Why People Follow

Great leaders work purposefully to communicate what is important. A clear and commonly understood set of standards is critical to encouraging the heart. Standards must have a focus on excellence and be inspirational. Kouzes & Posner state that people want to do a good job and be successful, and it is an essential part of a leader’s role to communicate what success looks like. Standards are comprised of three aspects; all of which leaders must address. First, leaders must seek to address values. Leaders have to stand for something and have courage in their principles. Leaders must convey these values to other members and seek correspondence between personal and

An effective leader focuses on people and therefore empathises with them. Empathy is the tool of emotional intelligence which successful leaders apply. When individuals realise that their feelings and concerns are being acknowledged they develop a sense of trust which fosters a strong relationship based on loyalty to the leader - that way people’s hearts are worn to the cause of the leader. Thus, shared values are identified that sustain the quest of vision and purpose as Gill (2006:82) alludes to. He further mentions that all visioning, strategic thinking and goal setting without effective emotional intelligence are impotent.

The workforce within any organization is the engine that keeps the business moving forward. Positive leadership, as well as effective and competent following, could be the difference between success and failure for a business. Effective leadership and followers should have a symbiotic relationship, which is the most effective way a business will meet its goals. It can be seen within Jake’s Pet Land case study that there truly is a difference between leadership styles amongst different leaders. While Philip and Jan took a different approach to being a leader, Adam’s role of the follower stayed the same. Adam continued to exemplify the best characteristics possible as a follower in order to make the business as

Although Leading with Soul by Lee Bolman and Terrence Deal was written in 1995, it is a classic best seller leadership book that is constantly praised for its innovative ways it encourages those to lead. It is such a classic that it has since been rewritten to reflect the current times and issues leaders face today, such as economic hardships. This book was definitely written ahead of its time in the ways that Bolman and Deal takes spiritual approaches to help those ranging from CEO’s to a regular employee find their path in life. Leading with Soul is an innovative way to inspire those to lead; it strikes down the conventional ways that leadership is discussed. Typically when one reads leadership books one finds chapters on principles, theories and skills however this focuses on leadership being an “uncommon journey of the spirit.”

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.

It is impossible to escape the message here that if people work with leaders who encourage the heart, they feel better about themselves. Their self-esteem goes up. These leaders set people's spirits free, often inspiring them to become more than they ever thought possible. This, indeed, may be our ultimate mission as leaders.

Antecedents that influence leadership include factors such as the leader’s personality and ethics, followers’ openness, and cultural norms. Furthermore, the leader’s behaviors affect the process. For example, a leader needs to be knowledgeable regarding an organization’s goals to effectively address and handle difficult situations. A servant leader assists followers in achieving purposes. A leader treats followers fairly and respects personal values. The leader helps followers learn to make choices. An ideal outcome is a favorable effect on the followers, organization, and community. The leader can determine which needs will help followers progress and plan to meet those needs through developing programs or obtaining funding (Northouse, 2016).Servant leadership is important for management because it affects employee’s productivity. While a manager requires work to be completed and appears unconcerned if an employee has a problem, the servant leader may help a follower so he or she can work successfully. For example, although a manager may penalize an employee for arriving late, a servant leader may ask the employee what he or she needs to arrive to work on time. After the leader and the employee successfully collaborate, the effect is that the manager is appeased and the employee keeps a job. A servant leader can help employees develop a supportive community

Leaders believe people have an intrinsic value beyond tangible contributions as workers. As a result, genuine interest in the spiritual, professional and personal growth of all employees is demonstrated.

Out of all the different leadership theories I learned about this semester I really feel that I best relate to transformational leadership and authentic leadership theories. During the development of my personal theory I found that these theories tended to list many similar traits, and values that aligned with my own. Additionally, both authentic and transformative theories place a significant amount of emphasis on the relationship between the leader and her/his followers. The success and influence of a leader comes not from herself but from her ability to create and invoke strong relationships with their followers. Given my character strengths of being understanding, upholding my sense of fairness, honesty and my strong sense of morals,

Out of all the different leadership theories I learned about this semester I really feel that I best relate to transformational leadership and authentic leadership theories. During the development of my personal theory I found that these theories tended to list many similar traits, and values that aligned with my own. Additionally, both authentic and transformative theories place a significant amount of emphasis on the relationship between the leader and her/his followers. The success and influence of a leader comes not from herself but from her ability to create and invoke strong relationships with their followers. Given my character strengths of sociability, integrity, assertiveness, and my drive to connect to others on a deeper level, I value both the authentic and the transformative leadership theories.

By being a servant leader, I will put the needs of my employees first to ensure that my company is socially responsible through quality customer service rendered by me and employees. Since leadership is considered a critical force in producing positive outcomes in organizations through the performance of employees, it is very important to take servant leadership seriously (Grisaffe, VanMeter, Chonko 2016). My main and foremost priority as a servant leader is to serve others with real selflessness before aiming for profit. For instance, as a non-medical owner of a care

The self-assessment I performed in social motives indicates that I have firm concerns for human benefits (Leadership, 2004). Leaders with these characteristics care about people and hope to help mankind. Common characteristics of this type of leader are helpfulness, generosity, and thoughtfulness and welfare of others. The second assessment was leadership styles and my preferred style of leading is participative style. This style consists of leaders and followers sharing in decision making. The leaders let the people know the principles and set forth methods of decision making and everyone is involved in

Organization leaders should understand that employees are not only economic beings motivated by money but are also social beings motivated by social factors such as love and conducive working culture (Marquet, 2015). Sinek focuses on the various means of bringing the balance back in our organizations so that companies and the individual workers can work side by side in a symbiotic affiliation with each other. For example, Sinek points out an example of a CEO named Bob Chapman, whose major focus was building workers who are capable of doing extraordinary things (Sinek, 2014). Considered a people-centric leadership style, Mr.

Empathy. “The servant-leader strives to understand and empathize with others. People need to be accepted and recognized for their special and unique spirits. One assumes the good intentions of coworkers and does not reject them as people, even if one finds it necessary to refuse to accept their behavior or performance” (Spears, 2004).

Authentic leaders create healthy enterprises for the long term and almost without exception, emerging leaders have solid values and a sense of purpose. We are looking to make a difference, to contribute to a worthwhile cause through our work and to find a reasonable balance between our work and home lives. In addition, to work where we trust the leaders and share a common set of values is essential to the chemistry involved in organizational leadership. “We have different gifts, according to the grace given us. If a man’s gift is prophesying, let him use it in proportion to his faith. If it is serving, let him serve; if it is teaching, let him teach; if it is encouraging, let him encourage; if it is contributing to the needs of others, let him give generously; if it is leadership, let him govern diligently; if it is showing mercy, let him do it cheerfully” (Romans 12:6-8, 1984, NIV).