Month: October 2017 (Page 2 of 3)

I agree with them that Mother Teresa is the model servant leadership. Another student has mentioned Jesus Christ as the ultimate servant leader . Both of these leaders in my view are the epitome of servant leadership. I agree with the writers that we could learn a lot from these ‘ otherworldly ‘ leaders. On a theoretical or cerebral level, I understand that the traits that these leaders possess would serve anybody to be a great servant leader. But to be honest, I find it hard to identify with them ! I find that trying to emulate someone who is an example of servitude to the entire mankind is pretty daunting, and makes me want to search for an example that is closer my daily struggles.

Since having started my leadership studies, I notice that I have been trying find leadership traits and skills in leaders in everyday life. It is very inspiring when I can find traits that I can identify serve them well in their role, and it motivates me to incorporate some of them in my practice. I find it way easier to identify with these every day leaders.

Servant leadership

Awareness in servant leadership as described by Spears (2002) , based on Greenleaf’s writings,  is “being attuned and receptive to one’s physical , social and political environments” , “understanding oneself and the impact one has on others” . I understand it as having an objective view of one’s own perspective on a situation.

Emotional intelligence is described by Mayer, Caruso & Salovey (2000)  as “the ability to perceive and express emotions, to use emotions to facilitate thinking , to understand and reason with emotion, and to effectively manage emotions within oneself and in relationship with others”. Simply put it is the ability to manage emotions .

Self awareness, as per the psychodynamic approach, focuses on the theory that individuals behave or react in a certain way because of their past experiences, which they might or might or not be aware of . As per Northouse (2016, p. 307)  personal and collective insight by leader and follower can create reflective practitioners.

The above mentioned approaches have been theorized in different models of leadership , though I don’t think they are mutually exclusive . In my opinion an effective leader would do well to incorporate all three in their personal leadership approach.

After watching John Maxwell’s video (Maxwell, 2013) , I agree with his statement towards the end that we are at different leadership levels with different people. I see many of the servant leadership characteristics in my immediate boss. He is very invested in the well being of our team, and makes every effort to address their concerns. He also believes in empowering his team members to make decisions. Unfortunately there are way more leaders who are at a level one on Maxwells scale, than the higher levels.

References

John Maxwell: The five levels of leadership. (2013, Sep 10). Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aPwXeg8ThWI

Mayer, J.D., Caruso, D.R. & Salovey, P. (2002). Selecting a measure of emotional intelligence: The case for ability scales, In R. Bar-On & J.D.A. Parker (Eds), The handbook of emotional intelligence ) pp.320-342). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass

Northouse, P.G. (2016). Leadership theory and practice. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE

Spears, L.C. (2002). Tracing the past, present and future of servant-leadership. In L.C. Spears & M. Lawrence (Eds), Focus on leadership: Servant-leadership for the 21^st century ( pp1-16). New York: Wiley

Transformational Leadership

Out of the myriad definitions of the term, the one that I found most applicable to any situation is “ it is a process that changes and transforms people” , “moves followers to accomplish more than what is usually expected of them” (Northouse, 2016. p.161) . As per Burns (1978) it is a leadership style that emphasizes change and inspiration by motivating employees through visions and values. Though it has also been likened to charismatic leadership ( House,1976), I think they are slightly different . The charming leader gains their followers’ admiration, whereas the transformational leader inspires and motivates them. Four common strategies identified by Bennis and Nanus (1985) used by leaders in transforming organizations – having a clear vision, being social architects, creating trust, using creative deployment of self.

We must keep in mind how transformational leadership differs from transactional and pseudotransformational leadership.Transactional leaders do not focus on their followers’ personal development, rather they exchange reward / things with followers in exchange for their own agenda . ( Kuhnert, 1994). Bass coined the term pseudotransformational leadership in 1998, to refer to leaders who did not exhibit that morality that was usually associated with transformational leaders. These leaders are ‘self consumed, exploitative and power oriented’ ( Bass & Riggio, 2006, as quoted in Northouse, p. 163)

When we talk about real world transformational leaders, the leader who first comes to my mind is Martin Luther King Jr, among others like Mohandas Gandhi, Abraham Lincoln and Nelson Mandela. King was the most visible spokesperson against the Civil Rights Movement. He motivated his followers to protest against racial inequality using ‘non violence’ and ‘civil disobedience’. (excerpt from Wikipedia , 2017).  He was a charismatic leader, who also had a clear vision, was a social architect and created trust among his followers.

References

Bass, B.M., & Riggio, R.E. (2006) . Transformational leadership (2^nd ed). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum

Bennis, W.G., & Nanus, B. (1985). Leaders: The strategies for taking charge. New York: Harper & Row

Burns, J.M. (1978). Leadership. New York, NY: Harper and Row

Northouse, P.G. (2016). Leadership theory and practice . Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE

Kuhnert, K.W. (1994 ). Transforming leadership : Developing people through delegation . In B.M. Bass & B.J. Avolio (Eds ) , Improving organizational effectiveness through transformational leadership ( pp10-25). Thousand Oaks , CA: SAGE

Martin Luther King . ( 2017, October, 16) . In Wikipedia. Retrieved October 16, 2017, from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martin_Luther_King_Jr.

