Questions about Mother Teresa and servant leadership:
- Describe Mother Teresa’s leadership approach from your observations of the Mother Teresa video. Compare and contrast her example of leadership with the servant leadership approach (using references from Northouse, Chapter 10).
The leadership approach that gets used from the precise observations that I made from watching the Mother Teresa video is transformational leadership. This is because she inspires morality by leading by example and motivating her staff by engaging them in what she does so that they can be able to understand the value of what she was doing to help those in need. For example, when the young man asks for her guidance as to what he can do to assist in the situation, mother Teresa responds, “Come and see what you can do.” She then guides him and shows him what he can do to make a difference in the lives of the less fortunate. The leader, in this case, demonstrates her transformational leadership through the commitment she has in achieving a common good, which in this case, entails taking care of the individuals that are less fortunate in society. Her style of leadership is about building a relationship with the people Ad working together in achieving better things and recognizes that it was an effort of a team. When asked by reporters on what they had done and what she was still doing, she refers to it as our work when she says, “come and see our work.” Transformational leaders motivate their employees to become better by leading by example. She decides to live among the poor to help them feel less lonely despite their misery. Mother Teresa inspires action to those she leads by engaging in activities that are an indication of love for one another. Her style of leadership through servant leadership was meant to inspire her staff to become better leaders for tomorrow.
- What are her core values?
The core values that are possessed by Mother Teresa ae as follows. Dedication, whereby she commits herself to serve and nursing the poor, and even decides to live among them as a way of showing them her love and commitment to helping in ensuring that their medical and emotional needs are taken care of. The next core value she has is love for others in which she states, “Love must be put into action.” She was generous, kind, and fully committed to ensuring that needs of the people she was attending to are met. Mother Teresa also became a companion for the people she was helping to help them feel less lonely as she believed that loneliness was poverty that was far greater than being hungry. She was aware of what was happening around her with the people living in poor conditions, she felt their pain and was and empathized with them, and found ways to help them by nursing and taking care of them. Her values entailed giving all that she could to help better the lives of the people that were suffering. She was dedicated to serving others and inspiring the servant leadership in those that looked up to her for guidance. She advocated for peace in which she wanted everyone to coexist with each other peacefully for as long as they live. Peace is one of the other things she advocated for and encouraged it ain all the people she met in that they were supposed to treat each other as equals and peacefully coexists as war leads to destruction, which plays a crucial role in increasing poverty in the society.
- What lessons can be learned from Mother Teresa that can be applied in your particular vocational focus: for-profit business or not-for-profit work.
- Personal Lessons?
The personal lessons that can be learned from Mother Teresa that can be applied in my particular vocational focus include love for one another, which means that we should always be caring and help others in need when we have the capacity. Love is about being there for someone and keeping them company when they feel lonely or saddened by something—making someone feel better than they were when you found them. Sharing is another lesson that we can learn is sharing, which is essential, or the people that are privileged in life get to share with those that have less. Being kind is an important personal lesson that we can learn from Mother Teresa. She was about serving others in faith by going where the needs are and not seeking donations to be able to help those who are needy but giving and encouraging others to give as well.
- For Managing a Multi-national Corporation?
The lessons that have been learned from Mother Teresa that can get used in the management of multi-national corporations are as follows. Servant leadership whereby the leaders are required to lead by example treat their employees in a manner that they feel inspired to be better people in society and to encourage them to grow, which can also have significant benefits on the performance of the organization. Being a good leader, according to Mother Teresa, is not about telling your subjects what to do. It is about showing them what to do by doing it with them. Engaging employees and working with them towards achieving the goals set by the organization is a crucial pillar to setting strong foundations of success for the organization as the employees will also be empowered to become better leaders in the future. Being a mentor and providing guidance to the young employees in the organization is a way through which leaders secure the future of the organization as they inspire the leadership that will be responsible for making the company successful when their time comes. Another lesson is in acknowledging the team, effort and working in teams with the employees and when it comes to taking credit for the success of the organization, it can be inspirational when the leaders of the organization say “we did it together” instead o taking the credit for the success for themselves. This can be an inspirational element to the employees as it will also help them become better individuals both in their personal lives and at work. Managing human capital is critical in enhancing the outcomes of the organization in terms of success.
- How did she inspire her staff?
Mother Teresa inspired her staff by working with them to achieve every task she wanted to achieve. She recognized and acknowledged their efforts in working with her to help the people in need. She set an example of the king of the leader she wanted them to be. She provided service to her staff, inspiring into understanding the concept of servant leadership whereby instead of dictating the staff to do what needs to be done, she would start doing it, and her staff would follow in her footsteps. Mother Teresa was sensitive to the needs of her staff, which inspired loyalty and made her authority strong. She also managed to build trust among her staff, which played a major role in enhancing performance among the staff leading to their provision of care that is exceptional for the homeless, the poor, and the orphans who were destitute. Mutual trust became an essential tool for inspiration as the staff was able to unite and to work together in reaching their goals of helping the people in need. It also made it easier for Mother Teresa to acquire both human capital and even social capital that was essential in the success of their activities. She educated her staff on how to inspire others through actions that are positive, like love, sharing, kindness, peace, among other values that she instilled in her staff. This inspired her team to want to be remembered for making a difference in the world, by providing services and making sacrifices for those that need it the most,