Service with a smile, leading from the back
Print Edition
The task was straightforward, but there was hesitancy in the group of elementary student government representatives.
Usually, after the working lunch, the representatives head out to recess along with their peers who have just finished lunch in the cafeteria, where a crowd of students waited to be dismissed for recess, aimlessly trying to put their lunch trays away. This day, though, was different. The representatives began serving as leaders. “Can I take your tray for you?” inquired one. The student, bewildered, responded, “Yes, thanks!”
This continued until all lunch trays were put away for cleaning.
When students arrive in elementary school, they already have a notion of what leadership is or who can be a leader. It is most likely they have seen varying degrees or types of leadership in their homes and communities around them. To them, a leader might be “old,” have a title, or be bossy.
Leadership is much more than that, and provides an excellent reason for student organizations and clubs in schools to develop student leadership.
In addition to a misinformed idea of leadership, rarely do students connect service to leadership.
Robert Greenleaf, the father of servant leadership, is credited with saying, “To become a good leader, one must become a good servant.”
The truth in this quote resonates the need to humbly understand those being led. A servant leader will encourage other servant leaders and have an exponential effect through empathy and humility.
Along with servant leadership, we must build student leadership capacity. In other words, we want students to be able to lead in circumstances that may be new to them using the leadership skills they already have.
When we provide opportunities, such as student government, or other empowering organizations for them to join, we are providing opportunities to practice leadership while allowing them real influence through serving others.
The lunch trays had been put away, but the learning had not yet finished.
Two representatives were chatting at the side of the lunch room as students filed out for recess. I asked, “What happened?”
“First, I took a tray for someone. Then THAT person took someone else’s tray for THEM! I didn’t even tell them to!’
The hesitancy was gone; the purpose was clear. All of a sudden, it was so simple to serve, to lead.
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