papagena163’s post raised a good point about servant-leaders needing to heal themselves as well as their followers. As I was reading, I was reminded of a post by Dawn that I had previously read. I reflected on the fact that it is easy to serve others when they appreciate your efforts, but it is much more difficult to do so during periods of criticism and conflict. Just as leaders have to be critics of their own thoughts, so too do they need to demonstrate a high degree of self-awareness. Dawn wrote: “So often the life of a leader is lived in public, that the only place we can show weakness is within ourselves. And this is a lonely place to be. In order to be effective leaders in the midst of it, we need to be very self aware and come to a place of inner healing”. This made me realize how crucial it is to have a group of unbiased people that I trust and respect around me. People I can be vulnerable with and who help me to heal and come to terms with my strengths, weaknesses, doubts and struggles. Without inner healing, a servant-leader will find it very difficult to continue to love and serve their followers unconditionally. As is admonished on every airline flight I’ve ever taken, one must put on one’s own oxygen mask before trying to help someone else with theirs.
Response to Georgeena’s Unit 5 – Blog Activity 2
Georgeena,
In response to the question in your post about whether I have seen a shift from traditional leadership to servant leadership in my field, I would say yes. As financial constraints have increased and resources have become less and less available over the years, I have indeed seen more of a shift towards servant leadership. However, I do not feel this is due to moral or ethical reasons, but out of necessity. “Servant leadership seeks to involve others in decision making….. and enhances the growth of workers while improving the caring and quality of organizational life” (Spears, 2010). As I reflect upon past servant-leader principals, I think that their goals were to try to inspire us as teachers to do more with less in an effort to serve our students well. It has worked. Many of us are so committed to our students’ success that we spend money from our own pockets on materials that the board can no longer provide. According to Spears, “servant leadership offers great hope for the future in creating better, more caring, institutions”. Fortunately, I feel that this shift will continue to take place into the future. Companies such as Southwest Airlines have proven that servant-leadership can be very profitable, and in our capitalist society, profitability, rather than ethics, is the ultimate goal.
Spears, Larry C. (2010). Character and servant leadership: Ten characteristics of effective, caring leaders. The Journal of Virtues & Leadership, 1(1), 25-30.
Unit 5 Learning Activity 2
When coordinating a group project in an organization, team leaders should function according to the Diamond Model for Practicing Servant-Leadership by Page & Wong (2000, p. 10) and rotate between the roles of leader, team member, and servant. According to the model, the team leader first stands in the role of leader to communicate a clear, elevating goal to the team (Larson & LaFasto, 1989, as cited in Northouse, 2016). This is represented by the CEO at the top of Figure 5.2 below. The leader should communicate what the vision is and why it is important. It should relate to something bigger than him or herself, but at the same time be attainable, e.g. a “delicate balance between conceptual thinking and a day-to-day operational approach” (Spears, 2010). Next, the team leader should position him/herself as a team member in a ‘circle of partners’ (Page & Wong, 2000), approachable and humble. This is represented by the CEO as part of the circle in the middle of the diagram. In my view, it is important that the leader create a system of communication that gives voice to every member of the team; recognizing and valuing their experience and expertise. According to Spears, the leader should also work to build a unified commitment among the members. His relationship with, and respect for the individual members becomes the vehicle through which he can accomplish this (Northouse, 2016). As the members begin to see that they are each important to its accomplishment, their commitment to the common goal and their devised plan could increase. While monitoring team performance and setting priorities (Northouse, 2016), the leader next steps into the role of servant as he/she pours his efforts into assisting the members in achieving the goal and maintaining standards of excellence. All of his/her energy goes towards (1) empowering the team members so that they can produce high-quality results, and (2) working towards their personal and professional development (Spears, 2010) so that they reach their fullest potential (Page & Wong, 2000). This is represented by the CEO being at the bottom of the diagram. If the team’s goals change or if there is a significant change in personnel then the leader can revert back to the beginning of the process at the top of the figure.
Northouse, P. G. (2016). Leadership: theory and practice (7th ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.
Page, D., & Wong, T. P. (2000). A conceptual framework for measuring servant leadership. The human factor in shaping the course of history and development, 69-110. Retrieved from http://www.drpaulwong.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/Conceptual-Framework.pdf
Spears, Larry C. (2010). Character and servant leadership: Ten characteristics of effective, caring leaders. The Journal of Virtues & Leadership, 1(1), 25-30.
Unit 5 Learning Activity 1
Two critical functions of team effectiveness are performance (being able to accomplish high-quality tasks) and development (being able to work effectively and stay cohesive) (Northouse, 2016). Larson and Lafasto’s eight characteristics of excellent teams (as cited in Northouse, 2016, p. 369) are: a clear, elevating goal, results-driven structure, competent team members, unified commitment, collaborative climate, standards of excellence, external support and recognition, and principled leadership.
I acted as a team leader to an educational assistant and a special needs assistant when I taught students with developmental disabilities for a number of years. The three of us were competent team members, able to work cohesively through regular, open communication where all viewpoints were valued. Each person was highly motivated towards student success and it remained our focus above all else. Our commitment, collaboration and high standards resulted in a dramatic decrease in negative student behaviours and greater interaction between our students and the rest of the school.
Principled leadership impacts team effectiveness through four processes: cognitive, motivational, affective, and coordination (Northouse, 2016). More specifically, leaders “can enhance the effectiveness of their team by keeping the team focused on its goals, maintaining a collaborative climate, building confidence among members, demonstrating technical competence, setting priorities, and managing performance (Larson & LaFasto, 1989, as cited in Northouse, 2016, p. 372) .
One year I taught second grade with a team of 7 other teachers. All of the teachers on the team were competent, hard-working and collaborative and we had a team leader. Interestingly, our team leader was initially worried about stepping into that role because she had the least amount of teaching experience (teaching was her second career). However, she demonstrated all four processes of principled leadership, especially the ability to maintain a collaborative climate. For example, she knew when to step back and let others take the lead, recognizing their expertise and experience; but she also knew when to step in and help us come to a consensus when we were stuck. She understood the conditions that would enable us demonstrate excellence as a team (Northouse, 2016), and she advocated on our behalf when needed. According to Northouse, a team leader needs to be “behaviorally flexible and have a wide repertoire of actions or skills to meet the team’s diverse needs” (p. 365). I learned that an effective team leader must have many more skills than technical knowledge. Our team leader was an excellent example of this.
Northouse, P. G. (2016). Leadership: theory and practice (7th ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.