What Nonprofit Organizations need to know about the Affordable Care Act

By Crystal J. Davis, CJD Consulting Solutions, LLC

For nonprofit organizations, The Affordable Care Act, will impact how these agencies deliver health care services in the community and the people the organizations serve. The National Council of Nonprofits shared important information that I would like to pass along.

HEALTH INSURANCE EXCHANGES 

• Every state will have an Affordable Insurance Exchange or‘Marketplace,’ where individuals and small employers can look for and purchase affordable private health insurance. Enrollment through the Exchanges begins October 1, 2013 for coverage effective January 1, 2014. Nonprofits are not requiredto buy insurance for employees through the Exchanges; they can continue with their existing plan. Initially, Exchanges will be open to individuals buying their own coverage and employees of firms with 100 or less workers (50 or less in some states).
• Most U.S. residents will continue receiving their health insurance through their employer, not through Exchanges. For those purchasing through Exchanges, plans are arranged into four categories based on level of coverage/benefits: bronze, silver, gold and platinum; there will also be a young adults’ plan. Costs will vary by type of plan and location. Most people purchasing through the Exchange will be eligible for subsidies; insurers cannot charge more based on gender or health status.

THE SHOP PROGRAM

• For smaller nonprofits: if your organization has less than 50 full-time employees it’s considered a ‘small employer’ and will be eligible to purchase health insurance through state-specific SHOP programs (Small Business Health Options Program) making it easier to secure affordable health plans. 

Advantages of SHOP:

• Agencies can offer a single plan for all employees.
• Nonprofits can decide how much they want to contribute towards premiums.
• Nonprofits can collect employees’ share of premiums through payroll deduction.
• Premium contributions can be made with pre-tax dollars.
• Agencies can receive one monthly invoice and make one monthly payment.

INFORMING EMPLOYEES 

Employees can begin shopping on October 1. The National Council of Nonprofits suggests the following;

• All plans must cover doctor visits, hospitalizations, maternity/emergency room care, and prescriptions.
• Some employees will be eligible for subsidies to help pay for a health insurance plan.
• Insurance plans cannot deny coverage for employees with pre-existing conditions.
• All plans have to show costs and what’s covered in plain language (no fine print).
• Policies will be sold by private insurance companies that must follow rules and provide high-quality plans.

For more information, call 1-800-706-7893 (Health Insurance Marketplace Small Employer Contact Center). Happy Shopping!

Sacred Service: Volunteers Create Value

Volunteers in nonprofit organizations need to be heard and valued. Here are five things you can do to inspire and support your sacred servers:

1. Succession leadership is necessary for your lead volunteers. Volunteers who are in leadership positions must not be so important to the organization that if they leave, the organization is at a loss. Lead volunteers should assist the organization with grooming the next leader. Succession planning is a must!

2. Volunteers should not be overused so that they become burned out. New volunteers bring a fresh sort of excitement and commitment to the organization. This commitment should be used justly and evenly. Coordinating volunteers and staff is critical for the organizational responsibilities – and to sustain the momentum of your volunteer base.

3. Nonprofit organizations should have job descriptions for their volunteers. In my organization, I wrote my own volunteer job description. Who better knows the volunteer job they do? As always, job descriptions should align with the organization’s mission, and be simple and clear.

4. Create value around sacred service. The current rate for a volunteer is $22.00 per hour. Indeed, volunteers bring a wealth of assistance to organizations that it would not have otherwise. Organizations should take stock in the immense value of volunteers and continually create and acknowledge the value of their volunteers.

5. Leaders in organization can create training manuals for volunteers based on the various roles available within an organization. But, training can also be created from the questions that volunteers ask on a daily or weekly basis. A great way to create a training manual for volunteers is to collect their questions and use them as a foundation for the volunteer manual.

Sacred service is a value creating, empowering act. It creates long-term sustainable wealth for nonprofit organizations. Happy volunteering!

Theory U: What is Presencing?

Class Post. Enjoy!

What is presencing? How might presencing help leaders operate from the future seeking to emerge, instead of learning from the past?

Presencing is the act of connecting to the source of inspiration and will. It allows for the individual or group to go to the place of silence and allow the inner knowing to emerge. Leaders who practice the art of presencing are creating the proper mental environment conducive to creativity and profound insight while sensing the hidden sources of idea generation (MIT Sloan School of Management, 2005).

Scharmer (2009) defined presencing as,

Requires the tuning of three instruments: the open mind, the open heart, and the open will. This opening process is not passive but an active “sensing” together as a group. While an open heart allows us to see a situation from the whole, the open will enables us to begin to act from the emerging whole. Presencing is the capacity to connect to the deepest source of self and will allows the future to emerge from the whole rather than from a smaller part or special interest group (p. 62).

