Running head: SERVANT LEADERSHIP ANALYSIS 1
Running head: SERVANT LEADERSHIP ANALYSIS 9
Servant Leadership Experience Analysis
LDR-630 Servant Leadership
Sylvia M. Bermudez
February 28, 2018
Servant Leadership Experience
Servant leaders understand the importance of building and supporting others and in helping nurture future servant leaders. Servant leaders “want to serve, to serve first,” (Greenleaf, 1970), they inspire and motivate followers through their actions and words and focus on the needs and desires of others, placing them over their own. The concept of servant leadership was first coined in the 1970s by Robert K. Greenleaf, in his essay, “Servant Leaders.” Greenleaf defines servant leadership, as “a philosophy and
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LifeStream recognizes this and through its volunteers works to ensure patients receive the blood products they need, and the community is well-served by encouraging others to give back. Northouse (2014) focuses on leadership from the point of view of the leader and their behavior and identified key characteristics of servant leadership, which provide a creative lens from which to view the complexities of servant leadership: listening, empathy, healing, awareness, persuasion, conceptualization, foresight, stewardship, commitment to the group and building community. From the beginning, LifeStream has worked to earn the respect of the communities they are in, through the level of service delivered to donors, patients, and business partners. A principle of LifeStream is aimed at helping save lives in the communities they serve. They strive to nurture employee growth and development and inspire employees and donors to be servant leaders. This volunteer experience allowed me to implement servant leadership principles including, listening, empathy, stewardship and commitment to the growth of others and building of the community. Speaking with and listening to the donors, has shown me the importance in taking the time to learn the stories of others and how as servant leaders, …show more content…
Through volunteering, I realized successful leaders exhibit perseverance and are self-disciplined and that servant leadership is not a specific style or skill but rather, it is about (a leader’s) behavior and actions, that are adopted over the longer term. As a leader, it is important to understand the organizational mission, values and long-term vision, whether one is working for the organization or a volunteer of it, to effectively and whole-heartedly serve the organization. This experience showed me the areas in my leadership, where I can improve upon. I recognized the importance of listening to others and what a vital part it plays, in building strong and successful relationships. I also recognized, that I tend to want to nurture and care for others, and while that is important, it is also important to recognize when an individual may not welcome that and that is okay. Being flexible in how I interact with followers is essential to accommodate the different expectations of
Leading with Soul is both an inspiring book and a guide for becoming a better leader. The book alternates between telling the story of a leader who is striving to find meaning in his work, and regular interludes, which include summaries, reflective questions, and information regarding various spiritual philosophies. I was exposed to dimensions of leadership I had never previously considered. This paper will reflect upon how Leading with Soul helped me understand the spiritual nature of leadership, identify strategies for nurturing the spiritual side of my own leadership, expand my capacity for assisting others during challenging times, and increase my compassion while working with difficult others.
Basically, I learned that it is crucial to take audacious steps when we see people in vulnerable situations. Additionally, it is very important for me to lead others by example, have a positive attitude even amid intense circumstances, work as a team, listen to others’ suggestions, articulate my vision to the team members, and encourage others. In addition, I learned that a leadership role has to be Christ centered and it needs to be a grace driven effort in lieu of self-seeking success. My previous experiences helped me to believe that a community of believers working together with servant-heart mindset can, definitely, transform the vulnerable societies.
The basic principle of servant leadership is serving others and the community. The three principles of the servant-leadership are sharing the power, putting the needs of others first and helping people achieve their highest potential so that they may want to serve others. This creates an environment of trust, collaboration, teamwork and group improvement. Robert Greenleaf created the term, Servant Leader, and creating the idea of leading by serving with individuals and organizations. In one of his major essay’s, The Institution as Servant, Greenleaf (as cited in “What is Servant Leadership,” n.d.) expressed what was frequently called the “credo.”
