Month: October 2018

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Unit 4 Learning Activity 1

According to Northouse (2016), transformational leadership is leadership that has as its goal the transformation of people (p. 160). The relationship between the leader and follower is a key element because the bond formed between the leader and the follower is the medium through which the follower is motivated to accomplish tasks. Transformational leadership falls at one end of a spectrum. At the other end of the spectrum is ‘laissez-faire leadership’ in which the leader imposes no direction on the follower, allowing him/her to do as they please. In the middle of the spectrum is transactional leadership. Transactional leadership is leadership in which (a) the leader rewards the follower for meeting expected outcomes using mutually determined rewards, or (b) the leader motivates the follower via correction/punishment for not meeting the expected outcomes. Transformational leadership is more powerful than transactional leadership because it involves “an exceptional form of influence that moves followers to accomplish more than what is usually expected of them” (p. 161). It causes followers to begin to look out for more than just their own self-interests, and causes them to begin to do things for the greater good of the organization. Additionally, Mulla and Krishnan (2011) found that over time, transformational leaders can have an impact upon the moral development of followers.

Servant leadership is demonstrated by empowering and developing people through the expression of humility, authenticity, interpersonal acceptance, stewardship and direction (van Dierendonck, 2011). It is similar to transformational leadership in that the leader’s focus is on the followers. The goal of servant leader puts the needs of the follower first, nurtures and empathizes with them and works for their development through empowerment (Northouse, 2016). The servant leader also demonstrates high moral standards in his/her interactions with the followers. Searle and Barbuto Jr (2011) found that this type of leadership has the potential to simultaneously bring about positive behaviours in individuals, groups and organizations.

Smith, Montagno and Kuzmenko (2004) investigated the similarities between Servant and Transformational leadership and found that in both types of leadership the interrelationship between leader and follower was very important. Both leaders put the needs of followers above their own, model positive behaviours and demonstrate integrity in their leadership. Despite these similarities, however, they also concluded that the theoretical underpinnings and the contexts in which the two are successful differ significantly. Servant leadership was found to be more successful in static environments while transformational leadership was found to be more successful in dynamic environments. This seems to differ with the findings of Mulla and Krishnan who asserted that transformational leaders demonstrated impact upon the moral development of the followers over time. This led me to wonder what would be the optimal number of years necessary for transformational leadership to significantly impact the followers, given the findings of Smith et. al.  I also wondered if there was an optimal size of the organization beyond which transformational and servant leaders would be limited in their ability to form significant relationships with their followers…..?

 

References

Mulla, Z.R. and Krishnan, V.R. (2011). Transformational leadership: Do the leader’s morals matter and do the follower’s morals change? Journal of Human Values 17(2), 129-143. DOI: 0.1177/097168581101700203

Northouse, P. G. (2016). Leadership: theory and practice (7th ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.

Searle, T.P. and Barbuto, J.E. (2011). Servant Leadership, Hope, and Organizational Virtuousness: A Framework Exploring Positive Micro and Macro Behaviors and Performance Impact. Journal of Leadership & Organizational Studies 18(1), 107-117. DOI: 10.1177/1548051810383863

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 Dierendonck, D. (2011). Servant leadership: A review and synthesis. Journal of Management 37(4), 1228-1261. DOI: 10.1177/0149206310380462

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Unit 4 Light from Many Lamps Assignment 2

The story I selected, written by A.J. Cronin (1979), details how he came to realize his dream of writing his first book. At first, the novelty and excitement of writing was extremely motivating for him. As he continued however, he became acutely aware of how much he did NOT know about the act of writing. He became discouraged, eventually throwing away his manuscript.  In the end he came to realize that the choice to retreat to his comfort zone or persist doing something new and difficult was a universal struggle. He decided to persevere with writing and low and behold, the manuscript that he threw away ended up altering his life dramatically. It became a book that was “dramatized, serialized, translated into 19 languages and bought by Hollywood” (p. 149). The obvious message of this story is that the greatest victory we can achieve is victory over ourselves when we demonstrate persistence through challenges.

