The more I learn about leadership, the more I begin to understand that we are all leaders in some way, in our everyday lives. Almost anything and everything we take the initiative to do acts as a catalyst that projects us into that leadership role. I bet you think I’m going to talk about servant leadership from the stay at home mom perspective, I’ll spare you.
I volunteer as a Court Appointed Special Advocate. I assist abuse and neglect cases that are in the court system by being assigned to a case at the beginning and seeing it through to the end. These court case can sometimes last years, of course the goal is always shorter but that’s not always what happens. As a CASA we interact most directly with the children in the case, we get to know them, and get the point of view about their lives directly from them. After we get that information we write reports and submit them to the judge.
Northhouse (2013) describes Spears (2002) 10 characteristics of a servant leader. A CASA must have all of these characteristics. We must be able to (1) listen to what is being said and sometimes what is not being said during court proceedings and in meetings with the children. It should go without saying that (2) empathy is at the top of our list. We also become (3) healers of sort through interactions with the children we are assigned to as well as the fact that we get to be a source of continuity during a very difficult time for the children. We must always be (4) aware of what is going on with our cases as well as have an intuitive sense. Our (5) communication about our observations must be persuasive enough to have an impact on the case. We must be able to (6) conceptualize possible outcomes for the case as well as be able to facilitate finding assistance for the children and the families. (7) Foresight is important; sometimes we need to be able to see around the corner before we get there in order to best serve these children. As far as (8) stewardship goes when we accept a case we take on the responsibility of making sure that the reports we submit to the judges are truly in the best interests of the children. Our (9) commitment to the growth of the people (families/ children) must be unwavering. We are the epitome of (10) building community. Through our volunteer work and raising awareness about child abuse and neglect we seek to unity the community and the families to help put an end to this devastating epidemic.
Volunteering as a CASA give those that serve the chance to serve the children and families that they are assigned to. Beyond that, it gives us the rare opportunity to be a guiding force in the lives of these people and offer them a different view of how their life could be if people took the time to care. I certainly had never viewed my service as taking a leadership role, but in my own life, I can’t honestly think of a better example of how servant leadership could be so thoroughly described.
On a side note (taking a leadership role here) If you are interested in CASA I encourage you to go to national CASA webpage and see if you would be interested in becoming a volunteer. http://www.casaforchildren.org/site/c.mtJSJ7MPIsE/b.5301295/k.BE9A/Home.htm
References:
Northouse, P. G. (2013). Leadership: Theory and Practice (Sixth Edition ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA, United States: Sage Publications, Inc.
Laura Beth Bowman says
As a retired police officer who has handled many child abuse/neglect cases and other cases that resulted in children being removed from homes, I can say, unequivocally, that you deserve all the credit in the world for taking on that responsibility. Your work is the very definition of “servant leadership”.
Thank you for the work that you do!
mvr5323 says
Thank you for your post. CASA is a great organization and they continue to have a substantial impact in my community in Austin TX. Your role as a CASA is a prime example of servant leadership. In many ways, you will the void of a family leader where family leadership has failed through abuse and neglect of children. Children have no real concept of leadership at an early age. They may exhibit leadership traits or behaviors but they need an example of a leader in a mother, father or family member on which to model their behavior. When the family unit becomes dysfunctional and no leadership role exists, the child is vulnerable to manipulation, abuse and neglect. It is a tragic situation. Fortunately, our society recognizes the problem and allocates resources to organizations such as CASA to address these problems head on. The benefit is bringing stability to a child’s future, rebuilding a family and having a positive impact on the community at large. I applaud your dedication to serving your community through your volunteerism. When it comes to the perpetrators of these crimes against children and their families, I would challenge the self-serving, egomaniacal behavior of these perpetrators using the concepts and theories of leadership to demonstrate their weaknesses. They also need to understand how their selfish behavior actually makes those around them more vulnerable to abuse by others. As for the victims, it is so important that they receive assistance in the form of therapy and support as soon as possible to prevent the trap of a negative emotional behavior cycle that can lead to addiction or other self-destructive behaviors. As one who has experienced a dysfunctional childhood of my own, chronic forms of complex post traumatic stress disorder stemming from childhood experience can affect you much later in life leading to anxiety, depression, irresponsible behavior and impacts on your life and career. You are saving lives just as effectively as a physician, surgeon, police officer or firefighter. Thank you again for your dedication and your service.
Jin Man Park says
I feel that your job as a CASA was a great example of servant leadership. You can really see how fits the definition as you are not only working to meet the needs of the organization , which would in this case be the judicial court you work for, but you are also helping these children to grow from whatever devastating experience they faced which, in turn, may help them to avoid to repeating the situation again.
We can also look at the model of servant leadership when describing how a CASA fits into the situation. You can see there was clear antecedents. In this case, it would be the mistreated children who may feel completely distraught over the situation that occurred to them and are too ashamed to speak to the court. They need someone who has the strong leadership characteristics you mentioned in your post to help to them to be able to be strong enough themselves, not only to be able to fulfill the judicial process and convict the guilty party, but so they can grow past the situation and not let it burden them their entire life. Through your Servant Leader behaviors, you can help them to reach this stage. By promote positive feelings and showing them empathy, you help them to achieve growth. If you have strong servant leadership behaviors, your outcome will likely be just that. Societal impact also will be likely as if you created a positive mindset in the child, they will be less likely to repeat the violence that they have been exposed to.