This is in response to Tim Dehaan’s post Read-Rank-Write

Read – Rank – Write – Integrity ( Dr. Henry Cloud) UN3-LA2-BP1

The six characteristics of integrity described by Cloud ( 2006) capture the intuitive definition of integrity that we understand. In Tim’s  summary points what also seems to be the focus is ‘ humility ‘. Although this is not included in the six characteristics, I believe humility is an important component of leadership integrity as I understand it.

In his article Bauman ( 2013)  separates personal integrity from moral integrity, which is a very interesting read. He presents that the historical definition of integrity has revolved more around morals and ethics. There have been leaders ( ‘tyrants’ ) who had great personal integrity by staying true to their goals.  But they lacked moral integrity as they achieved those goals  at great cost to others.

The modern concept of integrity “settled on the non-moral definition of fully integrated, whole, or consistently acting on ones statements”, ( Bauman, 2013) . He further goes on to state that “The word’s rich history points to an ethical meaning while contemporary disputes have divided the word into a non-moral term meaning wholeness and a moral term meaning moral trustworthiness. ”

References:

Bauman, D. ( 2013) Leadership and the three faces of integrity. The Leadership Quarterly, Vol 24(3), Jun, 2013 pp. 414-426.  Elsevier Science; [Journal Article], Database: PsycINFO

Cloud, H. (2006). Integrity: the courage to meet the demands of reality. New York: HarperCollins.

Rank-Talk-Write.

A Beginner’s Guide to Critical Thinking and Writing in Health and Social Care , By  Helen Aveyard, Mary Woolliams, Pam Sharp.

What struck me the most in the introduction of the book was that amongst other users , it mentions that this book is meant for ‘ those who tend to take things at ‘face value’, and need to dig deeper into the evidence they come across’ . This to me is a key component of the definition of critical thinking .

Following are some of the key ideas that I picked up from this book :

1. Critical thinking is essential to promote the best decision- making. (Aveyard et al, 2015, p.28)
2. Critical thinking means being critical about the information we receive and how we use it. (Aveyard et al, 2015, p.28)
3. Information is expanding in all areas of health and social care , ranging from information that can be inaccurate and misleading to useful sources. (Aveyard et al, 2015 )
4. As professionals we need to be able to work out which information is useful to us and use it appropriately . (Aveyard et al, 2015, p.28)
5. ‘Six questions for critical thinking’ tool can help identify the most appropriate sources and enable one to be more critical of the information one uses in their academic work and professional practice – -What is it , Where did you find it , Who has written/said this, When was is written / said, Why was it written/ said , How do you know it is good quality?  (Aveyard et al, 2015, p.18)
6. Incorporating a critical approach in one’s writing and presentations will demonstrate that one is well informed, and able to identify relevant information/evidence and appraise the sources of information/evidence that one comes across.
7. In decreasing order of reliability , sources of information that one can use in research / writing are- Systematic reviews of research , Randomized controlled trials (RCTs), Other quantitative studies , Qualitative studies on patient/client experience , anecdotal reports.
8. Critical thinking is more complex in professional practice than in academic writing or presenting. (Aveyard et al, 2015, p. 131)
9. Not all professionals are rational; sometimes their personal beliefs and attitudes can affect the care they deliver.
10. It is useful to identify whether your work place/placement has a critical approach to learning and consider how to influence it. (Aveyard et al, 2015, p. 131)
11. Critical thinking and reflection go hand in hand; Reid ( 1993) defines reflection as a process of reviewing an experience and learning from it  ( as cited in Aveyard et al, 2015 . )

They ‘ aim’ of the book is to help the readers develop critical skills in making sense of the information they receive in professional or academic work. I picked this book because it reached out to me both as a practicing professional and as a student. Reading this book helped refresh my skills in regards to academic research and writing. It also helped me realise there was room for improvement in some key areas. One of the definitions of critical thinking they give is that critical thinking is ‘taking a step back and thinking logically and carefully about the information and evidence you have, rather than believing and acting on everything you read, see and hear. It is about seeking the best available evidence and using this to challenge your own assumptions and prior understanding. It is about questioning and evaluating the information or evidence available to you’ .

Another concept that they bring to the forefront is by challenging the idea that everybody in professional life is rational. They argue that health and social care professionals have individual values, attitudes and beliefs that affect how they deliver care.  They caution one to be reflective in their work place, and adopt critical thinking. They suggest having a ‘critical’ friend or colleague to help develop self awareness. The book also proposes that one does not always need to keep doing things a certain way because everyone is doing it, or that is how it has always been done.

In promoting the ‘Six Question’ approach towards information sourcing, they suggest that in academic research and writing a student needs to develop critical thinking in analyzing the available information, and filtering what is relevant. If one is not self aware while processing information, they risk preferring evidence that supports their ideas and rejecting information that is opposing to their beliefs.

References

1. A Beginners’ guide to critical thinking and writing in health and social care. ( 2015) Aveyard, H.; Woolliams, M.; Sharp, P. Edition: Second edition. Maidenhead : McGraw-Hill Education.
2. Reid, B. (1993) ‘But we’re doing it already’: exploring a response to the concept of reflective practice in order to improve its facilitation, Nurse Education Today, 13: 305-9