Bob Gldof Principles Of Servant Leadership

The New York Times published three videos on people who were leaders and promoted peace in their communities or other communities who were in need of help. The three people featured in the videos were Leymah Gbowee, Lech Walesa, and Bob Geldof. Gbowee fought for peace in Liberia, where a civil war was taking place, Walesa helped take down the communist government of Poland, and Geldof raised money to help certain areas in Africa that were very poor. All three peace leaders used the principles of servant leadership in their work, whether it is through self-awareness, emotional intelligence, networking, giving, or having a dream.
Leymah Gbowee embodies the principles of servant leadership, self-awareness, and emotional intelligence as her
When Geldof heard about the poverty that infested Africa, he knew that he had to do something about it. In Adam Grant’s book Give and Take, Grant explains that, “givers are other-focused, paying more attention to what other people need from them,”, which is exactly what Geldof did (Grant 5). He focused on the needs of the children in Africa rather than his own needs. He didn’t want to be the most famous rock star out there with the most money or nicest house, instead he wanted to help people who were in need of his assistance. He didn’t care if he was getting nothing in return; he wanted to help those in need. In order to do this, he used another one of Grant’s principles. He used his network in order to collaborate with others and be more successful in giving to the children in Africa. Grant reveals that, “networks come with three major advantages: private information, diverse skills, and power. By developing a strong network, people can gain invaluable access to knowledge, expertise, and influence,” (30). Geldof used his networking skills to gather talented singers, musicians, producers, and marketers to create a song that would be sold in stores around the world. The profits of these sales would go directly to the children in Africa who were without a home, an education, and food. Like Grant said, Geldof had an abundant access to diverse skills, knowledge, and expertise through all of the people who worked on the project together. As a result of working together, the group gained more power and influence since there were many well-known people in this group. With all the well-known people came a well-known song for a well-known cause. The song was bought by a tremendous amount of people, so the cause benefitted even more. Since he was a giver and a talented networker, Geldof succeeded in his effort to give resources to children in Africa who didn’t have access to things