According to Spears (2010) in his article entitled “Character and Servant Leadership: Ten Characteristics of Effective, Caring Leaders” there are a set of ten characteristics that help define the active practice of servant leadership.

The ten characteristics of servant leadership are the ability to:

1. 

   Buzzle.com

   Listen “intently to others” which also includes being able to hear not just what is being said, but also unsaid (p.27). This includes listening to our own inner voice and reflecting on what is being said. Don Page and Paul Wong (2000) in their article “A Conceptual Framework for Measuring Servant-Leadership” state that the servant leader “wants to listen to people before making a decision” and “seeks first to understand then be understood” (p. 73).

2. Empathize with others and  seek to understand.  According to a recent article online Forbes article by Karen Higginbottom (2018) entitled “Why
   

   www.genius.com

   Empathy Matters in the Workplace” there is a direct correlation between empathy and the productivity and successfulness of a company. She also shares that an empathy index published in the Harvard Business Review found that “the 10 most empathetic companies increased in value more than twice as much as those at the bottom of the index, and they generated 50% more earnings defined by capitalization from one year to the next.” The article also states that empathy has an impact on the retention of employees, and that if leaders show empathy towards their employees, employees are more likely to stay long term with a company. She quotes Chief Executive Jon Shanahan of Businesssolver when he states “empathy is like a muscle which needs to be trained to become stronger” and that leaders need to work on developing this skill.

3. Heal others by recognizing that many people we come in contact with are “broken spirits and have a variety of emotional hurts” (Spears, 2010, p. 27). The servant leader, genuinely wants to find ways to help others become whole and heal.
4. Be aware. Being self aware is essential to being a strong servant leader because it allows for reflection and contemplation. I especially love how Spears (2010) says that the purpose of being aware is not to bring “solace” but rather to “awaken” the leader to help them better understand “issues, power and values” (p.27)
5. Persuade others instead of using positional coercion (which is not true leadership).
6. Conceptualize to see beyond the immediate tasks to the possibilities that are not yet defined.
7. Use the gift of foresight  to see the “likely future consequences” based on “past experiences” and the “realities of the present” (Spears, 2010, p.28).  Servant leaders listen to their intuition.
8. Be a steward and hold the institution/company “in trust for the greater good of society” (Spears, 2010, p. 29). Servant leaders ensure that all decisions are made for the benefit and future of everyone invested.
   

   Courtesy of answersingenius.org

9. Grow others instead of yourself. Servant leaders enable the professional growth of others by providing resources and opportunities.
10. Build community that stretches beyond the four walls of your organization and focus on bringing people together.

Some of the top characteristics that a team leader should take when coordinating a new project are listening, being a steward, empathizing and being aware.  At the heart of each of these characteristics are people, not tasks. Don Page and Paul Wong (2000) state that, “people and process will always be more important than tasks” (p.70) because too often character is forgotten as “leaders have been task or process oriented without the heart for serving others” (p.72).  By putting people first, and by actively listening and being aware of what is not just being said but also that which isn’t, and by ensuring that any decision made is made with the benefit of everyone in mind, new projects can be more easily coordinated.  A fatal mistake is when leaders try to impose coercion instead of actively persuading which involves choice. Page and Wong (2000) share that, “co-workers need to be treated with respect as part of a team who work together to accomplish a task and make decisions with shared information” by “encouraging input and feedback and sharing credit for the results” (p.73).  I personally feel that there is a reason why listening is first on Spears list and that it is essential to ensure that everyone’s voice is heard and acknowledged before embarking on a new project or implementation. We cannot learn if at first we do not listen and reflect. We cannot empathize, grow others, build community, heal, be stewards, persuade or show foresight without first listening.

Do you feel like you are actively listened to in your workplace? What advice would you give your direct supervisor about how they might improve their practice of listening before embarking on a new project or assigning tasks?

References:

Higginbottom, K. (2018). “Why Empathy Matters in the Workplace”. Retrieved from Forbes https://www.forbes.com/sites/karenhigginbottom/2018/05/31/why-empathy-matters-in-the-workplace/#6dd33e4c1130.

Marciano, P.L. (2010). Carrots and sticks don’t work: Build a culture of employee engagement with the principles of RESPECT. New York, NY: McGraw Hill

Oliver S. (2006). Leadership in health care. Musculoskeletal care, 4(1), 38.

