Introduction
This movie tells the story of a 34-year relationship between a lab assistant, Vivien Thomas, and a surgeon, Alfred Blalock. It also tells of the struggles and triumphs experienced during a journey of human development for two people whom, in turn, influence the development of a worldwide community of surgeons and their patients. It is a great example of how leaders mature and transform their consciousness to be understanding of other people and to deepen the meaning of their words, behaviors, and values.
Hall's Theory
Servant-leadership is a way of life that evolves and matures with the passage of time. This way of life transforms spiritual people, with strong and stable emotions, into someone who has a deep understanding of truth and the world around them.
Hall describes a series of phases that leaders must transcend through to realize the global importance of people and to make aware the value behind their choices and behaviors. To move from phase to phase, one must have an internal dissatisfaction that motivates them to search for something more. It is this intrinsic desire that servant-leaders possess that propels them to search for truth and a greater understanding of relationships and the world.
Phase I
In Phase I of Hall's model, the world of the emerging leader is oppressive. It holds people in a pattern of self-preservation by preventing them from moving beyond the first level of Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs (Horsman, 2009, p. 4) and into a realm of self-worth.
Born the grandson of a slave during a time of segregation, Thomas instantly entered into a world of oppression. For him, the world was a place to survive more than a place to flourish and grow. Because of state law and social norm, Thomas, ...
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...he ability to observe and explain something and the ability to capture its essence" (Thompson, 2000, p. 23). Together, Thomas and Blalock are great examples of this dynamic.
References
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In Mr. Collin’s speech on Thursday, April 3, 2014, he highlighted a few of the most imperative principles of the thirty-five principles outlined in his “Creative Followership”. Collins suggested that through application of these principles, any individual has the potential to be passionately committed and deeply involved in their organization or project - and even in their personal life. All of this without having fashion his or her self into the next Andrew Carnegie. His or her contribution does not have to be as leader to be immeasurabl...
Bolman, L. G. & Deal, T. E. (2013). Reframing organizations: Artistry, choice, and leadership. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
Servant leadership is a designation coined by Robert Greenleaf in 1970 in an essay entitled The Servant as Leader. In this essay, he describes the servant leader and a servant first contrary to one who is a leader first. The difference is the servant chooses to put others needs before his own while the leader first may later become a servant from the promptings of a sense of right and wrong or simply because they are coerced in that direction (Greenleaf, 1991).
Hughes, R. L., Ginnett, R. C., & Curphy, G. J. (2012). Leadership: Enhancing the lessons of experience. New York: McGraw-Hill Irwin
Servant leadership is a philosophy and set of practices that augments the lives of individuals, builds better organizations, and creates a more just and caring world, they put the team first, and themselves second (MindTools, 2015). Servant leaders are able to demonstrate their traits through interaction with followers and other leaders within the organization. The characteristics of servant leaders include their commitment to the growth of people, stewardship, and building community, and provide leaders with the opportunity to experience change and to invite followers to change (Savage-Austin & Honeycutt 2011). Servant leadership encourages leaders and followers to ‘raise one another to higher levels of motivation and morality’, and set their leadership focus: follower’s first, organizations second, their own needs last (Sendjaya, Sarros, & Santora, 2008). The servant leader focuses on the needs of others to include team members.
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Servant leadership is becoming a more “sought-after” concept in today’s society, but what exactly is servant leadership? Does it mean different things to different people? Although the three books, The Servant as Leader, The Servant, and Lead Like Jesus, all center around servant leadership, each author takes a different perspective on the meaning of being a servant leader. Robert Greenleaf addresses leadership from a straight-forward stance; saying that a good leader must be a servant-first by finding the will within themselves to put the needs of their group before their own. James Hunter discusses servant leadership through a story involving everyday people that the reader can relate to. He uses Jesus as a guide to explain how to initiate character development that will, in turn, fashion servant leadership. Ken Blanchard and Phil Hodges offer a new perspective on servant leadership by bringing Jesus into the picture on an even deeper level than Hunter. They explain that by knowing Jesus Christ and developing an intimate personal
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John Maxwell is a distinguished author, speaker and pastor who specializes on leadership and leadership development. This paper is outlines my reflections from watching his YouTube video presentation of his five levels of leadership. It was insightful that Maxwell, (2013) explained that all leaders start at level one, then continue to develop in their capabilities through level five. He outlines each of the five stages, identifying the attributes and tendencies of each of the levels. He describes that followers view leaders through different lenses, each the lenses is a reflection of one of the five stages.