Leadership Map

Servant Laedership

Servant Leadership

Servant leadership is a leadership theory/phrase that was developed by Robert Greenleaf in the 1970’s.  Greenleaf wrote 3 essays that are the basis of servant leadership.  Greenleaf’s essay was based on the type of leaders he saw during his time at AT&T (Human Resources and personnel).  The two types of leaders that Greenleaf experienced were leaders that were trying to acquire power, wealth and fame, and leaders that were more interested in the needs of others (team, customers, society).  Greenleaf came to the decision that the leaders that were interested in others were much more effective leaders.  In his essays, he terms this type of leadership and leader as servant leadership and servant leader.   Greenleaf says in his essay, The Servant as Leader: “The servant leader is servant first…It begins with the natural feeling that one wants to serve, to serve first.  Then conscious choice brings one to aspire to lead.”  The servant leader is a leader that is more interested in listening, growing, understanding, and helping those around him/her.  The servant leader is not only interested with his/her company and employees but also with customers and society in general.  By being more attentive to all people, servant leaders are more aware of what is going on and are able to offer the products and services that the end consumer wants.  By being in it for others, servant leaders gain more trust from those around them, because servant leaders offer more responsibility and help others grow.  Servant leaders are always wondering if what they are doing is helping their team members grow not only in their jobs but as people as well.  This extra attentiveness, care, and belief in others tends to make team members put in extra effort into their jobs and duties, creates a low turnover rate, and ensures an enjoyable work environment.  Servant leaders are able to delegate more effectively others because they continue to help their team members grow which also allows team members to carry larger responsibilities that would not have been possible without the trust and involvement necessary to be a servant leader.  Servant leadership is an important leadership theory because it is one of the leadership theories where the leader is truly about the people.  Servant leaders bring out the best from those around them and look forward to giving back to their team members, suppliers, customers, and their communities.

You can find out more information about Servant Leadership:

http://www.greenleaf.org/

http://changingminds.org/disciplines/leadership/styles/servant_leadership.htm

http://www.inc.com/guides/2010/08/how-to-become-a-servant-leader.html

http://www.leadersdirect.com/servant-leadership

Leadership Mid-Term: Apollo 13

Transformaitonal Leadership Slide Show

My slide show represents the transformation of minorities in the United States with help from transformational leaders.  Slavery to emancipation (Abraham Lincoln) to second class citizens (Civil Rights Movement/Martin Luther King Jr.) to Equal Rights (President Obama).

Transformational Leadership in action

Transformational Leadership

James MacGregor Burns is an award winning write who specializes in the study of  American leadership in politics.  Burns is known for his biographies on past presidents, and is also considered one of the pioneers of leadership theory and studies.  Burns is known as the chief contributor to the transformational leadership theory, which is based on a visionary leader who can inspire followers to a common goal.  Transformational leaders inspire followers to make changes and  motivate each other in order to accomplish specific goals that lead to the completion of a “vision.”

Contingency Theory

Contingency theories are a class of behavioral theory that contend that there is no one best way of leading and that leadership styles that are effective in some situations may not be successful in others.
An effect of this is that leaders who are very effective at one place and time may become unsuccessful  when transplanted to another situation or when factors around them change.
This helps to explain how some leaders who seem like they can do no wrong, suddenly appear make very unsuccessful decisions.

Fiedler's Contingency Model Fiedler's model assumes that group performance depends on: Leadership style, described in terms of task motivation and relationship motivation. Situational favorableness, determined by three factors: 1. Leader-member relations - Degree to which a leader is accepted and supported by the group members. 2. Task structure - Extent to which the task is structured and defined, with clear goals and procedures. 3. Position power - The ability of a leader to control subordinates through reward and punishment. High levels of these three factors give the most favorable situation, low levels, the least favorable. Relationship-motivated leaders are most effective in moderately favorable situations. Task-motivated leaders are most effective at either end of the scale. Fiedler suggests that it may be easier for leaders to change their situation to achieve effectiveness, rather than change their leadership style.

Contingency theory is similar to situational theory in that there is an assumption of no simple one right way. The main difference is that situational theory focuses more on behaviors that leaders should adopt, given situational factors (often about follower behavior), whereas contingency theory takes a broader view that includes contingent factors about leader capability and other variables within the situation.
     Hersey-Blanchard Situational Theory
     This theory suggests that leadership style should be matched to the maturity of the subordinates.
     Maturity is assessed in relation to a specific task and has two parts:

• Psychological maturity - Their self-confidence and ability and readiness to accept responsibility.
• Job maturity - Their relevant skills and technical knowledge.

    As the subordinate maturity increases, leadership should be more relationship-motivated than
    task-motivated. For four degrees of subordinate maturity, from highly mature to highly immature,
    leadership can consist of:

• Delegating to subordinates.
• Participating with subordinates.
• Selling ideas to subordinates.
• Telling subordinates what to do

I think I am more of a task-oriented leader than relationship-oriented. However, I use several different styles of leadership skills depending on the situation, and also based on previous experiences. I agree that there are many different ways to lead, and that there are different approaches of leading different people and skill sets.  I think I can be a directive, supportive, and participative leader depending on what goal my team would have to achieve and what kind of relationship I have with my team. I would exhibit more directive-path leader characteristics when approaching solutions to serious problems and be adapt to being a supportive leader when leading less mature subordinates.