Presencing may help leaders operate from the future that is seeking to emerge, instead of learning from the past through the shifting structure of attention (Scharmer, 2009). That is, for leaders to shift from the inner place from which they operate. This shift can be done individually or collectively (Scharmer, 2009). Listening is a big part of the presencing dynamic. The four types of listening include downloading, factual listening, empathetic listening, and generative listening (Scharmer, 2009). At the presencing level, generative listening involves focus on getting the old self out of the way through clearing an open space for the emerging, authentic self (Scharmer, 2009). This process creates a subtle yet powerful change in the individual. Scharmer (2009) calls it “grace or communing” (p. 13) with the inner (deeper) source in the expereince called Source dimension (Scharmer, 2009).

Barely Civilized (2012) posited that presencing is sort of a mash-up of the Buddhist be here now practice of being present and a Bohmian-dialog-thinking-together kind of awareness that is broader than oneself and is sensing the future as it is emerging in the ‘space’ between us. In Theory U, the three levels of organizational change arev structure, process, and thought. If one can change the structure of the organization without changing the processes, the change will not be effective. If one can help to change the processes without changing thinking, and it will only be moderately effective. But if you can change thinking, and look to the future instead of the past, change can be profound (Barely Civilized, 2012). This teaching is similar to the Religious Science philosophy which says that “one’s thought creates one’s world” (Holmes, 1966).

References

Brown, E. (2005). Otto Scharmer:Theory-U: Presencing emerging futures.

           Retrieved from http://mitsloan.mit.edu/newsroom/newsbriefs-0605-

           scharmer.php 

Barely Civilized. (2012). What is Presencing? Retrieved from

           http://barelycivilized.net/2012/what-is-presencing/

Holmes, E. (1966). Science of mind: A philosophy, a faith, a way of life.

           New York, New York: Penguin Putnam, Inc.

Scharmer, O. (2009). Theory U: Leading from the future as it emerges. 

           San Francisco, CA: Berrett-Koehler Publishers, Inc.

The Stakeholder Management Model

Question:  Which topic or competency do you feel is your greatest strength and challenge?

The stakeholder management model is a great strength for me as I embraced this theory for my work at Center for Spiritual Living (CSL). Bourne (2008) argued that stakeholder theory takes center stage as a valuable model to adopt for an innovation project.  Moreover, the stakeholder model is useful for nonprofit organizations in general. Pioneering work in stakeholder management has become increasingly important since the seminal work of Freeman (1984).  Since then, several researchers (Botan & Hazelton, 1989; Grunig, 1992) have acknowledged the significance of communication inviting stakeholder input.

The stakeholder management design system manages stakeholders’ expectations for the project and its end results (Project Smart, 2013). The project design team must manage the relationships with stakeholders and their perceptions and influences for the benefit of the project (Bourne, 2008).  The performance of any business on a social level is dependent, to a large extent; on the way stakeholders input is received in the negotiating of its projects (King, 1998).  The five steps of the stakeholder management model as described by Bourne (2008) will “identify, prioritize, visualize, engage, and monitor” (Bourne, 2008, p. 4-6). By using the stakeholder management model, CSL promotes creativity and leverages growth to thrust the organization into innovative activities.  By aligning stakeholder management initiatives with technological advancements, CSL can implement future innovative projects with success.

References

Botan, C., & Hazleton V. (1989).  Public relations theory. Mahwah, NJ: 

            Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

Bourne, L. M. (2008). Stakeholder relationship management. Retrieved from

            http://www.stakeholder-management.com/all the information/keep going.

Freeman, R. E. (1984).  Strategic management: A stakeholder approach.  Boston. MA:

           Pitman.

Grunig, J. (1992). Excellence in public relations and communication management.

            Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

King, A. (1998). The social performance uncertainty principle. Corporate Reputation Review,

            1(3), 43-46.

Project Smart. (2013). Stakeholder management; Managing expectations. Retrieved from

            http://www.projectsmart.co.uk/stakeholder-management.html

Centers for Spiritual Living Global Services

Emotionally Intelligent Leaders, Supervisors, and Managers

Class Post. Enjoy!

Steinwall (2013) lecture provided an in-depth review of several constructs that are important to leaders, managers, and supervisors. The constructs of optimism, coping, hardiness, hope and helplessness, locus of control, empowerment, emotional intelligence, happiness, and core self-evaluation are important for people who lead, manage, or supervise other people to understand. Leaders, managers, and supervisors, who develop these constructs and infuse them into their everyday life, as well as their work life, are positioned to succeed.

