The Servant Read online

  It was beginning to dawn on me that the qualities that irritated me most about others, people like the sergeant, were the qualities I disliked most about myself. They were just a bit more transparent in Greg, who was at least honest and authentic about who he was. One of the many resolutions I made that week was to be a little less phony and to work a little more on being authentic with people. “Humility,” I think the teacher called it.

  “I hope Simeon can join us for our get-together,” the nurse suggested. “Make sure you invite him, Greg, OK?”

  “Sure thing,” the sergeant promised. “But has anyone seen Simeon lately? I was really hoping to say good-bye to him.”

  I glanced around the grounds for the teacher, but he was nowhere to be seen.

  I GRABBED MY BAG from my room and went outside to sit on the bench next to the sandy parking lot. I knew Rachael would be showing up at any moment, and I felt myself getting a little panicky. I just had to say good-bye to Simeon.

  I left my bag and walked to the stairway that led down to Lake Michigan. Far below I saw a speck of a man and raced down the stairs yelling, “Simeon, Simeon!” He stopped and turned as I ran to him.

  We stood and hugged each other good-bye.

  “I don’t know how to thank you for this week, Simeon,” I stammered awkwardly. “I’ve learned so many valuable things. I only hope I can apply some of what I’ve learned when I return home.”

  The teacher looked deeply into my eyes and said, “Long ago a man named Syrus said that it is of no profit to have learned well if you neglect to do well. You will do well, John, I’m sure of it.”

  His eyes communicated to me that he knew I would do well, which gave me hope.

  “But where do I begin, Simeon?”

  “You begin with a choice.”

  I SLOWLY CLIMBED the 243 stairs and sat back down on the bench next to my bag to wait for Rachael. The last car had just pulled away and the grounds of the monastery were deserted and quiet. I sat listening to the dry leaves rustling together in the warm autumn breeze coming in off the lake. I was soon lost in my thoughts.

  I don’t know how much time passed before the distant sound of an approaching vehicle brought me back. I could see a trail of dust following our white Mercury Mountaineer as it slowly climbed the two-track trail and turned into the sandy parking lot.

  Tears began to well up in my eyes as I slowly got to my feet and looked out over Lake Michigan for the last time. I made a silent resolution.

  Hearing the truck door slam, I turned around to see a smiling Rachael running toward me. She looked more beautiful to me at that moment than ever before.

  She ran into my arms and I held her close until she let me go.

  “What a surprise!” she teased. “I can’t remember the last time I let go first. That was kind of nice.”

  “Just a small first step on a new journey,” I replied proudly.

  About the Author

  Jim Hunter is principal consultant of J. D. Hunter Associates, a labor relations and training consulting firm located near Detroit. He has over twenty years of labor relations experience and is a sought-after public speaker and trainer primarily in the areas of servant leadership and community (team) building. He resides in Michigan with his wife and daughter.

  More Praise for The Servant

  “Never has a book so adeptly bridged the hurried, industrious business landscape with the tranquil natural laws of life.”

  —Russell J. Ebeid, President, Guardian Glass Corporation

  “A deftly drawn reminder that effective leadership is based upon service to others and a heedlessness of self.”

  —James M. Strock, author of Reagan on Leadership

  “The Servant tells us how we need to act and who we need to be like. It provokes thoughtfulness as you read it. Add this to your library if you care about people.”

  —Rob Lebow, founder of the Shared Values Process operating system and author of Journey into the Heroic Environment

  “More often than not it is taken for granted. Whether you are chosen for the local neighborhood association or elected to Congress, before you can lead—you must serve.”

  —John Boehner, Chairman, Republican Conference, U.S. House of Representatives

  Copyright © 1998 by James C. Hunter

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage or retrieval system, without written permission from Random House, Inc., except for the inclusion of brief quotations in a review.

  Published by Crown Business, New York, New York. Member of the Crown Publishing Group, a division of Random House, Inc.

  www.crownpublishing.com

  CROWN BUSINESS and colophon are trademarks of Random House, Inc.

  Originally published by Prima Publishing, Roseville, California, in 1998.

  Extract from Man’s Search for Meaning by Viktor Frankl reprinted by permission of Beacon Press, Boston, Massachusetts.

  Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

  Hunter, James C.

  The servant : a simple story about the true essence of leadership / James C. Hunter.

  p. cm.

  1. Leadership. 2. Leadership—Moral and ethical aspects. I. Title.

  HD57.7.H875 1998 98-4864

  303.3'4—dc21 CIP

  eISBN: 978-0-307-45356-3

  v3.1_r1

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