Conflict resolution

Once on my job I was asked to work a few saturdays. I agreed, but there was a misunderstanding about which saturdays I was expected to work. My boss was expecting me to show up one weekend, but I was waiting for him to let me know what saturday he needed me to work. There was a big thing with him, and my co-workers were upset because they had a heavier work load since I was not there. To resolve the conflict, I went to my boss and explained what happened, and that I felt that there had been a miscommunication. I explained my point of view and asked what he was expecting of me. We were able to come to an agreement on what worked best for both of us. I also apologized to my co-workers for the inconvenience and everything was fine.

Teamwork

Through the exercises during this week's leadership class I learned a few things about teamwork.

First, I learned about myself. I tend to have a cynical view of teamwork; like it is a necessary evil in life. You have to learn to work with people, whether you like to or not. My personality (as we learned in last week's reading) dictates that I am the kind of person who would prefer to do things my self, and not rely on the group to get it done. I'll admit that sometimes I feel I could do a better job on my own, or that I could do it faster on my own. I often feel that I don't need people. But through working together on the project that we did in class, I learned that it was necessary for everyone to give his input. Each person had some knowlege of the story that was crucial to the solution. If I had tried to do it on my own, it would not have made sense, because I did not have all of the story.
Second, I learned that I'm not as smart as I'd like to think! Even after feeling pretty confident that I understood the solution to the mystery, some one would say something that I had forgotten or would bring up a point that I hadn't thought about, proving that I did, in fact need everyone in the group in order to be successful myself.
Teamwork is valuable, because the whole is more the sum of it's parts. Mathematically and physically that statement is not true, but there are some things in life that cannot be explained by either math or science, right?
One of those things is this, that we can do more together than each of us can do apart.

What is a servant leader?

When I think of leadership, I feel that servanthood goes hand-in-hand with it. There is no leadership if there is not service alongside it. Think of some of the most prominant leaders we have in this country. Our government officials are elected on the basis that they will serve their communities or those who are electing them. Police officers motto is "to protect and serve". There are few leaders who fill a leadership position where there is not some kind of service involved to their community.

I believe that I leader who does not have an attitude of servanthood has selfish motives. Someone who does not see himself as a servant to those under him will not care about their needs, their wants and their desires. They will either frustrate their team, or their team will not stay with them very long. They will not be a very effective leader. In order to be an effective leader, the one in charge must have a deep understanding of what it means to put their goal, dreams and desires aside and think of those of others. This is the heart of servanthood, and it will build a strong, unified team.

Service - Learning

When I was in highschool I was part of a team that traveled each summer for 2 weeks to work in a small village in the mountains of Ecuador. I believe this was one of the coolest experiences I have ever had the opportunity to be involved in. Each year for four summers in a row I raised the money I needed, got my shots and flew to Guayaquil, Ecuador. I met so many people down there that were so cool even though they were so different than me. I wanted to connect with those people, but of course not being able to communicate with them was frustrating. This pushed me to learn spanish and become fluent at it. Each year we took our team from the States, along with the team from Guayaquil and drove up into the gorgeous Andes mountains to a village called Tulabug Escaleras which sits on the shoulders of an extinct volcano.

ECU Mission Team in Guayaquil, Ecuador 2006

Some of the activities we participated in included working with the local school children, washing hair and teaching the families of the community about simple hygiene, assisting the Doctor while she saw patients, and doing games and activities with the children. Of course we also spent time seeing the sights and hanging out with our new friends. It was an incredible experience because I got to be a part of something so much bigger than just myself. I saw a people who had very little in the way of personal possesions or luxury. Yet they were really no different than myself. I think that I learned that I could live without some things when I went to Ecuador, and I definately learned to be thankful for everything that I have. The United States IS a very blessed country, even with all of our problems and issues. I am thankful to be an American, and I hope to use that blessing that I have been given to help other people in other parts of the world that do not have the same opportunities that I do.

