The Servant Leadership Essay Example for Free

The Servant Leadership Essay What does servant leadership mean to you, and how can you practice servant leadership in your college community?   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   In my own humble view, servant leadership may be defined as a person who lives in the service of others even as he strives to lead them towards the fulfillment of certain objectives and goals. A servant leader is usually embodied in a person who epitomizes the 10 principles of servant leadership as listed by Larry Spears of Greenleaf Center. These 10 principles are listening, empathy, healing, awareness, persuasion, conceptualization, foresight, stewardship, commitment to the growth of people, and lastly, building community.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   I believe that since I am a gay man living in a homophobic world, I will be able to use and develop the aforementioned skills that I know I possess, in my quest to help the homosexual community. I can help them learn how to gain social and personal acceptance in the world just as I did. We live in a world that claims to be accepting and tolerating of the third sex. With all the various cause oriented groups and gay rights advocate movement that abound, this would certainly seem to ring true. But the truth of the matter is that the world is still homophobic of people that they deem to be different from what is traditionally dictated to be normal. This is why I want to be a servant leader in my college community.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   I will make it my personal crusade to insure that the gay and heterosexual communities in my future college will learn how to co-exist in peace through my example. As a servant leader, I will make it my personal duty to listen to the heterosexuals and explain to them about where my fellow gay people are coming from. I will empathize with both parties and make sure that they will listen and understand the reality of a homosexual life and why we are just like any other normal people. These things have to be accomplished in order to heal the wounds caused by decades of sexual ignorance and bigotry. A servant leader must always be self aware and generally aware of his surroundings. It is also my duty to insure that my fellow students and servant leaders are aware of important matters that will be of importance to our organization and community and insure that these are dealt with speedily and accordingly.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   I plan to serve my college community by using my foresight and skills in conceptualizing and creating relevant activities that will foster camaraderie amongst all the students and faculty on campus. I will insure that everyone participating in the activity will be very keen on helping develop the personal, professional, and spiritual growth of each participant. Such activities can be in the form of fundraisers, sports and music festivals, as well as other activities as suggested by the organization members.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The reality if the situation is that servant leaders, most specially those who begin in their local community college or corporations hold the future of human lives in their hands. As a servant leader, I have the ability to shape the world and affect the lives of the people around me in a highly positive manner.   In a way, a servant leader is in charge of building a community that can co-exist regardless of differing beliefs and perceptions. What is important is that I will be given a chance to lay the groundwork for a strong community composed of cooperative heterosexuals and homosexuals that will serve as the model organization for the others in my college community.

Writing Technology :: Writing Technology Technological Papers

Writing Technology How many times in an average day does one think about how their shoes were made, and how the invention has evolved over the years? A person could never know the full extent of it until they tried to make a pair with only the simplest of materials to use. It is so easy to say that society does not know what they have until it is gone. For this project every tool that I have ever used for writing was taken away, and it left me more than a little frustrated. It is so hard to think about going through a day without a pen, pencil, or marker to use at will. These things have become as standard as the shoes we wear on our feet. Society knows why it has them, but they do not know to what extent until they are taken away or simplified beyond recognition. There is so much thought that has to go into making something to write with. Ideas can become so complex and intricate. Most of the ideas that I came up with were just too much in the sense that I was making it harder than it needed to be. Being that I am an impatient person, I was looking for something that I could do pretty quickly. I started to look at what was available to me, and I realized that hey I live in Michigan; there are a lot of rocks around. I did not want to lug a bunch of huge, heavy things around, and so I focused on the smaller pebbles and stones instead. I found a sandy area close to where I found the rocks, and shaped small piles of them into letters. This idea was a decent one by my standards, and it was legible when it was completed. I formed the word ‘rock’ with the stones. Toward the end I did get lazy though and used twigs I found for the last letter. Upon finishing, I realized the final outcome would last for a while, but it is not transportable. This could be a problem in a more realistic setting. I can not imagine taking notes in class with stones and having to leave it there. This would make studying nearly impossible. After contemplating this for a while I came up with a plan of attack. Many ideas that have come about in the technology of writing have built on other ideas (Baron, Dennis, 36).

