Servant Leadership And Eleanor Roosevelt's Leadership Style

Over the course of my career, I have tried to model various leadership behaviors based upon successful leaders that I have worked with or for. This has led me to incorporate different styles into my own. Considering my current leadership strengths and how I view successful leaders I will use a servant leadership theory to analyze my own competencies. Servant leaders have 9 different aspects comprised of: emotional healing, creating value for the community, conceptual skills, empowering, helping subordinates grow and succeed, putting subordinates first, behaving ethically, relationships, and servanthood (Boone & Makhani, 2005, pg. 86). The aspects of a servant leader are those that I personally value and identify with. In addition to this, it is my belief that servant leaders, because they are people oriented, are more effective in a variety of environments and situations.

An example of an individual that had outstanding leadership skills is President Andrew Jackson, who, irrespective of previous letdowns, with persistent innovation and passion did all he could to clinch the presidential seat and make America a better place. He being categorized among our forefathers, the first Presidents of the United States, makes him an individual that was not motivated by money or the like, but one that was driven by a deep feeling to serve Americans for the sake of establishment of their country (Barbuto & Wheeler, 2007). Andrew Jackson was a true servant leader because he operated within the premise upon which servant leadership is founded upon i.e. “There's no greater purpose than service to others.” He stands out from the current world presidents of today because he was never driven by power, money, and prestige but through service to other people. This paper is going to give invaluable insights concerning Andrew Jackson's leadership style through the lens of the servant leader.

A leader is defined as a someone who “inspires followers to go beyond their own-self-interests for the good

1. What is the historical basis of servant leadership? What are the unique, underlying values of his perspective?

On the other hand, a leader is a person who influences a group of people in order to achieve certain goal. According to Oliver, (2006), leader is an individual who has an ability to

When it comes to describing leadership that has a set of practices that enriches the lives of people, build strong organizations and creates a moral and caring world Servant leadership comes to mind. Developed by Robert K. Greenleaf in 1970, Servant leadership is a theoretical framework of set practices that advocates leader motivation and the role of service to people and its community. A simple and profound quote by Mr. Greenleaf captures the essence and powerful concept of the theory of Servant leadership “…The great leader is seen as a servant first…” (Smith, 2005, p. 3). The quote suggests that a servant leader has a natural inclination as a person that wants to serve first, which is a sharp contrast to a person who is a leader first. The servant first and the leader first is two polar opposites, the leader first is power driven to acquire material wealth, whereas servant leader aspires to better serve others to meet their needs before the leader

Is a leader as defined in the Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary, merely one who leads - synonymous with a boss? Or something more? I believe that a leader is much more than that and can be defined in any number of ways. In attempting to define a leader personally, I will use both myself and others as examples.

An author that is consistently referred to by Yukl, 2013 is James M. Burns, 1978 on transformational leadership. According to Burns, transforming leadership is a process in which "leaders & followers help each other to advance to a higher level of morale and motivation" (Burns, 1978). Burns (1978) informs the readers that the purported difference between leadership and management is in the character and behavior. Burns’s (1978) perspective on leadership has been used by others to develop leadership theories and influence on followers for positive performance (Yukl, 2013). Burns (1978) is said to have developed the idea that transformational leaders change the behavior and motivations of followers. In other words, influence on followers can be determined by the leadership method, behavior, and style. Transformational leaders strive to motivate and change followers’ mentality to redirect energy into action to complete the goals and mission of the organization (Burns, 1978). The argument is that the character and traits of the leader transforms and motivates subordinates to perform better and better (Yukl, 2013).

A leader is someone who will step up in the times of crisis and is able to think and act creatively in a difficult situation according to businessdictionary.com. A leader can also inspire others to be engage and to work together to achieve a common goal.

Transformational leadership is defined as having four conceptually distinct elements: charismatic leadership/idealized influence, inspirational motivation, intellectual stimulation, and individualized consideration (Bass, 1996). Servant leadership has

Transformational leadership. Burns (1978) is recognized as one of the earliest theorist on transformational leadership, who introduced transformational leadership over 30 years ago. Transformational leaders are perceived as leaders who uplift their employee morale, subsequently uplifting the entire organizational. Transformational leaders are known by their capacity to inspire followers to forgo self-interests in achieving superior results for the organization (Clawson, 2006). Avolio and Yammarino (2002) shared Bass’s explanation of transformational leadership as leaders who act as agents of change that stimulate, and transform followers’ attitudes, beliefs, and motivate from lower to higher level of arousal.

LEADERSHIP- THE POSITION OR FUNCTION OF A LEADER, A PERSON WHO GUIDES OR DIRECTS A GROUP.

Leadership is when a person motivates, inspires, encourages, and directs activates that will lead to reaching goals (Jones and George, 2013). Being a leader is an important role, one can be a leader at their job, and in their home life.

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,

For a quick review, the definition of leadership is a process whereby an individual influences a group or individuals, to achieve a common goal.