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Emerging Servant Leaders

Developing America’s Next Generation of Leaders

Learning Module

Abstract

The Emerging Servant Leaders (ESL) Program is designed to engage youth who wish to grow as leaders by focusing on serving a cause larger than self. Its goal is to develop among young adults a cadre of selfless, outwardly focused citizens for our region, state, and nation. Geared toward high school students, the ESL Program is composed of six online learning modules plus an in-person capstone experience. The initiative seeks to comes alongside schools, churches, social service agencies, and nonprofit organizations to share lessons in self-awareness, civility, citizenship, responsibility, gratitude, and attitude. The ESL Program is based on the belief that self-government in a free, representative republic doesn’t happen automatically. It requires proactive involvement to pass along the wisdom of the ages to future generations. The program represents one potential avenue to help families, schools, and communities do so in an interactive manner that combines traditional, authentic, and transformative pedagogies.

Keywords

Citizenship Education, Character Education, Service Learning, Servant Leadership

Overview

About a year ago, I completed my most recent political appointment and, after nearly two decades in public service, stepped away from government to take action on a plan I had been contemplating for some time: the establishment of an organization focused on strengthening leadership abilities, improving communication skills, underscoring the importance of engaged citizenship, and providing opportunities for service. In January 2019, The Grindstone Institute (Grindstone) was born.

Inspired by my hometown of Berea, Ohio, which was known in the 19th century as the “Grindstone Capital of the World,” Grindstone is built on the premise that leaders are made, not born, and that a self-governing society has an obligation to develop them. As Berea grindstones were used to sharpen tools, Grindstone seeks to sharpen people by helping them hone the leadership skills our community, nation, and world need. The primary audience for our work is high school and college students and young professionals – the men and women who often approach me for career and lifestyle design advice and to whom I hope to continue adding value through our programs.

Grindstone’s mission informs the overall goals of my work in the Doctor of Education program at the University of Illinois and aligns directly with the ideas and principles of this course, specifically developing a suite of online courses and other innovative learning experiences that will foster future generations of leaders for a rapidly changing American and global society. At a time in world history when schools are being called on to educate students for a rapidly changing environment in which various types of jobs - and entire industries - develop and disappear, it is essential that scholars develop transformative approaches to learning that do not rely on anachronistic pedagogies, methods, and structures. The Emerging Servant Leaders Program aims (perhaps somewhat ironically) to convey the traditional principles of leading a purpose-driven, others-focused life through the applications of New Learning.

Although this learning module consists of new material in this particular format, it is based on more than 20 years of experience as an advisor to college students for a fraternity whose mission is focused on learning, leading, and serving and a similar amount of time as a mentor to interns, fellows, and staffers who have worked with me at increasingly senior levels of public service at the state and federal levels of government and in the military.

The scholarly literature broadly supports the proposed approach. Among the articles examined for Work 1 of this class, several apply directly to the development of this learning module. Branson and Quigley (1998) suggest co-curricular activities and community service are among the curriculum elements that have a salutary effect on students’ understanding of citizenship. Hoge (2002) points out the connections between character education, citizenship education, and social studies in improving modern liberal democracy. Cristol et al. (2010) and Lin (2015) both assert the application of service learning as a pedagogical approach to convey citizenship education.

Intended Learning Outcomes

Target Learners

Emerging Servant Leaders is designed initially for high school students. After being applied and evaluated at this level, it is possible that this program could be modified for application at the elementary/middle school levels and for college students. The program assumes that through family, school, and community involvement, its learners will have acquired at least a basic level of proficiency in the topics covered prior to enrollment. ESL is designed to build upon that knowledge to allow learners to become better versed in the elements of personal responsibility and civic engagement.

Rationale for Learning Outcomes (Learner)

The ESL Program is based on the belief that self-government in a free, representative republic doesn’t happen automatically. It requires proactive involvement to pass along the wisdom of the ages to future generations. The program represents one potential avenue to help families, schools, and communities do so in an interactive manner that combines traditional, authentic, and transformative pedagogies. Its curriculum seeks to improve learners’ self-awareness, civility, citizenship, responsibility, gratitude, and attitude – all important traits in character and citizenship education.

