It is undeniable that a student’s performance could increase or decrease depending on the resources and support available. One of the most important resources would be the professor or teacher. Having a teacher who values feedback, encourages growth, and fostering an inclusive environment allows students to succeed in their classroom. This blog will be focusing on the Servant Leadership Behaviors and how they could shape high performing groups of students. More specifically, I will focus on the three behaviors I believe are the most important in this context. These three behaviors are putting followers first, helping followers grow and succeed, and behaving ethically.  

The first behavior, putting followers first, relates to a teacher understanding the needs of their students and striving to go out of their way to support these needs. According to Northouse (2021) this may mean, “leaders break from their own tasks to assist followers with theirs” (p. 285). Although teachers have many responsibilities, putting in the time and effort to show their support to students results in student engagement. For example, if a student expresses concerns about their grade and would like to discuss ways to improve it, a teacher who takes time out of their day to find a solution shows this behavior. From my experience as a student, I have found myself to be stressed with obligations both in and outside of my education. Teachers that have made accommodations for me and showed that they are there to help have aided me in performing much higher than I would without support.  

The second behavior is helping followers grow and succeed. A teacher who creates an environment where students feel that they are advancing as a student makes them feel empowered. As discussed by Northouse (2021), at its core, helping followers grow and succeed is about aiding these individuals to become self-actualized, reaching their fullest human potential” (p. 285). In this context, a teacher shows this Servant Leadership Behavior to help students develop knowledge and succeed in their educational and future career. A professor who brings information to the class that will prepare students for their future gives them opportunities for growth. For example, my professor encouraged my class to attend a meeting about the master’s program for my degree where we could receive extra credit for attendance. I found this to be very valuable because they showed that they wanted us to take advantage of this opportunity to continue our education. Furthermore, this information and meeting pushed me to apply to the master’s program. This is a direct example that this behavior resulted in the growth of my educational development.  

The last behavior, behaving ethically, is extremely important for a teacher to show fairness and honesty. Northouse (2021) believes that “it is holding to strong ethical standards, including being open, honest, and fair with followers” (p. 285). Giving open feedback is important in helping a student perform well and understand the content. A student who does not receive feedback could be left confused on how to improve. Furthermore, fairness for all students gives everyone an opportunity to receive the grade that they deserve. An example from my experience is when a teacher extends the deadline of an assignment for missed class time. Rather than making the students learn the content on their own, a teacher who shows servant leadership is understanding and believes that it is right to give time to teach the material in a lecture. This behavior demonstrates that a teacher wants their students to succeed from an ethical standpoint.  

In conclusion, a teacher who supports student needs, encourages growth, and reflects ethics, is one who receives better performance from students. A teacher who embodies the behaviors from Servant Leadership is successful in developing a class academically and in their personal goals. Understanding a prioritizing student needs leaves room for constructive feedback and prioritizes their learning. Providing students with resources in and outside of class encourages growth and student initiatives to better themselves. Fostering ethics as a teacher eliminates bias that gives fairness to students and allows them to perform well in the classroom. Furthermore, I believe that a teacher who demonstrates these behaviors would be successful in developing student knowledge and advancement for their futures.  

References:

There are ten characteristics of servant leadership. Listening, empathy, healing, awareness, persuasion, conceptualization, foresight, stewardship, commitment to the growth of people, and building community. I have experienced these ten characteristics while working in the footwear department in Dicks Sporting Goods for two years. “Servant leadership emphasizes that leaders should be attentive to the needs of followers, empower them, and help them develop their full human capacities (Northouse 2021).” The main store manager at my location had to help us improve our skill levels. This made us feel empowered in each of our positions.

When it comes to listening my store manager respects our thoughts and ideas. He realizes that if he validates our opinions then we will be more confident as a co-worker and retail worker. Our manager is always the first one to listen to everyone’s thoughts. When he listens he is receptive, and gives his employees feedback. Empathy is given to employees when he he understands what his employees are feeling and thinking. If he does not understand the situation then he will ask you to explain for him. “Servant leadership emphasizes that leaders be attentive to the concerns of their followers, empathize with them, and nurture them (Northouse 2021).” His intentions are to hear the employee, and have empathy for what they are experiencing. Having empathy validates the follower which is the employee on this case.

