Mathew 20:28 states “ just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many” (Roberts, 2015). T his scripture affirms that true leadership is found in serving others. It does not mean that the CEO of a company must sweep the floor or wash the employee’s feet but rather every member of the organization must work with the aim of serving the customers, coworkers and other shareholders (Roberts, 2015) .
Benjamin Franklin’s view reflects on this message of servant leadership in that his life gives a perfect example of how personal leadership can contribute to other people’s lives. His autobiography is an outstanding example of what people can achieve when they make it a duty to live purposefully and productively. For instance, he developed a system that helped him gain skills that made him successful. He realized the only way he could serve others was by attaining moral perfection thus he did it first (Franklin, 2014). He however recognized that a leader’s main struggle is to remain focused on the most important things in the midst of so many distracting tasks and external pressures. His system of virtues kept him focused on perfecting himself so that he could meet other people’s needs effectively.
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Benjamin Franklin gained an entrepreneurial spirit later in life after he stopped working for his brother’s magazine (Terra Incognita, 2018) . The purpose for His entrepreneurial venture went beyond making profit by developing products but he also extended into creating goods and services to help the society flourish. For instance, in 1731, he launched the first American library company. It is clear from his autobiography that he loved reading and he acquired most of his knowledge and skills from his large pool of books (Terra Incognita, 2018) . He wanted to share what he was getting from reading with the society thus, he decided to launch a library.
Consequently, Franklin discovered the most important understanding of positive and negative electrical charges, which still lights the world up to date. He did not patent this discovery because he believed that every member of the society should be able to benefit from scientific discoveries and progress freely. In fact, he said, “ As we enjoy great advantages from the invention of others, we should be glad of an opportunity to serve others by any invention of ours, and this we should do freely and generously.” (Franklin, 2014, p. 425).
According to the class discussion, the purpose of a business is to offer value to customers through products and services while maximizing profits and minimizing costs. Just like Benjamin Franklin, a business should not only focus on making profit but also on benefiting the customers through value creation. Franklin helped the society with his discoveries while businesses today help the society by creating value of goods and services for consumer consumption.
Franklin was definitely a creative thinker following his many inventions. He definitely did not think inside the box. In fact, he is quoted in his biography saying; “to create, we must first identify the problem, and then offer the best solution possible.” (Franklin, 2014, p. 265). Creativity is needed in order to identify underlying problems as well as in coming up with the best solutions possible. This led to some of his greatest discoveries including the first American library and franklins stove. Today’s business people should adopt this attribute if they want to be different. Creative thinking can help a business gain a competitive advantage through innovation.
Franklin was not only ambitious but he was also hardworking and trustworthy. These characteristics ensured he got on his own foot in an industry with quite high capitalization costs.
Franklin’s trustworthiness and ambition won him resourceful friends in the industry who funded his first print shop. Consequently, his hard work and ambition led to the success of this business. In his autobiography, he notes that he could stay past 11PM to get the job done and in other cases, he would stay overnight to go over the work repeatedly (Masur, 2016). People finally noted his handwork and he gained fame within a short period thus gaining a competitive advantage over his business rivals. Business people today should embrace hard work if they want to be better than their business rivals are. The only way to success is to be different which calls for an extra effort.
References
Franklin, B. (2014). The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin, edited by CW Eliot, originally published 1791. Rockville, MD: Arc Manor. Retrieved , 27 .
Kidd, T. S. (2017). Benjamin Franklin: The Religious Life of a Founding Father . Yale University Press.
Masur, L. P. (2016). The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin: with Related Documents . Macmillan Higher Education.
Roberts, G. (2015). Developing Christian servant leadership: Faith-based character growth at work . Springer.
Terra Incognita, I. (2018). Benjamin Franklin, Entrepreneur - The Benjamin Franklin Tercentenary. Benfranklin300.org. Retrieved 1 February 2018, from http://www.benfranklin300.org/etc_article_entrepreneur.htm