Rationale for Learning Outcomes (Teacher)

The ESL Program is being developed as a supplemental curriculum to what is commonly offered in American high schools. With federal and state testing standards focused primarily on mathematics, English, and other core subjects, character and citizenship education often fall by the wayside for lack of time, financial, or human resources. Those who engage as teachers in this program will make a substantial contribution to the well-being of society by investing their effort in improving young people’s understanding of themselves and how they can live fulfilling lives in the service of others.

Anticipated Duration

Emerging Servant Leaders is modular in nature and is being designed with the possibility of including additional topics. As currently proposed, the program includes six online components (two of which are developed in this work – self-awareness and civility), followed by a one-day, face-to-face capstone experience.

1. Self-Awareness: Purpose

For the Learner

Each person has been put on this planet for a specific purpose, and the ticket for this one-way journey is stamped, “One ride per customer.” How are you - a unique, beloved creation - spending your singular journey through this life? If it’s out of alignment with the reason you’ve been put here, you’ll struggle to be sincere with yourself and others. As Aristotle said, “Where your talents and the needs of the world cross; there lies your vocation.”

In 2002, Rick Warren, a pastor, author, and philanthropist, authored The Purpose-Driven Life, a book designed to “help understand why you are alive” (Warren, 2002). In the following video, he uses his own experience in gaining tremendous affluence and influence from the remarkable sales returns of the book to explain the meaning of the book itself. He reviews the three levels of existence – survival, success, and significance – and asks the question: “what’s in your hand?” to prompt deep thinking about your individual purpose. Watch the video here:

Media embedded September 27, 2019

Comment: After watching the video and taking time to reflect, make a comment on the following questions.

  • If somebody sat down and watched your life as if it were a movie, would it make sense or would the viewer ask, “what was that all about?”
  • What’s in your hand?

For the Teacher

Purpose: This element of the learning module is designed to encourage the students immediately to engage in deep thinking about their lives. In their research of students in grades 3 through 11, Ritchhart, Turner, and Hadar (2009) found that although "students' conceptions of thinking improves with age [they] also can be substantially developed through a classroom culture where thinking is modeled and rich opportunities for thinking are present." 

Resource: The Purpose-Driven Life by Rick Warren

Teaching Suggestions:

During a classroom or synchronous online session, ask students to share their findings from the thought exercises with their peers. Facilitate a discussion on their "life movies" and the unique tools "in their hands" that can be used to carry out their purposes. This could also be done through conversations in pairs or small groups, followed by reporting out on one another's findings to the full class.

2. Self-Awareness: Meaning

For the Learner

Pondering the meaning of life is an activity in which human beings have engaged for centuries. From the ancient philosophers to more recent thought leaders, there is no shortage of approaches to answer this fundamental question. In modern western culture, however, the commonly accepted definition of meaning - or at least success - in life seems to be making a lot of money or climbing the ladder of fame and honor. But we know in our heart there must be more to our brief time on this planet than accumulating wealth or becoming famous.

Viktor Frankl, M.D., Ph.D., was a Austrian survivor of the Holocaust who wrote what is widely considered one of the great books of the 20th century, Man's Search for Meaning. The thesis of the book, which is based on his own experience in the Nazi death camps, is that we cannot avoid suffering but we can choose how to cope with it (Frankl, 1959). The following video is from a lecture he offered to the Toronto Youth Corps in 1972:

Media embedded September 28, 2019

Comment: After watching the video and taking time to reflect, make a comment on the following questions:

  • What are the elements of your life from which you derive meaning?
  • How do you define success?
  • How are you exhibiting that you believe in - and even overestimate - the people around you?

For the Teacher

Purpose: This element of the learning module is designed to provide perspective as students continue to contemplate themselves and their purpose.

