Many of us have heard the term "servant leadership". Servant leadership is the ability of a leader to meet the needs of his/her followers. I thought about an interesting new term today of which I have titled "servant relatedness." This could be defined as the ability of each person in a relationship to serve his/her partner. I like the concept of asking myself "how can I serve my partner?"
In looking at serving others, there is another important concept tied to giving which is: do I give to serve others w/out giving myself away? In other words, am I a sacrifical giver? I'm pretty sure I used to be a sacrifical giver. I'd give so much to everyone else around me that by the time I was finished there was nothing left for myself. So? Well, there are lots of consequences to this kind of behavior such as resentment of others, the time it takes to refill from empty, and a potential to open yourself to being walked over.
So, how do I serve w/out being a sacrifical giver? The first rule of thumb: make sure your air mask is on first, and then help the person next to you. If I'm not on full, how can I be sharing fuel w/ others? This means that servant relatedness has a wonderful balance between serving others and serving one's self. We must first take care of ourselves to take care of others.
How will you make sure your energy is high so you can be of service to your partner?
-Becky Shook-Wotzka
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