Servant leadership is something I strive for. Sometimes. When I remember. The concept seems so good and pure, and a potential solution to curing all the wrongs in the world. But the reality of it is so hard to obtain. During my recent experience taking LEAD 572: Leadership and Contemporary Issues/Multimedia Storytelling for Change and going to migrant shelters with Border Angels I saw servant leadership in action. Additionally, through the process of creating multimedia materials to tell a story I found myself embodying characteristics of servant leadership that sometimes escape me on a day-to-day basis.

Larry Spears defines the ten characteristics of a servant leader as listening, empathy, healing, awareness, persuasion, conceptualization, foresight, stewardship, commitment to the growth of people, and building community (2010). Each of these requires energy to pull the natural focus of humans on the “I” or “me” and redirects to the thoughtful consideration of others. When achieved the rewards are plentiful.

When I arrived in Tijuana, what had the most impact on me was not the poverty, nor knowing what the migrants had been through, it was the power of people caring. In Hugo Castro, the leader of this expedition, I found a servant leader, and through his leadership I saw others begin to lead in a similar fashion. He persuaded people to join him and Border Angels, buy supplies, cross the border, and make a difference. People, including myself, were moved to wanting to do something more. Through this process he has built a community of volunteers encompassing people from both sides of the border, whom might otherwise have little in common and not encounter one another.

What outcome can we expect of this? Building communities, having visions for a better, brighter future, allowing people to do things on their own accord, listening, and showing empathy? Supporters of servant leadership would say we are creating a stronger culture, commitment, citizenship behavior, and individual performance (Harwiki, 2015). Are these not the people you want as your neighbor? Or would you rather have someone who, after fleeing for their lives, steps away from reaching the land of their dreams, is separated from their loved ones and further made to suffer?

Through the process of learning to interview, photograph, take video, and put it into something that told a story, I found myself exhibiting many of the characteristics of a servant leader. Listening, really listening, and reflecting upon what was heard was essential to creating a storytelling video. Empathy arose in me as I listened to audio containing the stories of migrants and poured through pictures. In starting at a picture of men waiting for an x-ray, I saw worry, unease, and a father holding onto a gift for his daughter. I saw humanity.

I started to gain a deeper awareness of the immigration problems that exist and started to conceptualize a better world. One where everyone has access to providing themselves and their families with the necessities often taken for granted by U.S. citizens. I saw the importance of migrants after fleeing for their lives, being met with those like Hugo and Border Angels instead of hostility and aggression.

I will take away from this class and this experience a reminder of what servant leadership can accomplish. While it was a short class, too short to really hone my blogging, picture taking, and video making skills. I hope to take what I did learn and practice. Practice telling stories through these means. Stories that touch people’s hearts and inspire them to act and go out and make the world a better place. Through this class I found a tool that brings me closer to the realization of becoming a servant leader, one where the skill of looking outside of oneself is of the utmost importance.