You may have heard of servant leadership before, but have you heard of servant eldership?
I've had a few leaders reach out and ask - what exactly defines Servant Eldership?
Quite simply the path of a Servant Elder goes beyond the typical role of a leader, it's not necessarily a specific age or time in a leader's career, though it certainly is grown through experience. It is characterised by:
Not serving by compulsion but voluntarily. A leader should desire the office of leader, and serve from that desire, not merely out of rank, role or duty but because they WANT to serve.
Not after personal gain but eagerly. Servant Elders are so eager to add value that they don't look to the financial reward, power or title as the reason for their service, but simply as the means of making more service available to more people.
I have only just begun scratching the surface of understanding the role and path of an elder through my initiations and study of lore with indigenous elders from many nations for the past 6 years. What I am learning is that elders are significant knowledge keepers, they ensure cultural continuity is maintained, they also serve as teachers, healers, counsellors and confidants. They are guardians of the planet, mother earth as well as their totems and all living beings. They are the keepers of the old ways, tradition, myth, stories and legend. The biggest difference between traditional leaders and Servant Elders is where their motivation lies. While traditional leaders care mostly about material advancement, Servant Elders want to see not just their team or company grow and succeed, but all of humanity and the planet thrive and advance.
If you’re eager to be a co-creator and be part of the building of thriving cultures, companies, communities and nations then DM me for a link to a private free community where I’ll be sharing more and asking for your dreams and ideas too. Servant Eldership is a path for now for developing our collective future. It’s a path of walking together, all people’s, the planet with purpose for a future. I want to be part of the shift, I know some of you will too.
For more information on servant eldership and walking this new way join me on LinkedIn here.
or on my website here https://www.alexandrajoy.com.au
Cheers to your leadership and career success! AJ