Good Decision-Making

In order to make good decisions, a person should be able to look carefully at all options involved. The potential benefits and disadvantages need to be carefully weighed to decide which option is the best choice for those involved. A person should also consider others who are involved in thier decisions and how each choice will affect them.
To make a good decision, it takes time. A good decision maker will not leave things to the last minute and then have to make a hasty decision, but will allow plenty of time (when possible) in order to plan ahead sufficiently.

Delegation

One time, I was put in charge of a group of students as we were preparing for a mission trip to Ecuador. My job was to coordinate all the students, teach them the skits and dramas we would use in country, decide what crafts to do and make sure they were prepared, collect props and costumes, and a lot of other miscellaneous jobs. I delegated most of these duties to my more responsible team members, and I was able to supervise and make sure everything got done well. However, one year I decided that I would allow each team member to pick the job that they wanted to do. Some jobs were done well, but there were some things that didn't get done and some other team members ending up doing double duty to cover what wasn't finished. I learned about delegation, that you have be selective and delegate carefully. And then you have to follow up on the task to be sure it is done well.

My Personal Philosophy on Leadership

My personal philosophy on leadership is one that I have been developing over the past several years or so. I have been involved in many groups that promote leadership skills and various character traits of a good leader, such as 4-H, church groups and community outreach programs. My parents often involved my siblings and I in activities that gave us opportunities to learn leadership as young kids. I believe that my personal philosophy on leadership is a culmination of what I have learned in my lifetime through such experiences.

            I believe that the word “leader” is used to describe several different persons. There is, first, the person who is born leader. This person has the natural ability to influence people, he tends to be popular and has many friends. Second, there is the person who through personal development has built the character of a leader within himself. Third, there is the person who has been given a position in which he must lead people, whether or not he has or has developed leadership skills. Because of these differences in understanding what a “leader” is, it is challenging to define it. However, the qualities that separate “leadership” from “good leadership”, are what I believe to be the important thing to understand.

            Good leadership requires good character. Character is what drives people to strive for something greater than themselves. A good leader should bring the best out in people. I believe that people are seeking something to be a part of. They want to be inspired – they want to be led. I think that there are 4 particular traits that a leader needs to inspire people. Passion, humility, a good attitude and love.

            When a person is passionate about something, it stirs up the passion in those around them. It is like something contagious that can transform the working environment of a group. It inspires people to find the passion within themselves and empowers them to be a world changer within their own circle.

            Humility is also quintessential in a leader, because as human beings, we all have faults. Only those who are unwilling to admit to them are blind to them. No matter how much we pretend like we have it all together, those around us can often see that we don’t. If we are willing to see our own faults and be humble about them, that raises respect in the eyes of those who are around us, and makes the working environment comfortable and safe.

            A good attitude can turn the most unpleasant situation into bearable when seen in a positive light. Opportunities are often missed because of negativity and pessimism. A good leader should exhibit a positive attitude when things look bad or discouraging to maintain the morale of his team.

            The most important of all the characteristics about is love. A good leader will learn to love, or care for, the people around him. As we know, a leader is nothing without the people around him. We could even say that without them, he would be nothing. So, a leader will value people and see them as indispensible to his goals or operation, whatever it may be. If he does not love his people, it will be obvious to them, and his attempt to lead them will be ineffective. However, if a leader truly loves those around him, and can express the value he puts in them, he will have many devoted followers.

            A good way to assess the performance of a leader is to find out how those who are working for him, or serving under him feel about themselves and the job that they are doing. Do they feel that they are doing a good job? How is there self-esteem? Do they feel that their leader approves of the work that they are doing? Do they enjoy their job?

            A good leader will inspire people to be passionate in their work, to enjoy their job, to feel free to express themselves and to be themselves. This is my personal philosophy on leadership, and it is the style of leadership that I try to employ in my own business, and with the people that I interact with on a daily basis. It is what I have observed in my experiences to be an effective approach to leadership; but in keeping with my own advice, I am open to learning new principles about the qualities and characteristics of a good leader.