Page, D., & Wong, T.P. (2000). “A conceptual framework for measuring servant leadership. The human factor in shaping the course of history and development” 69-110.

Spears, Larry C. (2010). “Character and Servant Leadership: Ten Characteristics of Effective, Caring Leaders” The Journal of Virtues & Leadership, Vol. 1 Iss. 1, 2010, 25-30.

The 2 Critical Functions of Effective Team Leadership

Google Images:  Walter Lee Elementary School

As defined by Northouse (2019),  team effectiveness focuses on how well  a team works together to accomplish defined goals.  There are 2 critical functions of team effectiveness;  performance and development. Performance focuses on how well the team has met their goals and completed their tasks. To be clear, just finishing a task does not equate to performing well, there has to be a high standard of quality in the work produced.  Development refers to how well the members of the team work together. Team members are not just working collectively to reach a common goal or complete a task, but they are also simultaneously balancing the need to successfully meet their own personal requirements (Northouse, p. 375).  Effective teams are essentially made up of people who are capable of working well together and who share the same high performance standards/expectations as they work to achieve tasks or common goals.

Larson & LaFasto (1989) define 8 characteristics of team excellence and effectiveness as shared by Northouse (2019). They are as follows:

1. Teams must have a clear goal outlined:  Without this, no-one would know what they were working towards.
2. Teams must have a results driven infra-structure: Team members need to know  what their specific role is, have clearly defined communication steps, and, know how each team member will have their individual performance assessed etc.,
3. Only competent members need apply: Team members need to actually know how to do the job for which they have been assigned. They also need to possess the personality skills to be able to get along well with others.  Northouse quotes Hackman (1990), when  he shares, “a common mistake in forming teams is to assume that people who have all the technical skills necessary to solve a problem also have the interpersonal skills necessary to collaborate effectively” (p. 377). Wow,  is this ever true! There are definitely people who are fully capable of completing a task on their own, but as soon as you throw another individual into the mix who offers different opinions or ways of doing things they become a nightmare to work with. There is an individual at my school who continually rubs co workers the wrong way because they lack the interpersonal skills to ensure that everyones individual needs are being met while working towards a common goal or task. This person is highly qualified and highly educated but completely lacks social awareness and therefore is not an effective team member.
4. Team members need to be unified in their commitment: Just because people work together in a group, does not make them a team!  In middle schools and high schools teachers are usually grouped together according to subject matter taught, however, this doesn’t mean that they are a solidified team where everyone is on the same page and in agreement. True teams are developed when members have built a “sense of unity” where all members are “involved in the process” (Northouse, p.377). The most effective teams that I have been a part of are ones where everyone has “bought in” and has a vested interest and say in the collective team goal.
5. Team members need a safe, collaborative working climate: To be truly effective, team members need to feel like their voice is heard and acknowledged. The best ideas are those that are hashed out in a safe environment where there is no judgement or criticism.  Every member is recognized for their unique contribution to the team.
6. There needs to be standards of excellence established: “The standards must be clear and concrete, and all team members must be required to perform to standard” (Larson & LaFasto, 1989) as quoted by Northouse (2019, p. 378).  This was something that I dealt with a lot as the Grade 8 Team Leader and Department Head at my last school. As a team, we discussed what certain standards of expectations we needed to have in order to resolve some issues that we were having with student behaviour. For example, we were experiencing a drug problem and students were transporting them in backpacks and dealing was occurring during lunchtime. As a team, we all agreed that we had to enforce the rule of no backpacks in the classroom or out on the field at lunch. We ran into a team issue when two members of our team chose to not follow through and continually allowed their students to have their backpacks when the rest of us were enforcing this expectation.  It had to be addressed and resolved in order for the team to be effective in reaching our goal. It wouldn’t work if only a few of us were doing what we had agreed upon.
7. Teams need external support and recognition: Resources are a necessity! Northouse (2019) sums this up perfectly,  “The best goals, team members, and commitment will not mean much if there is no money, equipment, or supplies for accomplishing the goals” (p.378).
8. 

