Servant Leadership
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BUILDING BRIDGES UBUNTU Servant Leadership BUILDING BRIDGES UBUNTU Servant Leadership Building Bridges Title: “Building Bridges - Ubuntu and Servant Leadership” Edition Partnership “UBUNTU Building Bridges for Peace” Erasmus+ project no. 2017-3-PT02-KA205-004651 Key-action 2: Cooperation for innovation and the exchange of good prac- tices, 2018-2019 IPAV – Instituto Padre António Vieira IDS - Institute for Socratic Dialogue Foundation Fundación Tomillo Jesuit Refugee Service - Hellas Everis Portugal, S.A. Forum Estudante Design Miguel Rocha Print ImPress ISBN 978-989-99993-6-7 This project has been funded with support from the European Commission. This publication refl ects the views only of the authors, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of theinformation contained therein. 2 Ubuntu and Servant Leadership Index Introduction~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 5 I Chapter: Becoming Human ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 9 Opening roads, Carmen Garcia ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 11 Purpose and meaning in the giving of self, José Luís Gonçalves ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 19 Reflections, Maurice Joyeux sj. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 37 II Chapter: UBUNTU, an African concept to the world ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 45 UBUNTU: Philosophy of life and social ethics, John D. Volmink ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 47 Three-tiered Ubuntu Leaders - Caring, Connecting, and Serving, Rui Marques ~~~~~~~ 69 Servant leadership: an inspiration in cultural countercurrent, José Luís Gonçalves ~~~~ 103 III Chapter: Bridge Builder, an Ubuntu identity ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 111 Building Bridges, Maria Podlasek-Ziegler ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 113 What we talk about when we talk about dialogue, Sira Abenoza González & Diego Fonseca ~ 121 Conflict Resolution and Reconciliation, Mariana Barbosa & Francisca Magano ~~~~~~ 139 About the importance of storytelling: Talk. Tell. Live., Diego Fonseca ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 151 Building Relational Bridges in the Northern Ireland Conflict, Geoffrey Corry ~~~~~~~ 159 Ubuntu, Building Bridges For Peace, Jacqui Scheepers ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 177 IV Chapter: Ubuntu Leaders Academy in Portugal and Worldwide ~~~~~~ 189 Ubuntu Leaders Academy, Tânia Neves ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 191 Personal Storytelling: a path of self-knowledge and resilience, Sofia Mexia Alves ~~~~~~ 203 Ubuntu: a glance from Guiné Bissau, Osíris Ferreira ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 211 Ubuntu Leaders Academy in Venezuela: a Window of Hope, Norma Perez ~~~~~~~~~~~ 221 Bayanihan : the Filipino Ubuntu Spirit, Mx. Anthony D. Lopez ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 231 Care for Life and social change initiatives: Ubuntu leadership experience in Latin America, Luz Angela Beltran ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 235 The Ubuntu experience in Peru, Jorge Ueyonahara ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 241 3 Ubuntu and Servant Leadership Introduction 1 Rui Marques Sometimes we need to step out of ourselves, to find ourselves again. It is important to know how to establish a critical distance from ourselves in order to glance at the essence of our inner selves. This glance allows us to see areas of personal weakness that make us learn from others. To a large extent, this was the rationale at the root of the project that we are launching today. The “Ubuntu Building Bridges for Peace” project emerged within the Er- asmus Program, one of the European community´s most emblematic ini- tiatives. The project left the European cultural and philosophical context and sought inspiration in another continent. Rooted in Africa Ubuntu is, nonetheless, mankind´s inheritance. We have tried to break away from an overly individualistic perspective that enforces independence of the individual as an absolute value, and have highlighted interdependence and relationship as the main constituents of a Person. The understanding of us “becoming people” through our relationship with others, which in Ubuntu translates in the principle “I am because you are; I am only a Person through other Persons “ may help us rediscover the roots of European identity and of its political project. If we return to the foun- dations of the European project with the Schuman Declaration, at its core the understanding that only interdependence and, consequently, effective solidarity, can protect us from war: 1 President of IPAV 5 Building Bridges “(…) The solidarity in production thus established will make it plain that any war between France and Germany becomes not merely un- thinkable, but materially