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International Journal of Servant-Leadership

Abstract

Many years have passed since the end of World War II. In this war that stemmed from hate, unhealthy ambition, and a sense of superiority from within different cultures, millions of lives were lost. Some authors, including a number that were survivors of that war, have documented and described the horrors and atrocities committed. Wiesenthal (1998) raised the dilemma of the possibility of forgiveness to the perpetrators of the massacres committed in this war. Mandela and Tutu (1999), with their experience in South Africa and the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, have shown the world that it is possible to forgive even the most hardened perpetrators of evil acts, but have also pointed out the imperative need to find truth before forgiveness and restoration can be obtained. History about both world wars has been widely shared through generations and cultures, and currently there is a general collective sense of remorse and fear of repeating those mistakes that makes us believe that we are far from suffering similar wars. In fact, in recurrent cycles violence continues to haunt us, forcing us to experience the devastating effects of people's agency that is producing similar consequences: the loss of millions of human lives, caused again by unhealthy ambition and a sense of superiority from within cultures. On a global level, economic and social inequalities increase every year with fatal consequences. Globalization, with its utopian promise of opportunity for development in every country, seems to have only further accentuated inequalities and economic crises in developing countries. Yates (2004/2006) suggested that, contrary to what is promulgated by international financial organizations, inequality among countries is growing every year. He mentioned as an example that in the United States, life expectancy for women is about eighty years, and in Switzerland it is eighty-two; but in Afghanistan it is forty-six, and in Sierra Leone it is thirty-nine. Infant mortality per 1,000 births is 3.98 in Norway, but it is 101 in Ethiopia. This paper will first explore the current tragedies that developing countries face as victims of postcolonialism. It will also look at the imperative need humans have to find and communicate truth to achieve justice, so as to forgive and break the oppressive cycle that currently enforces inequalities. These inequalities, which are supported by ill-formed human agency, lead to the loss of an enormous quantity of lives of innocent people every year. It is our obligation as human beings to hold ourselves accountable for injustices that are currently being perpetrated, and to enforce restoration. Some decades ago, Greenleaf, referring to servant-leadership as the new form of leadership needed to heal societies, stated, "The servant-leader is servant first. . .it begins with the natural feeling that one wants to serve, to serve first...that person is sharply different from one who is leader first, perhaps because of the need to assuage an unusual power drive or to acquire material possessions" (Greenleaf 1977/2002, 27). Currently, the world seems to need more of this type of leader; one who is not solely concerned with making their nation an empire that economically and politically dominates other nations, but rather a leader who shares in the responsibility of global development. As Ferch stated, "The servant-leader transcends himself or herself to become the steward of others, capable of raising up future generations, and confident in building community" (Ferch 2012, 155). There is an urgent need for leaders from both developed and developing countries to work together and share accountability in regard to solving global inequalities that affect the majority of people in the world.

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