At first, emotional intelligence was studied in relationship to social intelligence by Thorndike (1920). Emotional intelligence did not become a hot topic in organizations or corporations until Goleman’s (1995) research. Today, emotional intelligence should be considered at every level of an organization; from the leaders (CEO’s), to front line supervisors, managers, and employees. Goleman (1995) suggested a model of emotional intelligence that includes awareness of self, management of self, awareness of social environment, and management of one’s relationships (Goleman, 1995).

Awareness of self and management of self are personal emotional intelligence domains. Self-awareness applies to a person’s ability to understand emotions, areas of strengths and areas for improvement, as well as the ability to assess self from an accurate and authentic awareness (Goleman, 1995). Self-management relates to a person’s capacity to manage and regulate emotions and the ability to stay calm, cool, and collected during times of chaos. Moreover, self-managed people are self-motivated and take initiative (Goleman, 1995). The second two aspects of emotional intelligence are social in nature. The social aspects of emotional intelligence are concerned with a person's relationship management skills (Goleman, 1995).

Managing one’s relationships at work is about the skills of communication, influence, collaboration, and working with employees and other colleagues (Goleman, 1995). Leaders who have the ability to take employees and group members’ feelings’ into consideration when making decisions is a socially aware leader. (Goleman, 1995) Taken together, awareness of self , management of self, awareness of social environment, and management of one’s relationships self-awareness are critical domains of emotional intelligence that once understood and applied in the workplace, can support and increase in organizational productivity, wealth creation, and organizational sustainability (Steinwall, 2013).

Reference

Goleman, D. (1995). Emotional intelligence; Why it can matter more than IQ.

          New York, NY: Random House Publishers.

Steinwall, M. (2013). Psychological instruments to measure the human

          element. MGT/736 Contemporary Management Systems. University of

          Phoenix website.

Thorndike, E. L. (1920). Intelligence and its use. Harper's Magazine, 140, 227-

          235.

Maslow and Selfless-Actualization

Class Post. Enjoy!

Good afternoon M:

Thank you for your post. I believe the suggestion in your post, “utilizing the award system for employees that go beyond their job description” (Kamara, 2013, para. 3) could align with the discussion I have been having with Jack and Van regarding “happy” employees. A person who would go beyond their job description could be seen as an individual who has been enlightened past Maslow’s (1965) definition of a “self-actualized” person to a “selfless- actualized” person. In later research, Maslow (1971) suggested that, “There is a definition and process that transcends the self in self- actualization characterized by such terms as selfless, devoted, working at a calling and "being-values" (p. 128).

I believe what Maslow (1971) was talking about is what we refer to today as servant leadership. Greene and Burke (2007) argued that what is relevant to the selfless-actualized person is creativity. I believe employees who are allowed to be creative at their place of employment are probably happiest. Maslow (1971) recommended that organizations find avenues for authentic creativity to emerge from their employees. Greene and Burke’s (2007) research of Maslow (1971) pointed to Maslow’s (1971) characteristics of people who go "beyond self- actualization.”

Selfless-actualized people share similar behavioral prototypes (Green & Burke, 2007). Self-actualized individuals are unpretentious and live future possibilities as if they exit in the present moment (Green & Burke, 2007). Maslow (1971) included other attributes of self-less actualized individuals such as they make things right, they honor and commend others, they are down-to-earth and efficient, they see challenges as opportunities, and they are drawn to problems that are complicated. Moreover, they want everyone to excel to highest potentiality, and they are uncomplicated and efficient (Greene & Burke, 2007).

Greene and Burke (2007) acknowledged that from a societal perspective it is critical to have an others’ worldview. Greene and Burke (2007) noted that this “other focus” is especially important in health care where most employees have altruistic intentions. Aligning creativity and self-less actualization makes more effective delivery of service and happy employees (Greene & Burke, 2007). Greene and Burke (2007) noted the selfless-actualization is iterative and on-going. The authors suggested for organizations to empower creativity in their employees (which results in “happy” employees and increased productivity), organizations can invest in the following;

•   Educate through art,
•   Grasp an awareness of operating in an environment of opposition
• Cultivate employees autonomy and individual personalities and goals
• Engage in dialogues on ethics,
• Engage conversations on workplace spirituality
• Practice sense- making, invention, connectiveness,
• Be authentic, present in the moment and straightforward,
•  Be a role model, and
•  Be aware of Maslow's hierarchy of needs and its relevance to the workplace (Greene & Burke, 2007).

As noted by Greene and Burke (2007), this idea that Maslow (1971) was embarking upon, prior to his death that one should move beyond self-actualization to selfless actualization seems to be more critical in this day and age, as when Maslow (1971) was first introducing it. It is about organizations engaging in strategic cooperation rather than strategic self-interest.

References

Greene, L., & Burke, G. (2007). Beyond self-actualization. Retrieved from

          https://digital.library.txstate.edu/bitstream/handle/10877/4089/fulltext.pdf

Kamara, M. (2013, May 30). Week 6 DQ 10. Message posted to University of

          Phoenix class forum MGT/736 – Contemporary Systems Management

          website.