   Courtesy of Pinterest

   There needs to be principled leadership! Northouse quotes Zacarro et al., (2001)  when he refers to leadership as being the “driver” of effective teamwork through 4 processes which are “cognitive, motivational, affective and coordination” (p.379). Cognitively, the leader needs to be able to identify and understand any problems that the team may encounter. The leader also needs to act like the team cheerleader and find ways to bring the team together and motivate them to produce high quality work. Being a principled leader means being able to come up with strategies to help deal with issues that crop up and affectively handle them. Leaders coordinate well, not just schedules and organizational matters but they also match peoples strengths and skills to tasks so that everyone not only has their needs met, but performance standards are also met.   This process of principled leadership affected me while working in the middle school because I had to try and be that leader.  I didn’t always fulfill that role well in the very beginning, especially affectively and motivationally! It was difficult and challenging trying to bring so many different people together; people  who were there initially solely out of grade grouping and not because they had chosen to be a part of the team. The first task was to recognize that this group was going to have issues because we weren’t yet a team and we needed to become one (somehow).  We all had different teaching styles, skill sets (some were more technically capable than interpersonally), experience levels (some were brand spanking new and others were close to retirement), levels of willingness to try new things and vast differences in personalities (some were extremely outspoken and others felt like they had no voice).  We had to define what we wanted our team to look like, what we stood for, what our vision was. We had to define what our common standards of excellence for our shared practice would look like for our pod teams as well as our group as a whole. We needed to figure out schedules, define roles for everyone on the team and outline how we would communicate effectively, especially how we would address problems if individual members failed to live up to the expectations of the group as a whole.  It was a huge learning curve for me. I initially balked at the discomfort of having to address inadequate performance because our meetings sometimes didn’t feel like the “safe, collaborative climate” they were supposed to be as some people would go on the attack (forgetting to be factual and non-judgemental) and we lost some ground that we would then have to rebuild. However, I began to realize that effective leaders are those that take the initiative to address issues in a respectful manner and who help provide strategies to deal with potential problems (preferably proactively and not reactively).

What have you as a group member (not necessarily the appointed leader) found to be the most challenging aspect of teamwork? What strategies did you find most helpful in dealing with those issues?

Northouse, P.G. (2016). Leadership: Theory and Practice. Sage Publications.

Servant Leadership: The Ultimate Leadership Goal

“Do you as a leader serve others? Do those you serve grow as persons; do they, while being served, become healthier, wiser, freer, more autonomous, more likely themselves to become servants?” (Greenleaf, 1970, p. 15 as quoted by Northouse, 2019, p.228)

Dirk van Dierendonck in his article “Servant Leadership: A Review and Synthesis” (2011), states that servant leadership is exactly what the name implies, an act of  both serving and leading . Travis Serle and John Barbuto Jr, in their article “Servant Leadership, Hope, and Organizational Virtuousness: A Framework Exploring Positive Micro and Macro Behaviours and Performance Impact” (2011), state that servant leadership is  one of the most positive styles of leadership because it emphasizes service towards others over self-interest and focuses on optimizing individuals strengths in order to build follower development. Smith, Montagno and  Kuzmenko  reiterate this as well in their article “Transformational and Servant Leadership: Content and Contextual Comparisons” (2004), sharing that, “servant leadership views a leader as a servant of his/her followers. It places the interest of followers before the self-interest of a leader, emphasizes personal development and empowerment of followers. The servant leaders is a facilitator for followers to achieve a shared vision”.  They also state that “servant leadership promotes the valuing and development of people, the building of community, the practice of authenticity, the providing of leadership for the good of those led and the sharing of power and status for the common good of each individual, the total organization and those served by the organization”. D. van Dierendonck (2011) quotes Robert Greenleaf, who coined the term servant leadership in 1977, revealing that first and foremost, a “servant leader is genuinely concerned with serving followers.”  John Maxwell in his YouTube video “The 5 Levels of Leadership” (2013), shares that leadership is a verb and not a noun meaning it requires action on the part of the leader.  This is a good reminder, that   intentional action on the part of a leader is required in order to serve others.

