Monica Grace

This course has been a very formative experience for me, it was challenging to balance everything I had going on in my personal life and ministry, as there were some unexpected things that came up. I am thankful for how my participation in this course, while leading out in a ministry, forced me prioritize my time and helped sharpen me. I have noticed that I lead better when I have enough time to think strategically about the ministry; this course gave me space, opportunity and time to think and analyze. My “Thought” score on my Birkman is very high and I can see how I am more effective, when I carve out space in my schedule to process, strategize and plan. Two course learnings that impacted my practice were: “Unit 4” and “Unit 7”, which I will discuss below.

Unit 4-Transformative and Servant Leadership

In having to synthesize transformational and servant leadership, I have been deeply impacted in my practice of leadership in the context of Christian ministry (Northouse, 2018, pp. 163-164; 227-228). I realized how drawn I am to transformational leadership, as this leadership model is more my natural style. However, it is a bit different from the style of leadership I observe in my context. In the past, my organization has had more “authoritarian” and/or “hierarchical” in its style of leadership, and some of that is style is still present today–this may be due to some cultural reasons, but also just organizational culture. However, the leadership in my organization has been making changes away from these styles, which I think is positive.  I recognized some of my coworkers have been used to a more “authoritarian” and/or “hierarchical” style of leadership, where the leader tells them what to do, rather than invites them to participate and/or empowers them. I tend to lead in an empowering way, that is inspirational, influential, supportive, but towards a shared vision and personal potential (Smith, Montagno, Kuzmenko, 2004, p. 80 & Northouse, 2018, pp.169-172) Learning this leadership model was very freeing for me, because at times I would question my leadership style and wonder if I was doing something wrong. However, I have been encouraged that this is how God made me and this is a legitimate way of leading. Additionally, I have learned that I need to be comfortable in my own skin, but also help others see the purpose behind why I am leading in certain ways. I recognize and now understand why some of my staff have had minor frustrations and/or misunderstandings with my leadership style at times.

In regards to servant leadership this style of leadership has challenged me to realize two things: 1) I still carry hurt from some past working relationships, so I struggle to serve others in this way 2) that this leadership style only works if there is “follower receptivity” (Northouse, 2018 p. 234). I personally struggle with the extent of this leadership model in regards to how far it goes to serve the needs of followers. In the past this has been my bent in leadership, but unfortunately I felt like some followers took advantage of that and as a result I have felt “walked over” and even burnt out at times. Reading through the leadership theory description it was really helpful to see that this theory only works when there is “follower receptivity”, which in looking back on the situations I realized it was not the case (Northouse, 2018 p. 234). Another thought I have had when studying this leadership model is wondering if it only works on “healthy people?” When I say “healthy”, I mean people who are in a relatively healthy place emotionally, relationally, spiritually and physically.

In the end, I think it is imperative for servant leadership to be combined with transformational leadership, being a “Transformational Servant Leader” (TSL). This leadership model combination has the empowerment, vision and big goals and the healing and individual care needed (Northouse, 2018, pp. 192; 235-236). In certain situations or contexts I think servant leadership alone, could lead to organizations being “stuck” and meeting the needs of their employees, but their influence in society being hindered. Also transformational leadership alone could lead to an “elitist” form of leadership, that does not accept or develop people who are perhaps “less charismatic”, but still are gifted and/or could grow as leaders (Northouse, 2018, pp. 181-182).

Unit 7-Leadership Ethics

Unit 7 really impacted me to think through my character and motivations behind my actions and decisions as a leader. In doing the readings for this unit, there were two current situations, where I was analyzing what the “right” thing to do was. Through going through this unit and praying, God made it clear to me the way forward. This unit really pushed me to consider doing the right thing, even though it was not the easy way and required a lot of extra work. Additionally, I was challenged to realize the responsibility of ethical leadership through an analogy of “ripple effects”; in how a leader’s character through thoughts and actions will influence others, sometimes more than they realize. It was sobering, but necessary to think through the responsibility leaders carry to lead by example and “set the tone” of the organization (Van Buren, 2013).

“Good thoughts bear good fruit, bad thoughts bear bad fruit…and man is his own gardener”

-James Lane Allen (Watson, 1951, pp. 170-172)

References

Northouse, P. G. (2018). Leadership: theory and practice (8th ed.). Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications.

