Reflection

As graduation draws nearer, it is finally starting to hit me that this is truly it! After my 2 years here at SDSU in the HTM program I finally am starting to figure out who I am as a leader and who I aspire to keep working towards. I came into this program not feeling like a leader in anyway, yes my MBTI says I am an extrovert, but in many ways I've always felt like an introvert as well. I was very shy and absolutely hated public speaking, so this narrative will be interesting when it's my turn to share. I wasn't quite sure what to say in my narrative because I still feel like I have so much growing to do, and I do believe leadership comes through experience. When I met with Lori I told her this, and I told her I don't know what to say, but I do know how I want to come across and that is sincere. Lori gave me great advice, "just say that!" That is exactly how I took my narrative, when I sat down to write it, the words spilled out easier and quicker than I thought, it turns out I really do have strong opinions on what I think makes a great leader and the one I want to be. I am a strong believer in transformational leadership because I feel like I was transformed throughout my time here at SDSU, so why not believe in something when it actually happened to you! To keep it short, my goal as leader is to motivate and transform people to reach their highest potential. It really makes me happy to see others succeed and be genuinely happy. In my past I've always looked up to managers that have pushed me in the right direction to want to be better, so that is my goal as I embark on my journey as a leader into "the real world." (scary!!) I'm very nervous to give my final narrative in 2 days but am also excited to share what I am about with all of you! Thanks guys! :)

Leadership Theory Map

The Servant Leadership Theory!

When searching for other leadership theories that we had not discussed in class, I came across a few different ones, but the theory that caught my eye the most was one called Servant Leadership. My first assumption of this type of leadership was a leader who treated his followers like servants, somehow motivating them by pushing them to work hard. My assumption was very wrong once I started researching about just what Servant Leadership is. “Servant Leadership” was coined by Robert K. Greenleaf in an essay that was published in 1970. In simple terms the Servant Leadership Theory states that servant leaders are servants first and leaders later. These leaders have the inclination to serve which aspires them to later lead. The main goal of a Servant Leader is becoming the leader whose main focus is serving the interests of the followers.  Greenleaf stated Servant Leaders should ask themselves two questions: 1) Does this help my followers grow as people? 2) Does it help the least privileged in society? The servant leader model was created and identifies 10 major attributes of being a servant leader.

1. Listening—a simple practice that can be difficult to adhere to amidst the many competing demands on a leader's attention
2. Empathy—understanding the perspectives and feelings of those around you
3. Healing—admitting to mistakes, asking for forgiveness and in turn forgiving others
4. Awareness—an astute grasp of what is going on within and around you
5. Persuasion—showing the way and inviting others to follow
6. Conceptualization—visualizing inspiring pictures of what could be
7. Foresight—predicting and preparing for what may be around the corner
8. Stewardship—taking temporary responsibility for the welfare of the people and things in your charge
9. Growth—using education, coaching, encouragement and empowerment to help others reach their potential
10. Building community—nurturing social identity and mutual responsibility

Servant Leadership is similar to Democratic leadership. This leader in a company wants their employees to be involved in decision making and empowers them to act. It is based off of value- based management. One criticism found for this theory is that it is based on popular philosophy not on research. A major strength found for the Servant Leadership Theory is its contribution to the all-round development of the employee. Instead of pushing goals onto the employee, the servant leader takes the time to help the employee reach their full potential and focuses on their needs. Because the leader was a servant first, it leads them to have a desire to better serve others, not for the power. The theory states that if the leader focuses on the followers needs, the followers will then want to reciprocate the attitude of their leader and lead to better performances as a whole.

http://theleaderlab.org/2010/04/servant-leadership-theory/
http://www.regent.edu/acad/global/publications/sl_proceedings/2006/waddell.pdf

Midterm Template

Hi everyone! Here is my attached pdf file for the midterm: I hope it works!!

http://www.scribd.com/doc/51397833/MidtermTempate

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EFFtJq6jyco

I’ve mentioned the movie “Freedom Writers” several times since starting this blog because it is probably the number one movie I think of when I think of true leadership. This is the trailer for the movie showing Erin Gruwell’s transformational leadership style.

An Expert of Leadership

James MacGregor Burns was born August 3, 1918 in Melrose.  He majored in political science at Williams University then went on to earn his PhD in government from Harvard. He is best known for being a presidential  biographer, his work on executive and legislative branches of government, a leadership expert, and is currently working on politics for the Supreme Court. He has written over 20 books focusing on leadership and coined the term “transformational” leadership. He moved the idea of leadership from trait based to the idea of leader/follower relationships.  He is a very important scholar and is best known for his 1978 book “Leadership,” as well as his second volume of “Roosevelt: Soldier of Freedom," which won him the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award.

More about Theories!

In this class we have learned many different theories about leadership and are still exploring which ones we agree or don’t agree with. There have been many different ideas from the past that explains what makes a true leader a leader.  Fiedler created the Contingency Model which proposes that leaders are either task-oriented or relationship oriented, one or the other, never both.  He uses a scale known as the LPC (least preferred co-worker) to determine which type of leader one is, task or relationship.

The Situational Leadership Model was created by a man named Blanchard. His theory of leadership is quite different from Fiedler in the way that Blanchard believes a leader will change his or her leadership style depending on a given situation. Similarly to Fiedler’s Contingency Model it is based on a scale of high or low relationship or high/low with task. I personally agree with Blanchard’s Situational Leadership Model. I believe a leader can be more of a relationship oriented person but be able to change into a task oriented person when the time calls for it. I find myself a high relationship oriented person but when working in groups and something needs to be done I can change into a task-oriented person very quickly.