"For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life a ransom for many" (Nelson). Three things are mentioned about servant leadership in these verses: A servant leader chooses to serve others. A servant leader chooses to become a bond slave of all. And a servant leader chooses to give his life for the sake of others.
Servant leadership is a choice by a leader to follow the example of Christ and lead by serving, becoming a bondservant and giving his life for others. It says nothing about what those who are being led are to do. Servant leadership is an inner attitude of the heart by which a person chooses to place himself or herself under the leadership of Christ (Spears). Christ often invited people to follow him. Some followed and many did not. One of the things to understand is the difference between obedience and submission. A person in authority can command obedience. The centurion recognized that he had to obey his commanding officers. Submission is a choice by the follower to choose to follow a leader and also an inner attitude of the heart and can never be commanded (Kellerman, Matusak). Some chose to submit to Christ and follow him. Many chose not to submit to Christ and they follow other things. Christ gives us the freedom to make the choice not to follow or submit.
Christ did give a promise that he would serve those who did choose to follow and submit to him. Mark 1:17 says, "Then Jesus said to them, "Follow Me, and I will make you become fishers of men" (Nelson). Christ said to those who chose to follow him that he would invest his life in them and show them how to become fishers of men. He would show them by his example how to become something that was not presently true in their lives. In fact, He would even give his life in the process of helping them become fishers of men. He would serve them by giving their lives eternal meaning and value.