A servant leader must take the time to pray for others to invert the Netflix culture into the ethics culture.

Donald Wallenfang

Who is Donald Wallenfang?

Donald Wallenfang, OCDS, PhD, Emmanuel Mary of the Cross, is a Secular Discalced Carmelite and Professor of Theology and Philosophy at Sacred Heart Major Seminary. He received his MTS from St Norbert College and his PhD from Loyola University Chicago. He also is the founder of an online apostolate dedicated to cultivating the contemplative life called My Interior Castle (myinteriorcastle.com).

Wallenfang specializes in Catholic theology and philosophy, Carmelite spirituality, phenomenology, and metaphysics. His research concentrates on the work of Edith Stein, Emmanuel Levinas, Paul Ricoeur, Jean-Luc Marion, the Carmelite saints, and the New Evangelization. He teaches courses in philosophy, theology, lay ecclesial ministry, evangelization, and Catholic spirituality. His articles have appeared in Philosophy and Theology, Logos: A Journal of Catholic Thought and Culture, The International Journal of Religion in Spirituality and Society, Listening: Journal of Communication Ethics, Religion, and Culture, and Pacifica, as well as in other book compilations.

He is the author of iGod: A Hidden and Fragmentary Autobiography (Cascade, 2021), Emmanuel: Levinas and Variations on God with Us (Cascade, 2021), Shoeless: Carmelite Spirituality in a Disquieted World (Wipf & Stock, 2021), Metaphysics: A Basic Introduction in a Christian Key (Cascade, 2019), Phenomenology: A Basic Introduction in the Light of Jesus Christ (Cascade, 2019), Dialectical Anatomy of the Eucharist: An Étude in Phenomenology (Cascade, 2017), and Human and Divine Being: A Study on the Theological Anthropology of Edith Stein (Cascade, 2017). Wallenfang is co-editor with John C. Cavadini for the book series Global Perspectives on the New Evangelization (Pickwick).

Before entering the world of academia, Wallenfang served in full-time Catholic youth and young adult ministry for nine years. He has been married for over twenty-two years and has six children.

The Qualities of a Servant Leader

In this episode, Donald Wallenfang talks about servant leadership. He explains:
-What does it mean to be a servant? Why should we be servant-like?
-What are the qualities of a servant?
-How do we deal with our own ego?
-What are some practical ways to be a servant?

How Can You Serve as a Servant Leader?

When I prayed about the first episode of 2023, I asked God to send me a person who would willingly and joyfully agree to talk about this topic. The last few months of 2022 were a struggle and I was overjoyed when Donald responded to me during New Year’s week and said yes.

He had already covered the topic of servant leadership. He used Greenleafs’ work as a template. The qualities of a servant leader are the ability to listen, persuade, use intuition, use language effectively and have a personal presence among other attributes.

Donald says when we serve we decentralize our ego. And that’s a good thing. Here are some of his tips to practically be a servant leader

1. Do what is below you.
2. Communicate.
3. Be polite.
4. Observe people all the way to the margins.
5. Do small things.
6. Make sacrifices.
7. Pray for other people.

These are not easy to do. Especially when I have to humble myself, it can be hard. The achievements, our possessions, and our need for glory can get in the way. Donald gives clear examples though of what we should do and how to do them. He says we can read what Jesus did and how He was the servant leader par excellence. The saints and Mary are all people we can emulate in servant leadership. In the end, being servant leaders means being able to serve others by emptying ourselves. I enjoyed listening to his take on this topic and especially his message that we need God’s grace because on our own we are nothing.

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We hope you enjoyed this podcast. Check out our podcasts on the patron of prison ministries, St. Teresa of Avila, and Sharing the Gospel. If you liked this podcast, like us, leave us a comment, and share our episodes on social media with those who may benefit from it. If there is a particular saint you would like to hear about us, tell us and we’ll add him or her to our future episodes.

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