Leadership

PSYCH 485 blog

Why not empower others through servant leadership?

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Servant leadership is much different from the other theories previously looked at. Servant leadership stresses the importance of putting followers first, and does not stress the need to gain power or control (Northouse, 2016, pp.226). There are three main parts of servant leadership: antecedent conditions, servant leader behaviors, and leadership outcomes (Northouse, 2016, pp.231).

Antecedent conditions take the situation into account in an individualized manner, in which three factors make up antecedent conditions: context and culture, leader attributes, and follower receptivity (Northouse, 2016, pp.231). The career or setting one is in may be more geared toward putting others first whereas others may do the opposite. I work in a restaurant as a server and servant leadership is pretty much non-existent. The reason servant leadership is not normally used within the world of serving is due to the constant competition of who will make the most money, who will get the best reviews, or winning a contest. If servant leadership were to be used in this context in an altered manner I believe the restaurant would succeed more than it is. Helping others succeed by carrying out a dish or drink or helping them get their table drinks could improve the outlook of our service.

Next there is servant leader behaviors, which is the way one goes about doing certain tasks (Northouse, 2016, pp.234). Within servant leader behaviors I feel conceptualizing is extremely important, because if you are unaware of what is going on and how to deal with it chaos will quickly follow. The other components within servant leader behaviors are more relative to my job working with children. Emotional healing, or being sensitive to others (Northouse,2016,pp.233) is extremely impactful to the individual as well as the class. I remember one time I had two sisters in my class and their father had just passed. They told me about how their father passed and I had to approach the situation in the best way possible. There is also putting followers first, and this too is related to my job in teaching children dance. I want my children to grow and succeed and the reason for putting my time and effort into this is because I want them to succeed, which is the next concept talked about. Behaving ethically, empowering, and creating value for the community are also important in servant leader behaviors.

Last there are the outcomes. Within my job of instructing dance I can judge the outcomes due to the three factors mentioned. Follower performance and growth deals with how well you the leader helped them, and what their outcome was (Northouse, 2016). I can normally judge this through dance performances and I always ask the group of students what they thought of their experience so I know whether or not they are getting what they want out of the class. Organizational performance is another factor touched on, basically the ability to complete a task above and beyond what is required or through the ability to complete a task without the need for help (Northouse, 2016). I had one student who was apart of my dance class since I began teaching, she now is looking to pursue dance outside of the JCC and is constantly practicing and showing me new moves. Last but not least there is societal impact, which is the impact the leader has on others or other organizations (Northouse, 2016). I feel as though I make a societal impact on the children who come back or take my class again, developing relationships with each individual, and transforming them into the dancer they hoped to be.

Overall, servant leadership is extremely beneficial but must be used in the right circumstances, because not every business will do best with servant leadership.

References

Northouse, P.G. (2016). Leadership: Theory and Practice. Los Angeles, Sage Publications

The evil of Transformational leadership, Pseudotransformational leadership

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One of the most recent approaches to leadership, which focuses on transforming individuals is better known as transformational leadership (Northouse, 2016, p.161). Due to raising the level of morality in others, transformational leadership had to differentiate between transformational leadership and psuedotranformational leadership.  Instead of being focused on the followers, these leaders are coined to be “self-consumed, exploitive, and power oriented, with warped moral values,” says Northouse (2016, p.163). The text used both Adolf Hitler and Saddam Hussein exemplifying this term, but I myself thought of Jim Jones himself who was foreseen by others as a charismatic leader (Huffington,2017).

A charismatic leader is a part of tranformational leadership. Charisma is normally seen as a positive trait, it is a gift an individual obtains that allows the individual to accomplish remarkable things (Northouse, 2016, p.164). Charismatic leaders are seen to influence followers due to their dominance, self-confidence and having a strong sense of their moral values (Northouse, 2016, p.164).

Jim Jones also foreseen to once be a charismatic leader was in charge of the mass suicide that took place in Jonestown, Guyana in 1978 (Huffington, 2017). This mass suicide consisted of inflicting poison into the body which in turn killed 909 of Jones followers. Jones gathered his followers in San Francisco, opening a Christian church known as the Peoples Temple(Huffington, 2017). Jones gathered his followers simply by providing them with information they wanted to hear, information that in fact was not true to Jones’ values. The church was constantly accused of wrong doings and ill treatment, though this did not stop the church from evolving (Huffington, 2017). Instead, due to others talking about the church, Jones decided to avoid this through moving those within the church to Jonestown, Guyana a secluded part where the cult could better evolve (Huffington, 2017). Others outside of the cult were not fully convinced that this church was what it made out to be. This caused reporters to travel to Guyana to attempt to gather more information of what was actually going on. Due to the suspicion not being put to rest Jones decided to create a mass suicide. This suicide consisted of those within the cult drinking a kool-aid poison substance in order to lead them to death. Those of younger age and babies were the first to drink the substance administered by their parents. Leaving 909 dead (Huffington,2017).

