In Praise of Selflessness: Why the best leaders are servants
“Perhaps the best way to learn to wash the feet of others is to take the injunction literally. Eliot Swartz is co-founder of Two Chefs on a Roll, a 180-employee private-label food manufacturer in Carson, California. Every Monday evening for 10 years, Swartz traveled from his company to Torrance Memorial Medical Center. He wasn’t organizing a fundraising campaign or serving on the board of directors. He was helping out in the emergency room. “I did whatever they asked me to do,” says Swartz. “Held the hand of a mom whose child had been in a car accident. Changed sheets. Took people down to X-ray. Took labs where they needed to be.”
“Servant leadership isn’t about being a great boss; it’s about accepting that bossing and leading aren’t synonymous. There’s nothing like changing a few bedpans to bring that lesson home.”
http://www.inc.com/magazine/20070501/managing-leadership.html#at