Maslow, A. H. (1971). The farther reaches of human nature. New York, NY:

          Viking Press.

Creative Vision, Tension, and Shared Leadship

Class Post. Enjoy!

Good Afternoon O:

Thank you for your post. Senge (1990) spoke of leadership, creative tension, building a shared vision in organizations. I believe his discussion relates to your post that highlights the importance of leaders empowering creativity with organizations. Senge (1990) considered these aspects of organizations that allow for creativity.

Leadership

• Help employees reflect on their practice continuously, and build personal goals that help them evolve
• Let employees know that you don’t have all of the answers, but that more employees working together is the answer
• Model continuous reflection and learning and share it with other employees

Creative tension

• To move in the right direction, gather research and data to support your vision
• Communicate your vision clearly and often
• Recognize the reality of where you are, but focus on what the future could be
• Keep both the reality and vision in the forefront of your mind and those of your employees

Building a shared vision

• Align smaller goals to the shared vision so that people understand the larger whole
• Consistently emphasize why you are doing what you are doing
• Encourage employees to support one another as part of the greater whole
• Learn from mistakes and set-backs as an organization
• Celebrate each positive step and approach the vision as a processes
• View the shared vision of being, thinking, and doing together, rather than a frozen snapshot in time that you hope to achieve (Senge, 1990).

If organizations take these aspects into account, creativity would flow from the mountaintops down in every facet of the organization. Thank you for your post!

Reference

Senge, P. M. (1990). The Fifth Discipline: The art & practice of the learning organization. New York, NY: Currency Doubleday.

Maslow and Corporate Strategy

Class Post. Enjoy!

Discuss the impact Abraham Maslow’s work has on corporate strategy, if any. 

Maslow’s work began in 1943 when he discovered that human needs that were not yet satisfied is what drove human behavior. Maslow (1943) also indicated in his theory that after those basic needs were satisfied, those behaviors no longer motivated human behavior. He designed a pyramid to display this theory starting with psychological needs then moving upward to safety and security, and further upward to love and belonging. From love and belonging, the pyramid moves upward to ego, and finally to self-actualization (Maslow, 1943).

Maslow’s theory possesses key considerations for management, including best practices for motivating employees, customers, and other stakeholders (MBAOnlineProgram.com, 2013). For example, corporate leaders can use the Hierarchy of Needs to creatively motivate employees by understanding how needs play into designing a job, salary and compensation, and the best management style to use with individuals (MBAOnlineProgram.com, 2013).

There exists a number of ways that mangers and leaders of organizations can leverage the physiological needs of employees. First, employers can provide sufficient wages that can assist employees with supporting their basic needs (MBAOnlineProgram.com, 2013). Second, organization and corporations can provide job security, retirement plans, and an environment that is safe for working (MBAOnlineProgram.com, 2013). Third, developing a team atmosphere can address the social needs of employees whereby a reciprocal relationship between team members provides motivation for employees to succeed (MBAOnlineProgram.com, 2013).

Fourth, from a sales and marketing standpoint, organizations such as a clothing store, can concentrate on esteem and self-actualization needs by manufacturing clothing that can enhance a person’s self-image to the point that people are encouraged to discover and move towards self-actualization needs. In these ways, organization can use Maslow’s (1943) Hierarchy of Needs to enhance corporate strategies. Using Maslow's (1943) pyramid in an a corporation's strategy is a win-win for both corporations and employees.

References

Maslow, A. H. (1943). A theory of human motivation. Psychological Review.

          50(1), 370-396.

MBAOnline Program. (2013). Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs & Business

          Strategy. Retrieved from http://www.mba-online-program.com/maslows-

hierarchy-of-needs-business-strategy

People-Oriented Leaders

Class post. Enjoy!

Dr. S:

I appreciated your favorite stories! I heard of the “boiled frog” story before at my spiritual center. Our senior leader illustrated his point of people getting stuck in their thinking (consciousness) by using the “boiled frog” analogy. In the workplace, as in church, one’s thinking can diminish an organization’s need for more effectiveness and efficiency. “We’ve always done it this way!” or “I’ve always just thought about it this way” can impede innovation and strategic agility. In the end, I appreciated the story about workload management. It aligns with the idea of teamwork. The leader who is successful in teamwork scenarios is those that are people-oriented leaders.

People-oriented leaders (person focused) are thoughtful, considerate, and care about the relationship with their followers (Bass, 2008). They pay attention to the needs of their employees and strive to satisfy those needs (Bass, 2008). People-oriented leaders seek to develop the ability of their employees and build their self-confidence (Bass, 2008). They create comfortable, friendly organization atmosphere and make their staff feel at ease. This type of leadership normally results in higher employee satisfaction and fewer personnel problems in most situations and contexts (Bass, 2008).

