Eugene Debs once said, “I never had much faith in leaders. I am willing to be charged with almost anything, rather than to be charged with being a leader. I am suspicious of leaders, and especially of the intellectual variety. Give me the rank and file every day in the week. If you go to the city of Washington, and you examine the pages of the Congressional Directory, you will find that almost all of those corporation lawyers and cowardly politicians, members of Congress, and mis-representatives of the masses — you will find that almost all of them claim, in glowing terms, that they have risen from the ranks to places of eminence and distinction. I am very glad I cannot make that claim for myself. I would be ashamed to admit that I had risen from the ranks. When I rise it will be with the ranks, and not from the ranks.” (1918)
I first found this quote many years ago and it spoke to me about a sense of leadership that comes from those that you lead. Now, when I originally stumbled on this quote, I knew nothing of Eugene Debs background or place in history I just truly enjoyed this quote.
Debs was a labor organizer and a socialist in America in the early 1900’s. He ran for president five times as a member of the Socialist Party. Later in his life he was sentenced to 10 years in prison for his position on World War II.
This quote by Debs has always inspired me as I have considered my own leadership style. There is an appeal to me that instead of being viewed above followers or superior to them that your role is to be the leader just as others have their roles to play. I viewed this quote as what I thought as servant leadership without ever knowing what that meant.
Robert K. Greenleaf defined servant leadership in 1970 as it “begin with the natural feeling that one wants to serve, to serve first. Then conscious choice brings on to aspire to lead…The difference manifests itself in the care take by the servant – first to make sure that other people’s highest priority needs are being served. The best test…is: do those served grow as persons; do they, while being served, become healthier, wiser, freer, more autonomous, more likely themselves to become servants? And, what is the effect on the least privileged in society, will they benefit, or, at least, will they not be further deprived? (p.15)” (Cited in Northouse 2015, p. 226)
This definition of servant leadership aligns with elements of the Debs quote that has inspired me for the duration of my career. The role of being a leader is to serve those who follow us as without them we are no longer leaders. It is our obligation to ensure those who follow us excel as individuals and we actively seek to foster growth for those who have agreed to join us in our efforts. It is particularly appealing to me that
Is this quote from Debs a representation of servant leadership? I believe it is. Debs is stating the essence of servant leadership when he says, “I would be ashamed to admit that I had risen from the ranks. When I rise it will be with the ranks, and not from the ranks.” It is this idea of elevating those who follow you as the essence of his philosophy to deeply connects to the definition of servant leadership.
Debs, E. V. The Canton, Ohio Speech, Anti-War Speech. (June 6, 1918). Retrieved June 23, 2016, from https://www.marxists.org/archive/debs/works/1918/canton.htm
Northouse, P. G. (2015). Leadership: Theory and practice. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
cdh205 says
Last week, my group reviewed a documentary about Muhammad Ali. Initially, we struggled with whether Ali was truly a leader, or only a champion/hero. After careful consideration we used transformational leadership to describe his role in social activism. After reading your post about Eugene Debs, and his role in socialist events, I thought about Ali’s behaviors in reference to servant leadership. This led me to consider the difference between a servant leader and a transformational leader.
A servant leader has a desire to serve, and puts followers first (Northouse, 2016). A servant leader is highly concerned with the growth and development of followers (Northouse, 2016). However, a transformational leader will also make personal sacrifices for the sake of followers (Northouse, 2016). At a high level, they could look like one in the same.
However, a transformational leader is concerned with changing existing circumstances, opposed serving within them. A servant leader may accept antecedent, or existing conditions, and demonstrate leader behaviors that will leave a lasting impact (Northouse, 2016).
Like servant leaders, a transformational leader is concerned with the growth of followers. However, a transformational leader is focused on motivating followers toward a shared vision (Northouse, 2016). A transformational leader makes deliberate choices that move followers toward common goals. And, a transformational leader will win the favor of followers, through traits like Charisma (Northouse, 2016).
A servant leader does not necessarily have stake in whether or not the followers “like” them. They will nuture, emapthize, support, listen, and heal for the sole benefit of the follower (Northouse, 2016). They are not trying to sway them in any direction. While servant leadership could lead to positive leader-follower relations, it is not the end goal of a servant leader.
Therefore, I have concluded that Ali is better described by transformational leadership as he moved followers in a desired direction.
After considering both servant and transformational leadership, would you say that one better describes Eugene Debs’ focus on followers? Did he serve within existing conditions, or exist to change them?
Reference
Northouse, P.G. (2016). Leadership: Theory and Practice (7th ed.). Los Angeles, CA: Sage Publications.
jjo5099 says
Very interesting post. The quote for Eugene Debs was perfect, I specially like the ending as t makes good sense, and something for me to think about.
The definition from Eugene states that a leader’s role is not to necessarily lead from the front but rather have everyone come up and all lead in together. This is a great statement, and a very good definition of leadership as if this was possible everyone one would have the motivation needed to accomplish new tasks, and because everyone came up from the ranks that means they were all successful.
With this said there are time when a definite answer, vision or direction will be needed without the need for much debate for the time to to consider and answer. in this situations a leader is needed to make such calls, furthermore a leader who comes from the ranks is usually more accepted because the team has seen his or her accomplishments.
I believe Eugene’s states is a great definition of a leader but do not fully see it as the only way to lead, as there are many ways to do so, it does not make the other ones wrong.
Thank you for your post.
Renee Tillman says
The more I read your post, the more intrigued I was. I also have never heard of Eugene Debs.The quote its-self made me almost afraid of leadership, not necessarily of the leader inside of me but inside of the leaders of this country. I also remember a quote, “If a country is to be corruption free and become a nation of beautiful minds, I strongly feel there are three key societal members who can make a difference. They are the father, the mother and the teacher.” -A. P. J. Abdul Kalam.
Of course a mother, father and teacher are who learn our first lessons from. How to show compassion, respect among other things. They are our foundation. They see all of our success and fails and continue to teach us regardless. They are dedicated in ensuring that we are the best we can be. They are raising us to be leaders but sometimes when we lose that guidance we fall short of being a leader regardless of a title or not… and maybe what that is what I am afraid of; loss of guidance.