When I first was thinking about using Servant Leadership as my last blog I was going to reference my friend Janice who has been an ER nurse for 13 years. While they exhibit all of the traits of a Servant Leader (Northouse, 2016):
Listening
Empathy
Healing
Awareness
Persuasion
Conceptualization
Foresight
Stewardship
Commitment to the growth of people
Building community
I overheard my wife negotiating the 5 minute toy contract term of ownership. It goes like this:
Thing 1 – “But I want to play with it, it’s mine!”
Thing 2 – “Noooo, I want to play with!”
Mommy – “Who had it first…?” -silence- “Who had it first?”
Thing 2 – “Sissy had it”
Mommy – “Ok, then sissy you get to have it for another five minutes.”
Thing 2 – “But…ok”
So I changed my direction to all the moms of the world. They are the cleric healer, the politician, the egalitarian, the cook, the counselor and so much more.
As a mother you build your premise for “Motherdom” based upon what you liked and did not like about what your mother did for you as a child. You look back at how your own mother handled situations and you either mirror or create your own sense of self. You now use your situation, nurtured traits, and the receptive (or lack their of) nature of your children to act as their leader and guardian (Northouse, 2016).
Children are naturally going to follow you, yes, but how you guide them is the key to a horrible mom or a great mother. By putting your children first, kissing their “boo boos”, and providing and environment that makes them feel like valued humans rather than children you outcome will be children (followers) the become intelligent and high functioning members of society (Northouse, 2016).
“This process only works when leaders have a humanistic philosophy (see Abraham Maslow or Carl Rogers) and have altruistic tendencies.” (Northouse, 2016)
Abuse the power you have as mother, act selfishly and with no true regard to your children’s well being and you will raise children that have no trust in you or anyone else they meet and get close to that exhibit the same behavior you portray (Northouse, 2016). Being a servant leader is both selfless act and cannot be any other way.
References:
Northouse, Peter G. (2016). Leadership: Theory and Practice (7th Ed.). SAGE Publications: Thousand Oaks, CA. Print.