Relationship plays an increasingly important role in today’s working environment. Many organizations have been looking for leaders who can facilitate positive interactions among each other (Bass, 2008). A leader who leads with heart and mind, and consider his or her followers as a whole person instead of an intelligent machine is more suitable for the organization’s long run benefits. Cummings, MacGregor, Davey, and Lee (2010) found that people-oriented leadership has positive impact on teamwork, working environment, emotional heath, organizational commitment, and job satisfaction.

Most important, selfless service (servant leadership) is the number one attribute that can be added to the list. According to Patterson (2003), the servant leader leads and serves with:

(1). Agapao love;

(2) Acts with humility;

(3) Is altruistic;

(4) Is visionary;

(5) Is trusting;

(6) Is serving; and

(7) Empowers others (Dennis & Bocarnea, 2005, p. 601-602).

Indeed, the aforementioned attributes of the servant leadership can be added to the list of both person centered and task focused leadership styles.

References

Bass, B.M. & Bass, R. (2008). The Bass handbook of leadership: Theory,

          research, and managerial applications (4th Ed.). New York, NY: Free

          Press.

Cummings, G. G., MacGregor, T., Davey, M., & Lee, H. (2010). Leadership

          styles and outcome patterns for the nursing workforce and work

          environment: A systematic review. International Journal of

          Nursing Studies. 47 (1), 363–385.

Dennis, R. S., Bocarnea, M. (2005). Development of the servant leadership

          assessment. Leadership & Organization Journal 26(8), 600-615. doi:

          10.1108/01437730510633692

Patterson, K. (2003). Servant leadership: A theoretical model. (Doctoral dissertation

          Retrieved from ProQuest Dissertations & Theses

          database. (UMI No. 3082717)

Servant Leadership and Public Service

Class Post on Servant Leadership and Public Servants

Good Morning R:

I believe servant leadership is a style that persons who serve the public in any manner should know and embody. Several researchers agree that if people were more self-transcendent (a sense of spirituality) then their servant leadership behavior is better. Servant leadership, as discussed by Greenleaf (1977), is exemplified leaders who embody servant leadership values and the desire to serve others, in his or her own workplace and in the greater world (Sendjaya, 2005).

Spears (1996), Sendjaya and Perkerti (2010), and Joseph and Winston (2005) highlighted servant leadership is assisting others to become spiritually conscious of and to place trust in others. Sendjaya and Perkerti (2010) along with other scholars (Beazley, 2002; Beazley & Gemmill, 2005; Liden et al, 2008; Reave, 2005; Sendjaya, Sarros, & Santora, 2008; Stupak & Stupack, 2006) found evidence supporting the relationship between spirituality (self-transcendence) of leaders and his or her servant-leader behaviors. So, does this mean that politicians are not spiritually enlightened? Well, some scholars believe there is a definite connection, and that this connection can be seen directly through the leader’s work and interaction with their followers.

Reference

Beazley, D. A. (2002). Spiritual orientation of a leader and perceived leader behavior: A

correlational study. Dissertation Abstracts International, 63(04), 1436A.

Beazley, D. A., & Gemmill, G. (2005, January). Spirituality and servant leader behavior:

A correlational study. Paper presented at the International Conference on Applied

Management and Decision Sciences, Athens, Georgia

Greenleaf, R. K. (1977). Servant leadership: A journey into the nature of legitimate

power and greatness. New York, NY: Paulist Press.

Joseph, E. E., & Winston, B. E. (2005). A correlation of servant leadership, leader

trust, and organizational trust. Leadership & Organization Development Journal, 26(1), 6-22. doi:

10.1108/01437730510575552

Liden, R. C., Wayne, S. J., Zhao, H., & Henderson, D. (2008). Servant leadership:

Development of a multi-dimensional measure and multi-level assessment. Leadership Quarterly,

19(2), 161-177. Retrieved from

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1048984308000040

Reave, L. (2005). Spiritual values and practices related to leadership effectiveness. The

Leadership Quarterly, 16(5), 655-687. Retrieved from

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.leaqua.2005.07.003

Sendjaya, S. (2005). Servant leadership: A quiet revolution in the workplace. Newsletter

of the MLQ Network, 7(3), 1-2.

