Leading through service, or service leadership, seems like an oxymoron at best. After all, how can a servant be a leader? Well, it turns out that individuals who view themselves primarily as servants make for very natural leaders, owing to the following characteristics they exhibit.

First, they are empathetic towards people. They have the ability to put themselves in the shoes of others and share their emotions. This empathy expresses itself in a tendency to listen carefully before making decisions. A servant leader never blames or imposes their will on others. Though they have a vision for their team, they simultaneously understand that they cannot do it alone. Thus they focus on providing support to their team members and building harmony within the team, which leads to the accomplishment of their broader vision in the long run.

Second, these individuals are focused on developing other people and helping others achieve their goals. Often servant leaders don’t desire credit, power, or success for themselves. Their happiness lies in the success and growth of their team members. They value the needs of their team and let those needs drive their actions.

Due to their selfless focus on the happiness of others, servant leaders are naturally humble. Regardless of their position, they also actively look for opportunities to serve, large or small. In this way they positively influence the dispositions of the people they serve. This is the secret to their leadership abilities. They grow into leadership without trying to be leaders, instead focusing on their inherent desire to serve.

Shree Maharajji often encourages us through his keertans to have the desire to become the servant of the servant of the servant of Shree Radha Krishna. This desire is practically expressed through seva to God and Guru for their happiness alone. However, in the execution of this seva we sometimes encounter people and situations that upset us. We may not get the results we desire despite our best efforts. In such situations, it is important to remember that even a tinge of disappointment in our seva stems from our own selfish attachment to the seva itself. We must learn to give up our attachments to outcomes, or to favorable people and circumstances, in the execution of our seva. In so doing, we will become truly selfless.

When we understand our position as the servants of God, we gain the ability to do our best work without caring about the outcome. We can support and inspire others through example to do their best to accomplish a common goal, rather than forcing our own ideals on others out of selfish attachment. Over time this attitude will positively influence the hearts and minds of people around us and empower them to become servants. That is when we will truly become leaders.

Lao Tzu said:

A leader is best when people barely know he exists, when his work is done, his aim fulfilled, they will say: we did it ourselves.