Community Service and Leadership - Term Paper Example

 Introduction The practice and the teaching of negotiation have evolved rapidly in the past years. The scholars of organizational studies have acknowledged that many inter-organizational and intra-organizational decision-making covers some aspects of negotiations; leaders, including those that are naturally talented can improve their outcomes through practice and further training (University of Kent Careers and Employability Service, N.D). For example, the learners and the teachers in planning, business and law schools are more likely to get exposure to a variety of materials on negotiations, which will enhance their leadership and performance in community service (Schmueli, Warfield & Kaufman, 2009). The information accessed by these people may take the form of case studies, theoretical literature and role plays, where their interactions with the members of the public improve their abilities, including their leadership outlook and overall leadership performance. This paper will use the case of leaders in Skid Row to explore the enhancing effect of community service on the leadership abilities and the leadership style of a leader. Lastly, the paper will discuss the ways in which the leadership of an individual reflects personal values and the ethical values of an organization. The ways in which community service enhances a leader’s leadership style Building sustainable peace and development in communities affected by crisis requires the leaders involved in the negotiation proceedings to be highly skilled, so that they can communicate their views to the groups in conflict. From the case of the Skid Row area of Los Angeles, the role of the leaders of the Skid Row Housing Trust has remained critical to the resolution of the poverty and the housing crisis facing the area. The leadership structure of communities facing crisis situations plays an important role in worsening the situation or closing the gaps and addressing the crisis situation (Elliott & Kaufman, 2003). The area is known, since its history as the residential neighborhood for the poorest and the homeless. However, the formation of the Skid Row housing trust in 1989 set to address the problem of homelessness, through the development and the refurbishment of housing facilities. During the years between 1950 and 2000, the redevelopment of residential hotels led to the destruction of the highly affordable housing in Los Angeles, which threatened the areas’ residential community; redevelopment forced thousands of residents into the sidewalks and the city’s shelters. The crisis situation made business leaders and community activists respond to the alarming wash-away of permanent, affordable housing; the two groups formed the Skid Row Housing Trust (Skid Row Housing Trust, 2013a). The leadership of the trust pushed for the mobilization of private equity, low income credits, conventional debt and public finance, which helped with the salvage of housing units that were on the verge of being lost. The work of the trust oversaw the transformation and the renovation of decaying hotels into attractive, safe and affordable permanent housing, which offered housing to the homeless and the low-income population (Skid Row Housing Trust, 2013a). The initiative taken by the business leaders and community activists, through their respective leaders demonstrated the outlook of servant Leadership, which is contrary to the traditional leadership outlook of autocratic leaders (Greenleaf, 2002). Servant leadership is evident from the strategies adopted by the leaders, because instead of compelling the residents of the area to live on the streets or struggle to afford the redeveloped housing, they employed the moral power of guaranteeing the availability of affordable housing to the homeless and the poor (Greenleaf, 2002). The strategy offered them the platform to improve their living standards. The success of the leadership outlook of the leaders is evident from the considerable change in the economic standards of the residents of the area. The servant leadership of the leaders of the Skid Row Housing has also been demonstrated through the strategic development of homes in the area, in a way that ensures the integration of housing and other basic services – through co-locating service centers with the housing being developed (Skid Row Housing Trust, 2013a). The leadership outlook of the leaders of the Skid Row Housing Trust demonstrates the concept of Level 5 Leadership developed by Collins (Collins, N.D). The concept holds that leadership should not only transform the performance of an organization by getting the right resources and cultivating a culture of discipline; leadership should integrate performance with the wider community’s outlook (Collins, N.D). Level 5 leadership and performance was evident from the leaders of trust, who not only pushed with the development of housing facilities, but also worked towards collocating housing together with service centers (Skid Row Housing Trust, 2013a). The services collocated with the housing facilities developed by the trust included mental health services, primary healthcare counseling and substance abuse, which are very helpful to low income earners, the disabled and other marginalized groups (Skid Row Housing Trust, 2013a). The co-location of housing and other service centers called for the development of the skills of agency from the leaders, so that they could align the new housing with other service centers, which are not offered by the trust. For example, through the agency skills of the leaders, the trust was able to champion local authorities to develop service centers at strategic areas. The strategic outlook sought to improve the overall experience of the population targeted by the housing services, which helps in improving the living standards of formerly disadvantaged groups, by bridging service delivery gaps in other areas (Avruch, 2009). The leadership of the trust’s leaders was successful in addressing the crisis; it was guided by its emphasis on affordability and the sustainability of the housing facilities developed and the service itself (Pralahad & Mashelkar, 2010). In working towards the affordability of the housing facilities developed and the sustainability of the services of the trust, the leadership style of the leaders had to be improved in a number of areas. These areas include that they had to integrate authenticity into their overall leadership, which