Jonestown displays how pseudotransformational leadership in fact exist. Psuedotransformational leadership is not positive and is centered around the leader and the leaders goals and wants, not taking into account the greater good of the followers (Northouse, 2016, p.163).

As for the morality part of pseudotranformational leadership, morality is very important to us as humans. Therefore affecting our morality through causing us to experience guilty or other negative emotions can therefore cause us to turn to making spur of the moment decision, which in fact can go as far as what happened in Jonestown. This can be seen on both a smaller and larger level, but tampering with an individuals morality can be extremely dangerous when it comes to decision making (Northouse, 2016, p.163).

References

Northouse, P.G. (2016).  Leadership: Theory and Practice. Los Angeles: Sage Publications

Http://Www.Huffingtonpost.Com/Adst/The-Jonestown-Massacre_B_8592338.Html”. N.p., 2017. Print.

The impact of power and influence

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Power and influence are commonly interchanged though this causes individuals to misunderstand the true meaning of each. Power and influence are defined differently. Power, is the ability an individual has to potentially influence others (Hughes, Ginnett, and Curphy, 2012). Influence is defined as the actual change in the targeted individual’s attitude (Hughes, Ginnett, and Curphy, 2012).

Displaying power can be as simple as attire or the way one dresses. After reading about attire and power I quickly thought back to my previous Psychology class, and our discussion on power. In our previous class we reviewed various experiments which compared compliance between those in high status attire and normative attire. The majority of the studies in fact did show those dressed in attire signaling power obtained more compliance than those dressed regular.

This past weekend I was at the pool with a few of my friends. A man was sitting in his trunks, shirtless, with no sign of him being in charge. Two of my friends were running and the man instructed them to stop. Due to the man not providing sufficient attire proving his power, my friends continued to run. The man quickly placed his shirt on signaling his power, and as soon as he placed his shirt on my friends stopped running. Though this is a very mild example of uniform and power, this shows the influence attire has on individuals.

Milgram’s experiment in delivering electric shocks of different voltages also signals the importance of authority. Milgram’s experiment found 70% of those participating conformed even when the learners were screaming in pain (Hughes, Ginnett, and Curphy, 2012). Without taking into account the various types of taxonomy of social power, merely legitimate power plays a large role in whom an individual listens too.

Taxonomy of social power is broken down into, expert power, referent power, legitimate power, reward power, and coercive power. Expert power is defined as the knowledge the leader holds in a specific field, for example a doctor has more power over a nurse (Hughes, Ginnett, and Curphy, 2012). Referent power is different and focuses on the relationship between the follower and leader (Hughes, Ginnett, and Curphy, 2012). Legitimate power, which was previously talked about is simply the title one holds, which could be a boss or teacher (Hughes, Ginnett, and Curphy, 2012). Reward power is also powerful and is the ability to deliver rewards which may vary in what they are.  Last but not least is coercive power, this power is opposite of reward and is actually punishing an individual for not complying with a task (Hughes, Ginnett, and Curphy, 2012).

Various types of power may lead to different impacts brought to the followers. Using one type of power may be more beneficial in one situation but not another. The amount of power attire has on conformity is shocking to many, for many people do not realize how much impact attire can have on a person in conforming.

References

Leadership: Enhancing the Lessons of Experience. Homeland, IL. (1993).

The path-goal and different ways of leading

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The path-goal theory focuses on how to motivate the followers to reach specific goals (Northouse, 2016, p.115). Depending upon the work environment one works in the leader’s behavior may change. Directive leadership, supportive leadership, participative leadership, and achievement-oriented leadership are all focused on what the leader must provide to the followers in order to reach the best outcome (Northouse, 2016, p.117-118).

Directive leadership is needed when the task is unclear or more difficult (Northouse, 2016, p.121). Directive leadership is when the leader tells the followers what is required of them and what must be done in order to get there, or otherwise can be defined as very to the point and directional (Northouse, 2016, p.117). I remember when I first began instructing dance classes and how concerned I was with what exactly I needed to do, and how to prepare. The director of athletics at my specific work place used directive leadership at first in order to prepare me, and relieve the stress I had due to the uncertainty of what to do or expect. Directive leadership was beneficial at first within this work environment, but once I gained experience through instructing two or three classes I was no longer in need of directive leadership.

