International Journal of Servant-Leadership
Abstract
Human beings are experiencing a loss of dignity that diminishes us as a community of people. Many times the consequences of losing our dignity are not severe, allowing us to recover in a short time; other times, they can be so dramatic that they end up scarring us for a lifetime. Those who lose their dignity ultimately have the choice to find resiliency and recover from their loss. Likewise, those who violate the dignity of others bear the responsibility to choose to live with morality and justice toward others. As Greenleaf (1977) explained, "Because we have a natural authority resulting from our power and freedom to choose, we need to use it in a principled way" (p. 5). An important characteristic of an individual is the innate ability to choose. As humans, we are equipped with the unique capacity to do what no other being can do, endowed with the power to utilize freedom to make our decisions and to choose between alternatives. Viktor Frankl's (1997) idea of a person's freedom to choose gives some perspective to the relationship between human choice and human freedom; he describes it as having an "awareness of freedom and responsibleness" (p. 33). The purpose of this paper is to consider the idea that humility and seeking forgiveness are key elements of servant-leadership and that these are the elements of servant-leadership that are required for the restoration of human dignity.
Recommended Citation
Hernandez, Jose
(2009)
"Servant-Leadership as a Cornerstone for Restoration of Human Dignity,"
International Journal of Servant-Leadership: Vol. 5, Article 19.
DOI: 10.33972/ijsl.224
Available at:
https://repository.gonzaga.edu/ijsl/vol5/iss1/19
Copyright Information
Copyright 2009 The Author(s). All rights reserved