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Essay / The Talent of Servant Leadership: Serving First eyes on many different areas of my own leadership style. When I was writing about service before the self-test, I looked at the survey results and was surprised to find that the two dimensions I thought were most applicable to my leadership style turned out to be least applicable. Leading authentically and focusing on relationships were two areas that, by definition, seem to be my strengths. However, when analyzing the elements that actually make up these areas, I discovered that there were some real weak points. In Manasseh H. Panpe's article on Pitfalls in Church Leadership, he discusses selfish desire as one of these traps, pointing out that this desire can be a "desire to be rich, to have power and of success and not necessary for the good of others but for oneself.” This provides a clear understanding of what servant leadership is not. The nature of servant leadership is relationship-oriented and always places the interests of others before your own. In saying this, I truly believe that the perfect model of servant leadership is found in the example set by Jesus. Jesus is the embodiment of selflessness and provides the perfect holistic example of what servant leadership looks like. For this reason, I would really like to implement a servant leadership model in my church and on my leadership team. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get the original essay Service orientation seems to encompass many of the foundations of servant leadership. It is in this dimension that I have most evaluated my own leadership style. This dimension concerns leaders who have the ability to serve those they lead without worrying about their own ambitions. The power of service orientation lies in the leader's ability to use the authority and position assigned to him or her for the benefit of others. In this area I achieved quite high results, which is undoubtedly an encouragement for me. One of the strong points revealed by the survey is that I am always more aware of my responsibilities than of my rights. This means that I will continue to meet the needs of others and the Church before my own personal needs. While I still believe this is a real strength, it can also be a weakness. Often time with my family is put aside in order to fulfill the roles and responsibilities I have toward others and the Church. It was important for me to recognize this, because I now know that while putting others above myself is a strength in the service orientation dimension, I must ensure that my family comes first and that time is not neglected. One of my weaknesses. In this area, even though I place others and the needs of the Church above my own practical needs, sometimes I miss an opportunity to serve someone else if they there is a task to be accomplished. This means that instead of being service-oriented, I can sometimes be task-oriented. In David Young's book on servant leadership in relation to church renewal, he addresses the aspect of service to others saying that "service requires servants to take initiative, take risks, and sacrifice . Servant leadership is not a weak, passive position. Young then applies this to the larger body of the Church by saying that the Church is called to serve and not to be served. It reminds me that while I need to put others above myself, servant leadership remains an active leadership style, whether I am serving others,whether I was accomplishing the task at hand or carrying out elements of my own personal life.Moral CourageMoral courage was another dimension that revealed real strengths in my leadership, which was encouraging to see. The ability to help others apply their faith to difficult life decisions has always been a strength and passion of mine. There is also the element of standing up for what is true and what is divine, which is also another area that I am very passionate about. Moral courage has two faces. The first is the ability to discern right and wrong and the second is to put these decisions into practice and be an example to others. Someone who has moral courage is not afraid to make decisions based on their faith. My strength in this area would be my ability to stand up for what is right, no matter who is there or what the situation is. I am not easily intimidated by anyone who questions my beliefs or moral decisions and will always try to explain my own moral reasoning to those who do not share the same views. In the dimension of moral reasoning, it is also important to recognize that “becoming a role model is not what one does independently of a relationship. The level of trust built determines the level of influence exerted in the lives of those a leader leads. In order to help someone make moral decisions, they must trust and see that their leaders are putting their faith into action to make difficult decisions. A weakness for me would be not always making morally correct decisions when performing tasks in high pressure situations. This could involve negative language or actions. This is where I can evaluate the moral action side of moral courage and see areas I could improve in this regard. Leading Authentically Leading authentically is the dimension that revealed the most weakness and was least applicable to my leadership style. The principle of authentic leadership is being safe enough to allow others the space to openly and respectfully question your decisions. My main strength in this area is practicing what I preach. This also emerges from the investigation. This is certainly a strong characteristic of servant leadership because “servant leaders encourage their followers to be consistent between what they say and what they do.” I believe there is a strong coherence between what I say to those I lead and what I do. Being authentic means avoiding hypocrisy and following through on the things you say, which is a strength in my leadership style. One element of authentic leadership that I believe can be both a strength and a weakness is when my decisions are questioned. While I'm more than happy for those I lead to contact me and ask why I've made certain decisions, it's rare that I set aside time for this. It has encouraged me to evaluate the professional relationships I have with those I lead and to consider spending more time with those I lead to express what they think about the decisions I have made. Another weakness revealed by the survey is that sometimes I focus on the messenger and not the message if I am angry or upset with the person delivering the message. Sometimes if someone I lead has upset or frustrated me, I will ignore that person's criticism even if it is correct or beneficial to my situation. Spiritual Motivation According to the survey, spiritual motivation was found to be my strongest and most applicable dimension in servant