Sendjaya, S., & Pekerti, A. (2010). Servant leadership as antecedent of trust in

organizations. Leadership & Organization Development Journal, 31(7), 643-663.

doi:10.1108/01437731011079673

Sendjaya, S., Sarros, J. C., & Santora, J. (2008). Defining and measuring servant

leadership behavior in organizations. Journal of Management Studies, 45(2), 402-424. doi:

10.1111/j.1467-6486.2007.00761.x

Stupak, R., & Stupak, K. (2005). Finding organizational reality in paradise: A team of

two. Public Administration Quarterly, 29(3), 481-492. Retrieved from

http://www.questia.com/library/1P3-1017699211/finding-organizational-reality-in-paradise-a-

team

Shared Leadership and Empathy

Class Post on Shared Leadership and Empathy

Good Morning R:

I agree with your discussion of the King Arthur’s round table. It reminds me of the concept of shared leadership. In the shared leadership approach, a quality of servant leaders is the ability of listening to and understanding the other person (Greenleaf, 1970). Greenleaf (1970) affirmed to be a servant leader, one must become disciplined in listening and realizing that listening comes first in helping anyone with anything (Greenleaf, 1970). Listening aligns behavior and cognition with everyday activities (Van Engen, 2012) and is most effective when it makes connects with others, and involves a give-and-take relationship (Sipe & Frick, 2009). Through the act of listening, feedback is offered, relationships develop and mature, and leaders are created. The servant leader who is a skilled communicator displays a core competency of servant leadership (Sipe & Frick, 2009).

Empathy is also linked to servant leadership. Kouzes and Posner (2007) found empathy is critical to effective leadership; along with listening, empathy, and trust, servant leaders make organizations functional and influence others within the organization (Russell & Stone, 2002). Greenleaf (1970) claimed servant leaders have an unqualified acceptance and a tolerance of imperfection. Empathy allows the followers to grow taller when they know they are accepted for who they are. Taken together, listening, empathy, and trust allow servant leaders to facilitate relationships and demonstrate attributes such as trust, integrity, accountability, and authentic concern for people (Kouzes & Pozner, 2010).

References

Greenleaf, R. K. (1970). The servant as leader. Indianapolis, IN: The Robert K.

Greenleaf Center.

Kouzes, J. M., & Posner, B. Z. (2007). The leadership challenge (4th ed.). San Francisco,

CA: Jossey-Bass.

Kouzes, J. M., & Posner, B. Z. (2010). The truth about leadership. San Francisco, CA:

Jossey-Bass.

Russell, R. F., & Stone, A. G. (2002). A review of servant leadership attributes:

Developing a practical model. Leadership & Organization Development Journal,

23(3), 145-157. doi:10.1108/01437730210424

Sipe, J. W., & Frick, D. M. (2009). Seven pillars of servant leadership. Mahwah, NJ:

Paulist Press.

Van Engen, E. K. (2012). The role of communication and listening in leadership

(Master’s Thesis). Available from ProQuest Dissertations & Theses database.

(UMI No. 1511677)

Servant Leadership and Political Leaders

This is a post in class concerning Servant Leadership and Political Leaders

Good Morning R:

Thank you for your post. I agree with you on this question. Greenleaf (1977) explored the leader as a servant and postulated that the servant leader is searching and listening, always hopeful for something better. Possessing an attitude of service is critical to leadership in Greenleaf’s view. To practice silence and have openness to uncertainty is necessary for the servant leader. A deep sense of empathy and a tolerance for imperfection in people is important to the servant leader (Greenleaf, 1977). 

One characteristic of a servant leader is to bridge the gap with his or her own sense of intuition and develop a high level of trust for the people he or she serves. This is what I expect from our political leaders as well as any local, state, or government-elected persons. A leader who exemplifies servant leadership can see the growth of servant leadership in the people served (Greenleaf, 1977). If those being served are wiser, freer, and healthier, the leader is practicing servant leadership (Greenleaf, 1977).

Reference

Greenleaf, R. K. (1977). Servant leadership: A journey into the nature of legitimate power and greatness. New York, NY: Paulist Press.

Total Quality Management and Critical Theory

Total Quality Management and TQM

Critical Studies scholars such as Apel (1977) saw the characteristic core of the philosophy of science as the alternative of modern theory of science. This does not mean that he did not think one should deny unified science; rather it is the neopositive concept of logic of unified science (Apel, 1977). De Cock (1998) said today it seems appropriate to dismiss TQM and BPR, but that this would be a mistake and that the time is now to redefine and recontextualize their meanings so that problems that are seen as hampering TQM and BPR might be dispelled (De Cock, 1998).

De Cock (1998) argued further that TQM and BPR has been used to describe many different practices and have also been used in bits and pieces so that it can be said that the company is using such programs. This makes it look like TQM and BPR are just fads and have no serious value to management practices. The current literature has been blind to the issues of organizational power (De Cock, 1998). Furthermore, "There are many practical realizations of TQM and BPR and that there exists where only a loose link between the basic concepts and the way these are enacted in organizations" (De Cock, 1998, p. 147). De Cock (1998) says that we should look at the constructs of TQM and BPR as, "discourses emergent from power-knowledge relations, collectively sustained and continually renegotiated in the process of making sense" (p. 147).
 

