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Wisdom from Howard E. Butt, Jr.
On this blog, you’ll find more thoughts from Howard E. Butt, Jr. about the intersection of faith and daily living. It’s wisdom in bite-size pieces similar to his successful radio spots, just one more way to tell the story of his efforts since 1956 to integrate faith and work.
subscribe to this blog >Servant Leadership Is Not Weak
3.15.10
During the American Revolution, a man dressed in civilian clothes rode past a group of soldiers repairing a small stronghold. Their leader, from astride his horse, shouted instructions.
The man asked the supervisor why he wasn’t helping.
He answered, “Because, sir, I am a corporal!”
The stranger apologized, dismounted, and joined the exhausted soldiers at work. When the job was complete, he turned to the corporal and said, “Corporal, next time you need more men for a job, go to your commander-in-chief, and I will help you again.”
Too late, an arrogant corporal realized: his new workman was the beloved General George Washington. He also understood why Washington inspired devotion. A true leader is first of all a servant.
Instead, we focus on success in our life and leadership. We want to be able to look back on our lives with a sense of accomplishment—and I think that includes a certain sense of spiritual accomplishment as well. We focus on leadership and accomplishments, but we forget about the Trinity that calls us to healthy relationships and service.
As a young Baylor student, I certainly had my dreams of success. My father stood before me, a prime example of business success. But I was experiencing a different kind of success through the youth revival movement at Baylor in those years. People were taking note of me.
When I entered the Grocery Company after college, I struggled to balance my two callings. Part of me wanted to serve my father in the Grocery Company. Part of me wanted to pursue a different path—preaching and leading youth revivals. This internal division began to manifest itself in external conflicts.
I bucked against my father, and I gradually began to be ashamed of the way I treated him. A turning point came in 1969, when I read The Conflict of Generations by Lewis Feuer. That book spoke to me about my relationship with my father, and I realized how I had unconsciously spent a good deal of time resisting my father’s advice and wishes. I began to learn about authority and submission, and I realized how often I had lived in rebellion against both Dad and God.
During the same time, I became aware of a similar situation developing between me and my own children. The very thing I saw in my relationship with Dad, I started seeing in my children and how they responded to me. And they were not unjustified in their rebellion against me. They were not just whistling Dixie. There was a lot in me that needed rebelling against. The very feelings that made me rebellious against Dad made me a tyrant with my children. From these beginnings, the idea of Trinitarian servant leadership slowly began to take shape in my thinking.
I was not supposed to rebel against my father. I was supposed to serve him. I was not supposed to act like a tyrant with my children. I was supposed to serve them.
Gradually, I realized that my relationships with my father and my children were a reflection of my relationship with God. I realized that I needed to trust God to run my life.
Now, I didn’t know what that meant exactly, but I knew that it felt like weakness.
Trinitarian servant leadership may feel weak, but it is not!
Editor's Note: This post is an excerpt from Howard Butt's article on servant leadership that appeared in the 2009 Winter issue of Laity Connections. You can read the full article and browse the rest of the issue online to find writing by Mark D. Roberts, a photospread of the Frio Canyon in the fall, and the summer 2010 Laity Lodge schedule.
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