Light from many lamps
Image Source: Medical Daily
In the notion of transformational servant leadership role that I am pursuing, I found W. Beran Wolf’s story captures the essence of what it means to be happy, “If we want to know what happiness is, we must seek in others, outside ourselves.” (as cited in Waston, 1951, p. 11). Finding happiness and reading the anthology light from many lamps, I have learned many life lessons that I can convey in my career and my next move. Modern psychologists defined happiness as, “subjective well-being that coheres in understandable ways.” (Kesebir & Diener, 2008, p.118). I agree with Dr. Wolf that “no one can be happy in work which is centered entirely about his own person and deals exclusively with the satisfaction of his own immediate needs.” Constructive altruism for those who “seek the larger happiness and greater effectiveness,” embodied when “doing things with others,” therefore, the happiness requires the action for it to happen.
The story of happiness aligns very well with servant leadership as I can take from this story, and “Altruism” compliment happiness as a personal quality that we can all strive for it. When you have “altruistic call,” you have a moral mandate to perform tasks and activities that provide help and bear in mind to support others. Being altruistic means, you take personal responsibility to do something of value for another human being. Beck (2014) found that “exemplary servant leaders demonstrate an altruistic mindset” (p. 310); hence, focuses on the followers’ growth and development. Furthermore, “the role of mentor and self-awareness, and self-efficacy contribute to the knowledge that servant leadership behavior can be identified and developed through environmental factors (e.g., modeling) and training” (Beck, 2014, p. 310). Altruism works best when leaders have a strong motivation and a deep-seated interest in helping Others (Beck, 2014).
Commitment to become an effective transformational servant leader, and considering the Impact of leaders’ behavior on others first is the vital part of my repertoire as a human Being. I usually use altruistic practices as the essential foundation for my family and at the workplace; therefore, I am open to accepting assistance if I am willing to assist someone else. Hence, taking the initiative to care for and help someone is very important in the mindset of creating a positive change. In the circle of change and conjunction with altruism at the workplace, collaboration enables individuals to work together to achieve a defined common goal. Van Deierendonk, Stam, Boersma, Windt, and Alkem (2014), shed the light on “servant leader behavior is more strongly related to an expected enhancement of the phycological needs of followers, and relatively to the transformational leader who is more focus on the organization (p.559). Psychological need satisfaction is essential for the effectiveness of servant leader, which in regard influence commitment and engagement among followers.
Finally, I would like to spread the words of Dr. Wolfe about happiness, ” The good life demands a working philosophy of active philanthropy as an orientating map of conduct.”
References:
Beck, C. D. (2014). Antecedents of servant leadership: A mixed method study. Journal of Leadership and Organizational Studies, 21(3), 299-314. doi.org/10.1177/1548051814529993
Kesebir, P., & Diener, E. (2008). In pursuit of happiness: Empirical answers to philosophical questions. Perspectives on psychological science, 3(2), 117-125.
Watson, L.E. (1951). Light from Many Lamps. New York: Simon and Schuster
Van Dierendonck, D., Stam, D., Boersma, P., de Windt, N., & Alkema, J. (2014). Same difference? Exploring the differential mechanisms linking servant leadership and transformational leadership to follower outcomes. Leadership Quarterly, 25(3), 544-562. Accessed from https://doi.org/10.1016/j.leaqua.2013.11.014