Servant Leaders

I agree. Without a doubt that change has manifested itself all around us. The "in your face" APproach is falling on deaf ears. Support and guidence are far better approaches as a Leader.

You’ve hit the nail on the head Rob!

The “command and control” type of leadership often leads to diminished morale, low productivity and a general lack of “buy in” to the organization’s mission and purpose. The best leaders encourage, empower and edify those under and around them.  When employees/members feel like they are valued and their voices are genuinely heard as part of the process, it is amazing to see their output (not just in quantity but in quality).

I agree with you totally.  Leadership in my district has taken to a command and control mentality.  Members are not being inspired, that includes our Key Clubs.  There have been many comments made about how negative things have become, all has fallen on deaf ears.  With our change in leadership I hope that we can mend our district and make it what it used to be.

I find the practice of servant leadership very appealing and have done some reading on it over the years. I was pleased to see it highlighted at the Nashville convention. I recall speaking to my boss (I'm in higher educ admin) about using it as an approach and he said that there is some sensitivity about the word "servant" among some groups of people. This made me wonder, is servant leadership something that Kiwanians across the board can support, or is this something else dreamt up by privileged white leaders.? I am not asking to be contrary; I am sincerely interested in what people think.

Thank you for your response, Rob. I quite like the terminology of 'service leadership' and I think it is, perhaps, even preferable to servant leadership because it is an actionable word and puts the focus where it belongs-doing the work. I am excited about the ways in which Kiwanis is reinventing itself to be more appealing to younger generations. One of the most important functions of leadership is preparing those who will come after you...and learning from them in the process! Thank you again.