Resource:

  • Man's Search for Meaning by Viktor E. Frankl
  • In Love and War: The Story of a Family's Ordeal and Sacrifice During the Vietnam Years by Jim and Sybil Stockdale
  • Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption by Laura Hillenbrand

Teaching Suggestions:

In a subsequent classroom or synchronous online session, engage the students in a conversation on Frankl's book. The circumstances of the author's experience are dark and weighty, but that is the point. No one's life is without times of significant challenge. It may provide meaningful perspective for the students to learn about others who endured far worse experiences than they are ever likely to encounter. Two other excellent examples of individuals who exhibited resilience and found deep meaning in their trials were James Stockdale and Louie Zamperini. Resources are noted above.

3. Self-Awareness: Core Values

For the Learner

What we believe determines our actions. If an individual is uncertain about the core values that govern his or her life, he or she will be far less likely to achieve his or her intended purpose. The objective of this element of the first lesson (Self-Awareness) is to help get you thinking about the principles that form the foundation of your life on which everything else is built.

Simon Sinek, an author, speaker, and consultant who has become quite well known over the past decade, is the author of several books on leadership, including Start With Why (2009). In the book, he explains, "People don't buy what you do, they buy why you do it" (Sinek, 2009). The following video, although often used to help organizations understand their purpose, can be applied to each of us as we work to develop the "why" that governs what we do with our lives.

Media embedded September 28, 2019

Comment: After watching the video and taking time to reflect, make a comment on the following questions, which are desiged to drill down to your own "why":

  • How do I spend my time?
  • How do I spend my money?
  • Who do I admire and why?

Reflecting on the first two questions can help us understand what we truly value, because they reveal how we use our limited resources. Considering the third question can provide context to the bedrock principles of our lives - the characteristics we value in others and that the best version of ourselves would emulate.

For the Teacher

Purpose: This element of the learning module is designed to help students determine their core values and two versions of a personal biography.

Resource: Start with Why by Simon Sinek

Teaching Suggestions:

During a synchronous session with your students, follow up on the thought-provoking questions included in the comment prompt.

  • Ask what surprises them from the first two lists and whether they believe they are they out of alignment with what they think they value? Explain that these lists - how they spend their time and money - may illuminate what they truly value.
  • With regard to the third question, ask how they believe the people they admire are contributing to their growth and the growth of others. Inquire whether each of the students has identified a mentor in his/her area(s) of interest to follow or emulate. Ask them to consider what qualities they would look for in a potential mentor.

Peer Reviewed Project

Having completed the three constituent parts (Purpose, Meaning, Core Values) of the first element (Self-Awareness) of the Emerging Servant Leaders program, now is the first opportunity to synthesize your learning into a product.

Taking care to demonstrate your understanding of purpose, meaning, and core values - both generally and as they apply to you personally - prepare two biographies, a current one and a future one for ten years from now. The first version simply describes your current status (e.g., as a student) while the second draft is an aspirational document that depicts what you hope your life will look like at that time. In both biographies, incorporate a personal statement that reveals your personal mission and values.

Include the following items in either or both versions (as appropriate):

  • Academic credentials
  • Employers & roles
  • Core skills
  • Accomplishments & awards
  • Courses, training & certifications
  • Community/volunteer activities
  • Hobbies
  • Family
  • Place of residence

This project will be reviewed by three other peers in the class, and you will have the opportunity to review three of your peers' works.

Peer Assessment Rubric

 

4. Civility: Manners

For the Learner

When he was a teenager, George Washington wrote out by hand a section of Francis Hawkins' 1661 volume, Youth's Behavior, Or, Decencie in Conversation Among Men, which was a popular book used to educate young people in the early 18th century. Whether he was practicing his penmanship or seeking to improve his manners, many of the 110 rules he copied have survived three centuries and offer a good foundation in how we should treat one another.

The following link offers a look at the rules:

https://www.mountvernon.org/george-washington/rules-of-civility

​Comment: Choose two of George Washington's Rules of Civility that stood out for you and make a comment on why they remain relevant in modern society. Be sure to include applications of modern technology or communication in making your observations.