helped them in adopting development models that served the basic needs of the residents of Skid Row. The enhancement of leadership competencies through community service The leadership roles taken by leaders in the Skid Row area of Los Angeles demonstrate the enhancement of their competencies of the leaders, which were triggered by the responsibilities taken during community service (University of Kent Careers and Employability Service, N.D). In particular, the leadership style of Mayor Tom Bradley who was in office during the 1970s was greatly influenced by his community service at the area. The change of leadership style following exposure to community service became evident after urban revitalization started with the redevelopment of Bunker Hill (Skid Row Housing Trust, 2013). The revitalization program was initiated after business developers and entrepreneurs communicated the issue that the downtown homelessness and Skid Row in general would inhibit the development of the region. However, after the implementation of the redevelopment of Bunker Hill, many low income residents were displaced from the region, leading to a moral and ethical dilemma, on the next course to be taken (Skid Row Housing Trust, 2013). The dilemma was related to the fact that instead of a reduction, there had been an increase in the levels of homelessness in the area. Following the realization that the program was worsening the problem, the leadership competencies of Mayor Bradley were changed or enhanced in a way (Skid Row Housing Trust, 2013). The enhancement of the mayor’s leadership style was evident through the push for the creation of a special blue ribbon committee, which would deliberate over the solutions to the crisis. Through the active engagement of the mayor and the team, which explored the situation of the homeless in a first-hand manner reached the conclusions that the funds collected for the redevelopment program would be used to care and house the homeless (Skid Row Housing Trust, 2013). The commission – due to the first-hand exposure to the experience of the homeless – recommended that the area would also be preserved for the use of the homeless, where they would be offered decent housing and sources of income. The huge change in the inclination of the mayor and the members of the commission, towards offering support for the preservation of the area, showed the enhancement of their leadership competencies through community service (Skid Row Housing Trust, 2013). The leaders were previously in support of the redevelopment program. The ways in which the components of a leader or company reflect the ethical values of the organization From the case of Skid Row, particularly the institution of the redevelopment program, it is evident that, despite the pressure from business developers and the entrepreneurs of the area, the redevelopment program was stopped (Skid Row Housing Trust, 2013). The redevelopment program was driven by the selfish interests of the business developers and entrepreneurs, who did not take account of the interests of the low income earners and the homeless in the area. However, the ethical values of the area’s administration were evidenced through the measures taken by the mayor, including that of forming the commission. Further, after the mayor requested for the formation of the commission, the recommendations developed were expressly in the interest of the poor and against those of the business developers (Skid Row Housing Trust, 2013). The steps taken by the mayor as well as the commission reflects the ethical values of the administrative organization of the area, which is evidently one that protected the welfare of the poor and the homeless. In the case that the mayor and the commission had made different recommendations, it would have become evident that the administrative structure was not guided by leadership ethics, which pushed them to work towards securing the interests of the homeless (Greenleaf, 2002). The steps taken by the mayor and the commission demonstrated that the area’s leadership was a servant leadership, which pursued the interests of the powerless; the administration did not bow down to the pressure of business developers. The second scenario would depict the lack of ethical values among the administrators of the area. The action taken by the mayor and the commission demonstrate the true nature of leadership, which is supposed to focus on people and their welfare (Pralahad & Mashelkar, 2010, p. 141). Conclusion The practice of leadership-integrated skills like negotiation is often developed through role-taking. Through community service, leaders develop different skills, which improve their leadership style. From the case of Skid Row leaders, the skills developed through community service include those of authenticity and agency, which they integrated into their leadership style to bridge gaps in service delivery. From the leadership of Skid Row, the development of skills and higher ethics through their experiences in community services shows that a person’s leadership style is enhanced by the competencies arising from service experience. The change in the leadership strategies adopted by the leaders of Skid Row shows that the values of leaders reflects the values of the whole organization. References Avruch, K. (2009). What is training all about? Negotiation Journal, 25(2), 161–169. Collins, J. (N.D). Level 5 Leadership: The Triumph of Humility and Fierce Resolve (HBR OnPoint Enhanced Edition). Retrieved from Amazon.com. Elliott, M., & S. Kaufman. (2003). Building civic capacity to resolve environmental conflicts. Environmental Practice, 5(3), 265–272. Greenleaf, D. (2002). Servant Leadership: A Journey into the Nature of Legitimate Power and Greatness (25th Anniversary Edition). Mahwah, NJ: Paulist Pr. Schmueli, D., Warfield, W., & Kaufman, S. (2009). Enhancing Community Leadership Negotiation Skills to Build Civic Capacity. Negotation Journal, April 2009, 249-254. Skid Row Housing Trust. (2013). Skid Row Housing Trust. Retrieved from: http://skidrow.org/wwa_on2.php Skid Row Housing Trust. (2013a). Decades of Service to our Community and its People. Retrieved from: http://skidrow.org/wwa_h.html Pralahad, C. K., & Mashelkar, R. (2010). Innovation’s Holy Grail. Harvard Business Review, July-Aug 2010, 141. University of Kent Careers and Employability Service. (N.D). Persuading, Influencing and Negotiating Skills. Retrieved from: http://www.kent.ac.uk/careers/sk/persuading.htm Read More