Servant Leader is available online through Google Books
Shere
I have exciting news. While doing research on servant leadership I found that "Servant Leadership: A Journey into the Nature of Legitimate Power and Greatness" by Robert Greenleaf, Foreward by Stephen Covey, and Afterward by Peter M. Senge is available to read on Google Books at http://books.google.com/books?id=gOexpCA5JqIC&dq=servant-leadership&printsec=frontcover&source=bn&hl=en&ei=sz3SSt6_DJuqtgel_tyCBA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=4&ved=0CCIQ6AEwAw#v=onepage&q=&f=false

I would encourage you to of course buy this book for you own bookshelf, to that you can reflect on the words over and over again and use it a reference that it at your fingertips, but this is a great way to get your feet wet. Enjoy.
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Becoming a Leader
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When exploring the attributes that make up the "powerful leader", I am taken to the wonderful words of Dr. Rammond Reyes in the Mentor Gallery. His thoughts on leadership are so fully formed by nature and time. There are a few statements that he made in his interview that made an impression on me and caused me believe that every leader needs to evaluate themselves and their own story and experience before the can choose a leadership style that will bear productive fruit.


In "On Forgiveness" Richard Holloway explained that we are the products of our enviornments: "The reason we want to be able to forgive individuals, while retaining the important ability to judge their actions is that we know that personal action is the fruit of character and that character is largely predetermined by factors that are not in our control". When in conflict with others Dr. Reyes so eloquently reminds us to: "Take the time to get beneath of the behavior of the ideology. Positive interpretation on the behavior and feelings of others."


Leaders are responsible for the growth of those they have chosen to lead, Our leadership style is a reflection of our values, Dr. Reyes tell us that "How we lead is who we are, the sacred interaction of our biology and our biography." Understanding that we all bring our own personal story into relationships both inside the organization as well as in our personal life, Dr. Reyes advises that, "All human difference, first know your own cultural identity. Diversity personhood 101, see things how we are, not how it is. We are unconsciously who our ancestors are."


All leaders come to their position seeing the world through their own lens, seeing success and conflict through their past experiences. Dr. Rayes emphases the importance of the leader knowing their "Alpha Point" – Know your sacred story – who are you as a multi-cultural being, how does that influence your behavior value system, thought process in terms of decision making."


Learning to be great leaders come over a life-time, as we live through various experiences we are, according to Dr. Reyes, that we all are a living, breathing curriculum".
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Forgiveness for the Person not the Act
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I thoroughly enjoyed reading this module’s text, “On Forgiveness” by Richard Holloway. It seemed to have touch on many key points that I can use in my struggles with forgiveness. I have isolated a few key quotes and I will explain why they held particular interest for me:

“‘Trespasses’, those everyday breaks in the harmony of life of tears in the web of human relationships, than with monstrous evil” pg. 36

I often thought of trespasses as the big stuff, not those small things that give relationships discomfort and stresst. I am glad that this term was clearly defined before used in the text.

“The way she advises us to do this (forgiveness )is to focus not on the act or the trespass, but on the person who committed it, because forgiveness is always of individual never of actions” pg. 36
I thought this was a profound statement in thatin the past, I have often focus pity or anger on or about what was done to me or those I love. Whether reflecting on my pain or the senseless of it, I very rarely focus on the person and the space they were in when the trespass occurred.

The last one, I will refer to in this post is: what is the process of repair that one must undergo on the way to feeling whole.

In my last paper I subscribde to the thought that forgiveness is a process and there are certain steps that must be climbed to attain forgives beyond the empty verbal agreement:

“Reparation repairs the damage done by the crime, wither by some act of material restoration, such as payment or service, or by some kind of symbolic gesture such as willingness to cooperate in special programmes of training or therapy." pg. 47


My question for this week is: Do you think that forgiveness is a process that must be undergone by both the trespasser and the victim. The trespasser must not only ask for forgiveness, but show through some process that they are worthy of it?
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The Invitations and Stuff
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The Invitation





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Restoring Balance
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In the past few weeks I have been dealing with a very troubling situtation in my small business. I am a Web Master by day for the college, and in the evenings and on the weekends I am the Web Designer for my small business owned by me and my husband. I am in a very dark place emotionally with a client that refuses to pay his bill after hours of work building his Web site; I am trying to let my education and growth as a servant leader guide me. Prior to pursuance of this degree my rationing and actions to the dispute I find myself in would have been swift and harsh. I find myself these days second guessing most of my initial reactions, I am becoming a softer gentler Shere. The problem is the world and the people in it hearts are as hard as ever.

Tonight I am particularly struggling on what my next steps should be, not just next steps, but right steps. I have been terribly preoccupied and it is showing in my demeanor and in some ways my health. Is this transformation of transcendence supposed to be so painful?

I am reading Dr.Ferch's SERVANT-LEADERSHIP AND THE INTERIOR OF THE LEADER: Facing violence with courage and forgiveness PART 2 and gaining such comfort and clarity. I want to lash out at being treated unfairly, beating myself up for seemly not acting with guts, and second guessing this rising above those who trespass against me. The words that are comforting most are about achieving a balance. I guess because I feel so unbalanced right now. Ferch states, "This balance of personal autonomy and connection to others is a vital aspect of their social leadership" (pg. 11).

Personal autonomy is what I am missing. I am focusing on how I am perceived, how I am being cheated, the pain I am in and have lost me in the process. How do I center myself? How do I move pass the personal pain to allow for the growth I know is needed? How can I balance my individual self worth while being mistreated by others, how can I continue to honor others while I am in such pain? I know that this is not an advice column, but I am trying so hard to grow in a positive direction, I am trying to have what Ferch calls "a personal, active understanding of love and power".

I want to arrive on the other side of this controversy with a servant-leadership testimony while not acting harshly to this client who is obviously taking advantage of me. I have horrible thoughts of blog bashing and other retributive things, but I read further and Ferch says, "To frame the person we disagree with in a dark light was to King a poison, something he intentionally fought against. I really feel stuck in a spiritual rut and I don't know if I currently possess the tools to pull my self through.

The most beautiful sentence in this paper to me is "...We have before us the glorious opportunity to inject a new dimension of love into the veins of our civilization" (pg.13) I take that to heart, and I believe goodness starts with me, but I am at a lost as to how to move through love to a resolution to my problem. Any Advice?

ThePaper I am refferring to in this post is:
SERVANT-LEADERSHIP AND THE INTERIOR OF THE LEADER:Facing violence with courage and forgiveness, PART 2, Shann R. Ferch, Gonzaga Univeristy
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