slideshare.net

Colleen Barrett from Southwest Airlines, confirmed all of the above points while being interviewed on the topic of Servant Leadership in a 2008 Youtube video.  She shared that she thinks that one of the reasons why she was most successful as a servant leader, was because she is as good a follower as she is a leader. Van Dierendonck (2011) shares that, “Serving and leading become almost exchangeable. Being a servant allows a person to lead; being a leader implies a person serves” (p. 1231). Colleen’s primary goal was the satisfaction of her employees because she believed that if they were happy and fulfilled, they would go the extra mile to ensure that Southwest Airline passengers also felt happy and fulfilled. She addressed the need to bring people together, to try to turn perceived problems into optimistic solutions and the need to treat everyone equally without rank or tiers on a ladder.  She provided hope to not just her employees but also to Southwest customers. Searle and Barbuto (2011) address the power of hope as a mediator of servant leadership and performance stating that, “hope embraces success rather than failure, adaptation rather than becoming obsolete and optimism rather than pessimism. It shifts obstacles to challenges and even when faced with seemingly insurmountable barriers, alternate routes are embraced” (p.113).  Southwest Airlines focused on creating an atmosphere that enabled employees to become the very best that they can.  Colleen throughout her tenure at Southwest Airlines, displayed the ten characteristics of a servant leader as outlined by Northouse in his book  Leadership:Theory and Practice (2019) in that she intentionally listened, displayed empathy, helped heal others, was aware, persuaded others, conceptualized, displayed foresight, showed stewardship, was committed to the growth of people and building Southwest’s community (pp. 229 – 230).

https://www.biography.com/people/mother-teresa-9504160

The ultimate example of servant leadership (besides Jesus) that I can think of, is Mother Teresa. She encompassed all of Northouse’s 10 characteristics listed above and was a true role model of what putting others ahead of self looks like. She dedicated her entire life to serving others, especially those who were less fortunate and through her example inspired others to also make a difference.

Servant leadership differs from emotional intelligence or self awareness in that the focus of servant leadership is on the growth of others, whereas, emotional intelligence and self-awareness focus on the growth of oneself. Servant leadership recognizes the strengths of others and just like John Maxwell (2013) shares, servant leaders know that people are the most appreciable asset of any organization.  Maxwell states that by recognizing people’s strengths and placing them in positions that enable their strengths to be best utilized, servant leaders equip their followers to be better leaders themselves.

Dan Cable (2018) in his article “How Humble Leadership Really Works” published in  Harvard Business Review, states that the best way to help people feel “purposeful, motivated and energized so that they can bring their best selves to work” is to become a servant leader. He states that, “servant leaders view their key role as serving employees as they explore and grow, providing tangible and emotional support as they do so” and that by actively seeking input from others, servant leaders can create a “culture of learning, and an atmosphere that encourages followers to become the very best they can”.

Van Dierendonck (2011) refers to six characteristics of servant leaders:

1. They empower and develop people
2. They demonstrate humility
3. They are authentic and are true to themselves
4. They understand where people are coming from through interpersonal acceptance
5. They provide direction  based on “work that is dynamic and tailor made” [similar to Maxwell’s (2013) point about recognizing strengths and acknowledging that “no matter how talented you are, if you are out of position, you ‘ll never reach your true potential”]
6. They demonstrate stewardship by acting as caretakers and role models for others [Maxwell (2013) also refers to this when he shares that who you are as a leader is who you will attract on your team. It  is important to model what you want because we “attract who we are, not what we want.”]

I especially loved Maxwell’s (2013) question of “What step are you at in your leadership journey?” and where would the people you work with perceive you to be?

Is it…

1. Level 1 – Positional – Key Word: Rights
2. Level 2 – Permission – Key Word: Relationships
3. Level 3 – Production – Key Word: Results
4. Level 4 – People Development – Key Word: Strengths
5. Level 5 – Pinnacle – Key Word: Respect

What did you discover about yourself and your servant leadership journey?

References:

Barbuto, J.E. and Gottfredson, R.K., (2016, October). Human Capital, The Millennial’s Reign and the Need for Servant Leadership. Journal of Leadership Studies, 59-64.

Barrett, C. (2008). Southwest Airlines’ Colleen Barrett on Servant Leadership. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6TgR95vnM0c

Cable, D. (2018) How Humble Leadership Really Works. Harvard Business Review. Retrieved from   https://hbr.org/2018/04/how-humble-leadership-really-works

Maxwell, J. (2013). The 5 Levels of Leadership. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aPwXeg8ThWI

Northouse, P.G. (2016). Leadership: Theory and Practice. Sage Publications.

Searle, T.P. and Barbuto, J.E. (2011). Servant Leadership, Hope, and Organizational Virtuousness: A Framework Exploring Positive Micro and Macro Behaviors and Performance Impact. Journal of Leadership & Organizational Studies 18(1), 107-117.