Many people underestimate the powerful impact that their thinking has over their lives. “Whatever you are doing, whatever you feel, whatever you want–all are determined by the quality of your thinking” (The Foundation for Critical Thinking, n.d.).  As a future transformational servant leader, the most important task before me is the task of taking control over the thoughts of my mind.  As Elder and Paul point out, serious thinking about one’s thinking is rare, and taking control of one’s thinking is not easy work. Gaining victory over my thoughts means “being willing to objectively accept information that refutes what I already think, being willing to suspend my beliefs to fully hear what others are saying” (Elder & Paul, n.d.), being willing to question my motivations, and being willing to challenge my biases. Just as Cronin’s persistence as an author became life changing for him, I am convinced that my pursuit of  the art of critical thinking will be no less of a life-changing experience for myself and those upon whom I will have a future impact.

Cronin, A.J. (1979). The virtue of all achievement is victory over oneself. Those who know this victory can never know defeat. In Watson, L. E. (Ed), Light from many lamps (pp. 147-152). New York, NY: Simon & Schuster.

Elder, L., Paul, R. (n.d.). Becoming a critic of your thinking. Retrieved from http://www.criticalthinking.org/pages/becoming-a-critic-of-your-thinking/478

 

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Response to principalmorrow-Unit 3 Rank-Talk-Write

Your post focused attention on the issue of power, especially with respect to the transformational servant leader and follower dynamic. According to your blog post, Harrison argues that TSL does not recognize the element of power within institutions.

According to Northouse (2016), servant leadership takes place within a particular context with 3 preexisting conditions: context and culture, leader attributes, and follower receptivity  (p. 231).  It would be interesting to know if these conditions are present in the organization that Harrison is referring to in the article.

Northouse also mentions three outcomes as a result of servant leadership: follower performance and growth, organizational
performance, and societal impact (p. 236). To me, it seems likely that if a leader achieves these outcomes, they will have earned themselves a seat at the table of power. Therefore working for and maintaining a seat at the table of power does not necessarily need to be the primary goal of a leader.

I think that the notion of power and how it is used in transformational servant leadership is something that I will continue to try to understand over the duration of this course. Thank you for your thought-provoking blog!

 

Northouse, P. G. (2016). Leadership: theory and practice (7th ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.

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Response to MonicaGrace Unit 3 Learning Activity 2

Monica,

Thank you for your post. I had not read the article by Calahan, but after reading your summary, I found myself relating the stages to my own experience in teaching just as you were evaluating where you are in your field of ministry.

The questions that you posed at the end of your post really got my mind thinking. Like you, I wondered if everyone automatically goes through this process. When I re-read your post however, I noticed Calahan’s quote explaining how novices become practitioners. “They grow in reading and assessing situations through comparing other situational experiences (Cahalan, 2017).” This implies that they reflect upon their previous experiences and apply what they have learned in new situations. In my unit 3 readings I have learned that many people are passive thinkers, avoiding engagement in active, critical thinking. Many are also ignorant of their thinking. I would hazard to guess that people that do not progress through the stages may be people who are not in the habit of engaging in personal reflection, or are unmotivated to do because they feel they already know everything they need to know, or perhaps feel overwhelmed and powerless to improve their performance.

So I feel that it really comes down to one’s mindset and how motivated one is to learn and grow. Now that I realize the huge impact that one’s thinking has upon one’s life, I am motivated to be more aware of my thought processes and I will begin to engage in critical thinking. I think that this is crucial for my own personal development, as well as for my development as a transformational servant leader.

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Unit 3 Learning Activity 2 Rank-Talk-Write

The texts I selected were two web pages on The Foundation for Critical Thinking’s website: the pages entitled College and University students and Being a Critic of Your Own Thinking. I was really proud of myself for being able to summarize my notes into the following summary of key ideas in both articles. I found this to be a VERY useful exercise and I will use it in future!

1) Your thinking plays a powerful role in your life; thinking ‘well’ brings positive rewards while thinking ‘poorly’ brings negative consequences

2) The extent to which we become better quality thinkers is determined by the amount of time we dedicate towards this development, the quality of intellectual thought processes we engage in, and the depth of our commitment to becoming better quality thinkers

3) Four examples of ways to improve the quality of your thinking are: clarifying your thinking, maintaining relevance in thinking, questioning deeply and striving to be more reasonable in thinking

3a) -clarifying one’s thinking involves 2 things: clarifying your understanding of what others are saying and being aware of how clearly you are communicating to others

3b) -sticking to the point means being able to separate information that is relevant to the issue at hand from information that is not relevant

3c) -deep questioning involves asking questions skillfully to be able to get at the root of the problem or to fully understand a problem

3d) -being reasonable involves paying attention to when you or others are being unreasonable in a particular situation and asking yourself what the reason is for the behaviour. e.g. is a viewpoint being overlooked? Are there inherent biases? Am I really taking the best course of action for all involved? Are there better ideas for handling this?

