Robert Greenleaf, in his original 1970 essay that coined and explained the term “servant leader” poses the question about “who is the enemy”? Meaning: who is the enemy that is holding back the movement to a better society, organization or institution. Who is preventing mediocre communities from being truly great? His questions and the path that they lead us on are as relevant today as they were almost forty years ago.

There will always be evil, stupid, amoral people in our society – they are not the enemy. There will always be a “system” – it is not the enemy. The true enemies are those who are well intentioned, good people who have been unwilling to step into leadership through understanding that the problem is “in here” and not “out there”. Mr. Greenleaf sums this up with a statement that “In short, the enemy is servants who have the potential to lead but do not lead”.

Being intentional about leadership embodies not just reflecting and taking action on how we lead. To be intentional, we must take a step back and asking some very personal and possibly life-altering questions – Do I want to lead? Do I have the potential to lead?

Leadership, done well, can be hard and lonely work. In order to succeed, one must be intentional and “called” to the work to assure sustainabiity. To be truly great, a leader must continue to be intentional to assure that our communities, systems, organizations and institutions move forward.