Why Good Leaders Do Bad Things

  1. Sometimes people will put on a false facade and project impressions about themselves towards others that are not true about themselves. Many times such impressions can be negative in nature. Once you get to know them you discover they are not as bad as your first impression. I know this man who acts like he makes poor decisions. Once I got to know him better I realized that he made many positive decisions such as volunteering and assisting the less fortunate. I think that sometimes it is people’s perceptions that can influence their views on how they see that person. Adding stereotypes influence people to assign certain attributes to that person and consequently they have impressions that may or may not be true.

  2. There are 10 qualities that servant leadership involves: listening, empathy, healing, awareness, persuasion, conceptualization, foresight, stewardship, commitment to others growth, and building community. The Arc displays listening by hearing from the residents and taking their point of view into account on decisions. The Arc displays empathy by not viewing the resident’s disability negatively but rather by trying to understand their disability. The Arc displays healing by monitoring the resident’s diet and making sure they have plenty of exercise. Awareness is demonstrated by the Arc by being receptive to individual clients’ needs. The Arc utilizes persuasion by holding weekly house meetings to discuss changes and planned activities. The organization is proactive towards the clients by persuading them that the plan of care can work for their well-being. The Arc displays conceptualization by having employees attend educational seminars and staying current with policy changes related to disabilities. The Arc strives to improve their services continuously to meet their clients’ needs by applying foresight, stewardship, and commitment to others with the end goal to promote growth. The Arc displays building community by having the residents’ hold productive jobs and to participate in community activities.

  3. When leaders demonstrate integrity and take responsibility for their actions consistently it demonstrates an ethical environment. Leaders can further develop an ethical work environment by following their professions’ code of ethics, adhering to the law developed by the legal system and following policies in the organization where they are employed. Leading by example is a strong method for encouraging others to follow suite, however if an employee is not cooperative with the ethical environment then encouraging that employee to resign may be an ultimate action that must be taken.