{"id":145,"date":"2018-09-28T03:57:50","date_gmt":"2018-09-28T03:57:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/create.twu.ca\/leadinnovation\/?p=145"},"modified":"2018-10-12T03:10:13","modified_gmt":"2018-10-12T03:10:13","slug":"servant-leadership","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/create.twu.ca\/leadinnovation\/2018\/09\/28\/servant-leadership\/","title":{"rendered":"Servant Leadership"},"content":{"rendered":"

The concept of servant leadership is a paradox, as it involves the leader leading by considering the needs of the followers in order to work towards a common goals. <\/span><\/p>\n

One principle of servant leadership discussed in the text is <\/span>conceptualizing (<\/span><\/i>Northouse, 2019)<\/span>. This is the ability to make decisions and solve daily problems, while always considering the overall goals of the organization. This first involves recognizing what smaller decisions would impact the goals the leader is working towards. Often, there are many \u201ctrickle down\u201d effects that in the long run can be detrimental to moving the organization fully towards its goals. In my context of running a middle school, an example of this would be how to make a decision if a parent strongly requests that their child be moved classrooms. Using the principle of conceptualizing, a fair decision would be made not just based on the numbers of students in the classroom. It would also involve considering the classroom climate and the needs of the teachers and students involved, but more importantly the overall goals of our program. How would this one move help or hinder our goals? What precedent would be being set for future years? <\/span><\/p>\n

A second principle discussed was <\/span>helping followers grow and succeed<\/span><\/i>\u00a0(Northouse, 2019)<\/span>.<\/span><\/i> This involves knowing the people with whom we work, their personal ambitions, and their strengths and stretches. An example from my own experience with this, was taking our staff through a book study on the Enneagram. We had the opportunity to read each chapter, reflect on the characteristics, and identify which number we were. This was very valuable, because it not only enabled me as a leader to know the best way to relate to my staff members, but it also helped me know what kind of personal and professional development opportunities I could seek out for them. <\/span><\/p>\n

A third principle discussed was <\/span>creating value for the community<\/span><\/i>\u00a0(Northouse, 2019)<\/span>.<\/span><\/i>This is the ability to step out of the four walls of the organization, and give back to the broader community. A leader can not only just personally engage in the community, but by engaging staff in community outreaches, a sense of service is developed throughout the organization. An added benefit would also be an awareness among community members of the organization and positive connections can be made. An example of this would be an initiative our school does at Halloween. Instead of going door to door for candy, students dress up and go door to door collecting food donations for the food bank. It creates a fun event for students, but turns a \u201cgetting\u201d activity into a \u201cgiving\u201d activity that is good for the whole community. <\/span><\/p>\n

Of the seven principles discussed in the text, I think one I would want to grow in more fully would be to think conceptually. There are so many details in a day to get engaged with, that I forget to think broader picture on a regular basis. How does one move from being detail oriented to vision orientated? How can one \u201cmake space\u201d in a day to pause, reflect and refocus on vision to keep that paramount throughout the day?<\/span><\/p>\n

Northouse, P. (2019). <\/span>Leadership: Theory and practice (8th ed)<\/span><\/i>. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications. <\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The concept of servant leadership is a paradox, as it involves the leader leading by considering the needs of the followers in order to work towards a common goals. One principle of servant leadership discussed in the text is conceptualizing […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":344,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11,25],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-145","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-ldrs500","category-unit-1","clearfix"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/create.twu.ca\/leadinnovation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/145","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/create.twu.ca\/leadinnovation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/create.twu.ca\/leadinnovation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/create.twu.ca\/leadinnovation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/344"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/create.twu.ca\/leadinnovation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=145"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/create.twu.ca\/leadinnovation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/145\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":182,"href":"https:\/\/create.twu.ca\/leadinnovation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/145\/revisions\/182"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/create.twu.ca\/leadinnovation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=145"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/create.twu.ca\/leadinnovation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=145"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/create.twu.ca\/leadinnovation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=145"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}