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Servant Leadership: Helping People Make Wise Choices This article is reprinted from the June 2010 issue of the Journal of the American Dietetic Association (2010;110(6):831). The purpose of life is not to win. The purpose of life is to grow and to share.—Rabbi Harold Kushner HE TERM “SERVANT LEADER” may sound archaic or odd, but understanding its meaning and objective actually infuses it with nobility, worth, and a strong applicability to ADA members and our profession. The term was coined in 1970 by Robert K. Greenleaf. In his classic essay, “The Servant as Leader,” Greenleaf wrote, “The difference manifests itself in the care taken by the servant—first to make sure that other people’s highest priority needs are being served. The best test, and difficult to administer, is: Do those served grow as persons? Do they, while being served, become healthier, wiser, freer, more autonomous, more likely themselves to become servants?” [emphasis added].1 Isn’t dietetics a serving profession? Aren’t we committed to helping people become healthier through foods? But implicit in that commitment is an underlying goal: Helping people be wiser about their choices so they can grow to be more active in their own care. Through our work, we participate in health fairs; do community-based presentations; serve on health, food, and nutrition committees; collect food for food banks or soup kitchens; provide in-kind services to school’s parente teacher organizations; and many other activities. Many ADA members volunteer hours to plan local professional meetings, participate in scholarship selection committees, and organize farmer’s markets or food drives to assist soup kitchens and food pantries. These members are serving and leading at the same time. If you are wondering how you might get involved in servant leadership, think about the needs in your community.
T
ª 2014 by the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics.
BUILDING A GOOD SOCIETY In another essay, “The Institution as Servant,” Greenleaf wrote, “Caring for persons, the more able and the less able serving each other, is the rock upon which a good society is built. Whereas, until recently, caring was largely person to person, now most of it is mediated through institutions.”1 We need to look no further than our own institution, ADA, to see an organization that is committed to helping all our members develop the skills necessary to be servant leaders—in our work with patients, clients, and the public and also in our work for our profession and Association. ADA facilitates opportunities for us to develop servant leadership skills through numerous initiatives like the Leadership Institute, leadership sessions at the Food & Nutrition Conference & Expo, and a new series of online learning programs on leadership that will be released during the 2010-2011 membership year on ADA’s Web site.
“A PLACE OF SERVICE” Servant leaders routinely say they gain more from their service than they give. The education of dietetics students is a very important need in our profession; many Commission on Accreditation for Dietetics Educationeaccredited dietetic technician programs, didactic programs in dietetics, and dietetic internships need preceptors and mentors. Think of those who mentored you: Can you now give something back by mentoring today’s students? When we serve as preceptors we are challenged to keep our knowledge current, and teaching someone else reinforces our own knowledge. We may learn about community resources, or sharpen our presentation skills, develop collaborative relationships, and gain recognition of our professional and personal worth. The more we are servant leaders, the more we sharpen our skills. “I enjoy the collegial and collaborative aspects of action-oriented volunteerism,” says one of our Association’s most active volunteer leaders,
Judith C. Rodriguez Past-President Judith A. Gilbride, PhD, RD, CDN, FADA, a Medallion Awardwinner who has also served as speaker of the House of Delegates, chair of the Legislative and Public Policy Committee, and member of the ADA Foundation Board. “Working together and achieving a purpose or moving an agenda forward often creates a unique bond or friendship. Today, with so many years as a volunteer, I find great satisfaction when I am able to nourish the creativity and productivity of others. If you volunteer, you should feel that you get something done that is worthwhile for yourself and your profession.” Leo Tolstoy said, “Life is a place of service. Joy can be real only if people look upon their life as a service and have a definite object in life outside themselves and their personal happiness.” As individuals and as members of ADA, we can use food and nutrition to “grow and share.” Servant leadership may sound like an archaic term, but its meaning is timeless and, like our work, much needed if we are going to create “the rock upon which a good [and healthy] society is built.” Judith C. Rodriguez, PhD, RD, LDN, FADA http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jand.2014.02.019
Reference 1.
What is Servant Leadership? Greenleaf Center for Servant Leadership Web site. http://www.greenleaf.org/whatissl. Accessed April 5, 2010.