Smith, B.N., Montagno, R.V. and Kuzmenko, T.N. (2004). Transformational and servant leadership: Content and contextual comparisons. Journal of Leadership and Organizational Studies 10(4), 80-92.

Van Dierendonck, D. (2011). Servant leadership: A review and synthesis. Journal of Management 37(4), 1228-1261

This is a response to Charlie Mable’s Read, Rank, Write Blog Post

https://create.twu.ca/charliemable/2018/05/20/rank-talk-write-unit-3/

There are many examples of being a Novice, whether starting a new job, sport, travelling, DIY project, learning to drive, that have similar experience to what Cahalan describes.  Cahalan’s thesis is transferable to many different areas. Frankly, starting this Masters program draws parallels here. Setting up a blog, referencing, rereading assignment instructions, clicking on ‘publish’ and looking for any feedback. As a Novice in this program, already I have ‘vacillated between feelings of failure and moments of exhilaration. ‘(Cahalan & Foley, 2017, p. 12) I think I proved Cahalan correct with her description of a Novice.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading your blog post Charlie and could relate completely to what you described being a novice  feels like and your parallels to this course.  I too, ‘vacillate between feelings of failure and moments of exhilaration’ (Cahalan & Foley, 2017) both in this course and in my new position at work. I have moments of pure panic in this course when I go online and see that others have posted in a different format and question whether or not I even understood the assignment instructions.  I am definitely a novice when it comes to APA citation rules and continue to seek clarification. These feelings of uncertainty and nervousness are a good reminder to me of how some of my own students must feel when it comes to trying something new.

I also loved your point (in your opening statement), where you shared that the more you read, the less you felt you knew.  I felt like that this week when I sat down to write my essay on Critical Thinking.  I found that I was just spinning in circles as I read, wrote, edited, scrapped what I wrote, read, edited and wrote and edited again and again. The process definitely made me aware that I am very much a novice on my journey.

Thanks again for sharing your beautifully expressed thoughts.  They were a great reminder that learning is a process and it is perfectly acceptable to be a novice.  Being a novice, means that we aren’t afraid to start the journey and step outside of our comfort zones.

Response to Layla Zhang’s Post

 https://create.twu.ca/layla11/2018/05/19/unit-3-learning-activity-2-rank-talk-write/

Additionally, I would like to mention the idea brought explicitly by Cahalan that “To learn a practice means to experience the practice, practice it, tell about it, ask questions about it, read about it, write about it, practice it, do it, empower others to do it” (Cahalan & Foley, 2017, p. 12). These are exactly what we are doing right now in this course. We are assigned to read, write, reflect on our thoughts, ask questions to invite further discussion, and response to others blogs. That is why I love getting involved in education because I could help myself and other people become a wiser person.

I appreciated the quote by Cahalan and Foley (2017) that you selected to share; “To learn a practice means to experience the practice, practice it, tell about it, ask questions about it, read about it, write about, practice it, do it, empower others to do it (p.12)”.

I immediately applied this quote to the classroom and my responsibility as a teacher to help my students develop their critical thinking skills.  Firstly learning happens by actively doing, so I try to provide as many hands on opportunities for learning as possible. Secondly, after practicing,  I’ve found that by having students share their learning experience with others, it helps to not only reinforce  the concepts but also allows for them to be open to others ideas and conceptions.  They can then reflect and readjust their thinking if needed. Thirdly, these animated discussions can lead to more essential questions being asked; such as “What factors are necessary for institutional change to happen?” that lead to even more discussion and even more questioning. After this intentional analytical and analyzing of information, students are then in a better position to write about and share their learning with others. I love watching this process in action and always leave feeling empowered and inspired by it! We are creating future citizens who are socially conscious of their responsibilities and who will be producers of information, rather than just consumers!

The reason why I bring up the classroom is that sometimes these critical thinking skills that teachers practice with their students, might not necessarily be practiced by themselves.  It is a good reminder that we all need to do these things and not just be passive receptors of information that we then regurgitate as being correct without any analysis or questioning.

Some questions to really ask ourselves are:

Other than this course… in our daily lives and in our daily jobs…

Do I ask questions, share my learning with others, read or write about my practice on a regular basis?

If not, why not?