Servant Leadership is often interpreted differently by anyone who has been interested in it. However, there are certain traits that are consistent in the definition and most people do agree that the main goal is to empower others. I believe one of my strongest characteristics would be listening and empathy. In my opinion, these two go hand in hand and should actually be considered one characteristic. I have always been a person that others could feel comfortable confiding in.
I feel that the reason for this is that not only do I listen, I listen with empathy. In order to be a successful listener, I feel one must be able to show empathy to those they are speaking with. While my son was growing up, our house was the one that all of the kids would hang out at. As a result I was able to get to know all of them extremely well and they grew to realize that I could be trusted and really did care about all of them. I became the person they would confide in when they were unable to speak truthfully with their parents or anyone else.
This became a common occurrence and I feel that I had a positive effect on their lives. While studying for my Master’s Degree, I did my thesis on “Drug and Alcohol Use Among high school Athletes”. Most of these kids were involved in sports and had been most of their lives. One part of my research was to survey high school students from various sports programs, ages, and schools. It was important to be able to obtain honest responses and I believe that my ability to build trust with them was a major reason for the success of my research.
The Essay on Against School-Engaging The Text
1. Question: Why does Gatto think that school is boring and childish? How does Gatto’s depiction of school compare with your own elementary and secondary school experience? Answer: Gatto thinks school is boring because the teachers and students are bored with material. The students say they already know the material. I can compare my school experience to Gatto’s depiction of school. My experience ...
I did make sure that all of the surveys were confidential, however they were all more than willing to participate and from the answers I received, I believe they were extremely honest. Another trait that I believe is a strong one of mine is building community. I have always been one that tries to involve everyone and make them feel comfortable, feel like they belong. My son has always been involved in sports. While in high school, he was largely involved in the football program. As a parent, I felt that it was important for me to help out in any way that I could.
I volunteered as the team photographer for his football and hockey teams and did my best to make sure that all of the players were recognized in the pictures for each game. When my son was in high school, the Quarterback Club, or the football booster program, was in jeopardy of no longer existing. While all of the players’ parents were members of the club, it became increasingly difficult to find anyone who was willing to take on any of the main responsibilities. There were four elected positions and there were also a large number of programs that needed leaders to run them.
In his junior year, they were unable to find a secretary. I volunteered and took on this responsibility. However, his senior year the president had moved on and there wasn’t anyone who was willing to take on this extremely important position. Once again, I volunteered and took on this position. As President, it was one of my responsibilities to find volunteers to lead programs and become members of these teams. I was able to find someone to fill both the secretary and the vice president positions and others to take on the team leader positions.
We were able to implement new activities that put new life and excitement into the program. More parents started getting involved and as the word got around that we were making changes, the interest and ideas began to grow. While there are traits I believe I am strong in, there are others that I need to work on. One of the main areas that I feel I need to develop is foresight. While I have strong intentions to focus on how the decisions I make will affect us in the future, this is not always the case.
The Essay on What Makes a Society Strong and What Destructs It
In our readings, we have seen examples of how society can be undermined or destabilized. Among the major causes of such damage are: injustice, lack of respect and responsibility to others, self-interest, abuse of power, conflicts, war and fighting. For example, in Hesiod’s “Thegony”, we can see that Auranos and Cronus were unjust and self-interested leaders, because they only cared about ...
In the day to day activities, I often find myself focusing more on the short term priorities. I need to work harder at determining how the decisions we make today will impact the success of the future. I believe I need to better develop my ability to anticipate the possible consequences of the decisions we make. One way to cultivate this trait would be to make a conscious effort to become more aware of the things that are going on around me and how choices that were made in the past are affecting us today. Another area I feel I am not as strong as I could be is conceptualization.
While I have always encouraged others to dream their big dreams, to be as creative as possible and to go after what they want, I have not always been too good at not focusing on the day to day activities. A servant leader who has strong conceptualization traits encourages others to not become too focused on their current responsibilities. However, as a single parent I find myself becoming caught up in the everyday tasks which keep me from focusing more on the big picture. I believe that my greatest need is to increase my ability to concentrate on the visions, goals and possibilities that will make a huge impact on our future success.