Personal Goals

Leadership is a highly esteemed characteristic that attaches maximum political, business and social value with it. Every group, irrespective of its size and influence, is always in search for a leader whom it can trust to steer ahead through all the possible challenges and difficulties. Therefore leadership is an individual attribute   that allows one person   to motivate and carry many others towards common dreams and goals. Leadership, by its very definition, commands implicit faith, and confidence in the actions, decisions and philosophy of the leader. Here it is vital to understand that leadership is a dynamic and integral quality of a person and leaders emerge from ordinary groups; they are not made, elected or appointed. Arguably, there are no definite copy-book rules to construct a leader. The difficulties, complexities, and challenges associated with a situation give impetus to leadership qualities in otherwise ordinary people who believe in themselves that they are capable of rising up to the difficulties as well as helping others out of it. Therefore although it might be difficult to ‘teach’ a person quality of good leader, yet one can expect to inculcate leadership qualities by observing styles and principles of successful leaders. It is said that a leader is a dealer in hope. Leadership is then about inspiration, motivation, encouragement and direction that pulls people to accomplishments that they would not had managed if left alone. However, effective leadership is a very challenging domain as it requires some impeccable personal and organizational traits that can be developed and realized through considerable experience, knowledge and self- discipline. There are no fixed guidelines, set of rules and laws that exactly prescribe the traits, qualities and attributes of a successful leader. Quite often the leadership is situational and the leader is required to act purely through intuition and circumstantial requirements. However there are certain essential skills and characteristics that are rather mandatory for effective leadership are 1 Trustworthiness: Trustworthiness is about integrity in action. Effective leadership is about achieving coordination in words and actions and following the age old principles of truth, honesty and personal integrity. 2. Fairness: Leaders can’t afford to be biased or prejudiced or it would jeopardize the confidence of the followers in their secular character. 3. Communication and listening skill. Leadership requires excellent communication and listening skill through which the leaders can articulate their views unambiguously and also hear the views of others to give them sense of participation and involvement. 4. Initiative: Leadership is about taking initiative and orienting other people towards it. Taking initiative pulls the organization rapidly ahead. 5. Good judgment: Leaders must have the ability to process all information in the backdrop of their knowledge to make correct decisions 6. Motivational capacity: Leadership is ineffective if it cant motivate people to the dream and vision of the leader. It is the most desirous quality of a leader and one that is hallmark of leadership. A good leader should be honest, loyal and committed to the goals of the organization he intends to lead. A good leader should not have a desire for wrongful gains or hidden agendas. This is why perhaps people emphasize on transparency in all dealings of any organization. Some leaders have a self plan and pursue them rather than acting in the interests of the organization. Committed to the cause of the organization or group and being live to the sacrifices and pains of your colleagues is a basic quality of a good leader. National leaders and particularly the freedom fighters of several nations had steadfast qualities and determination in them, which helped them carry on and ultimately succeed. A good leader is perhaps a good follower. There is never a stage in which you have mastered everything and this applies even to leadership. Each day you learn more and more, perhaps the rights and wrongs of your own acts too. I have always been a wilful learner and strongly believe I should always keep learning if I am to lead.   I have always respected people with values and accountability. A leader is accountable for his actions and should voluntarily open up to any questions or suspicions in his dealings. Similarly a good leader should also emphasize such qualities among his followers and make them accountable too. Simplicity is a mark of identity for any leader and projecting himself as a role model. A leader’s thoughts, actions and words should be a reflection of him, inspiring all who follow. A leader indeed should have uncommon qualities to successfully lead his organization. One of the main challenges of a leader is his ability to manage change. Change is a permanent reality across time. The world is changing at an unprecedented pace, as never before witnessed. Change in an organization, group or any set up involves altering its structure, processes, the behaviour of its management and staff, its strategy, environment etc. The structure of an organization is one of the most common targets of change. This includes the manner in which it is held together, the various configurations of people and the relationship between them, communication channels, job roles and skills. The relationships within an organization are extremely important as it contributes to the internal shape and coherence. Some processes which are altered as a result of change implementation are communication processes, management processes and learning process. Periodic reviews of its goals and progress are vital for any organization or team to stay aligned with its objectives and expectations. I understand the need and consequences of change, which an organization undertakes according to the demands placed on it. Ongoing communication can motivate managers and employees and help them to