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)