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 Buren, J. A. [Building Capacity]. (2013, March 29). What is Ethical Leadership? [Video File]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ks2QGoIq5nA

Watson, L.E. (1951). Light from Many Lamps. New York: Simon and Schuster.

According to Malgeri (2010), “Foresight is defined as the ability to develop and maintain a forward-looking perspective and to anticipate emerging opportunities and problems by continually scanning the environment for trends and new developments” (p. 39).

I would like to briefly analyze how Canada Post has used foresight based on a discussion paper posted on the Government of Canada’s website and answer the questions from Activity 2:

How has Canada Post responded to technological changes?

I think given the rapid changes they have undergone, due to technological advancement speeds, that Canada Post has responded well to some degree. They have thoroughly analyzed where and how they can cut costs. Some of those ways they planned to take action in 2013, was through their “Five-point Action Plan”, which I summarized below:

1.  Converting to community mailboxes- to make door-to-door mail delivery cheaper. So far, 830 000 addresses have been converted to community mailboxes.
2. Tiered pricing that raised the cost of a single stamp or was cheaper if purchased in volume.
3. Opening more franchise postal services, which cost less than corporate post offices. Opened 73 new postal outlets across the country, in convenient locations and offering extended hours.
4. Streamlining operations: more efficient mail and parcels flow to customers.
5. Addressing cost of labour through attrition and collective bargaining. (Bertrand et al., 2016, p. 14).

What are some positive and negative consequences of these changes?

Positive consequences of the rapid digital changes in the 21st century are that people can communicate more easily now through their smart phones, email, social media, messaging apps, etc (Bertrand et al., 2016, p. 1). Bertrand et al. (2016) indicated, “Public opinion research focus groups indicate that even though Canadians recognize the ongoing shift to digital communications, they are emotionally attached to mail: personal letters, parcels from loved ones, greeting and holiday related cards are viewed with much affection, even nostalgia” (p. 2). Though Canadians still hold sentimental value to getting mail/parcels and to Canada Post as a service, the negative consequences of digital changes and increased communication are undeniable. Canada Post’s revenue is suffering due to consistent decline in the use of mail.

Canada Post, in seeing their decline in revenues on mail took to making parcels a strategic focus, since the online shopping world was growing, however in this 2016 report Bertrand et al. (2016) stated, “Unfortunately, despite an almost 10 per cent growth in parcel volumes at Canada Post in 2015 over the previous year, the longer term revenue growth in parcels may not be sustainable or enough to offset future declines in letter revenues” (p. 3).

Would you have done anything differently?

I admire Canada post for their active and action-orientated response to saving money and cutting cost, due to the present realities they were facing. However, one thing I observe is that in their first attempt in 2013, with the “Five-point Action Plan”, they were only applying “technical changes”, in order to “keep their head above water” for a short time. However, what Canada Post really needs is to recognize they are in a time where they need to face and tackle “adaptive challenges” (Northouse, 2016, p. 262 & Bertrand et al., 2016, p. 14). Northouse (2016) states,

Adaptive challenges are problems that are not clear-cut or easy to identify. They cannot be solved by the leader’s authority or expertise, or through the normal ways of doing things in the organization. Adaptive challenges require that leaders encourage others to define challenging situations and implement solutions…adaptive challenges are difficult because they usually require changes in people’s priorities, beliefs, roles and values. (p. 262).

The changes they previously applied did not seem to maintain as Malgeri (2010) stated, a “forward-looking perspective” in terms of “anticipating emerging opportunities” (p. 39). They had a forward-looking perspective on the problems, but less of an emphasis on looking for the opportunities (Malgeri, 2010, p. 39).

However, now Canada Post seems to be more forward looking. According to their recent 2016 analysis, they have been looking more at potential opportunities and likely realizing they are encountering “adaptive challenges”, rather than basic cost-cutting, as in their first “5 Point Plan” (Northouse, 2016, pp 261-262 & Bertrand et al., 2016, p. 14). One of those forward looking and opportunistic ideas is interestingly the “Distribution of Marijuana” (Bertrand et al., 2016, pp. 74-75).

Personally, in being “forward thinking”, what I would have done differently was do targeted research on pre-teens and teenagers and their view of Canada Post, mail and parcels. Pre-teens and teenagers have grow up immersed in technology and I think they are less sentimental about mail and parcels. I do not think Canada Post can rely on it’s “sentimentality” to see them through more than 10 more years. Unless they adapt and adapt fast, they will be sadly irrelevant to a generation that I do not think values the use of mail.

