To showcase outstanding efforts toward servant leadership, the Allegacy Center for Leadership and Character invited William C. Hawks, MA ‘16, to speak at the semi-annual pro humanitate reflection, held April 6, 2016. In his talk, “How Serving Changes Lives,” Hawks shared his impactful story of resourcefulness and determination in the face of homelessness and a childhood filled with uncertainty. Through his belief in himself, his resilience, and his ability to make connections with people who care, his story of hard work, survival, and success is an inspiration.
In his talk, he emphasized servant leadership where he made a distinction between coercive and manipulative leadership (such as he experienced at McDonald’s) and servant leadership where through serving others you expand your influence and gain more resources to help others.
He also emphasized that, “If anybody shows you interest, you’ll hop on board . . . so the most important experience is human to human and not just institution to human.” Hawks indicated that impact is defined by having a positive influence on another person’s life trajectory by being a role model and an inspiration.
When asked how he could move past so many heartbreaking life experiences, he said, “I had to let stuff go, so I wouldn’t be that angry kid. It’s nobody’s fault—it’s just the way the world is. Other people have their issues, and you don’t take it personally.” Hawks’ courageous life story provided numerous examples of refusal to become a victim of the social system and of taking responsibility for changing his own life.
Hawks is the United Technologies Corporate Fellow in the MA ’16 class.
Click to view the talk “How Serving Changes Lives.”