According to Lawrence and Phillips (1998), critical organization theory skepticism differs from the postmodernism critique. "Critical theory focuses on analysis and reform intended to restructure the social foundations of organizations in an emancipatory manner" (Lawrence & Phillips, 1998, p. 157).

The second stream is inspired by Habermas and his notion of communicative action (Lawrence & Philips, 1998). In this second stream, patterns of communication are analyzed and ideal speech situations are important. Characteristics such as accuracy and honesty provide a pathway for " Rational, reflective, and moral decision making" (as cited in Lawrence & Phillips, 1998).

Critical scholars see ideal speech situations as the potential for individual and social transformation, however, the limitation would be in people’s disbelief or refusal to engage in ideal speech communication or critical self-reflection. According to Freud (1900) when people have a weltanschauung, "One feels secure in life, one knows what one ought to strive after, and how one ought to organize one's emotions and interests to the best purpose" (p. 122). In this case, organizations succeed, guided with a philosophy of life, and tools to manage that philosophy within the organization.

References

DeCock, C. (1998). It seems to fill my head with ideas: A few thoughts on postmodernism, TQM and BPR. Journal of Management Inquiry, 7(2), 144.

Lawrence, T. B. & Phillips, N. (1998). Commentary: Separating play and critique. Journal of Management Inquiry, 7(2), 154.

Habermas, J. (1981). The tasks of a critical theory.  In Delanty, G. & Strydom, P. (Ed.). Philosophies of social science. The classic and contemporary readings. (pp. 240-245). Philadelphia, PA: McGraw-Hill.

Apel, K. (1977). Types of social science in light of human cognitive interests. In Delanty, G. & Strydom, P. (Ed.). Philosophies of social science. The classic and contemporary readings. (pp. 246-258). Philadelphia, PA: McGraw-Hill.

The Hermeneutical Argument

What justification does Habermas offer for his critique of Gadamer's hermeneutical approach to society and social science? Is Habermas's approach more justified than Gadamer's or other approaches (for example, neo-positivism, conventionalism, or postmodernism) you have seen in the course? In formulating your answer, it may be preview the Week Six readings, which details the theoretical underpinnings of Habermas's critical method.

The justification that Habermas offers for his critique of Gadamer's hermeneutical approach to society and social science is that Habermas argues that there is a political naïveté' of Gadamer's hermeneutics. According to Ramberg and Gjesdal (2005),

          In Habermas's view, Gadamer places too much emphasis on the authority of tradition, leaving no room for critical judgment and reflection. Reason is denied the power of a critical, distanced judgment. What is needed is therefore not just an analysis of the way in which we de facto are conditioned by history but a set of quasi-transcendental principles of validity in terms of which the claims of the tradition may be subjected to evaluation. Hermeneutics, Habermas argues, must be completed by a critical theory of society (para. 48).

As opposed to Betti (1955) and Hirsch (1967), Habermas does not claim that Gadamer's approach to hermeneutics is completely mistaken. He argued, rather, that Gadamer ascribes to hermeneutics an illegitimate kind of universality. Hence, the fundamental problem with Gadamer's hermeneutics would not be solved by calling for a hermeneutic method. Furthermore, Gadamer criticizes the use of a formal method, rather he ascribes to a certain standard of validity what Habermas says is, "quasi-transcendental principles of communicative reason" (para. 49).

Gadamer argued that it was never his intention to do away with validity, objectivity, and method in understanding rather he sought to, "investigate the conditions of possibility for understanding as such (Ramberg & Gjesdal, 2009). I agree with Gadamer's position that, "it is not the case that our situatedness within history is a limiting condition only: rather, as the space of human experience and reason, it opens up the world to us in the first place"(para. 51) and as such I feel Gadamer's approach is more justified.

It is worthwhile to note that Paul Ricoeur was a philosopher who proposed a new way (a third wave) of hermeneutics. His was seen as an alternative to an epistemic orientation to hermeneutics and to Gadamer's ontological distinction between validity and the factualness of interpretation.

Although the differences between the two are authentic, Ricoeur proposes an alternative that aims at combining convincing arguments of the two. Ricoeur agrees with Habermas that the hermeneutic approach goes hand in hand with critical reflection although he does think this requires nixing the field of tradition and historical texts. According to Ramberg and Gjesdal (2009), "...Ricoeur argues how the text itself may open up a space of existential and political possibilities. This dynamic, productive power of the text undermines the idea of reality as a fixed, unyielding network of authoritative patterns of interpretations" (para.

