{"id":253,"date":"2018-11-15T03:57:49","date_gmt":"2018-11-15T03:57:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/create.twu.ca\/leadinnovation\/?p=253"},"modified":"2018-11-15T03:57:49","modified_gmt":"2018-11-15T03:57:49","slug":"response-to-daneen-unit-5-servant-leadership-in-a-team-setting","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/create.twu.ca\/leadinnovation\/2018\/11\/15\/response-to-daneen-unit-5-servant-leadership-in-a-team-setting\/","title":{"rendered":"Response to Daneen – Unit 5 Servant Leadership in a Team Setting"},"content":{"rendered":"

Daneen, thank you for<\/span> your very succinct summary<\/span><\/a> of what you believe are the three main characteristics of servant leadership within a team. I agree that listening and awareness are key for a leader to really know where team leaders are at, and therefore work to move them forward as a group. Likewise, a leader really needs to conceptualize the end goal because it is through that lens that all decisions can be made. (Northouse, 2019).<\/span><\/p>\n

I appreciate that you ask the question, \u201cIs <\/span>it possible for a leader to use the characteristic of \u2018healing\u2019, as described in Spears (2010) in a group project setting?\u201d. I have wondered about this as well. The characteristic of healing, as described by Northouse (2019) is that leaders are available to others, stand by them, and provide them support (pg. 235). It is listening to them and helping them solve their problems. This goes beyond organizational and practical questions. This means helping people deal with some of their emotional and personal concerns on any given day. Frequently, this needs to happen before followers can really engage in any meaningful work. It is very difficult for someone to complete a tasks successfully and efficiently if they are emotionally distraught. <\/span><\/p>\n

I see this often in a school setting. I tell staff I have an \u201copen door\u201d policy, meaning that I want them to drop in and tell me how they are doing at any time of day. This does, in fact, occur! Many times, a teacher will come in in the morning and share with me struggles they are facing in dealing with their class, or a particular student. Or, they share with me personal struggles such as challenging family situations, or interpersonal conflict they are having. I usually just listen until they calm down. And ask questions and listen again. I may finally be able to give a few suggestions to try or a new perspective to take. \u00a0And maybe give a hug at the end of our conversation with some encouraging comment. Jit, Sharma & Kawatra (2017) describes this as \u201ccompassionate responding\u201d. The first step is patient listening and discussion. The second step is empathetic handling which includes comforting and calming as well as guiding and counselling. And finally the third step is taking personal responsibility and providing support (emotional, social, financial, and administrative) (pg. 81).<\/span><\/p>\n

Now, engaging in this type of healing behaviour is quite natural for me (as I also work in church ministry). However, you asked if it was possible for a leader to engage in healing behaviour in a <\/span>group setting.<\/span><\/i> I think it can be done, but requires a higher level of intuitive listening and awareness. It depends on the team, the context, and the issues at hand. Sometimes, there can be a great amount of healing brought about in a team context if the members are willing to engage with one another, are transparent themselves, and want to support each other. <\/span><\/p>\n

However, without the willingness of the group to be transparent, confidential, and respectful, I worry that if a leader attempts to engage in healing behaviour in a group, the conversation would become a \u201cgripe session.\u201d This can particularly occur if a given group or team has to address contentious issues and there are many hurt feelings and conflicting opinions. In trying to hear each one and bring healing to individuals as well as a group, the conversation can very easily turn to complaining, arguing and hurtful comments. <\/span><\/p>\n

Bringing healing to an already fragmented group takes wisdom, discretion, a lot of listening, and a significant amount of time. I believe that Jit, Sharma, and Kawatra\u2019s (2017) three step compassionate responding can occur in a team setting to bring healing to individuals in a group, and to a group itself. \u00a0A process needs to start with active listening on the part of the leader, but also from all team members. Through the listening process of hearing all perspectives, then a calming effect can begin to settle in and some counseling can occur, if needed, to repair damages in relationships. Finally, all members will need to take responsibility for forgiveness and for taking steps to move on. There can be a collaborative plan made to move forward as a cohesive and functional team at that point. <\/span><\/p>\n

Jit, R. Sharma, C.S. & Kawatra, M. (2017). Healing a broken spirit: Role of servant leadership. <\/span>The Journal for Decision Makers 42<\/span><\/i>(2) 80\u201394. doi: 10.1177\/0256090917703754.<\/span><\/p>\n

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

Daneen, thank you for your very succinct summary of what you believe are the three main characteristics of servant leadership within a team. I agree that listening and awareness are key for a leader to really know where team leaders […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":344,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11,34],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-253","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-ldrs500","category-unit-5","clearfix"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/create.twu.ca\/leadinnovation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/253","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=253"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/create.twu.ca\/leadinnovation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/253\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":254,"href":"https:\/\/create.twu.ca\/leadinnovation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/253\/revisions\/254"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/create.twu.ca\/leadinnovation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=253"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/create.twu.ca\/leadinnovation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=253"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/create.twu.ca\/leadinnovation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=253"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}