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Five Radical Principles On Becoming An Influencer 

Radical Truth #3 – Becoming The Soul Of An Organization

In his book, Servant Leadership, Robert Greenleaf tells the story of a community meeting. Made up of twelve religious leaders and theologians and twelve psychiatrists and doctors. The chairperson opened the meeting with a question.

“We are all healers, whether we are ministers or doctors. Why are we [individually] in this business? What is our motivation?”

Intense discussions followed and in ten minutes they all agreed, Doctors and ministers, Catholics, Jews, and Protestants.

We do what we do “for our own healing.”

It’s an interesting word, Greenleaf writes. Healing means “to make whole.” To “make” whole is a process. To “be” whole? No. Complete? No. To make whole, something that’s always being searched for.

Organizations are made up of people. Organizations are only as “whole” as their members. We have already determined that none of us are ever whole.

But we don’t stop trying.

Excluding civic and non-profit organizations, it is rare to find business leaders committed to making their workers whole. The stress is usually the other way around. Business leaders demanding we make their organization whole, the next contract, sale, etc.

Finding leaders committed to being assets is rare. It is even rarer to find those who are committed both individually and corporately. When they do they strive for their communities to be made whole.

We have lost our way in this area. The purpose of the business used to be for community building not just solely for profit. When did you last attend a corporate meeting? Was there an agenda item about the company’s impact on their community? Have you ever experienced that? You are in rare company if you did.

Success doesn’t stop at the bottom line with profits and losses. Belonging to an organization that desires to be a game changer in their community is priceless.

But the desire to be game changers doesn’t happen in a vacuum. They happen as a result of cause and effect. Look for an organization with a reputation for community activity. You’ll find a leader in that business. This leader has either built that reputation or continued the practice established by previous leaders.

If you can’t find one, be one for yours right now where you are at. You may not be the most qualified to network with community leaders. But you will be the most qualified to begin to talk about it to your co-workers. You’ll either run lead on it or team up with someone who can teach you.

Robert Greenleaf spoke and wrote for decades about the “servant leadership model.” In reading Herman Hesse’s Journey to the East Greenleaf found inspiration. The story begins about a band of men embarking on a long journey.

The central figure of the story is Leo who accompanies the party as the servant who does their menial chores, but who also sustains them with his spirit and his song. He is a person of extraordinary presence.

All goes well until Leo disappears. Then the group falls into disarray and the journey is abandoned.

They cannot make it without Leo.

The narrater, one of the party, after some years of wandering finds Leo and is taken into the Order that had sponsored the journey.

There he discovers that Leo, whom he had known first as a servant, was in fact the ceremonial head of the Order, its guiding spirit, a great and noble leader.

Servant Leadership, Robert Greenleaf, Paulist Press, 1977

Greenleaf determines that a great leader is seen as a servant first. His concept turns everything upside down.

We’ve been taught that leaders, especially in the States, are the strong and silent type. They are the “he-men” from the western movies, rugged and independent. They are also the captain of industry who unashamedly espouses that “greed is good. The one with the most toys wins in the end.”

Greenleaf is one of many in the assessment of servant leaders. Aristotle believed that leaders create an environment. In this environment, all members should be given the opportunity to realize their own potential. A leader’s ethical role is to create that environment. It is not to enhance their own power.

I refer this environment as the “soul of an organization.”

Leaders are responsible for their employees being trained and given the tools necessary to do their job well. They also recognize that their employees are individual human beings with different experiences and talents. Opportunities for workers inner and personal growth should also be provided.

You might be in a leadership role now, or you may be on your way to becoming one. There are some practical ways to enhance the soul of an organization.

• #1 – Be radical in taking on the mantle of being the soul of your organization

In order to be something you’ve got to know what that something is. What is the purpose, mission, the very reason for existence? What is your purpose, mission, your role in the organization? What is it that your organization has that is doing well or not well? What are the things you are doing well or not well? How can your organization help you become a better contributor? What can you in return do for your company? Finally, what is your assessment of how well your organization is committed to its community? What can you and your organization do to help your community?

• #2 – Being the soul of an organization sometimes means that we have to hold someone’s feet to the fire

Many organizations have established themselves with mission statements. Often they are something to throw on a wall or introduce new employees in a trading session.

It’s a shame because the mission statement is often the one artifact that is reflective of everything the organization does. It is often the evidence we point to should we find that the organization has lost its way.

Being the soul of an organization means educating or reminding an organization of their purpose. Being the soul of an organization means we act as the conscience of an organization.

Objectivity is vital. Always know what your motivation is before offering advice. If you are sure you are coming from a position that benefits everyone, you know you’re on the right track.

If the powers that be reject your council you can do one of three things:

• Stay and continue to champion for change
• Stay but give up on changing
• Leave and find another organization that appreciates your council

Becoming the soul of an organization sounds like a mystical quest, but it’s really not. It’s grounded in practical truth and application. Each of us has a different role to play. The beauty is that our contribution is as unique as the next individual.

We are all healers to some extent and are only limited by our own thinking.