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.

Behavior theory

The Path-Goal leadership theory is based on how a leader motivates followers in order to accomplish goals.  The theory states that leaders can motivate followers in these ways: directive-path, goal clarifying, supportive, participative, and achievement (task) and relationship oriented.  LMX is the Leader member exchange theory.  This theory is based on the fact that leaders and followers develop relationships based on social exchanges.  The leader needs to decide what to share with followers because time and resources are limited.  LMX consist of three phases, Stranger (phase 1), Acquaintance (phase 2), and Partnership (phase 3).   The task/relationship is how leaders use tasks to guide their followers in achieving goals.  The show and characters I am going to use as an example is Las Vegas.  Ed Deline, the owner of the casino displays the Achievement oriented (task) part of Path-Goal Leadership Theory.  He always tries to get to the bottom of problems and is only interested in results.  Danny McCoy is the head of security at the casino, and displays LMX leadership skills.  He is much more relationship oriented with his followers and uses those relationships so that his followers can accomplish goals.  Mike Cannon is an engineer and works in the security department.  He is one of Danny’s followers, and their relationship shows the LMX theory in effect.  

What I’ve learned from others

When looking at other people’s blogs, I tried to find those that are similar and that are different from mine.  I wanted to see what others had to say about their PMAI results, and I wanted to make sure that there were blogs I could learn from.  I decided on two of my classmate’s blogs to read and learn from.  I learned from Veronica’s blog that it is important to enjoy life and to truly live life to the fullest.  It is pointless to work hard and get results when you are not enjoying what you are doing.  Although you may be doing great as a leader, you could be failing at your own life.  I also realize the importance of being a caregiver.  I need to be able to understand and take care of the people I am leading; I need to focus on project members as well as the project in order to get the results I am looking for.  Looking at Sunni’s blog, it appears that we have very similar results when it came to the PMAI tests.  We both believe in taking a no nonsense approach when it comes to dealing with problems, and that we like to go into problems looking at past experiences and trying to solve problems through those experiences.  I learned that putting together structure and policies for team members to follow are essential in leading an organized and focused team.  It is important not only to care for those you lead, but also that people need detailed guidance to accomplish similar goals.

My PMAI Results

After reading the results of my PMAI test, I realized that the test was fairly accurate. Taking the test has allowed me to reflect more on myself not only as a leader but also as a person. The test has made me more aware of my faults and has given me the opportunity to improve my train of thought and actions in regards to my weaknesses. My archetypes are Creator, Sage, and Magician. My “shadow” archetypes are Orphan and Caregiver. I am very creative and imaginative, but at the same time realize that imagination and creativity can get you so far. I understand need to keep an open mind and base decisions on past experiences but at the same time being able to adapt and take the best action necessary to solve problems. I also know that I am not the best person when it comes to providing comfort to others when there are problems because I tend to look for solutions. I also do not always take the easiest and shortest path to a solution because sometimes taking risks is necessary to accomplish greater goals. Although I feel the results of my PMAI test were fairly accurate, I believe that there are many leadership traits that a person can possess, and that those traits cannot be categorized into one or three archetypes.

PMAI archetypes: Understanding archetypes and leadership

The Pearson-Marr Archetype Indicator (PMAI) test, is a test that identifies your archetype and leadership traits.  The test is a great way to gain further understanding about yourself and leadership traits/areas that you are strong in and also ones that you are weak in.  Archetypes are generic versions of personalities that are common to all cultures and times. There are twelve different types of archetypes: Innocent, Orphan, Warrior, Caregiver, Seeker, Lover, Destroyer, Creator, Ruler, Magician, Sage, and Jester.  Each archetype has positive characteristics in approaching problem solving and also negative characteristics in how to avoid problems. For example, the innocent archetype characteristics consist of optimism, trust, hope, faith, childish dependence, denial, and obliviousness and other characters are so forth.  Understanding and getting to know the various archetypes will allow individuals to analyze themselves, and enable them to focus on weaknesses in order to develop different leadership skills.  I believe that taking the PMAI is extremely beneficial for future reference because it will help me become more successful at understanding and communicating with other people.  Understanding one’s archetype will allow for further career development and leadership abilities/possibilities.  
 

The Pro and Cons of Traits-Based Leadership Thories...

The traits based leadership theory essentially is the belief that leaders character traits and qualities are innate. The traits based leadership theory assumes that people are born as leaders and that being a leader is not learned from experiences.  It assumes that leadership traits and qualities are part of a leader’s genetic composition and that these traits and qualities are passed down to each generation.  The pros to this theory are that leaders are established from birth and already have inherent leadership traits and qualities.  Leaders do not need to learn how to lead, but know how to lead members from the get go.  However, there are many cons to this theory, mainly that not everyone can be a leader.  Leaders are molded and shaped through their experiences and environments while growing up.  In our society, people are not born leaders, but rather learn to become leaders.

Leadership traits I admire and why...

Good and successful leaders possess a number of important leadership traits, but there are three specific traits that I believe are the most important.  The first trait is honesty.  It is essential for leaders to be honest with members of their team/employees in order to build confidence and trust with.  Without trust and honesty, leadership can easily undermined by team members.  The second necessary trait is knowledge.  Leaders need to have a deep understanding and knowledge of what they deal with.  They need to be able to make well-informed decisions and also be able to deal with problems fairly quickly.  Lastly, self-confidence is a very important quality that all leaders must possess.  Leaders need to be able to make decisions that affects all members of his/her team, and without confidence, they will not be able to make proper decisions or actions in times when his/her team needs it the most.

About me and leadership...

Hi everyone!

My name is Jounghwa Shin, a senior at San Diego State University majoring in Hospitality and Tourism Management with an emphasis in meeting and events.  I will be graduating in August 2011.  I am originally from Seoul, Korea and majored in fashion design at my alma mater.  I worked for the Korea Marine Pollution Corporation, a government department, and also owned my own clothing store for a couple of years before coming to the United States to pursue a degree in Hospitality and Tourism Management.  I have many leadership qualities that have been developed through my many experiences.  I learned a lot about leadership while owning my own clothing store.  It was the most important leadership experience of my life because being an owner was completely different from my time as being an employee.  I was responsible for leading employees in all aspects of the business which included listening to employees for ideas and complaints, making sure there was a good and cooperative working environment, and also assigning responsibilities to employees based on their skills and temperament.  I believe that a good leader needs to have excellent communication skills and the ability to listen to what group members have to say.  It is imperative that a leader provides a good work environment so members and employees are motivated to work towards a common goal.  The ideal leader also needs to exude confidence and passion so that he/she can inspire other people.  Although I believe I have all the skills to be a good leader, I realize that my lack of communication skills in English makes it more difficult to be a leader in the United States.  However, I know that I make up for my speaking skills with a multitude of other skills and traits that makes a good leader.  I will continue to work on and develop the skills necessary to become a good leader.

Leadership
"Innovation distinguishes between a leader and a follower."
  - Steve Jobs

"Leadership is action, not position."
  - Donald H. McGannon

“A leader is one who knows the way, goes the way, and shows the way."
  - John C. Maxwell