The first presentation of an award for “servant leadership” highlighted a dinner-dance to benefit First Serve of the Palm Beaches.
The event took place Dec. 9 at The Breakers and honored Paul Leone, CEO of The Breakers and Flagler Systems.
The evening included a cocktail reception, dinner, and entertainment by the Comedy Central TV channel’s Michael Kosta.
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Highlighting the night was the recognition of Leone as recipient of the inaugural Paul Van der Grift Servant Leadership Award.
The award was presented to Leone by Fritz Van der Grift in honor of his late father, who was the board president of First Serve for many years.
“Our first-ever recipient is the definition of a servant leader,” Van der Grift said when introducing the honoree.
“When asked if he would be willing to accept the award, he agreed with the stipulation that his whole organization must be included in the recognition.”
According to the Servant Leadership Center at Seton Hall University, a servant-leader focuses primarily on the growth and well-being of people and the communities to which they belong. While traditional leadership generally involves the accumulation and exercise of power by one at the “top of the pyramid,” the servant-leader shares power, puts the needs of others first and helps people to develop and perform as highly as possible.