For the Teacher

Purpose: This element of the learning module is designed to encourage the students to improve their ability to interact with others through good manners and civility.

Resources: George Washington’s Rule of Civility

Teaching Suggestions: In an associated synchronous or classroom session there is an abundance of opportunity to perform a deeper dive on many of the 110 rules of civility that continue to have modern day applications. Consider assigning the students to teams in advance of the session, and having them review several of the rules. During the session, each team can present to the entire class on the relevance of the rules they selected to today's society.

5. Civility: Empathy

For the Learner

We live in a time of instantaneous communication. Often these interactions occur on social media and are disrepectful or even hostile (Antoci et. al, 2016); however, they can also happen in face-to-face interactions. This incivility, particularly when exhibited in the workplace, can have a detrimental impact on individual and organizational performance (Roberts, Scherer and Bowyer, 2011). Sometimes it seems as if we have lost our ability to engage in a civil manner with others who have different perspectives than we do.

Stephen R. Covey (1989), in his groundbreaking book, The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, suggests in Habit 5 that “Communication is the most important skill in life” and while we’ve learned to read, write, and speak in school, we’ve had little or no training in listening. By applying what he calls “empathic listening” we can practice the age-old lesson, “seek first to understand, then to be understood” (Covey, 1989). The following video briefly explains this chapter in Covey’s book:

Media embedded September 28, 2019

​Comment: After watching the video and taking time to reflect, make a comment on the following questions.

  • In my conversations with others, how am I doing in seeking to understand?
  • What can I do better to practice empathic listening?

For the Teacher

Purpose: This element of the learning module is designed to encourage the students improve their ability to interact with others through empathic listening.

Resource: The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People by Dr. Stephen R. Covey

Teaching Suggestions: In an associated synchronous or classroom session, invite the students to pair off and take turns telling each other a story. Encourage them to focus on truly listening, applying the practices of rephrasing and reflecting on what the other person is saying.

Afterward, engage the class and invite them to share:

  • How was your initial effort to engage in empathic listening?
  • What would you do differently in future conversations to be more effective?

6. Civility: Communication

For the Learner

Communication is an essential element of being a successful leader. In his book, Everyone Communicates, Few Connect, Dr. John C. Maxwell asserts, "...the ability to communicate and connect with others is a major determining factor in reaching your potential. To be successful, you must work with others. To do that at your absolute best, you must learn to connect" (Maxwell, 2010).

In the following video, Dr. Maxwell offers some interesting anecdotes on how he and others have made the jump from just talking at an audience (whether one person or many) and actually connecting with them in a way that positively influenced them and made them feel special.

Media embedded September 28, 2019

​Comment: After watching the video and taking time to reflect, make a comment on what communication techniques Dr. Maxwell mentioned that really stood out to you. How can you work to apply them in your communication with others?

For the Teacher

Purpose: This element of the learning module is designed to encourage the students improve their ability to interact with others through effective communication.

Resource: Everyone Communicates, Few Connect by Dr. John C. Maxwell

Teaching Suggestions:

In a classroom setting or an online synchronous environment, engage the students in a discussion of Dr. Maxwell's observation that one of the ways to communicate and connect with others is to find common ground. At a time when it seems to be challenging for people to have a conversation with others who have different opinions, it will be helpful for the students to brainstorm ways in which to identify areas of agreement and then work to achieve consensus on the remaining items where there remains a gap.

After outlining some possible methods for identifying common ground, assign small groups of students a series of contemporary public policy issues that have proven difficult for politicians and the public to navigate. Encourage them to outline opposing positions on the issues, recognize areas of agreement, and develop potential compromise solutions.

Conclusion

The Emerging Servant Leaders Program remains a work in progress. Several additional elements are being developed, including components on citizenship, financial responsibility, gratitude, and attitude (establishing good habits). Others may be added based on input from fellow scholars and educators.

