Worldview Regarding Servant Leadership - Essay Example

?Servant Leadership A person's worldview and inner maturity can influence the ability of a leader to lead effectively. A true leader is one who hasthe ability to view the bigger picture of the issues by getting an understanding of the concepts of reality. “Worldview is an individual as well as a group phenomenon” (Jenkins, 2006). A person’s worldview and inner maturity are those factors, which play considerable roles in the development of an effective leader. From organizational perspective, an effective leader must have the ability to examine all issues related to the organization. Moreover, an effective leader needs to be mature internally because inner maturity makes a leader take correct decisions regarding any kind of situation. Worldview and inner maturity also play their roles in the achievement of desired sets of goals and objectives. Without having an understanding of these concepts, it is impossible for a leader to make a successful struggle towards achievement of goals. Inner maturity makes a leader learn from experiences. Effective leaders consider the deficiencies of the previous strategies while making up new plans. Some of the core qualities of a leader who has the powers of inner maturity and emotional intelligence include creativity, integrity, dedication, openness, listening to the concerns of others, intelligence, visionary outlook, and good communication skills. A leaders’ moral foundation reflects the positive aspects of his or her personality to other people. Inner maturity makes a person serve other people by listening to their concerns. Inner maturity and personal worldview are two of the main qualities of a servant leader. A servant leader is a person who can see the bigger picture of the issues by considering all positive and negative aspects of the issues, social constructs, and moral perceptions. “Worldview denotes the complex of beliefs, concepts, sense of order and social constructs, role-models and moral precepts which are unique and peculiar in comparison to other such complexes of other such socio-cultural groupings” (Jenkins, 2006). Inner maturity, on the other hand, makes a leader lead people in every field of life by setting his or her own example. There are some key components, which need to be the part of the qualities of an effective leader with high levels of inner maturity and personal worldview. Those components include motivation to help people, ability to give individual consideration, idealized influence, and intellectual stimulation. Inner maturity helps a person develop the qualities of trust, belief, and reliance. Therefore, inner maturity and worldview helps a leader achieve the goals successfully because they provide a source of inspiration for the followers of the leader. 2 Before going to identify and explain two philosophical worldviews and one religious worldview that can support servant leadership, let us get a better understanding what servant leadership actually is. Mallory (n.d.) states, “Servant leadership is a business philosophy in which managers and other people in positions of authority strive to act as servants to those who are subordinate to them”. Servant leadership is such style of leadership, which makes the subordinates feel valued when the leaders consider their needs and concerns while setting up their strategies. “This style of leadership often involves trying to meet the needs of the employees or members of a manager’s organization” (Mallory, n.d.). Some key aspects of servant leadership include dedication, taking care of individual concerns, addressing and analyzing crisis, giving priority to individual benefits, life-long learning ability, and showing enthusiasm towards goal achievement. McCrimmon (n.d.) states, “Servant leadership also has paternalistic overtones as it suggests doing things for employees rather than helping them to think for themselves”. Servant leaders are the sources of inspiration for their people and the people look towards them for guidance. They work for employees’ concerns and needs and make them followers creative by inculcating the sense of creativity and innovation in their minds. Aristotelian worldview regarding servant leadership is that a servant leader meets the needs of the employees by valuing them and dong right things. Some of the virtues of servant leadership style supported by Aristotle include courage, temperance, generosity, friendliness, and concern for others. Servant leadership has the potential to heal employees by providing them with extreme care and attention. Patterson is another philosopher who gave his description of servant leadership in 2003. Patterson used the concept of virtue to describe leadership. The difference between Aristotle’s worldview regarding servant leadership and Patterson’s worldview is based on the virtues that they used to describe servant leadership. Aristotle valued the virtue of pride whereas Patterson gives more importance to humility. Patterson’s view related to servant leadership is that servant leaders not only support the opinion of the public as a whole but also give value to the opinion of every individual participating in the struggle. They develop supportive and kind relationship with their followers and encourage them to share their ideas with the leaders. Patterson believes that humility, empowerment, trust, and service are such virtues, which describe the qualities of a good servant leader. He believes that servant leadership is an ethical form of leadership. Patterson promotes the concept of virtues as something that explains the importance of practicing servant leadership (Wallace, 2007). If we talk about religious worldviews regarding servant leadership, we come to know that Buddhism’s worldview seems to be most compatible with the concept of servant leadership. Buddhism focuses on the interrelatedness of all humans and believes truly promotes the concept of servant leadership. Buddhism is a religion, which poses such virtues that relate to external practices and inner maturity of the leaders. “Buddhism is technically a nontheistic religion and poses virtues which guide the follower” (Wallace, 2007). Some of the responsibilities of a servant leader supported by the Buddhism worldview include providing inspiration to their followers, , paying attention towards the concerns of the followers, stimulating the followers to be inventive, respecting the opinions of followers, and providing them with good advices to help them achieve their personal goals and objectives. In Buddhism, servant leaders are viewed as the leaders who respect the needs of the followers and take every step in the favor of people. Servant leadership is based on the perception that people follow a person who inspires them. Actions and speeches of a servant leader always reflect the opinions, concerns, and demands of the public. 3 Inner maturity and awareness, such as, emotional intelligence play a great role in enabling a leader to model the capacities or characteristics of servant leadership. Inner maturity is a quality, which makes leaders effective and productive for their followers. Leaders need to be intelligent, emotionally as well as intellectually to develop the characteristics of a servant leader. Servant leaders possess the characteristics, such as, stewardship, compassion, concern for followers, inner maturity, and commitment and dedication. Servant leadership style is very beneficial for bringing an essential change in the organization’s system. In case of bringing some desired changes, a servant leader makes use of his emotional intelligence and inner maturity not only expresses his/her vision of the organization's future to the employees but also inspires and motivates all employees of the organization towards the process of transformation. “When the leader is supportive and attentive to the needs of his workforce he allows them to engage and grow into their full potential” (Hunter, 2010). A servant leader must have complete understanding of his or her role in ensuring employees’ wellbeing. Self-confidence, mental strength, and inner maturity are those qualities of a servant leader, which make him/her a role model for the employees of an organization. Inner maturity and awareness make leaders able to discover needs of the employees or followers, which make the leaders take considerable steps towards the fulfillment of those needs. References Hunter, P. (2010). Servant Leadership, Robert Greenleaf - A Review of the Book. Retrieved from http://ezinearticles.com/?Servant-Leadership,-Robert-Greenleaf---A-Review-of-the-Book&id=5558599 Jenkins, O. (2006). What is Worldview?. Retrieved from http://strategyleader.org/worldview/worldvwhat.html Mallory, D. (n.d.). What is Servant Leadership?. Retrieved from http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-servant-leadership.htm McCrimmon, M. (n.d.). Servant Leadership. Retrieved from http://www.leadersdirect.com/servant-leadership Wallace, J. (2007). Servant Leadership: A Worldview Perspective. International Journal of Leadership Studies, 2(2), 114-132.   Read More