organizational context.
Design and Methods Using a modified survey by Engelbrecht and Mahembe (2013), the following hypotheses were addressed:
Hypothesis 1: The facilitation of on-the-job learning and the transfer of knowledge occurs when employees perceive leader support.
Hypothesis 2: Organizational learning was conducive to employee growth and development.
Hypothesis 3: Servant leadership environments aid the transfer of knowledge by building a culture of learning whereby employees perceived the value of learning.
Hypothesis 4: Employee growth and development was positively associated with organizational performance.
Hypothesis 5: Leading by example or mentoring resulted in employees mimicking positive organizational citizenship
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These individuals are employees of Chick-fil-A, Freehold Raceway Mall, Freehold, New Jersey, an organization whose leadership style is that of servant leaders. The second part of this investigation focused on training as an antecedent of organizational performance in a servant leadership environment. Dr. Herb Shaffer (Institute for Servant Leadership), Dr. Bill Jones (Area Director for the Church of God in Michigan) and Dr. Rebecca New-Edson (Area Director for the Church of God in Western Pennsylvania), professional trainers were also interviewed. These interviews were comprised of questions focusing on training in a servant leadership environment and the impact on organizational performance. Discussions and Results section of this research paper outline the findings.
Limitations
A limitation of this research may be the length of time on the job and the relationship of trust demonstrated by followers based on the trustworthy behaviors of the leader. The measurement of emotional intelligence, which leads to trust, may be another factor that influenced the trust rating.
Analysis and Discussion Voluntary and anonymous surveys completed by eight out of twelve Chick-fil-A employees focused on four areas that have a strong relationship with and evidence of employee engagement and creating an organizational culture that is conducive to exciting organizational citizenship behaviors. The results are as follows.
Section B:
Servant leaders puts their followers first versus the goals and objectives of the organization, which limits organizational strategy and processes and lacks continuous improvement of core competencies; therefore, there is no research to date that proves this leadership style increases organizational performance (de Waal & Sivro, 2012). In contrast, as a positive, communication strategies of servant leaders are rewarded with employee loyalty and decreased staff turnover which increase patient outcomes and satisfaction due to staff feelings of appreciation and compassion from the servant leader (Marquis & Huston,
Lynch and Friedman (2013) express that “Servant leadership is a valuable approach in politics and industry. Adding the spiritual component−striving to build a spiritual workplace and working to improve society− completes the paradigm and makes it more valuable as a leadership theory” (p.
Servant leadership is an effectual way to motivate the employees. Its unique emphasis on concern for
Servant Leadership is “an approach to leadership with strong altruistic and ethical overtones that asks and requires leader to be attentive to the needs of their followers and empathize with them; they should take care of them by making sure they become healthier, wiser, freer and more autonomous, so that they too can become servant leaders” (Valeri, 2007). Although there is not many servant leaders in this world but the concept of servant is one of the most leadership approach leaders today struggles with. Servant leadership is mainly about the leader helping to grow their followers or members personally and professionally through empathy, listening skills and compassion. The concept of servant leadership which was proposed by Robert K. Greenleaf in his 1970 writing indicated that servant leadership is a theoretical framework that advocated a leader’s primary motivation and role as service to others.
Chick fil A is a unique company and is clearly different from most fast-food restaurants; employees are kind, helpful and maintain a clean environment no matter where they located. As stated previously Chick-fil- A’s corporate purpose is constructive in addition it emphasizes their culture “To glorify god by being a faithful steward of all that is entrusted to us. To have a positive influence on all who come in contact with Chick-fil- A.” (cite) This statement truly shows how the company’s leadership has created a culture where service is just as important as profit. The emphasis of this section of the paper will be to research while also analyzing how Chick-fil-A makes people a priority and how doing things in an uncommon way has certainly helped Chick-fil-A create a strong culture as well as a successful business.
Servant leadership is one of several models that have some basis in ethics, according to Northouse (2013), in this way servant leadership distinguishes itself from trait, path-goal or transformational models. The aim of this paper will be to examine on attribute of servant-leadership, describing how the principles might be applied, and the impact of such an approach, in a practical setting. The second part of this paper will evaluate servant leadership’s relationship with the Christian religion and ask whether the model is compatible with other belief systems.
