Servant Leadership and the Third Way for Young Professionals

29Dec10

As I pondered my career moves while on the cusp of graduation, I felt I faced a choice between two options: 1) succumb to a corporate career to pay my bills and live a “comfortable” life, or 2) become a bohemian to pursue what I love–arts, ideas, building community–and see what I could scrape together in terms of food and shelter.

Of course, my “either-or” attitude presented a false choice. During my alternative Gap Year, I am learning that “either-or” mentality rarely presents the entire picture. In Servant Leadership class, this attitude is playfully referred to as TINA–There Is No Alternative. This attitude enables a scarcity mentality–wide spread in our culture, the assumption that one must look out for oneself and accumulate more money and possessions to ensure security and happiness–which leads young professionals to make one-dimensional career decisions.

As part of my personal development Gap Year plans, I took Servant Leadership class at The Servant Leadership School of Greensboro. As the class wrapped up this December, I reflected on how much it had affected my goals and choices as a young professional. Most importantly, Servant Leadership led me to the believe that there is a Third Way alternative to the choice between corporate toil at company that has little relevance to me and my passions or bohemian poverty for a young professional.

Servant Leadership assumes a Third Way alternative to the “either-or” choice of dominating and controlling others versus being dominated and controlled by others. Rather, Servant Leadership transcends “either-or” to teach collaboration, authenticity and power-with attitude rather than power-over or power-under. It gives one tools for the inward journey of discovering ones deepest and most genuine passion and talents and, in response, initiating the outward journey of action. In addition to tapping into one’s own “flow,” Servant Leadership also encourages one to summon from others their best work and deepest talents. This is they way to get great things done!

To follow this path is often to transcend the aforementioned paths. This is an entrepreneurial path of discovery and tapping into one’s most closely-held and potent talents. Many young professionals are embracing the Third Way in their careers by pursuing entrepreneurial enterprises such as consulting, starting a social venture or company. This path is rich with creativity, challenges and opportunity for growth. One such young professional, Rosetta Thurman, is thriving after having taken the Third Way. Within the last year, Rosetta left her nonprofit job to establish a consultancy specializing in leadership and diversity issues. Additionally, she has written a book and led several online ventures including her successful personal site, Diary of a Happy Black Woman, where, among other things, she encourages other young women to cultivate their entrepreneurial side through “side hustles.”

Additionally, GOOD Magazine published a fascinating piece about Eight Successful People Doing Exactly What They Want including mostly young professionals making a living doing great what they love. Happy hustling!

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Tags: Gap Year, Personal Development, Purposeful Career, Servant Leadership