After reviewing the Seven Habits of Highly Effective People jump start program by Stephen R. Covey, I have discovered a few areas of self-improvement that would positively affect my leadership style. The Seven Habits Profile worksheet suggests that I have great strengths in areas of being aware of others and a few weaknesses in the areas of beginning with the end in mind, putting first things first, and work/life balance. These weaknesses mostly fall within the personal victory of achieving higher effectiveness. Reflecting on the program and the results of the Seven Habits Profile, I recognize my own personal weaknesses of being able to stay focused and organizing my time. To be a more effective leader I should develop habits that focus on …show more content…
A2. Scholarly Leadership Theory Servant leadership has been around for thousands of years. Though more notably within religious context, the subject of servant leadership and the traits associated with success have blossomed greatly since the 1970’s when Robert Greenleaf published his insights on the subject. Greenleaf expresses how servant leaders exist in many areas, including business. Servant leadership, unlike transactional, is focused on serving the individual needs of others before the needs of the organization. The theory is that organizations will function at higher levels when the personal needs of others are being met. Greenleaf also suggests, “The servant leader is a servant first” (Greenleaf, 1977/2002, “The Servant as Leader section, Who Is the Servant-Leader?” para. 1). Evaluating my own management abilities and research in leadership, I have taken great interest in the servant leadership theory. A few of my greatest leadership strengths and weaknesses are related to my strong desire to see the growth and success of others. Robert K. Greenleaf, author of, Servant Leadership: A Journey Into the Nature of Legitimate Power and Greatness,
“Servant leadership is a philosophy and set of practices that enriches the lives of individuals, builds better organizations and ultimately creates a more just and caring world.” (greenleaf.org)
As the authors cite Robert K. Greenleaf ‘s book on “servant as a leader” which say that “ the servant leader is servant first”( Burbridge and Ann,2012,p.45)servant leaders put leading at the last and serving at first. This makes this kind of a leader different
Servant leadership can be a difficult leadership approach to utilize in every organization. Being able to conceptualize is undoubtedly an important cognitive capacity in all kinds of leadership, but why is it a defining characteristic of servant leadership? A clear explanation for its central role and servant leadership needs to be addressed and defined in further research. (Northouse p.241) The focus of servant leadership is on others and meeting the needs of others. Self-interest should not motivate servant leadership; rather, it should ascend to a higher plane of motivation. (Stone p.352) Successful servant leaders must be able to provide and share the organization’s vision while also supporting and build the trust of others.
Servant Leadership (Greenleaf, 1970) is focused on the feeling of wanting to severe first, they have a desire to serve the followers needs over their own interest and focuses heavily on the development of the followers. A servant leader has a strong moral and ethical component has had strong desire to severe those who are less fortunate. Northouse (2016) cited Greenleaf ‘s (1970) original text “ the central goal of servant leadership is to create healthy organization that nurture individual growth, strengthen organizational performance and in the end produce a positive impact on society” (p.236).
John Barbuto and Daniel Wheeler (2006, 300)—authors of “Scale Development and Construct Clarification of Servant Leadership”—state that Greenleaf (1977) developed 11 dimensions of servant leadership that include: “calling, listening, empathy, healing, awareness, persuasion, conceptualization, foresight, stewardship, growth, and community building.” Again, it should be noted that although Greenleaf (1977) uses the term “calling,” he does not use it in a spiritual sense, but more on a secular level (Barbuto and Wheeler 2006, 300). The results from Barbuto and Wheeler’s (2006) investigation found only five dimensions that relate to servant leadership and not all of them the same as those put forth by Greenleaf (1977). These five dimensions include
The book “Mini habits: Smaller habits, Bigger results” written by Stephen Guise is one of the most fascinating and moving book every student should possess. The book studies one of the issues that face everyone. The book is interesting and informative in my opinion and it provided clear outlines on how one small change can create a big effect. I personally found it useful and applicable to my life, about how good habits could be started through a small change while giving many different results. I often wonder why sometimes my habits couldn’t be formed even though I tried many ways. I finally found the answer in this book because “the mini habit idea shades lighter onto how to grow in any sphere of life” (Guise, 2013. The book is also important
According to Greenleaf (1970), servant leadership is based on the premise that leaders who are best able to motivate followers are those who focus least on satisfying their own personal needs and most on prioritizing the fulfillment of the followers’ needs (as cited in Linden, Wayne, Liao, & Meuser, 2014). Organizational culture is contingent on the leader’s style and qualities, and how he is received by his employees.
There is no man who hasn’t acquired some habits during the lifetime. After all, we have a habit of creating and maintaining habits. Each of us has habits, some desirable and other undesirable, some of which we are aware and some that may never regain consciousness. You must acquire new habits such as implementing new ideas. New habits can enrich our lives in many ways and make us healthier, happier and better. But there are those habits that do exactly the opposite. And these habits should be noted, but missed, and it is sometimes more difficult than to adopt a good
My results showed that my highest rated categories are been proactive, begin with the end in mind, think win-win, and seek first to understand, synergize, and sharpen the saw, emotional bank account. These categories were rated outstanding. My lowest results were life balance and first thing first these results were consider very good on the seven habits
Historically, servant leadership has been one of the most applicable theory used to describe a person 's or an organization act of service. In which most can state it brought about improving the quality of people 's lives. Highly respected servant leaders that people honored and admired such as Gandhi, Mother Teresa, and Martin Luther King, Jr., has earned their glorious name as a faithful servant leader because they removed obstacles from people 's path by bringing about social changes (Nahavandi, 2014). People who were impacted by any servant leaders can say, servant leaders significantly contributed to social justices as the leaders ' transforms themselves into teachers for his or her followers.
Transactional Leadership means that there is a reciprocity of behavior between the leader and the follower. People will follow based on the incentives in place and the leader’s job is to find the right mix of rewards and punishments and then closely monitor what’s going on.
One of the basic foundations of servant leadership is trust. (Autry, 2001). When a leader displays that they
Considering the previous habits I have examined, all the reflections I have on recent events are related to the seven habits and my continued personal and professional development. This proves the textbook is very helpful and useful, because it covers every aspects of my life. However, the most important habit I would consider as Habit Four: think win/win. Because win/win is the fundamental of a long term success between two parties.
Healing. “One of the great strengths of servant-leadership is the potential for healing one 's self and others. Many people have broken spirits and have suffered from a variety of emotional hurts. Although this is part of being human, servant-leaders recognize that they also have an opportunity to "help make whole" those with whom they come in contact” (Spears,
The second habit, “Beginning with the End in Mind,” was by far the most inspiring and meaningful habit of all. This chapter began by telling me to imagine my funeral and to imagine the significant people in my life in attendance and what they would say about me. While the text portrayed a morbid scene, the visualization exercise was extremely powerful. The exercise made me think about what I want people to remember me for, what accomplishments I want to have completed, and what kind of impact I want to have on the people around me. While thinking about what I want to have completed during the course of my life, I then began to question whether or not the things I am doing today are helping me to reach my