day two of my inspired break ... still kinda sorta off-the-grid as i was on day one (over here). answering questions that have been swirling around in my head. and this morn, i am continuing to prep for greenleaf center class work - applying key practices of servant leadership - as shared (over here).
connecting the dots ... this morn's thoughts swirling around servant leadership and compassion. (yeah ... it's a self-reflection staycation.)
curious, also, about servant leadership? ... a friend was curious about servant leadership, given she also has been involved in several leadership training activities. while i shared with her my becoming aware of servant leadership, i also shared with her several links and resources from the greenleaf center's site, with what is servant leadership? being one of them. and as shared by the greenleaf center -
The phrase “Servant Leadership” was coined by Robert K. Greenleaf in The Servant as Leader, an essay that he first published in 1970. In that essay, he said:
"The servant-leader is servant first… It begins with the natural feeling that one wants to serve, to serve first. Then conscious choice brings one to aspire to lead. That person is sharply different from one who is leader first, perhaps because of the need to assuage an unusual power drive or to acquire material possessions…The leader-first and the servant-first are two extreme types. Between them there are shadings and blends that are part of the infinite variety of human nature."
"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? And, what is the effect on the least privileged in society? Will they benefit or at least not be further deprived?"
what authors have shared ... also on the what is page are comments from other authors, 
many whose books and perspectives have served as the core of various leadership, personal, professional, and organizational development training. head over to the what is page (over here) for the full complement. meanwhile, here are tidbits from each -
ken blanchard - "... servant seadership is about getting people to a higher level by leading people at a higher level."
stephen covey - " ... through the empowerment of people ... high-trust cultures ... leaders are learning that this kind of empowerment, which is what servant leadership represents, is one of the key principles that ..."
ann mcgee-cooper and duane trammell - "... the focus of servant leadership is on sharing information, building a common vision, self-management, high levels of interdependence, learning from mistakes, encouraging creative input from every team member, and questioning present assumptions and mental models."
m. scott peck - "servant leadership is more than a concept ... an ethical leader of any group, will see herself or himself primarily as a servant of that group and will act accordingly."
peter m. senge - "i believe that the book Servant Leadership, and in particular the essay, “The Servant as Leader,” which starts the book off, is the most singular and useful statement on leadership that i have read in the last 20 years. ... this one essay penetrates to such a depth ... i found myself stopped, repeatedly, by a single sentence or phrase."
margaret wheatley - "... i believe that if the real work is to stay together, then we are not only the best resource to move into this future—we are the only resource…. we need to learn how to be together: that is the essential work of the servant-leader."
compassion ... while reading the wheatley quote, i was reminded of compassion.
for ~ 18 min as part of charter for compassion
a human being is part of the whole,
called by us, universe, a part limited in time and space.
... buddhist psychology, wherein compassion, karuna,
it is called, is defined as,
"the sensitivity to another's suffering
and the corresponding will
to free the other from that suffering."
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