My manager helps with his employees healing by listening to their needs, and caring about their well-being. He cares about their personal well-being to have a positive work environment. Once he helps heal employees he feels like he healed himself as well. My manger feels accomplished after helping heal his employees. “Servant leaders put followers first, empower them, and help them develop their full personal capacities (Northouse 2021).” It also boosts the quality of work being completed compared to before healing. Neil, my store manger is more aware of physical, social, and political environments. He understands himself, and is aware of the impact he has on his employees. Neil sets the tone to work to his standards of quality and quantity work completed.

Neil can be very persuasive while working with him. An example is if I’m restocking socks that need filled he might say I need to do the footwear scan first. Even though I’m in the middle of pushing out socks to be sold I now feel like my task is not as important as the footwear scan. When it comes to conceptualization Neil is very organized, and vocal on what our store goals are we want to accomplish. He is aware of what changes need to be made in order to succeed. When he was new to our store he made creative changes that made the store operate faster. An example was that as a store we just had one hold bin for every category. Neil changed the hold bin to alphabetical order, and made multiple bins that had the letters for the last names on the order labeled on them. This change made our store accomplish our goal of being faster ringing customers out at the register.

When it comes to foresight I think Neil can vision what the store will be like if he makes changes. Neil is held responsible for failures that Dicks Sporting Goods employees make. He has had twenty plus years of experience to have great foresight. He takes responsibility for his mistakes, and the companies mistakes. Stewardship is when Neil takes responsibility to get the leadership role. Neil displays commitment to the growth of people when he treats each of his employees as their unique. He thinks of them as a person instead of just an employee. Neil wants to help each employee improve professionally and personally. My manager builds a community at work by putting individuals together that have shared interests and pursuits. “Community allows followers to identify with something greater than themselves that they value (Northouse 2021).” This is when employees feel safe at work, and connected with their co-workers.

References

One of the criticisms of transformational leadership identified by Northouse (2021) is that the concept of transformational leadership was created to be used in social and political contexts so it may not apply to business.  However, I have seen this play out at work in both situations where I have been a follower or a leader.  In my own experience transformational leadership concepts are an excellent way to lead groups of followers in corporations as long as a clear vision of the expected outcome and benefits can be communicated to followers.

A few years ago, I was working in a group that had a change in leadership.  Our new had new ideas that he wanted us to work on together.  It is not feasible for a leader to sit with every follower in a large organization and tell them how to do their work.  However, by using transformational leadership concepts the new leader was able to achieve this outcome.  Our new leader followed the for factors of transformational leadership identified by Northouse (2021).

He started by developing an over-arching vision of what we should focus on achieving for the business, the benefits for the business and why we would want to follow him in working on this shared objective.  Northouse calls this factor “idealized influence” (2021, p. 192). Once his vision was established he inspired us by having us consider the alternatives, and negative outcomes of doing nothing, or the positive outcomes of working to completion of the vision and how that would lead to benefits throughout our organization, this represented the “Inspirational Motivation” factor (Northouse, 2021, p. 192).  Each day when we would work with the leader bringing up new obstacles or opportunities, he would ask us how we could solve these problems or take advantage of these opportunities to work towards the over arching vision that had been laid out.  This “intellectual stimulation factor” (Northouse, 2021, p. 192) both began to develop our own ability to further implement the vision as well as empowering us to continually develop and adjust the plan with the end goal in mind rather than bringing every minor change or concern to the leader.  It led to new innovative ways of doing things in the organization that had not been considered before when a leader had to decide everything.  Some worked and some didn’t but the ones that worked went way beyond older ways of doing things.  Even as the new leader was addressing each of these other factors in the organization, he would consider us each individually in 1 to 1 meetings and collaborative planning sessions.  The leader accepted constructive criticism and a collaborative problem-solving mindset developing for each of us. I personally felt that my own work had greater meaning when my contributions were being considered and included in the larger plans.  It addressed the final factor of “Individualized consideration” (Northouse, 2021) while continuing to motivate and inspire for further growth and development.

