A Personal Model of Leadership

A Personal Model of Leadership Leadership is a fascinating concept. The term conjures up ideas of powerful, triumphant heroes with a group of followers defeating some evil enemy. Perhaps the enormous allure to leadership is because of the influence it has on practically everyone's life. Stories of heroic leadership go back to biblical times with Moses leading his people out of Egypt. After surveying numerous articles on the evolution of leadership, it appeared that most of the articles were concerned with the concept of style of leadership and how leadership influences the organization. We began the twentieth century focused more or less solely on a leader-dominant theory of leadership that assumed a low opinion of the followers' motivation, maturity, and abilities (Waddell, 1994). The style of leadership is considered, by some researchers, to be important in achieving organizational goals and increasing productivity in followers (Awamlch & Gardner, 1999). This may explain why the literature appears to concentrate on leadership styles. The leadership theories and models that seem to appear most frequently include; transactional leadership, transformational leadership, charismatic leadership, situational leadership, and servant leadership. Leadership does not take place in vacuum. It is a dynamic process that involves many social interactions between leaders and followers. The way these different theories and models affect the organization depends on many variables; organizational culture, group dynamics, and sociology of the organization (Johns & Moser, 2001). The purpose of this paper is to analyze Greenleaf's definition of servant leadership for individuals, organizations, and trustees. The author will provide an explanation as to why he believes leadership is important personally, to his organization, and to society. In addition, a personal model of leadership based on contemporary models will be presented. In his works,

References: Graham, J.W. (1991). Servant-leadership in organizations: Inspirational and moral. Leadership Quarterly, 2(2), 105-119. Greenleaf, R.K. (1970). The servant leader. Indianapolis: The Robert K. Greenleaf Center. Greenleaf, R.K. (1977). Servant leadership: A journey into the nature of legitimate power and greatness. New York: Paulist Press Howell, J (733096581) Northouse, P Omoh, D. A. O. (2007). Analysis of servant leader characteristics: A case study of a community college president (AAT 3262849) Patterson, K Spears, L. C. (2004, Fall). Practicing servant-leadership. Retrieved December 10, 2010, from Hesselbein and Company website: http://www.viterbo.edu/ Servant-Leadership. Retrieved February 10, 2010, from http://chapters.ewb.ca/pages/president/leadership-articles-and-links/