Volunteering here I would be given a task and I would need to support the leaders and do everything necessary to complete the task. What I was doing did not require a high level of challenge, but it was important that I still did what was needed of me and provided the leaders with high support, making me an implementer. Different tasks require different styles of followership. According to Kelly’s model of followership there is a partner which provides high level of support and challenge, in many occasions this may be an ideal follower (McManus and Perruci 49). However, my job was to correct data in the computer and collect data from community members which did not create a reason for high challenge.
Servant leadership can be applied from the top of an organization to the lowest member because no one team member is more important than another. This is because each member is dependent upon the other to accomplish their job. This form of leadership provides a positive example of leadership for both junior to highest ranking members of the senior personnel, because of a single team member regardless of rank being attentive,supportive, and helpful to those members of staff below and above them. These
By volunteering at my local church and helping with local service projects, I have realized the commitment and perseverance it takes to lead by example. At my local church I continue to help with the organization of my youth group. After speaking at church staff meetings for several months we made it our goal to improve the youth group by ensuring that children and teens of all ages were included and had an opportunity to participate. I was able to create a system where teens who attended high school were paired with a middle school individual of the church. This provided a sense of inclusiveness and made the youth group more enjoyable for everyone.
This experience furthered my understanding of self and personal life-purpose. From my experience, volunteer work is a vehicle to explore how we can work together in pursuit of a common vision, using the unique resources we can offer, such as: creativity, time and leadership. As a graduate student, I worked for Gibbels Public Affairs in Brussels, which furthered my understanding of international affairs and development. This year, I worked in face-to-face fundraising for Children International.
While followership has the characteristics of organization, understanding and making decisions. “Followership is a conscious act of free will” (2) (B112-R.a.) The willingness to follow a leader through types of different behaviors.
In reading “Serve To Be Great’ written by Matt Tenney, I was introduced to a new perspective on leadership. Servant leadership is a philosophy and set of practices that enriches the lives of individuals, builds better organizations and ultimately creates a more just and caring world. Servant leadership is more a way of life than a management technique. Tenney believes that making your employee’s happiness the priority
Servant leadership is not the only leadership theory that is compatible with the Christian worldview. Others Christian-compatible leadership principles include Transformational Leadership Theory. Northouse (2016) states transformational changes and transforms people. The theory concern with emotions, values, ethics, standards, and goals while assessing followers’ motives, satisfying followers’ needs, and treating members’ as full human beings. Leader-Member Exchange Theory (LMX).
Abraham Lincoln is a good example of this model as his actions during the Civil War, freeing the Southern slaves and preserving the Union, are examples of servant leadership. Not doing these would have been taking the easy path but Lincoln realized that the harder choice would be more beneficial to the country in the long
Servant leadership is a philosophy and set of practices that enriches the lives of individuals, builds better organizations and ultimately creates a more just and caring world. Servant leader focus on the needs of others before considers they own. A servant leader focuses primarily on the growth and well-being of people and the communities to which they belong. They are more focus on success with a peaceful way and caring world compare to some leader style want to success no matter using what cruel way. While traditional leadership generally involves the accumulation and exercise of power by one at the “top of the pyramid”, but servant leadership is different.
At the moment, ClassBundl already incorporates a platform where servant leadership would be successful. ClassBundl has established a mission of charity towards schools. When parents purchase a school supply “bundl”, 5% of their sales is donated back to the institution in which their child attends. This donation, which already sets ClassBundl apart from their competitors, helps influence parents because they are solving a need for their child, and at the same time feel good because they know that their money is benefiting their child’s school. In an effort to expand off of this mission, ClassBundl plans to find other ways to donate back to the school or church that they are working with, whether its donating school supplies to a student in need, or using the cash back to purchase new technology for a classroom.
But not so with you. Rather, let the greatest among you become as the youngest, and the leader as one who serves” Being a servant leader considers the joy of others that he is leading while working along side
Servant and Authentic leadership have several characteristic comparisons. Both servant and authentic leadership styles are positive leadership styles. Servant and authentic leaders serve other individuals. They both believe in empowering the employees they serve. The leadership styles possess a high standard of values, displays compassion and passion for integrity to their followers.