leadership. Helping those I lead findclarity and purpose is something I am very passionate about. This is where I see the dimensions of spiritual motivation and moral courage sharing some ground. Both dimensions offer the opportunity to guide someone toward decisions that bring out their full potential. One dimension does this through moral and faith-motivated decision-making, and the other provides spiritual direction. My strength is quite simple in this area. I am one hundred percent sold on the calling God has for me – that’s what motivates me. Because I am motivated, I have a strong desire to share this with others and encourage them to do the same by finding purpose and direction in whatever area of life they find themselves in or in any what field they serve in. This means focusing on the Kingdom of God and helping those I lead discover their purpose in the Kingdom of God. Kingdom. In wanting those I lead to reach their full potential, it is important to understand that "spirituality is the motivating basis for servant leaders to engage others in authentic and profound ways that transform them to be who they are." are capable of becoming. A weakness for me is that when those I lead reject their purpose and calling or do not receive my guidance on it, I will often be upset. This has led me to evaluate my approach to those who don't necessarily see their own potential. Although there are scenarios in which severity can be applied to help servants generate a sense of meaning while they serve, often encouragement to return to what they were doing can be more effective. Transforming Influence When it comes to transforming influence, I believe it puts practical, everyday action into conversations between servant leaders and servant disciples in relation to spiritual motivation. While spiritual motivation encourages followers to find purpose in their service, transformative influence involves inspiring others to devote time to speech and prayer so that their purpose can be achieved by remaining connected to their faith. My strengths are leading by example, providing those I lead with a shared vision they can believe in and always looking for ways to grow those I lead. This growth can be personal or professional. It was also important for me to understand that “in servant leadership, the development and well-being of disciples comes first.” By influencing, growing, and investing in those I lead first, the long-term vision God has for the Church will be realized later and in part because of it. One of my weaknesses regarding this dimension is that although I take the time to invest in those I lead personally, I don't always take the same time to invest in them professionally. This means I should spend a little more time investing in those I lead in a church setting and exploring more of their gifts and talents within the church, more than their personal lives. Another area I need to work on when it comes to transforming influence is that I don't always leave enough room for those I lead to be creative and experiment in certain situations. If there is a time when it is really busy or stressful, I will sometimes be less likely to give time and space to those who serve to express their creativity and experiment in the areas they serve. This can be a barrier to the transformative influence I have on them and is therefore an area of my leadership that needs to be evaluated and improved. Focus onrelationships Regarding the relationship orientation, I believe it is essential for any organization to have contractual relationships between leaders and followers. Relations within the Church determine a good majority of its culture, its atmosphere and its functioning. A strength of mine in my relationships with those I lead is that I will always go above and beyond to serve and help anyone in any area of their life. This goes for academics, family, relationships, and any other area they need help with. In this, I am also willing to dedicate whatever time is necessary to invest in those I lead. In explaining the concept of LMX (leader-member exchange theory), the research suggests that "there is a reciprocal process in dyadic exchanges between leader and follower, in which each party brings different types of resources to the relationship. 'exchange ". There seems to be a constant exchange between leaders and followers and in this it is necessary for both parties to provide resources that will be exchanged for the benefit of the other person. When it comes to servant leadership, it is important that the leader provide all possible resources to those he leads. This is part of the leader being responsible for taking care of those they lead. A weakness for me would be if I know someone has already failed in a certain area, I will be less likely to give them similar tasks or sometimes tasks. generally in future situations. While there are times when people's roles need to change and discernment needs to take place, there is also a time to give grace and let people have another chance. Most Important Dimension For me, I believe that the most important dimension among the six is transformation. influence. This dimension seems to be the one that is most relevant and effective in the context of the Church in which I serve and the role I currently occupy. One of the main reasons I believe this is the most important dimension is that it is the only dimension that requires a response from the follower as to whether or not they have been changed or influenced. This dimension will require tangible evidence to determine whether it was effective or not. When servant-disciples have a transformative influence on their leaders, I believe many other dimensions of servant-leadership will arise. Transforming Influence is all about serving, with its primary purpose being to empower, nurture, and grow followers to reach their full potential by putting followers' needs first. This is extremely relevant to the context of the church in which I serve, as we find. that when we have a direct influence on those we lead and work to grow them in their faith, that is when they are most likely to embark on a journey to become independent in their faith and become leaders in their own right. Our church is in a very important period of building and preparing new foundations for the future. I believe transformative influence is extremely important because my role is to help people grasp the vision and calling that God has placed on our church. It’s not about conforming people to the “Church’s vision,” but about helping people grow in their relationship with the Lord so that they can ultimately see the vision for themselves. Love is the basis of transformative influence and servant leadership. Helping those you lead is “doing good with obvious concern for followers, acts of kindness that are intended for benefit.
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