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Servant Leadership: Helping People Make Wise Choices This article is reprinted from the June 2010 issue of the Journal of the American Dietetic Association (2010;110(6):831). The purpose of life is not to win. The purpose of life is to grow and to share.—Rabbi Harold Kushner HE TERM “SERVANT LEADER” may sound archaic or odd, but understanding its meaning and objective actually infuses it with nobility, worth, and a strong applicability to ADA members and our profession. The term was coined in 1970 by Robert K. Greenleaf. In his classic essay, “The Servant as Leader,” Greenleaf wrote, “The difference manifests itself in the care taken by the servant—first to make sure that other people’s highest priority needs are being served. The best test, and difficult to administer, is: Do those served grow as persons? Do they, while being served, become healthier, wiser, freer, more autonomous, more likely themselves to become servants?” [emphasis added].1 Isn’t dietetics a serving profession? Aren’t we committed to helping people become healthier through foods? But implicit in that commitment is an underlying goal: Helping people be wiser about their choices so they can grow to be more active in their own care. Through our work, we participate in health fairs; do community-based presentations; serve on health, food, and nutrition committees; collect food for food banks or soup kitchens; provide in-kind services to school’s parente teacher organizations; and many other activities. Many ADA members volunteer hours to plan local professional meetings, participate in scholarship selection committees, and organize farmer’s markets or food drives to assist soup kitchens and food pantries. These members are serving and leading at the same time. If you are wondering how you might get involved in servant leadership, think about the needs in your community.
T
ª 2014 by the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics.
BUILDING A GOOD SOCIETY In another essay, “The Institution as Servant,” Greenleaf wrote, “Caring for persons, the more able and the less able serving each other, is the rock upon which a good society is built. Whereas, until recently, caring was largely person to person, now most of it is mediated through institutions.”1 We need to look no further than our own institution, ADA, to see an organization that is committed to helping all our members develop the skills necessary to be servant leaders—in our work with patients, clients, and the public and also in our work for our profession and Association. ADA facilitates opportunities for us to develop servant leadership skills through numerous initiatives like the Leadership Institute, leadership sessions at the Food & Nutrition Conference & Expo, and a new series of online learning programs on leadership that will be released during the 2010-2011 membership year on ADA’s Web site.
“A PLACE OF SERVICE” Servant leaders routinely say they gain more from their service than they give. The education of dietetics students is a very important need in our profession; many Commission on Accreditation for Dietetics Educationeaccredited dietetic technician programs, didactic programs in dietetics, and dietetic internships need preceptors and mentors. Think of those who mentored you: Can you now give something back by mentoring today’s students? When we serve as preceptors we are challenged to keep our knowledge current, and teaching someone else reinforces our own knowledge. We may learn about community resources, or sharpen our presentation skills, develop collaborative relationships, and gain recognition of our professional and personal worth. The more we are servant leaders, the more we sharpen our skills. “I enjoy the collegial and collaborative aspects of action-oriented volunteerism,” says one of our Association’s most active volunteer leaders,
Judith C. Rodriguez Past-President Judith A. Gilbride, PhD, RD, CDN, FADA, a Medallion Awardwinner who has also served as speaker of the House of Delegates, chair of the Legislative and Public Policy Committee, and member of the ADA Foundation Board. “Working together and achieving a purpose or moving an agenda forward often creates a unique bond or friendship. Today, with so many years as a volunteer, I find great satisfaction when I am able to nourish the creativity and productivity of others. If you volunteer, you should feel that you get something done that is worthwhile for yourself and your profession.” Leo Tolstoy said, “Life is a place of service. Joy can be real only if people look upon their life as a service and have a definite object in life outside themselves and their personal happiness.” As individuals and as members of ADA, we can use food and nutrition to “grow and share.” Servant leadership may sound like an archaic term, but its meaning is timeless and, like our work, much needed if we are going to create “the rock upon which a good [and healthy] society is built.” Judith C. Rodriguez, PhD, RD, LDN, FADA http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jand.2014.02.019
Reference 1.
What is Servant Leadership? Greenleaf Center for Servant Leadership Web site. http://www.greenleaf.org/whatissl. Accessed April 5, 2010.
JOURNAL OF THE ACADEMY OF NUTRITION AND DIETETICS
S5