In my owner leadership roles as I continued to grow, I considered the effects this transformational leadership had on me and also followed these same methods for developing idealized influence inspirational motivation, intellectual stimulation, and individualized consideration, when working with followers that I lead today.  Overall, I have found that my own teams are empowered and able to adjust and innovate as they work towards a well understood vision with inspirational benefits to motivate them.

Transformational leadership may also be suited to developing political campaigns or leading large groups of followers in transforming the political landscape, but as I have seen it applied in business it is a powerful tool for developing multitiered organizations, fostering individual empowerment, and motivating followers to pursue a shared vision once they understand the shared gains that can achieve.

References

Northouse, P. G. (2021). Leadership: Theory & Practice (9 ed.). Thousand Oaks, California: Sage Publications, Inc.

COVID-19 changed the world as we knew it. Without a warning, many businesses and organizations were forced to face unprecedented challenges posed by the pandemic. Military operations worldwide were no exception, and amidst the crisis many commands were able to undergo profound transformations. Adaptation became the basis for success, and between the chaos, servant leadership merged as a guiding principle, ensuring the well-being of troops while maintaining operational readiness.  

One innovative approach that my leadership implemented was split shifts organized into gold and black teams. This strategy allowed for the continuity of critical operations while minimizing the risk of viral transmission. Servant leaders recognized the importance of maintaining a balance between fulfilling mission objectives and safeguarding the health of their personnel. As our textbook has noted, the servant leadership method primarily focuses on leaders prioritizing their follower’s needs (Northouse, 2021). Commanders delegated the responsibility of devising schedules to each flight commander with the caveat that each team be ensured adequate rest periods for troops while optimizing operational efficiency. By prioritizing the needs and safety of their teams, these leaders demonstrated a commitment to servant leadership principles, fostering a culture of trust and support. 

With traditional face-to-face interactions restricted, military units turned to virtual platforms like Microsoft Teams and Zoom for professional development sessions. Servant leaders seized this opportunity to foster camaraderie and skill enhancement among their troops, despite the physical distance. Servant leaders place an emphasis on their followers to grow and succeed (Northouse, 2021). Through engaging in virtual workshops and seminars, leaders encouraged continuous learning and skill development. By leveraging technology, they ensured that troops remained connected, motivated, and prepared for evolving challenges. This emphasis on professional growth exemplifies the servant leadership ethos of investing in the development and well-being of others.  

Accountability is important in the military. To maintain accountability amidst remote work arrangements presented a unique challenge during the pandemic. Servant leaders, however, rose to the occasion by implementing robust accountability mechanisms. Our unit did it with the help of the application Slack. Dail morning check-ins via slack became the norm, providing leaders with valuable insights into the well-being and readiness of their teams. These brief yet impactful interactions fostered a sense of belonging and accountability, ensuring that every member felt valued. Moreover, servant leaders prioritized open communication channels, encouraging troops to voice concerns and share information with the group. By giving every member of the organization the power to share news and information, our leadership placed importance on open communication and the ability to listen to the needs of followers such as our textbook suggests (Northouse, 2021). By actively listening and responding to the needs of their teams, leaders fostered a culture of resilience and adaptability, essential traits in navigating uncertain times. 

In conclusion, the COVID-19 pandemic demonstrated the importance of servant leadership in military operations. Through initiatives like split shifts, Zoom meetings for professional development, and daily accountability measures, servant leaders demonstrated unwavering commitment to their troops’ well-being and mission success. This experience highlighted how the principles of servant leadership will remain invaluable in guiding military organizations towards resilience, cohesion, and excellence. 

References: 

Northouse, P.G. (2021). Leadership: Theory & Practice (9th e.d.). SAGE Publishing.