There is potential for rapid and drastic adaptation, but in the words of Bertrand et al. (2016):

Canada post is at a crossroads. Canada Post’s costs are growing faster than its revenues. Digitalization is moving its business from letters to parcels…Under the status quo, Canada Post will not be financially self-sustainable going forward. The Corporation’s business model, which reflects the 20th century, needs to be realigned with the rapidly changing technological realities and the changing postal usage of Canadians (p 8). 

References

Bertrand, F., Hoeg, K.T., Hopson, J. & Mclaughlin, M, Canada Post in the Digital Age (2016, September). Task Force for the Canada Post Corporation Review. Retrieved from https://www.tpsgc-pwgsc.gc.ca/examendepostescanada-canadapostreview/documents/EPC-CPR_rpt-eng.pdf

Malgeri, J. (2010, Winter). Organizational foresight and stewardship. The Public Manager, 39(4), 39-42.

Northouse, P.G. (2018). Leadership: theory and practice (8th ed.). Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications.

In taking the “Gender-Leader Implicit Association” test in Northouse Chapter 15 and reading through the Catalyst (2016) report for inclusion ideas I recognized that my profession of campus chaplaincy tends to be “female-dominated.” This is reflected in the greater amount of women on my staff team in comparison to men. Currently on the team I co-lead, we have 7 women and 2 men.

My “Gender-Leader Implicit Association” test score was negative, showing that I do not automatically associate favouring males in leadership. This is probably due to being a women who is particularly passionate about developing women in leadership, as well as being in a female-dominated team and profession. In the past, I likely would have been more towards a positive score, due to how I grew up, what I saw in church and society, and what I believed about myself as a woman.

Since my work place is evidently female-dominated, we tend to have a good culture of fostering recognition and a sense of belonging for women. However, there are some areas that could be further improved that the Catalyst report mentioned regarding how employees experience feeling included (Nugent et al., 2016, p. 2). Nugent et al. (2016) state when employees feel included when they experience, “A sense of uniqueness– that they are recognized and valued for their specific attributes and contributions” (p. 2).  One way this could be done in my workplace is the following:

• Being intentional about publicly recognizing individuals for who they are, their unique gifting/skills, their accomplishments and a job well done.

My team is encouraging to some degree, but I have observed that encouragement does not come as naturally. I would like to create a “culture of encouragement” to help both the female and male team members feel unique, recognized and valued for who they are and their accomplishments/contributions to our team and ministry (Nugent et al., 2016, p. 2).

Nugent et al. (2016), in the Catalyst report mention another important element for inclusion to be experienced which is, “A sense of belonging–that they are welcomed and valued as part of their workgroups and among their colleagues” (p. 2). I see this applying in regards to the part-time moms on my team, as they sometimes struggle with feeling like a part of the team. One way I could apply this is:

• Intentionally assisting the part-time moms on my team more by hearing out their needs and helping them keep a healthy involvement on the team.

The struggle with this I have found, is sometimes “over-accommodation” for the moms with kids leads to them being distant from the team and not really being or feeling involved. I want to find a way that is still accommodating for the moms, but does not take-away from team-dynamic and their sense of belonging. I want the part-time moms on our team to feel welcomed and valued on the team, as well as contributing and participating (Nugent et al., 2016, p. 2). I think this will ultimately help them feel more included (Nugent et al., 2016, p. 2).

Additionally, I have learned from supervising a mom coming back from maternity leave, how helpful it was to be very clear on what my expectations for her were, due to her reduced work hours, situations of day-care drop-off times, evening event conflicts, etc. I was very impressed and appreciated how this staff member told me directly that she felt that I was expecting the same things of her as the rest of the team.

I think she mostly felt this because a lot of the communication happened in the team setting and I lacked implicitly stating that for her, certain situations were “optional.” She found herself feeling stressed, thinking that I expected the same things from her as the other full-time staff. I learned from this and having this clarifying conversation one-on-one was very helpful. Since then, I have been careful to clearly state my expectations of her specifically.

References

Northouse, P.G. (2018). Leadership: theory and practice (8th ed.). Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications.

Nugent, J., Pollack, A. & Travis, D. (2016). The day to day experiences of workplace inclusion and exclusion. Retrieved from http://www.catalyst.org/system/files/the_day_to_day_experiences_of_workplace_inclusion_and_exclusion.pdf