Light From Many Lamps – Phillips Brooks (Post #3)
Phillips Brooks: You who are letting your friend’s heart ache for a word of appreciation or sympathy…the time is short!
In his sermon, Phillips Brooks (as cited in Watson, 1988) urges the congregation to put down their ill-feelings towards others and instead, to show love to the people around them (p. 199). As a Christian, I have heard similar messages at church time and time again and as much as possible, I have tried to apply this principle to my personal life. However, this time as I read this section in Watson’s (1988) book, I thought about how I could apply this to my relationships at work. Work relationships are different from personal relationships because of the professional boundaries that need to be maintained. While these boundaries are necessary in order to maintain a professional and respectful environment, it can also sometimes hinder open and honest communication between colleagues.
One important quality of servant leaders is empathy. When we are able to show empathy, Brooks’ (as cited in Watson, 1988) message naturally comes to pass in our actions. While I find this easy to do in my personal life because I am able to openly talk about issues with my family and friends, allowing me to understand their perspective, I find it difficult to approach conflict the same way at work with my colleagues. Brooks’ (as cited in Watson, 1988) message also reminds me of another important servant leadership quality – healing. Servant leaders should “support followers by helping them overcome personal problems” (Northouse, 2016, p. 228) and Greenleaf (as cited in Northouse, 2016) believes that “the process of healing is a two-way street – in helping followers become whole, servant leaders themselves are healed” (p. 228).
As I reflect on Brooks’ (as cited in Watson, 1988) sermon, I wonder how I could apply the principles to my development as a leader. Personally, it is hard for me to face conflict but when I read the whole excerpt again, I realize in the paragraphs following the sermon, Watson (1988) describes how neighbours walked home together and people who had not spoken to each other in years finally greeted each other (p. 199-200). There was no expectation to immediately resolve all conflicts and issues, but the sermon merely encouraged the congregation to take the first step towards reconciliation.
The past few weeks at work, I have been preparing for my upcoming maternity leave. As a new teacher, I am used to “going with the flow” and being “easy going” because most of the time, I am just grateful to have a permanent, full-time job. However, as I prepare for my year-long leave, I am finding that the situation requires me to be more assertive because I know that my requests directly affects not only my own future in a year when I return to work, but that of my baby. I realize that being assertive and having certain expectations make it harder for me to maintain the friendly and conflict-free relationships I am used to having with my administrator and coworkers. This has become a small source of stress and frustration for me. After reading this passage (Watson, 1988, p. 198-203), I am encouraged to take the first step by putting down my personal frustrations and understanding that this is just part of the process.
References
Northouse, P. G. (2016). Leadership: Theory and Practice. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Watson, L. E. (1988). Light from Many Lamps. New York: Simon and Schuster.