Servant Leadership: An Organizational Immune System

by Ann McGee-Cooper

When I walk out on my deck I am immediately aware of how well or poorly I have tended my garden.  This morning seeing five spectacular hibiscus blossoms really made my heart sing.  I have been thinking about servant leadership as the immune system of an organization or team.  And I think of the consistency of how well I tend my garden as the immune system of the health of all the plants, fish, birds and insects.  In essence, the ecosystem of the garden.

I can feel the positive energy as I feed the fish and prune dead blossoms, noticing whether all the plants are getting the right amount of water and whether the water gardens are clean and flowing.  When an organization is really healthy with most, if not all, members having advanced skills of servant leadership, then problems are noticed and addressed early with a glad heart and there is always a reserve of energy and resources.  When teams are made up of less aware members who focus inward on self gratification rather than outward on the serving of others, then crisis tends to hit them (me) in the face and chaos drags them (me) down.

I recently experienced a serious technology glitch during a day of teaching with a packed audience and several high level guests.  However, my Partner and I had great confidence in the flexibility, creativity and resourcefulness of each other and so the technology crisis was tamed into a docile and obedient “beast” in just a few tense minutes.  Because we were working with one of our legacy Clients who is fairly well versed in servant leadership, three of them immediately noticed the crisis, came quickly to our aid and a solution was found within minutes.  Instead of being drained we ended the day with the exuberance of tremendous gratitude, for each other, for our supportive and wonderful Clients, and for the skills and disciplines we learned that remind us any problem can become an opportunity and the importance of remaining calm in all storms.

And so, my garden mirrors the miracles given to us each day.  I am not deserving of the miracles/abundance that comes to me but I am deeply, deeply grateful.  And as I choose to then bring this same abundance and loving appreciation to all others, I become a vital part of this global immune system that springs from love;  love of life, love of challenges, love of diversity, and love of all that is, of which I am such a tiny part.  Time in the garden stirs my heart and opens my awareness.  And I am glad.