership model is about leading with your heart. Conventional leadership often results in self-centred, insecure leaders who abuse their power rather than using it for the greater good.
The goal of many leaders is to get people think more highly of the leader while that of the servant leader is to help people think more highly of themselves. Recognizing a good servant leader is always a question away and the answers are evident in the leader’s actions that reflect his intentions ‘to serve or be served’.
Scriptures teach the greatness of a person is in being a servant as he is one who lives to benefit another person sacrificing for someone else’s joy or fulfilment. Sacrifice is a status symbol in the kingdom of God and serving whole heartedly others, as if you were serving the Lord. This state of living is highly rewarded by the divine.
Servanthood in each must be in readiness to act as God nudges and inspires to help meet the needs of other people, and to remember that it is not about money or reward. One’s who exercise this way of life Gurbani says “He who serves without reward, he alone attains God”.
maan abhimaan man Dhay so sayvak naahee….. One who is influenced by praise and blame is not God's servant. One who sees the essence of reality with impartial vision, O Saints, is very rare-one among millions. SGGS Ang52
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