MEMBERSHIP SERVANT LEADER By Keith A. Reed and Brenda L. Hill
You may be asking yourself, what is a “Servant Leader”? At first glance, you may think it means, not a leader at all; it means a servant, a person that is at someone’s beck and call. To some, it may mean someone who is too nice or weak, very soft-spoken or powerless, who performs duties for other people and allows others to lead. There are even some who might think you can’t be both—you must be either a servant or a leader, and some may feel that Servant Leadership has no place in an organization, especially not in this organization.
As a kid, I can remember my father watching the television series M*A*S*H* with precision focus. My father was an Air Force Security Policeman, and he would tell me and my siblings about his tours in the heat of Africa and Louisiana where he guarded SAC bombers in some of the coldest weather at Chennault Air Force Base. I remembered the series M*A*S*H* not so much because I enjoyed the show, but I can remember hearing my dad’s laughter and because I couldn’t leave— I was the remote.
For those of you who may not be as “senior” as I am, the series was based on a 1968 novel entitled MASH: A Novel About Three Army Doctors, written by Richard Hooker. The television series told the stories of a team of doctors and support staff assigned to the 4077th Mobile Army Surgical Hospital (M.A.S.H.) in South Korea.
Although the novel and series’ main focus may have been that of the doctors and their mastery of surgery, my father was interested in the role of Walter “Radar” O’Reilly. Radar, played by Gary Burghoff, was the company clerk.
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Whatever was needed—Radar produced it. He knew what was needed and delivered it well before Col. Blake and later Col. Potter recognized the need.
In a sense, the characters of M*A*S*H* were true examples of what Robert Greenleaf describes as “Servant Leadership” or “Servant Leaders.” In an essay published in 1970, Greenleaf wrote, “The Servant-leader is servant first.” In the series, many of the characters may not have wanted to be there. Who would have? Hawkeye, Trapper, Winchester, Frank, and even Col. Blake and Col. Potter were outstanding surgeons who (in the show) all surrendered to a higher calling—that of service—service to a Great Nation, service to the wounded warriors and, most of all, service to each other. But those were characters and roles on TV.
Over our 56-year history, our Asso- ciation is proudly made up of our own Hawkeyes, Winchesters and Radars — Servant Leaders. People who, in the ‘60s, were willing to risk their Air Force careers to birth this great Association. It is because of people like you, like us, ordinary people who dedicate ourselves to do extraordinary things. Volunteers who freely give up their precious time to sit-in on Congressional testimonies, assist in the spruce-up of National Veteran Cemeteries, washing of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall, consolidation managers for base activities, presentations of many high school cadet award ceremonies and many, many other Americanism events and programs. We are AFSA! The people who Greenleaf described in his essay. People who focus primarily on the growth and well-being of others. Not for power; not for show—for others,
for people. People who continue to advocate for improved access to earned military health care benefits and improved access to VA health care. People who continue to fight for full military pay raises and a fix to the complex reserve duty status system.
Some of us may remember asking this question on a job interview, “Can you tell me about your leadership style?” Most of us asked that question because it matters to us how we were going to be treated. No one came out and said, “I use the democratic leadership style,” or “I am an autocratic leader, myself.” They simply gave you examples or told you how they manage or lead. When I was younger, I didn’t know what the different styles were, let alone know what it meant to be a participative leader, or a transformational leader. All I knew was I did not want to work for a “mean boss.”
A friend of mine who was older at the time told me about interviews she had with four major companies. All were very successful, salary and benefits were relatively the same, location was comparable in distance from her home and all wanted someone to start within the next two weeks. She didn’t know how she would decide between them so she decided to ask employees how they liked working at the companies.
When she asked an employee about the first company, she was told, “I love working here. Training is a priority. The CEO wants everyone to be very knowledgeable about the area they manage. He has an open door policy and we have meetings to discuss important issues. Before he makes a final decision, he always encourages us to give our input.”
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