Servant-leadership is widely researched and discussed from a secular and Christian worldview (Fischer, 2010; see also Blanchard & Hodges, 2005). A Christian is called to follow God in all he does but life experiences can be conflicting in dealing with the spiritual and secular context; however, Christ wants his followers to operate within the context of the secular world. True servant-leadership is to emulate how Jesus led those around him - with complete selflessness and by serving others. Moreover, it is challenging for humans to be servant-leaders as they often desire
In conjunction with my first strength, my second strength has been identified as the capacity to help subordinates grow and develop within their career. I have demonstrated this by mentoring employees. This has included helping them grow within their current position as well as aiding them in moving up from their current level within the organization. This aid is often in the form of teaching, listening, and giving them my insight to what I have observed within the organization in concern to both reviews of work and job promotions. Development of employees has to be a quality that is purposefully demonstrated consistently and not just when an employee asks for help. This requires a regular effort on the part of the leader of a team. In order to help an employee in this aspect a leader has to know employees on a basic fundamental level. The leadership practice of aiding in an employees’ career growth cannot be effectively engaged without the insight gained by the understanding and communication
2. Give your opinion on the current Organizational Learning Mechanism(s) (OLMs) that hinder organizational learning. Support your response with one (1) example of a training or learning initiative (e.g., sharing knowledge, training programs, working as a team, experiences, procedures, processes, etc.) and the outcome when it was applied to the organization.
Many companies are very keen and ready to clinch Work Base Learning in an organization, not mainly because it provide you with lifelong learning, but also it is an important ingredient of what Senge (1990) has termed as the ‘learning organization’. A learning organization is a place in which the learning and flair of persons is backed and promoted so that the organization itself be able to form its future and it also very important to gain competitive advantage.
In the process of interviewing a servant leader, this paper investigates the defining behavior of servant leadership from a practical and philosophical standpoint. There are practical behavioral characteristics that can be uniformly integrated into the business infrastructure that is founded upon Biblical principles yet not used as a pool to proselytize. Through research and group discussion boards, this paper analyzes the institutional applications and the interpersonal relationships
As with the companies in the case studies, United Service Automobile Association (USAA) illustrates different facets of servant leadership (Northouse, 2013, p.236). The company displays servant leadership based on a mixture of a few of the ten characteristics of servant leadership (Spears, 2002) and the four of the seven servant leadership behaviors (Liden, Wayne, et al.’s, 2008). The characteristics are empathy and listening. The behaviors displayed are putting followers first, helping followers grow and succeed, behaving ethically, and creating value for the community. Servant leadership is seen in USAA from the creation of the company in 1922 to present.
The Servant by John C. Hunter, 2012, is a story about an seemingly successful businessman who finds himself at a crossroads professionally and personally. This book’s well-developed introduction lends credibility and lays the foundation for the story’s development. The story describes in detail and with transparent examples the core principles of an increasingly popular leadership style know as servant leadership. In the introduction, we find the main character of the story (John Daly), struggling to find his way. His pastor and wife recommend a retreat, so he can get away for a few days and sort things out.
In the book The Servant, the author James C. Hunter discusses Servant Leadership, and the impact it has on every aspect of life. The book begins with a middle-aged man, John, who has it all, a supportive wife and kids and an authoritative job as a manager at a glass factory. John however, feels his life is falling apart, his employees aren’t respecting him and his relationships with his wife and kids are becoming distant and negative. In an attempt to make a change, John attended a week long religious retreat that’s main focus is Servant Leadership. The attendees at this retreat were all very different, their careers varied greatly, and their views on how to be a leader were not alike either. In the end though, they all agreed on one thing, making a change to become a Servant Leader was going to reshape their lives, through both their careers and relationships.
Fuller, Dainty, Thorpe (2007) constructed a position based on extant theory defining how the learning propagates within a knowledge intensive firm.