By Ter Manyang Gatwech, Kampala,Uganda.
Opinion:
January 17, 2015(Nyamilepedia) — This year will soon be gone as we promenade into another new year 2016. Many good and bad things happened this year but the most significant was the killing of innocent Naath civilians in Juba, South Sudan in 2013, 15th, 16th, 17th, 18th in December, 2013 up to date by President Salva Kiir’s ‘’ dishonorable civilians crowd ‘’ from Warrap state.
While servant leadership is timeless concept, today when we talk about leadership, one can’t avoid the negative aspects. From rampant corruption to ever increasing nepotism, from power hungry leaders to egotism and inept bureaucrats …… it is difficult to understand if we have any servant leaders in South Sudan.
However, there are a few people who are in leadership for the right reasons. People who use leadership as a tool or means to reach out to others and their most pressing needs, not for self aggrandizement. Such people come to leadership because of their strong desires to serve others.
The main principle of servant leadership is those are attentive to the concerns of their followers and identify with them.
The servant leader uses power and leadership honestly and legitimately for the good of the people he or she serves. He/she sees leadership as a means to obtain the general good, not as a desired personal end. A servant leader cares a lot about his integrity.
The servant leader listens to his or her constituents. Servant leadership actively seeks out the opinions and ideas of their followers. This is top importance to the servant leader as it naturally fosters a relationship of mutual respect. Listening is innate to the servant leader- caring about others is a part of who they are. They can use that skill and learn from their followers.
The servant leader helps others to realize their potential, opportunities and possibilities. In other words, a servant leader helps people to do things they had not imagined. He /she sit down with his constituents to set goals that are both feasible and challenging. The servant leader inspires others to service.
Finally, a servant leader knows that he/she cannot do it all alone, and honestly, he /she would not do so even if he/ she could. A servant leader wants to work with and for others. To achieve this, the leader must be able to inspire those him /her service to serve others. The above qualities describe the true nature and character that former president Nelson Mandela, of South Africa was. We see leadership that is measured by how much one has done for others, not by how much one has achieved for himself like president Salva Kiir in Juba, South Sudan and plus the Nuer who follow the lifeless president in Juba.
With him, we have the extraordinary lesson on servant leadership. A humble but heroic servant of his people. The best way to keep his memory alive as South Sudanese is to emulate him. Let us go back to the true and right leadership mode of servant leadership.
The question is; which lesson did Mr. President Salva Kiir bring during the burial of former president of South Africa, Nelson Mandela in 2013?
By Cde, Ter Manyang Gatwech, chairperson of Gawaar Community in Uganda and the former president of Cavendish University Uganda Students Association of Public Administration and Management. He reached through his email address; termanyanggatwech@yahoo.com or Twitter Ter Gatwech@TGatwech.
2 comments
Whom i can trust in South Sudan even my own who have been damaged by Garang’s Confucius. I had being destroyed and denied because of few thousands.
SPLM use their positions with out service for the public to Cheats and sleeps within.