overcome resistance to an initiative, keep them prepared for the ups and downs of change. Organizations are managed by several forms of leadership based on the exertion of authority within the organization. Two main, but interconnected types of leadership in organizations are the transformational leadership and the transactional leadership, both having strong philosophical and ethical foundations. Transformational leadership gives followers the opportunity to assess the leader’s view, to seek explanations and provide solutions, while transactional leadership is more based on imposition, where followers are driven by the praise, promise or reward of the leader. In the transactional leadership, the followers are confronted by reproof, threats and disciplinary actions. Transformational leadership has become more popular in the last three decades primarily due to the changing global economy. Transformational leadership promotes equality, justice and human rights through loyalty and fairness. Recent findings suggest that team performance and communication are improved under transformational leadership. Authentic transformational leaders are sometimes transactional too. The leader may present his opinion, plans and exhort agreement on them, which however may be in the mutual interest of all involved. I consider myself as a typical transformational leader open to criticism and discussion, unafraid of my decisions being questioned. After all only collective thinking and cooperation can bring results. People generally do whatever they want to do or, are motivated to do. Motivation is another vital component associated with productivity in workplaces. Suitable theories and principles of employee motivation are applied with basic logic to address the psyche of employees who are to be motivated. Motivation can also be described as a crucial skill for any business to succeed. It involves inducing individuals from his actual and deviant state to a required desired state in a specific way. Each motivational system must be specifically designed according to the organization and prevailing circumstances. Recognizing and understanding the motivational factors for each employee or follower is very important. It would be surprising to know that things like job security, money etc. cannot help in motivating people. However fear, like yelling from boss, do serve as a short-term motivator. Employees, colleagues and supporters all need to be motivated to perform to the levels expected of them. As a thoughtful leader, I can easily motivate my employees by setting an example and not forcing them to follow me. Recruitment is a very important function of human resources and recruitment strategies are vital in attracting talented and smart prospective candidates. Selection of best candidates who fit with the work culture of the organization is very important. The recruitment also has a direct bearing on the retention factor in an organization, apart from work efficiency and quality. Be it an organization, a political party or any association; it is very essential that only the right people with the right mindset occupy responsible positions. My association with people helps me to identify such people with the right mentality and the ones who should be kept away. As a leader I try to ensure that the goals and ideals of my employee are not shouldered by wrong persons. Conflict and dissatisfaction with superiors like other leaders and officers is another common cause for resignations. When managers or team leaders fail to provide the required leadership by bullying their subordinates or treating people unfairly, it gives rise to employee discontent. Such situations emphasize on the qualities of the manager and the team leader. Only those with well-developed leadership qualities must be selected as second level leaders. They should be trained in leadership skills, methods of resolving conflict and also on dealing with grievances. Poor selection or promotion decisions too can result in rapid turnover. The selection and promotion processes must be on par with the capabilities of the individuals, with regard to the work they do. As a leader, I know that I keep a close watch on the attrition rate of my organization to seek answers as to what makes people unhappy within my business. I have also implemented exit interviews to identify grievances and offer redress. Leadership is not a characteristic that exists in isolation. As it is defined, leadership implies establishing coordination, orientation, cooperation, and collaboration among the followers to accomplish designated objectives and goals. It is   possible when leaders can inspire their followers with respect, admiration, discipline, confidence in the abilities of the leader while being helped to envision themselves as empowered individuals. A good leader has the ability to take over even most complex, demanding and otherwise impossible condition by exhibiting personal integrity, ethical and moral traits and values that other can relate to and aspire to imbibe in their own conduct (Laurie, 2000, 53). Here it is important to distinguish personal charisma from leadership, as personal charisma, being an person specific phenomena, can awe people but hardly give them impetus to follow in the footsteps of the leader. Leadership is also means natural acquisition of power and potential to change its equation affect over the leaders and their followers. There inherent dangers associated with power, and for most of the people, the timeless adage-‘power corrupts’ suits justly. Power contains a temptation that is hard to resist and has potential to become the ultimate goal for a person rather the tool that was designated in helping to achieve the goals.   But a genuine leader understands this irony of power and therefore believes that power should be shared with others so that it can grow. The real power of leaders is their ability to inspire others with a sense of power and confidence