Finally, Ramberg and Gjesdal (2009) eloquently argued, "Appreciating hermeneutics as a living tradition is not, in the end, a matter of identifying a theory or a family of theories. It is fundamentally a matter of perceiving a moving horizon, engaging a strand of dialogue that is an on-going re-articulation of the dynamically historical nature of all human thought" (para. 69).

Good stuff.

References

Betti, E. (1955). Teoria generale della interpretazione. Milan: Giuffrè.

Habermas, J. (1965). Knowledge and human interests. In Delanty, G &

          Strydom, P. (Ed.), Philosophies of social science: The classic and

          contemporary readings. (pp. 234-245). Philadelphia, PA:

           McGraw-Hill.

Habermas, J. (1973). The hermeneutic claim to universality. In Delanty, G &

          Strydom, P. (Ed.), Philosophies of social science: The classic and

          contemporary readings. (pp. 164-171). Philadelphia, PA:

           McGraw-Hill.

Hirsch, E. D. (1967). Validity in interpretation. New Haven, CT: Yale

          University Press.

Ramberg, Bjørn and Gjesdal, Kristin, (Summer, 2009). Hermeneutics. The

          Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Retrieved from

          <http://plato.stanford.edu/archives/sum2009/entries/hermeneutics/>.

Ricoeur, P. (1973). Towards a critical hermeneutic: Hermeneutics and the

          critique . In Delanty, G & Strydom, P. (Ed.), Philosophies of social

          science: The classic and contemporary readings. (pp. 172-181).

          Philadelphia, PA: McGraw-Hill. 

Administrative Science or Social Science?

Approaches to Science;  Postmodernist, Poststructuralist, or Hermeneutical?

Pinder & Bourgeois (1982, p. 650) recommend that “the goals of an applied administrative science, like the goals of any applied science, should include (but not be limited to) the provision of advice to practitioners that is useful, precise, and predicated on scientific grounds.” To what extent does this recommendation apply to postmodernist, poststructuralist, and hermeneutical approaches to the social sciences?

The extent to which this recommendation applies to postmodernist, poststructuralist, and hermeneutical approaches to the social sciences appear minimal because of the use of tropes in the administrative practice to create formal theories. According to Pinder and Bourgeois (1992), "The practice in question is the unconstrained use of tropes (such as similes, analogies, and metaphors in the development and presentation of formal theory" (p. 641). I agree with scholars who argue that metaphors are important, critical and an integral part of language and simply unavoidable in all discourse. I do not believe that because theories are not able to be proven by science that these theories and ideas are according to Pinder and Bourgeois (1992), "Cast as open social systems, garbage cans, marketplaces, psychic prisons, clans, and countless other things" (p. 642).

I think this is a harsh assessment coming from a scientific thinker. Peter Winch (1958) in his article Philosophy and Science argues about the same idea some scientists have (Winch thinks a priori thinking is legitimate), "...new discoveries about real matters of fact can only be established by experimental methods; no purely a priori process of thinking is sufficient for this. But since it is science which uses experimental methods, while philosophy is purely a priori, it follows that the investigation of reality must be left to science" (as cited in Delanty & Strydom, 2003, p. 153).

The problem is that science ask a question that is empirical in nature whereas social science asks a question that is conceptual (Delanty & Strydom, 2003). So, really there are two different questions being asked and the conceptual one, is best answered by understanding our past (history), which is the hermeneutical, as well as the postmodernism and social science approaches. I agree with Winch (1958) in his thought that, "...theoretical issues which have been raised in those studies belong to philosophy rather than to science and are, therefore, to be settled by a priori conceptual analysis rather then by empirical research" (p. 157)

Hermeneutically speaking, Hans-Goerg Gadamer (1960) in his article Hermeneutical Understanding argued that everything should not be empirically verified and indeed, "When a naive faith in scientific method denies the existence of effective history, there can be an actual deformation of knowledge" (p. 159).

I agree that science is legitimate and empirical research is necessary, however, I belief philosophy and the hermeneutical approach is equally important to the study of epistemology. Gadamer (1960) reminded us that history does not need to be recognized. Gadamer (1960) eloquently stated, "This, precisely, is the power of history over finite human consciousness, namely that it prevails even where faith in method leads one to deny one's own historicity" (p. 150).

References

Gadamer, H.G. (1960). Hermeneutical understanding.  In Delanty, G & Strydom, P. (Ed.), Philosophies of social science: The classic and contemporary readings. (pp. 158-163). Philadelphia, PA: McGraw-Hill.

Pinder, C. C., & Bourgeois, V. W. (1982). Controlling tropes in administrative science.  Administrative Science Quarterly, 27(4): 641-52.

Winch, P. (1958). Philosophy and science. In Delanty, G & Strydom, P. (Ed.), Philosophies of social science: The classic and contemporary readings. (pp. 152-157). Philadelphia, PA: McGraw-Hill.