It has been said that “Getting over a painful experience is much like crossing monkey bars. You have to let go at some point in order to move forward.” Our experiences whether good or bad are the road map to our success. Each experience allows us to celebrate our successes, shows us the mistakes we have made, points out the improvements we can make, and helps us to move on to bigger and better things. Since graduating from the University of Kansas in 2004, I have worked for five different companies specializing in diverse fields. Each position enabled me to learn important skills, improve the talents I already possessed, allowed me to work with a diverse group of people, and aided my ultimate transformation as a leader. To me, a leader was always someone that emulated such values as compassion, honesty, creativity, integrity, morality, credibility, and charisma. In some of the organizations I had worked for it was sometimes difficult to find leaders whom I could look up to, especially when working in Corporate America where everything is ruled by the all mighty dollar and who can get it first. Additionally difficult were finding opportunities where I could use my leadership skills, it seemed like every time that I tried to suggest new initiatives or leadership approaches, I was turned down and told that it was outside my job responsibilities, and only once I had exceeded those goals could I try to implement my ideas. No matter how stressful things would get I would remind myself that this was a learning process and these experiences would make me a better leader. Since enrolling in this class and re-entering the world of higher education I have realized that all of these experiences have not only transformed me but have steered me to a new path, the path of servant leadership. The purpose of this paper is to explain my journey and understanding of servant leadership with the support of resources from this course. The first step in becoming a servant leader requires that understand what it means to be a servant leader.
As I mentioned previously until this quarter I was relatively inexperienced when it came to servant leadership. During my undergraduate career my professors taught us about leadership theories, concepts, the types of leaders, and helped us as students to find where we fit. Taking those lessons and what I have learned from this course it is my belief that a servant leader is dedicated to serving their communities and improving the lives of those around them. A servant leader is a selfless, loving, compassionate, moral, and unique individual that puts the needs of those around them before their own. Greenleaf stated that servant leaders are servants first and strive to fulfill the highest needs of the people they serve. He also stated people should grow as a result of being served. In working with these individuals bonds are created, trust is built, values are shared, followers emerge, and a new generation of leaders are born. All of these things are created because of an environment that is built on serving the needs of others and doing what is best for those involved. This dedication to serving others and selflessly giving of oneself has always been a large part of what I have believed to be the foundation of a good leader, however putting aside one’s own needs and goals for the betterment of those around them is not always easy.
Throughout my transformation as a leader I have worked with leaders of all different types, beliefs, backgrounds, and motivations. Each of my manager’s approaches to management taught me a lot about myself, mistakes to avoid, behaviors to adapt, and how to lead effectively. In the corporate world it was more difficult to look up to them as mentors but once I moved back into education I was able to step more readily into a servant leadership role. In working in HigherEd I have the opportunity to mentor, guide, and lead a new generation of leaders as my mentors did for me fulfilling one of the tenets of servant leadership. “Servant leadership focuses on the development of self and other for the purpose of creating mature, responsible individuals, groups and organizations for the purpose of nurturing a more caring and productive society”(Horsman, 2009, p.8). These individuals are a key part in the second step in understanding my transformation as a servant leader as they are whom the servant leader serves.
Working with college students everyday is not always an easy task and as post graduates we can sometimes forget what it was like to be in their shoes, For some post graduates college life is viewed as minimally stressful, as a student main responsibility is to go to class, study, make good grades, and graduate. However on today’s campuses this is easier said that done. Today many college students are working one or more jobs to finance their education, others may be first generation college students having issues being away from their family, not to mention balancing maintaining healthy relationships with friends, family, and partners, fitting in time for class, homework, and extra curricular activities. With all these responsibilities students’ lives can become unbalanced very quickly especially when outside influences like friends, family, or their environment come into play. With all of these factors it is essentially important that I be an effective servant leader. This requires me to be compassionate, open, honest, patient, creative, moral, supportive, and most importantly a good listener. As their Program Director and a leader, I not only plan programs and support the organization I mentor, guide, and will serve them the best that I can. The key is as Greenleaf states, understanding that being a servant leader does not mean one has to fulfil every single request one receives. It means one fulfils the requests that are the most important to a person's wellbeing and development. It is my hope that after I leave Hillel and continue on my path to working in Multicultural Affairs that I have as valuable experiences as I have in working with my students. I am also confident that through my work in serving them and their needs I have been able to plant the seeds of a future generation of leaders and creating what will hopefully be a long legacy. The final step in understanding my transformation as a servant leader is the impact of my past experiences.
As a leader I have been far from perfect. I have been in countless stressful and trying situations and have responded in ways that were not always best. However, despite all of this I continue to remain true to my moral compass. As leaders we are sometimes forced to make difficult decisions that can have a negative impact on those around us. It is our responsibility to ensure that we are acting in a way that works in the best interest of our followers and those around us, this is not always an easy task, especially when those close to you are influencing you in a negative way. Remaining true to one’s morals is essential in being an effective servant leader "living in alignment means that your behavior is consistent with your goals and that your goals are consistent with your moral compass. Living in alignment keeps you on course to accomplish your life purpose and achieve the best possible performance in all your life roles." (p. 38). As leaders were are also not expected to be perfect, although some leaders may seem larger than life, no one can be expected to have the perfect solution or action to every problem they are faced with. The key is as Reyes states “to embrace your shadow and your light as they are each an integral part of each other and who you are as a person.” This idea of healing and letting go is universal with our development as leaders. For adult leaders, healing begins with ourselves, we need to go back and heal those aspects of ourselves that we have denied and put aside earlier in our life (often for very legitimate reasons) before we can grow - sometimes healing and growing happen simultaneously. Then we can authentically and with compassion heal others and organizations. Until I am able to heal the false self, until I am able to cleanse and bring light into the false self, acknowledge, claim, accept, forgive and love and heal what is there I will not be my true self-so to speak (Keating 2006).
My experiences, even though some negative and painful, I have taken away several lessons that have strongly influenced my leadership style. First, I learned the importance of leading with respect, dignity, compassion, and patience. All traits the management lacked. Without respect for each other and our abilities true success will never be achieved. Second, management should always be clear and concise in conveying duties and expectations. Third, as leaders it is also important that we never take our followers for granted nor discount their opinions or needs. After all, without followers, a leader is just someone out for a walk. Fourth and finally, as human beings we drive to be successful, loved, happy, financially secure, and healthy.
As leaders we have some of the same desires. However, if we choose to oppress others or let ourselves be oppressed, these desires can be taken away from us. We know exactly how we don't want to be treated and what type of leader we don't want to have to follow, these feelings are very important and shape how we lead and follow. If you have had a negative experience with an oppressive leader, these experiences are usually hard to forget, we just have to remember not to repeat the actions of the past. And just like the monkey bars, getting over these experiences may be painful, but you have to let go at some point in order to move forward.
