There are many great leaders that have led a plethora of individuals or companies to greatness. After researching most of these great leaders that have utilized servant leadership, but most of them were men. As aspiring women in our great country I want become a great female leader and take many to greatness. I want utilize my knowledge and experience to meet this goal and groom and teach other women how to achieve the same accomplishment so that history can be written to show that there has and will continue to great women leaders.
Servant Leadership is where the leader feels the need to take care of the needs of their employees. It has been proven in such organizations such as GE that this method works. Their employees basic needs were taken care of and addressed. This allowed the employees to feel appreciated and they were able to productive at the same time. Situational Leadership in comparison to Servant Leadership is different in some ways but can still get the same end result. Using Situational Leadership you have to tailor the management style based off the person you are working with and their limitations as well as the skill of the leader.
Dwight Eisenhower used this type of leadership to get the results that he wanted when e was a general as well as the 34th president of the United States. Charismatic Leadership is one of the most modern styles used and is different in many ways then the other styles that are used. The leader uses their charm a likeability to get their employees or followers to be productive Bill Clinton was famous for using his charm and wit to get the American people to follow him when he was president as well as today. I currently work for an organization that employs 8,000 people across the United States.
Our vision is to educate people so that they can better themselves as well s their neighborhoods or surroundings. Servant Leadership is used at my company n many ways. Our leadership understands that if they know what our needs are and they are able to fulfill those basic needs they will get better production from the employees. This company is very transparent and allows us to voice our needs and they show us when they are catering to our needs. They will also send out surveys periodically to see if they are meeting our needs.
It has been proven within my company if our needs are met then we are serving our clients and allowing them to meet the goals they have set forth when they accept our services. The end result is we are meeting our goals as well as adhering to our vision by seeing our clients graduate as well as pursue careers to help make t better for them as well as the communities and intern making it a better productive United States. Understanding is what all great servant leaders have. Compassion understands what someone is going through.
Empathy is also being aware of a situation and being sensitive to the thoughts and feelings of those involved. Empathy is simply placing yourself in the situation and treating the situation in a way you would want it to be treated if the roles were reversed. “A good servant leader will be empathetic to his people and not reject them as people when forced to reject their behavior or performance” (Davies, 2006). Moving on, the third trait we are going to talk about is awareness. Being aware of what is going on around you at all times is a very difficult task.
Some would say it is impossible to be aware of everything at all times. However, an essential trait of a servant leader is awareness. A servant leader is always on top of any new information that will help the common goal. Being as aware of all changes and possible outcomes of decisions allows the servant leader to make better decisions. When you are able to understand how each decision made will affect another, you are able to make decisions that are more informed. Better decisions based on real time data will create a better environment for all to work.
The fourth trait a servant leader should have is a commitment to the growth and development of others. Having the commitment to grow and develop your employees will not only help your employees succeed, it will make the job of the leader easier to perform. “Servant leaders are deeply committed to the personal, professional, and spiritual growth of each person “(Davies, 2006). A servant leader has a team mind set at all times. That is, whatever is best for the team is good for the overall goal. A servant leader will not care who is in what position or how he or she will obtain a higher position.
A servant leader will always do what is right and best for the common goal. In doing so, the servant leader will gain the respect and following of the group. Now that we know what the five traits of servant leadership are, let us exam the major forces that will affect leadership in the future. “There are at least four major forces affecting leadership that will become increasingly important in the near future. These include globalization, the need to satisfy multiple stakeholders, environmental deterioration, and the growing shortage of qualified labor in developed countries” (Wilson, 1998).
Servant leadership will prove to be a desired trait when dealing with some these future forces. Let us explore a few examples starting with globalization. Globalization is the removal of boundaries between countries to ease the process of delivering goods and services to the people (Cgopinath. com 2005). Globalization and servant leadership are very much alike in there definitions. They both focus on removing boundaries to help the overall goal. A good servant leader would be a great asset it in a globalization project.
The servant leader would not allow any business or personal differences they might face interfere with the overall goal. Servant leaders will focus on the task so to make decisions based on the best outcome. Servant leadership is being a servant first. Having this trait would be a great advantage when solving the problem of satisfying multiple stakeholders. A servant leader would take great care to make sure the highest priority needs of the shareholder are met first before taking care of personal needs. To be a servant leader means to be the ultimate team player.
Rick Purvis is a production supervisor at Jim Beam in Frankfort Kentucky. He is responsible for making sure all production takes place on time, in full, and without error. While working on a production line, he noticed that a product was being put into the wrong bottle. Needless to say, this is a very costly mistake that could result in the person responsible for it losing their job. Not knowing which one of his employees caused the error, Rick assumed responsibility for what had happened when asked by his boss.
Rick did this because he felt that even though he did not put those wrong bottles on the line himself, he was in charge of the employee that did, thus making him responsible. To Rick, being in charge of the mistake maker is just as bad as making the mistake. Jim Beam has a company directive to provide value driven leadership in the marketplace. This means Jim Beam wants to lead the market place based on its product value as seen by it customers not its worth. We can compare that to life by looking at the Maxwell Leadership Bible, Psalm 15:1 1-5.
In the Maxwell Leadership Bible, Psalm 15:1 1-5, they talk about value-driven leadership in regards to what qualities every leader possesses. The bible gives the example of how a man with truthfulness gains not only respect from those around him, he gains an audience with God (Maxwell, & Elmore, 2007). Using this example, we could say that Jim Beam gains the respect of its consumer due to their product integrity and steadfast determination to produce a quality product. Let us look at a personal example of servant leadership by Rick Purvis.
We will compare the bible to how Rick Purvis uses servant leadership for decision-making while working at Jim Beam. In 1 chronicles 21:1-17 of the Maxwell Leadership Bible, it talks about the readiness to adopt blame. To be more detailed, 1 chronicles 21:1-17 of the leadership bible says in times of disappointment a leader not only reveals their true leadership character they also present opportunities for significant leadership (Maxwell, & Elmore, 2007). I will compare this to a lesson Rick Purvis learned while working at Jim Beam.
When Rick assumed responsibility for the mistake, he immolated a servant leadership quality to his employees and to his boss. The employees respected the fact that Rick did not point fingers at the guilty party. He merely assumed the responsibility for the error and moved on. The boss knew Rick was not to blame but accepted the answer. In the end, Rick was complemented on his integrity and no one was punished for the mistake. In conclusion, this paper has discussed servant leadership and its uses in business. I learned that servant leaders model five traits.
Those traits are listening, empathy, awareness, commitment, and an interest not based on position. I also examined two of the four major forces affecting leadership. The two we examined were globalization and the need to satisfy multiple stakeholders. In this paper, we also compared the Maxwell Leadership bible to Jim Beam, showing that having value driven leadership works both in life and in business. Last, I talked about a recent experience Rick Purvis had while working at Jim Beam. We learned that assuming blame is not always bad. Sometimes when one assumes blame, they show true leadership.
References
- References Bond, S. L. (1997). Service and self-respect: Women leaders in Latin American universities. Retrieved from http://unesdoc. unesco. org/images/0010/001091/109169eo. pdf
- Cgopinath. com (2005). A framework to view globalization. Retrieved from http://www. cgopinath. com/Content/Framework. htm
- Davies, T. (2006). Servant Leaders. Personal Excellence, 11(6), 14. Retrieved from EBSCOhost Famous Examples of Different Leadership Styles written by: Kristina Dems