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Unit 2 Response to Norm Beange – Learning Activity 3

When I read your post,  I could immediately relate to it because I also scored equally strongly on human and technical skills, and less so on conceptual skills. Unlike you however, I had a very limited view of leadership prior to this course and  felt that my weak conceptual skills prevented me from being an effective leader. However I have been growing in my understanding of leadership and have come to the realization that in some arenas, human and technical skills are more important than conceptual skills. For example, education, mentorship and counselling are three areas that immediately come to mind. I am excited to discover where this journey will take me as I begin to recognize and embrace my strengths.

With reference to your Style questionnaire results, it is my understanding that your low task score does not relate directly to your work with technical designs and processes, but rather is an indication that in your leadership style you give more attention to the degree to which you make others feel comfortable than you do to helping them define their roles and understand what is expected of them. I feel that this aligns with your informal management style that you referenced which is appreciated by many of your employees who have been working with you for decades. I find it fascinating how informative these seemingly simple surveys have been! Thanks for your post.

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Response to CCBeau – Light of Many Lamps #1

I really appreciated the sentiments expressed in your post. To me, your argument showed that you seek to demonstrate strong moral behaviour towards your followers, which is a characteristic of a Servant Leader (Northouse, 2016, p. 226). I think this challenge is faced by many visionaries who set high expectations for themselves and others. The ability to step back, recognize where you have come from and applaud the accomplishments of the group is so very important. Without doing this, leaders run the risk of leaving their followers feeling unappreciated and unseen and eventually diminish their commitment to the goals of the group.  By recognizing the need to maintain a balance between striving for the next goal and celebrating the accomplishments of the team, you are already half-way to overcoming this situation. In this season of gratefulness, thank you for taking the time to remind us all of the importance of maintaining an attitude of thankfulness.

 

Northouse, P. G. (2016). Leadership: theory and practice (7th ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.

 

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Light from Many Lamps Assignment #1

The story I selected happens to be the first one in the book, “The Secret of Happiness is Something to Do” written by John Burroughs. In this passage John Burroughs shares his conviction that happiness comes from doing work that one loves, that keeps one busy and content, and that gives one’s life purpose and direction (Watson, 1951).

According to Northouse, ‘expert power’ is based upon followers’ perceptions of a leader’s competence, and it “increases a leader’s capacity to influence the attitudes, values or behaviours of others” (p. 11). One of the characteristics of Servant Leaders conceptualized by Greenleaf is that they are committed to helping each person in the organization grow personally and professionally (Northouse, 2016). The leadership lesson that I see in this reading is that a natural love for one’s work and a desire to share that passion with others can give rise to emergent leadership through mentoring relationships. This is exactly where I find myself at this stage in my career. I have been blessed to have found an occupation that not only occupies my time but gives me purpose and meaning, and I have a strong desire to share my knowledge and experience with less experienced teachers to help them to become passionate, expert teachers as well. My desire to build and support my fellow colleagues does not arise from a desire to showcase my knowledge and skills, but rather, to demonstrate authentic, transformational servant leadership.

 

Northouse, P. G. (2016). Leadership: theory and practice (7th ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.

Watson, L. E. (Ed). (1979). Light from many lamps. New York, NY: Simon & Schuster.

 

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Unit 2 Learning Activity 3

The results of the surveys were eye-opening. I learned that other people see many more leadership traits in me than I see in myself because I still struggle to see myself as a leader in the traditional sense. Yet I scored lower than my raters in perception and sensitivity. Listening and awareness are two of the 10 traits of a Servant Leader identified by Spears (Northouse, 2016) that are crucial for me to develop. It is very important it is for me to listen well and be attuned to the thoughts and opinions of others, particularly because my score on the style questionnaire indicates that I am more likely to lead with an emphasis on relationships vs tasks.

My stronger human and technical skills also make me more suited for leadership that involves close relationships with people, either by sharing my knowledge with them, or guiding them through the application of my knowledge.

My results of the Birkman assessment indicate that I am also a detail-oriented person with strong administrative skills. The picture that is emerging is that my leadership style is closer to management than leadership. I am less concerned about a big-picture visionary ideas than I am about order, consistency, problem-solving and people development. Each step of this journey is incredibly insightful and I am confident that by the end I will have a clear understanding of where and how to walk out my ‘why’ effectively.