Mother Teresa: An Example of Servant Leadership

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Servant leadership is both a leadership philosophy and set of leadership practices. Traditional leadership generally involves the accumulation and exercise of power by one at the “top of the pyramid.” By comparison, the servant-leader shares power puts the needs of others first and helps people develop and perform as highly as possible (Northouse, 2013). One person I feel is a great example of a servant leader is mother Teresa. Mother Teresa, Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu, was born August 26, 1910 in what is today Skopje, Macedonia. At the age of 12, she began showing interest in the life of missionaries and felt that she was being called to a life of serving God. By the time she was 18 she had left home and joined the Sisters of Loreto, never to see her mother or sister again. Though based out of Ireland, the Sisters of Loreto had a mission in Calcutta, India, where Mother Teresa spent most of her life serving as a teacher and helping the poor. Upon taking her first vows as a nun in 1931, she chose the name Teresa after the patron saint of missionaries.

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