A servant leader shares power, puts the needs of others first and helps people develop and perform at their highest potential. Servant leadership is a lifelong journey that includes discovery of one’s self, a desire to serve others, and a commitment to lead. Servant-leaders continually strive to be trustworthy, self-aware, humble, caring, visionary, empowering, relational, competent, good stewards, and community builders.
A Transformational leader enhances the motivation, morale, and performance of followers through a variety of mechanisms. These include connecting the follower’s sense of identity and self to the project and the collective identity of the organization; being a role model for followers, inspiring them and keeping them interested; challenging followers to take greater ownership for their work, and understanding the strengths and weaknesses of followers, aligning followers with tasks that enhance their performance.
When we look at the characteristics of a servant leader and a transformational leader we see a lot of what we look for in an effective mentor. We see strong communication and listening skills realizing that communication is two way. We see empathy in the understanding of feelings and perspectives. This plays a large role in the understanding of cultural differences. Understanding who you are as a person is a characteristic that effective mentors need to have and this is a similar characteristic for the servant leader and the transformational leader as well.
The ability to be able to conceptualize assisting in the motivation of followers is also a role that an effective mentor has. This is particularly of interest when you are working with a person to help them see how they are a part of the success of an organization – they need to see the bigger picture and how they can help the organization realize that vision. The commitment to the growth of people is an effective mentoring characteristic that is evident in both leadership styles.
As mentioned, servant and transformation leaders are an integral part in building a strong leadership team!
References:
1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transformational_leadership
2. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Servant_leadership#Characteristics_of_being_a_servant_leader
3. http://www.asha.org/students/gatheringplace/ExcMentor.htm
I think that you did a great job choosing Oprah Winfrey as a transformational leader. Oprah Winfrey would not be where she is today is she was not a transformational leader. As a talk show host, Oprah had a vision to be around for future years (Northouse, 2013). By being a transformational leader Oprah was able to motivate her staff by increasing morale (Northouse, 2013). Oprah also had to be innovative by sharing new ideas that she had for her show (Northouse, 2013). Oprah was also a charismatic role model because she worked hard to be where she is today (Northouse, 2013). I think that Oprah was able to prove that you can accomplish your goals as long as you work hard.
References:
Northouse, P.G. (2013). Leadership: Theory and Practice. Los Angeles: Sage Publications