Servant Leadership and our Public

We had a very inspiring speaker at our 7:45 am staff meeting this morning who spoke about servant leadership and how to bring into our work and lives. Some of the points that stood out for me:

• Relationships are one of the most important parts of our lives - not just our family relationships but those with our co-workers and people we interact with daily.
• Speaking kindly and with thought towards others is of great value.
• Be honest with each other.
• People want to be treated well.
• We as a community are stronger when we work together to create a common good.
• "Public" has been devalued as a word (public school; public housing; public transportation; public library) in relation to "private" - but all of us are "the public".

Of course there was alot more than that...but I took great inspiration from his talk. One thing really brought home to me the meaning of servant leadership in one's work. The speaker gave an example of a local grocery business that uses this approach. It was eye opening for me because my husband and I started shopping there about six months ago because the staff was so unfailingly good to us and to every single person that we observed being helped - no matter their income and dress. The groceries aren't the cheapest but we were tired of spending our money at another store where we felt like customers were rather an inconvenience to staff. When the speaker mentioned this business it was my "aha!" moment - servant leadership works!

It reminds me again in this time of great need, when I work in a place that is public and anyone of any income level can come in to use our library, that is important to make each interaction as meaningful as I can no matter who is in front of me.