I have never heard this stated so eloquently. Who am I kidding? I've never gotten this at all. I feel like I need to start all over again from scratch:
"Because of the vagaries of human nature, the halt, the lame, half-made creatures that we all are, the great leader (whether it is the mother in her home or the head of a vast organization) would say what the wife said about home in Robert Frost's poem. The interest in and affection for one's followers that a leader has--and it is a mark of true greatness when it is genuine--is clearly something the followers 'haven't to deserve.' Great leaders, including 'little' people, may have gruff, demanding, uncompromising exteriors. But deep down inside the great ones have empathy and an unqualified acceptance of the persons of those who go with their leadership.
Acceptance of the person, though, requires a tolerance of imperfection. anybody could lead perfect people--if there were any. But there aren't any perfect people. And the parents who try to raise perfect children are certain to raise neurotics.
It is part of the enigma of human nature that the 'typical' person--immature, stumbling, inept, lazy--is capable of great dedication and heroism if wisely led. Many otherwise able people are disqualified to lead because they cannot work and through the half-people who are all there are. The secret of institution building is to be able to weld a team of people by lifting them up to grow taller than they would otherwise be."
Robert K. Greenleaf, Servant Leadership
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