I also envision a capstone experience that would involve pairing each student with a veteran from the local post of a veterans service organization (e.g., The American Legion or Veterans of Foreign Wars) for a one-day trip to state capital. Here in Ohio, where the ESL Program will first be tested, half of the day would be spent in an interactive learning session on the floor of the Ohio House of Representatives (modeled after an elementary school program I ran as a state legislator for six years). The other half of the day would take place at the National Veterans Museum and Memorial, a new facility (opened October 2018) where students and veterans would have opportunities for intergenerational interaction while learning about the important roles men and women have played in serving a cause larger than self.

As a final observation, it is not lost on me in designing this program that there are already a fair number of well-regarded and effective citizenship education, character education, and personal development programs offered to people of all ages, including youth, in our nation. For example, The American Legion Boys State/Boys Nation (American Legion, 2019) and American Legion Auxilliary Girls State/Girls Nation (American Legion Auxilliary, 2019) Programs are among such established and impactful initiatives. Unfortunately, even these renowned efforts cannot reach as many young people as desirable, because there is a finite number they can accommodate annually. As a result, a gap remains in the understanding and behavior people exhibit for one another and our nation and the ideal to which we should aspire individually and collectively. If the Emerging Servant Leaders Program can help bridge the divide between reality and aspiration as we seek to foster good citizens and strive for the “more perfect union” envisioned in the Constitution, then it will have been successful in making its intended contribution.

References

Antoci, A., Delfino, A., Paglieri, F., Panebianco, F., & Sabatini, F. (2016). Civility vs. incivility in online social interactions: An evolutionary approach. PloS one, 11(11), e0164286.

Association, M. V. L. (2019). The rules of civility. Retrieved from: https://www.mountvernon.org/george-washington/rules-of-civility

Auxilliary, A. L. (2019). ALA girls nation. Retrieved from: https://www.alaforveterans.org/ALA-Girls-Nation/

Branson, M. S., & Quigley, C. N. (1998). The role of civic education.

Covey, S. R. (1989). The 7 habits of highly effective people. New York, NY: Free Press.

Cristol, D., Michell, R., & Gimbert, B. (2010). Citizenship education: A historical perspective (1951–Present). Action in Teacher Education, 32(4), 61-69.

Crownproverbs. Video 3 – Become a more effective communicator. Retrieved from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=31grdsgpsVU

Frankl, V. E. (1959). Man’s search for meaning. Boston, MA: Beacon Press.

Frankl, V. E. (1972). Why to believe in others. Retrieved from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sd-1CjhbYPQ

Hillenbrand, L. (2010). Unbroken: a World War II story of survival, resilience, and redemption. New York, NY: Random House.

Hoge, J. D. (2002). Character education, citizenship education, and the social studies. The social studies, 93(3), 103-108.

Legion, A. (2019). About boys state & boys nation. Retrieved from: https://www.legion.org/boysnation/about

Lin, A. (2015). Citizenship education in American schools and its role in developing civic engagement: A review of the research. Educational Review, 67(1), 35-63.

Maxwell, J. C. (2010). Everyone communicates, few connect. Nashville, TN: Nelson Books.

MinionNoMore. (2016, July 9). Habit 5 – Seek first to understand then to be understood. Retrieved from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-MrTXTKo3wU

Ritchhart, R., Turner, T., & Hadar, L. (2009). Uncovering students’ thinking about thinking using concept maps. Metacognition and Learning, 4(2), 145-159.

Roberts, S. J., Scherer, L. L., & Bowyer, C. J. (2011). Job stress and incivility: What role does psychological capital play?. Journal of Leadership & Organizational Studies, 18(4), 449-458.

Stockdale, J. & S. (1984). In love and war: the story of a family's ordeal and sacrifice during the Vietnam years. New York, NY: Harper Row.

TED. (2008, April 15). A life of purpose | Rick Warren. Retrieved from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=640BQNxB5mc

Warren, R. (2002). The purpose-driven life. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.