VDOT Case Study

University Degree Business and Administrative studies

Servant Leadership

Running head: SERVANT LEADERSHIP

Servant Leadership

Shranda Y. Caldwell

Grand Canyon University

BUS-340 Ethical & Legal Issues in Business

Professor Mestman

July 10, 2010

Leadership Styles

Introduction

Each person has a leadership style that they feel most comfortable with. What many people must realize is that there are different styles of leadership that are required for different situations. Most people like to believe that they are democratic leaders because that style fits in with dealing with peer groups. What those people do not understand is that they may have to switch to a different style of leadership to get a job completed in a timely manner. This paper will discuss autocratic, democratic, and servant leadership styles, discuss an attribute for servant leadership in depth, evaluate my strengths and weaknesses that come with those leadership styles. It will also list examples of leaders that exemplify servant leadership.

Autocratic Leadership

When utilizing the autocratic leadership style, the leader normally tell others what to do, limit the discussion on ideas and new ways of doing things, and makes the group feel as there is no togetherness. When working in many fields of management, the autocratic style was most effective when situations were time limited, when individuals or groups lacked skills or knowledge, or the people within the group did not know each other. The leader is often forced to do the work themselves or assign different responsibilities to different workers, which will separate the group. When in a time sensitive situation, a leader will need to put their stamp of approval on the work being done to be assured that the job is done correctly. This leadership seemed most ineffective when trying to develop a strong sense of teamwork, when the team wants a more natural feel to the environment, or when the members of the group have some knowledge or skill for what they need to accomplish a job or project. While working at American Home Shield, this leadership style is definitely used. Most of the supervisors keep the associates uninformed of needed information until the department directors visit the call center. It seems as if they intend to keep the regular floor associates at the bottom of the list, until it is time to flaunt their accomplishments. My weakness in this leadership would be handling the time sensitive situations. Working under pressure does not work for me at all, and this weakness could be overcome by managing my time more wisely and doing the work in intervals or steps. My leadership strength would be telling someone else what to do. This truly would describe me best with being a mother, full-time student, and wife.

Democratic Leadership

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Democratic Leadership

Democratic leadership tends to involve the group members in the planning process, ask the group questions before being told what to do, and promotes a good sense of teamwork. The democratic style has been most effective when there is enough time available to complete a job, when the group is motivated and has a sense that teamwork exists, or when there is some degree of skill or knowledge amongst the members of the group. It is least effective when a particular group is unmotivated, there is no skill or knowledge between any of the members, or where there is a high degree of conflict present among the group. For me, working without time constraints is best for many personal reasons, and yet the job is still completed in a timely manner. My weakness for this particular style would be asking questions before being told what do. My co-workers refer to me as a “go-getter”, therefore it is difficult for me to see a need and not jump to it. My strength would be having enough time to complete any particular job or project. Working without time constraints, for me, means that more work will get done, less stress, and a happier team.

Servant Leadership

Servant leadership is a philosophy and practice of leadership, where leaders strive to achieve results for their organizations by giving priority attention to the needs of their colleagues and those they serve. Most servant leaders are often seen as humble stewards of their organization’s resources. In order to be considered as a servant leader, a person would need to possess many qualities such as listening, empathy, healing, awareness, persuasion, conceptualization, foresight, stewardship, growth, and community building. When these qualities are acquired, a person tends to attain authority rather than power.

While servant leadership is often associated with the Bible of Jesus Christ, my feelings are that it is compatible with most religions or theories of philosophy. Why? Because most religions have a person that is of some sort of higher power, someone or something that is of greatness or have attributes of perfectness.

Attributes of Servant Leadership

Thomas Dexter (T. D.) Jakes and Juanita Bynum are two leaders that are admired around the world. They dominate great moral and servant leadership, as well as integrity for everyday life. T. D. Jakes is an entrepreneur, chief pastor of The Potter’s House church, author, and an up and coming movie producer. He had a very humble childhood and started preaching at an early age in South Charleston, West Virginia. T. D. Jakes is the very epitome of a saved, blessed, and highly favored man of God. His teaching styles and sermons will bring even the strongest man or woman to their knees in tears. He is very dedicated to his ministry and his family all while having a high sense of oneness with God. As the leader of a non-denominational mega-church, he has had the highest of highs and the lowest of lows. His sermons are nationally televised around the world daily on channels like Black Entertainment Television, The Word Network, Trinity Broadcasting, and many more.

Juanita Bynum is an awesome Pentecostal televangelist, author, actress, and gospel singer. Juanita is the embodiment of what a woman of God should strive to be. Her book and video of the incomparable No More Sheets, is the very thing that help changed my life. Her words of wisdom, triumph, and integrity are what make her the person that you want to become. She had a very modest upbringing in Lexington, Mississippi, and started making money at an early age being a flight attendant. She always gives vivid testimonials of her first marriage and how her obeying God’s words lead her to give away new cars and houses. Recently, she went through a messy, televised divorce that made people watch and want to know her even more. They wanted to know if she would fall under pressure, still believe in God’s word, or try to stretch the truth. Today she is still an amazing woman of God and one the best prophetess of her time.

With everything that both of these awesome people have gone through in their lives, they still seem to be good stewards, have God’s healing power, and awareness of what is going on the world today. Dr. Bynum was able to hold steadfast to her belief and ministry through the divorce and the loss of most of her congregation from her church. Pastor Jakes had enough faith to leave Atlanta and move to Texas, and unfamiliar city to him, with no questions asked when he heard the Lord speak to him. All these qualities are indications of the servant leadership to me.

Leadership and Emotions

Leadership can be perceived as a process being weighed down by emotions twisted with social influences. While be in any organization, the leader’s mood has some effect on the group in which they are leaders of. There are several effects of emotions and influences when it comes to servant leadership. The mood of individual group members’ mode can be dictated by their leader, the affective tone of the group represents the consistent reactions of the group, and public expression of mood impact how group members think and act. Expressions of positive mood, by the leader, seem to improve the performance of the group.

Conclusion

Leadership style is the manner and approach of providing direction, implementing plans, and motivating people. Although good leaders use all styles, with one of them normally dominant, bad leaders tend to stick with one style. There is a difference in the way leaders approach their employees, groups, or organization. Positive leaders use rewards, such as education, independence, etc. to motivate employees. Negative leaders tend to emphasize the penalties. Servant leaders tend to listen, have empathy, and involve God in the decision of the group or organization. While the negative approach has a place in a leader's range of tools, it must be used carefully due to its high cost on the human spirit.

References

Newstrom, John W. & Davis, Keith (1993). “Patterns of aggressive behavior in experimentally created social climates.” Journal of Social Psychology, 10, 271-301

Performance, Learning, Leadership, and Knowledge. Retrieved January 22, 2010, from

Schermehorn, J.R. (2010). Management 10th edition, New York: John Wiley & Sons

Schermerhorn, J.R., Hunt, J., & Osborn, R. (2008). Organizational Behavior. (10th ed). Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.