100 Most Important Women in World History

From time to time, people publish lists of top 100 of women in history. As I think about who Id put into my own Top 100 list of women important to world history, the women in the list below would at least make it to my first draft list. Womens Rights European and British Olympe de Gouges: in the French Revolution, declared that women were equal to menMary Wollstonecraft: British author and philosopher, mother of modern feminismHarriet Martineau: wrote about politics, economics, religion, philosophyEmmeline Pankhurst: key British woman suffrage radical; Founder, Womens Social and Political Union, 1903Simone de Beauvoir: 20th-century feminist theorist Americans Judith Sargent Murray: American writer who wrote early feminist essayMargaret Fuller: Transcendentalist writerElizabeth Cady Stanton: womens rights and woman suffrage theorist and activistSusan B. Anthony: womens rights and woman suffrage spokesperson and leaderLucy Stone: abolitionist, womens rights advocateAlice Paul: a primary organizer for the last winning years of womens suffrageCarrie Chapman Catt: a longtime organizer for woman suffrage, organized international suffrage leadersBetty Friedan: feminist whose book helped launch the so-called second waveGloria Steinem: theorist and writer whose Ms. Magazine helped shape the second wave Heads of State Ancient, Medieval, Renaissance Hatshepsut: Pharaoh of Egypt who took male powers for herselfCleopatra of Egypt: last pharaoh of Egypt, active in Roman politicsGalla Placidia: Roman Empress and regentBoudicca (or Boadicea): warrior queen of the CeltsTheodora, Empress of Byzantium, married to JustinianIsabella I of Castile and Aragon, ruler of Spain who, as a partner ruler with her husband,  drove the Moors from Granada, expelled unconverted Jews from Spain, sponsored Christopher Columbus voyage to the New World, established the InquisitionElizabeth I of England, whose long rule was honored by calling that time period the Elizabethan Age Modern Catherine the Great of Russia: expanded Russias borders and promoted westernization and modernizationChristina of Sweden: patron of art and philosophy, abdicated on conversion to Roman CatholicismQueen Victoria: another influential queen for whom a whole age is namedCixi (Tzu-hsi or Hsiao-chin), last Dowager Empress of China, wielding enormous power as she opposed foreign influence and ruled strongly internallyIndira Gandhi: Prime Minister of India, also the daughter, mother, and mother-in-law of other Indian politiciansGolda Meir: Prime Minister of Israel during Yom Kippur WarMargaret Thatcher: British prime minister who dismantled social servicesCorazon Aquino: President of Philippines, reform political candidate More Politics Asian Sarojini Naidu: poet and political activist, the first Indian woman president of the Indian National Congress European and British Joan of Arc: legendary saint and martyrMadame de Stael: intellectual and salonist American Barbara Jordan: first Southern African American woman elected to CongressMargaret Chase Smith: Republican Senator from Maine, the first woman elected to both the House and the Senate, first woman to have her name placed in nomination at a Republican party conventionEleanor Roosevelt: wife and widow of Franklin Delano Roosevelt, his eyes and ears as president hampered by polio, and a human rights activist in her own right Religion European and British Hildegard of Bingen: abbess, mystic and visionary, composer of music and writer of books on many secular and religious topicsPrincess Olga of Kiev: her marriage was the occasion of the conversion of Kiev (to become Russia) to Christianity, considered the first saint of the Russian Orthodox ChurchJeanne dAlbret  (Jeanne of Navarre): Huguenot Protestant leader in France, ruler of Navarre, mother of Henry IV American Mary Baker Eddy: founder of Christian Science, author of key scriptures of that faith, founder of The Christian Science Monitor Inventors and Scientists Hypatia: philosopher, mathematician, and martyred by the Christian churchSophie Germain: mathematician whose work is still used in the construction of skyscrapersAda Lovelace: pioneer in mathematics, created the concept of an operating system or softwareMarie Curie: mother of modern physics, two-time Nobel Prize winnerMadam C. J. Walker: inventor, entrepreneur, millionaire, philanthropistMargaret Mead: anthropologistJane Goodall: primatologist and researcher, worked with chimpanzees in Africa Medicine and Nursing Trota or Trotula: a medieval medical writer (probably)Florence Nightingale: nurse, reformer, helped establish standards for nursingDorothea Dix: advocate for the mentally ill, supervisor of nurses in the U.S. Civil WarClara Barton: founder of the Red Cross, organized nursing services in the U.S. Civil WarElizabeth Blackwell: first  woman to graduate from medical school (M.D.) and a pioneer in educating women in medicine  Elizabeth Garrett Anderson:  first woman to successfully complete the medical qualifying exams in Great Britain; first woman physician in Great Britain; advocate of womens suffrage and womens opportunities in higher education; first woman in England elected as mayor Social Reform Americans Jane Addams: founder of Hull-House and of the social work professionFrances Willard: temperance activist, speaker, educatorHarriet Tubman:  fugitive slave, underground railroad conductor, abolitionist, spy, soldier, Civil War, nurseSojourner Truth: black abolitionist who also advocated for woman suffrage and met Abraham Lincoln at the White HouseMary Church Terrell: civil rights leader, founder of National Association of Colored Women, charter NAACP memberIda Wells-Barnett:  anti-lynching crusader, reporter, an early activist for racial justiceRosa Parks:  civil rights activist, especially known for desegregating buses in Montgomery, Alabama More Elizabeth Fry: prison reform, mental asylum reform, reform of convict shipsWangari Maathai: environmentalist, educator Writers Sappho: poet of ancient GreeceAphra Behn: first woman to make a living through writing; dramatist, novelist, translator, and poetLady Murasaki: wrote  whats considered the worlds first novel,  The Tale of GenjiHarriet Martineau: wrote about economics, politics, philosophy, religionJane Austen: wrote popular novels of the Romantic periodCharlotte Bronte: along with her sister Emily, author of key early 19th century novels by womenEmily Dickinson: inventive poet and recluseSelma Lagerlof: first woman to win Nobel Prize for LiteratureToni Morrison:  first African American woman to receive the Nobel Prize for Literature (1993)Alice Walker:  author of  The Color Purple; Pulitzer Prize; recovered work of Zora Neale Hurston; worked against female circumcision