After mastering what needs be done, the leadership style I was in need of was different than before, and called for different individuals to deliver this specific type of leadership. Supportive leadership is the leader’s ability to present them self as friendly, and in concern with the followers needs (Northouse, 2016, p.117). The transformation from directive to supportive occurred quite quickly, though the director of athletics was not the only one providing this leadership style, I also looked to those above me who have been teaching for multiple years when it came to asking advice. I no longer was in need of receiving information on what exactly should occur within my class, and how to teach; instead I was looking to receive information on other aspects.  Choosing costumes, games, and rewards I tended to look to those who had experience teaching instead of the director of athletics.

As I gained more experience with instructing dance, I began to grow. Instead of being the lowest on the totem pole, I was now exposed to participative leadership. Participative leadership is when leaders look to followers to share ideas and help with decision making (Northouse, 2016, p.118). Not only were my fellow dance instructors seeking my opinion, but also the athletic director. After about a year of being involved with this specific business I found myself helping make decisions, such as what the theme for the show should be, what I think about adding certain levels to much more. This specific type of leadership is very motivating in the sense that the follower feels of importance and becomes more confident within their job.

Though only three of the four were presented does not make the last of less importance. Instead, I just have not come to experience achievement-oriented leadership, or forcing the followers to perform on the highest level possible within instructing dance. Though, it is also important to mention that not all of these styles will be used, some leaders will demonstrate all while some may only demonstrate one. One or four, it is still a part of the path-goal theory (Northouse, 2016, p.118). Different situations call for different leaders, where some situations may call for more than one approach at once and others not (Northouse, 2016, p.118).

References

Northouse, P.G. (2016).  Leadership: Theory and Practice. Los Angeles: Sage Publications.

Leadership Styles

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Taking a few steps back to when leadership was first defined, “Stogdill(1974, p.7) pointed out in a review of leadership research, there are almost as many different definitions of leadership as there are people who have tried to define it” (Northouse, p.2). Leadership itself is not as straightforward as people think, and neither is the situational approach, which is a small piece of the puzzle that goes into leadership. As cited in the text, “to be an effective leader requires that a person adapt his or her style to the demands of different situations” (Northouse, p.93).

Instructing more than one person leads to various ways of going about the situation. Individuals vary in their commitment as well as their competence of doing something (Northouse, p.94). Due to the differences that exist amongst individuals, different leadership styles are needed. The first leadership style is high-directive-low supportive. This specific style is used for individuals who already are high in commitment but lack the ability of understanding the specific task (Northouse, p.94-97). This particular level of development may seem frustrating at first. After reading this I cannot help but think back to high school and the photography teacher I had. My instructor in photography was always viewed as intimidating and rude, and once taking the class I knew exactly why. My instructor would not be very supportive of us as students, instead she would instruct us to complete certain task and that was that. She was very to the point and demanding on what we were to complete. Looking back now I have much more respect for this specific instructor. She taught me that being more directive and less supportive would lead me to challenge myself more and want to prove her wrong. Though I do not know if she did this on purpose, I can definitely relate this to the text.

Being high-directive-low supportive is not fitting to all situations and all people of course. Say an individual is not as committed to a certain task, and also lacks the competence in fully understanding and completing the task. This individual would most likely not benefit in my last example, instead this individual would likely benefit in the context of both high-directive and high-supportive (Northouse, p.97). I feel this is more relatable to my work experience in a restaurant. I remember last week we hired a new server, and being a new server is many times challenging at first. This specific employee began to make mistake after mistake in remembering the menu, and became very frustrated. Due to the frustration this employee decided to walk out. This of course is a more extreme example, and giving up many times is not the end result per se. I think this may have been due to the manager who was training this employee and how unsupportive he was. Though he succeeded within being high in directive he did not succeed in being patient and supporting which could be the reason this employee walked out.

Next are those categorized in the D3 category, otherwise known as those who are moderate to highly competent but still question their ability in completing the task (Northouse, p.96). I myself am definitely guilty of this and have been throughout my entire life. For example, I know I have the ability to complete certain tasks at work and how to go about doing it considering I have been at this specific job for three years, yet I still find myself asking questions every now and then. Being in this situation personally made me realize that I sometimes am in need of support more but other times I am more so in need of direction more so.

Saving the best for last, those who are high in both competence in commitment (Northouse, p.96). Those in this specific category are not necessarily in need of support or direction. Therefore the style found most appropriate for these individuals is not giving as much support or direction (Northouse, p.96). These individuals are more self-motivated and already have the ability in doing the task so they are not in need of others pushing them. This of course could change, as for many people flip flop between the different developmental levels, especially on different task.

Due to the fact that not one human being is exactly alike to another makes identifying and handling these leadership styles at times difficult. People may not exactly fit in one specific category or tend to travel between a few more than others. The ability to identify and appropriately tend to the individual leads to a better outcome for both the leader and follower. The importance of the follower needs be taken into account, because without followers there would be no need for leaders.

References

Northouse, Peter, G. (2016) Leadership, Theory, and Practive, 7th ed., SagePublications.

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