To Love and to Serve
The primary objectives of great leaders
“One of the greatest dignities of humankind is that each successive generation is invested in the welfare of each new generation.”
― Fred Rogers
Yesterday, history was made.
To be clear, history is made every day; but yesterday was a significant moment in history.
As headlines, clips, articles, newsletters and features have already conveyed, Senator Cory Booker broke the record for the longest speech on the floor of the U.S. Senate, clocking in at 25 hours, four minutes.
The previous record was held by Senator Strom Thurmond, who, in 1957 as a Dixiecrat gave a 24 hour, 18 minute speech in opposition to a civil rights bill.1
[The irony should not be lost that an African-American senator beat the previous record held by someone who would deny his very right to be there.]
In the 25 hours of his speech, Booker shared a wealth of information, including a number of quotes. And one of them stood out to me:
“You can’t lead the people if you don’t love the people. You can’t save the people if you don’t serve the people.”
— Cornel West, 2008
I can’t say I ever thought I’d be quoting Cornel West2 in this newsletter, but applicable epigrams can be found in the strangest of places sometimes.
Servant Leaders Start with Love
West’s words rung particularly true for me with respect to leadership. The first principle of leadership that one of my mentors, Alan Mulally conveys is:
“People first. Love ’em up.”
To lead people is to care about them, both in aggregate as well as individually. A leader should care about the well-being and development of the people they lead, both personally and professionally.
In addition, we should be able to find something truly good and lovable in every person we work with. It goes hand-in-hand with acknowledging everyone’s dignity as a human being.3
That in turn is the basis for servant leadership, which is the idea that leaders are chosen to help meet the deeper needs of those in our care. Leadership doesn’t exist for leaders; it exists to move an organization forward, and the best way to do that is to make sure your people are treated well.
Servant leaders are driven by a deeper desire to be of service to others — to others, to organizations, and to communities. Such is the stuff that public servants of the best kind are made of.4
Of course, there’s another, all-too-familiar kind of public servant…
“Power is the ultimate aphrodisiac.” — Henry Kissinger, 1972
When organizations and institutions are run with only greed and power as aims, people are going to suffer.
Whether it’s a company or a country, if leaders act with carelessness, cruelty, or incompetence on their way to accumulating power and wealth, there will inevitably be human costs as well as institutional failures.
The best leaders know that everyone matters and that the needs and concerns of even the least of their people make up their highest priorities.
And they do it because they live to serve and love.
There’s so much to learn,
Civil Rights Act of 1957, Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Library
Hope on a Tightrope: Words and Wisdom by Cornel West. Smiley Books, 2008
See “Dignity, Inclusivity, and Unity” from January 29, 2025
Explore more of this in “Who Among Us?” from April 12, 2022.