impossible. The setting up of this powerful productive unit, open to all countries willing to take part and bound ultimately to provide all the member countries with the basic elements of industrial production on the same terms, will lay a true foundation for their economic unification. This production will be offered to the world as a whole without distinction or exception, with the aim of contributing to raising living standards and to promoting peaceful achievements”. The year 2000 motto reinforced the European Union´s dream, “Unity in Diversity” - an European “Ubuntu”. It reaffirms that it is possible, respect- ing our multiple differences, to build a united and cohesive community and that our interdependence has become our strength and advantage. That is why the Ubuntu Building Bridges for Peace is very important to the European context, in times marked by speeches and structural policies on different walls to erect. We believe that Europe and the World need new models of leadership and citizenship, based on this ethics of care and the ability to build bridges rather than walls. The peace we all seek lies here: if we do not build bridges we will be fast on the way to the abyss. That’s why Europe needs Ubuntu. It has Ubuntu both in its history and in the origins of the European project with Monnet, Schuman, Adenauer or De Gaspieri – and it can also learn from others in Africa, Asia or anywhere else in the world. The project counted on the wisdom and experience of the Fundación Tomillo given its outstanding work with the most vulnerable populations; it counted also on the depth and knowledge of the Institute for Socratic Dialogue, given its capacity to make dialogue a powerful social transforma- tion tool. We´ve also added the irreplaceable experience of the Jesuit Refu- gee Service in Greece as an example of daily construction of bridges and of service, due to its work with the refugees it welcomes and supports. Also, 6 Ubuntu and Servant Leadership the contribution of the Instituto Padre António Vieira given its experience in designing and developing the Ubuntu Academy; Everis contributed with entrepreneurship knowledge and Forum Estudante contributed with its knowledge on the different realities of the youth. A consortium was thus consolidated setting to work and finishing the project in the founded hope that it is useful. The vision that was developed, the intellectual outputs created, the con- solidated non-formal education methodology or the experiences that are being proposed, allow us to believe on a path that although filled with human imperfection is a path worth treading. The echo received impels us further because, as Mandela said, at the end of his book “The Long Road to Freedom”, “after climbing a great hill, one only finds that there are many more hills to climb”. 7 I Chapter Becoming Human 9 Ubuntu and Servant Leadership Opening roads 2 Carmen Garcia “I slept and dreamt that life was joy. I awoke and saw that life was service. I acted and behold, service was joy.” R. Tagore Nothing great can be done if it’s not done from the inside. Those who devote our professional life and a good part of our personal life to serve and, somehow, to promote the improvement of the world around us and the life of those who accompany us, frequently live moments of de- spair, frustration, impotence and tiredness facing the difficulty of changing reality and generating a relevant and permanent change. The passion or even the rationality that guided us to this labor of social improvement is, sometimes, hidden under a huge layer of tedious labor (organization, management…), immobility or difficulties of change of some ecosystem’s elements or even of those who we pretend to “help”. This situation is defined by Parker J. Palmer as the Tragic Gap: that space, that failure in the life soil in which we find ourselves between the reality of the moment- injustice, inequality, violence, ignorance…- and the possibility of something better that we know exists- responsibility, generosity, equality, knowledge…- In that area, we feel the great tension that can carry us from one end in which the more pessimist realism dominates, to the other end, inhabited by the most irrelevant idealism. The temptation of placing our- selves in one or the other shore or even of jumping from one to the other continually is more frequent that it might seem. 2 President of Tomillo Foundation - Spain 11 Building Bridges Stay in the gap, hold the tension and give space so that the proposal of change moves from what it is towards what it can be is a great value of those people who we consider true leaders serving the improvement of our society. Nelson Mandela is, without any doubt, a clear example of how to live in that gap and hold the tension so that a new possibility arises. Remain and advance in that space of tension requires strength, tenacity and, of course, self-knowledge. The knowledge of ourselves, listening our inner voice and understanding