Servant Leadership by Stephen Lourey

My own awareness of the dire need for more values-based, vision-driven, inspirational leaders began many years ago after I left school for my Ph.D at the University of hard knocks. In Melbourne where I was living, I became very passionate about social justice and the plight of the homeless.

At one stage I was extremely active with many inner-city charities, and came to know personally many poor and marginalised in Melbourne. One particular experience touched me deeply.

Jim* was a hard core alcoholic. When he received his pension, he and his friends would drink wine. When most of their pension money had gone, they would sit on the footpath and mix methylated spirit with orange juice or cordial.

I always had a soft spot for Jim. He used to pinch all my cigarettes, and I would often feel compelled to give him 50 cents for a cup of coffee or smokes. I normally didn’t give money to street-people, but Jim would look up at me with bright blue eyes like a child. My heart would melt, and my hand would reach into my pocket for loose change.

Jim often went off for a few days at a time, haunting other inner-city suburbs. At first I wasn’t concerned when I didn’t see him. But when a few days dragged on to a week, and finally ten days, I became concerned. I tried to find him, but had no luck. My search finally ended with the news -- Jim was dead.

It wasn’t helped by the fact that he’d had a ‘gut full’ of booze, but the official cause of death was hypothermia. He’d dragged himself to his room, and had left the window open. On a freezing Melbourne night, alone, Jim had died from the cold. He didn’t have a heater in his room because he couldn’t afford the extra ten or so dollars the landlord charged for such necessities.

In a country with the wealth of Australia, someone died of the cold because he couldn’t afford what most of us take for granted. If it weren’t for the financially astute landlord, who was "on the prowl" for his rent, Jim may not have been discovered. From that day, I resolved that I would do anything to make sure that there would be just one less Jim.

From that day, I resolved that I would do anything -- bear any burden -- to try and make sure that through my efforts, there would be just one less Jim. So, I set about working with even more abandon with and for the poor.

The values based, vision driven, inspirational leadership model that the Foundation espouses has filled in many blanks for me. My own preferred leadership style is one of service. I’ve had numerous formal leadership positions, but I prefer to work quietly and gently in the background.

You don’t have to have "degrees coming out of your ears" to make a difference. At one stage I was working as an assistant at a large institution for the physical and intellectually disabled, and took to feeding Lisa (a severely disabled woman), because no one else wantedto work with her. Lisa was extremely aggressive, and she would lash out violently and dangerously. Many backs, wrists, noses and egos were the worse for having worked with Lisa.

Over time, we built up a rapport, and despite the fact that her file stated she would never walk (physiotherapy with her was considered too dangerous - an assumption the system accepted without question for more than 20 years), I decided to work with Lisa on her physio. Lisa used to laugh with joy at the freedom of being out of her wheelchair.

After three years of working with Lisa, I moved to another section of the institution, and six months later found myself in New Zealand. About eight months into my New Zealand adventure I received a note from the school’s physiotherapist. Apparently Lisa had walked unaided across the room. The therapist wrote to praise my work.

I’m telling you this to illustrate that you can make a difference in any endeavour if you have the courage to question the assumptions. These are the assumptions that shackle the human spirit (the antithesis of leadership) that keep beautiful people in wheelchairs.

Many years ago, a very wise man washed his friends’ feet and exhorted them to do the same. You too can make a difference.

*Names have been changed.