Leadership Studies Commons^™

Reweaving The Web Of Life: A Case Study Of A Feminist Leader In A Feminist Organization, Kathryn Ringham

Theses and Graduate Projects

The cultural context of the late twentieth century has given voice to new ways of thinking, knowing, being. Emerging out of the history and traditions of feminism is a style that is on the cutting edge in leadership studies. With emphasis on connection, humanity, interdependence, caring and empowerment of people, feminist leadership also echoes chaos theory. The reinvention of nature has allowed space within science for feminist values in the public realm. The mutual reinforcement of these two leadership theories has led to a simpler way to organize human endeavors.

This paper is based on feminist and chaos theories of …

Blinded By Vision, Craig A. Dowd

Theses and Graduate Projects

Conventional wisdom states vision is a requirement of husiness leadership, but the husiness community suffers from confusion and inconsistent application of the concept. A critical analysis of the concept reveals its popularity is based on rhetoric rather than a clear conceptualization of the term. (The term's literal meaning is the "experience of seeing God".) Without an academically useful definition, "vision" collapses under the weight of disparate and conflicting ideas. This thesis proposes that the problems with "vision" may be resolved by discarding the term completely and then separating the structure and function of leadership from the behavior of leaders and …

Florence Nightingale As Servant-Leader, Theresa Duffy

Theses and Graduate Projects

Florence Nightingale directed her adult life to serving God as a nurse, teacher and author. Through her creation of a school for nursing and her writings, Nightingale set the path for developing standard practices for nursing care along with founding the evolution of nursing as a professional career for women. As a leader Nightingale demonstrated courage in her ability to take great risks in order to create change, wisdom in her ability to communicate needed reforms, and her dedication to the ethical treatment of women and children by way of providing improved healthcare and education. This case study will examine …

Heroic Leadership: A Native American Legend, Sitting Bull 1831 - 1890, Charley Price

Theses and Graduate Projects

This research paper reviews and assesses the heroic leadership of the legendary Native America Sitting Bull. A significant leader of the Oceti Sakowin Nation, or commonly referred to as the Sioux Nation Sitting Bull demonstrates great charisma and courage in his efforts to save and maintain his people's traditional way of life. The Sioux way of life was gradually affected by the westward advancement of settlers and disrupted by the U.S. government's use of military force, in its quest to control Native American lands and expand the United States. Sitting Bull emerged as a heroic leader by gaining the support …

An Exploratory Study Of Patient Satisfaction And Servant Leadership, Carol L. Watson Saunders

Theses and Graduate Projects

Servant Leadership is a theory of leadership in which the Servant Leader is motivated primarily by an intuitive desire to serve his/her followers. The leadership aspect is secondary. In this study, the concept of Servant Leadership was applied to the physician-patient relationship in a healthcare setting. The purpose of the research was to determine the satisfaction level of patients with their physicians. Questionnaires were mailed to one hundred randomly selected patients at a large mid-western outpatient clinic. Following are several of the questions included in the questionnaire. On the average, how long do you have to wait to see your …

Transformational Leadership: A Case Study Of Mary Robinson, United Nations High Commissioner For Human Rights, Denise Cleveland

Theses and Graduate Projects

This case study will explore the leadership of Mary Robinson and demonstrate that she exemplifies transformational leadership as developed by Bemard Bass using his leadership factors of charisma, inspirational leadership, intellectual stimulation, and individualized consideration. Mary Robinson was the President of Ireland from 1990-1997 and currently serves as L)nited Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights. This leader contributes toward the study of leadership through our ability to apply multiple models of effective leadership. A comparison to cultural competency theory and women centered theories of leadership are assessed in relation to this leader. Just as this case study demonstrates Robinson's effective …

Implications Of Early Brain Development On Child Care, Troy Dunkley

Theses and Graduate Projects

The goal of my research is to put together a paper that goes into enough detail about early brain research to convince the reader that child care centers must improve their quality and then to give an assessment of how the public can support the necessary changes. This is a Literature Review of writings and research on early brain development early childhood education and the suggestions to improve child care center quality. These changes are intended to get child care quality moving in the right direction.

The new research suggests that early childhood is critical to a child's healthy development …

Followership: Why Leadership Works, Gordon Thomas

Theses and Graduate Projects

Using the theory of followership developed by Robert Kelley, this case study will examine the role of the follower, the various types of followers present in organizations and their importance to the study of leadership. lt will examine an alternative theory by lra Chaleff and discuss current literature on the follower-leader relationship. This case study will then examine the followership skills of Agnes Anderson (name changed), through analysis of her followership self-assessment and the followership assessments completed by leaders she has worked with in both professional and volunteer situations and conclude with general observations on the topic.

Winning By Serving: A Case Study In Servant Leadership, Denise D. Gordon

Theses and Graduate Projects

The purpose for this case study was to apply a leadership theory to a leader. It was to discover what and who impacted the leader's leadership style. Conclusions indicate that the leader was operating with a core sense of ethical values, practices, and experience along with practicing good leaciership skills that model the Servant Leadership Theory. Evidence provided substantiates that this Ieader has had a significant impact not only on the organization but the followers as well.

Nurse Manager As Leader: Creating Community Within A Healthcare Organization, Theresa Marie Duffy

Theses and Graduate Projects

Healthcare organizations are searching for mechanisms that will encourage the employ and retention of skilled registered nurses. Traditional management styles have done little to create a nurturing and supportive workplace that encourages staff nurses to work in an inpatient setting. A non-traditional nurse manager as a leader, who exhibits relational and servant-leadership characteristics can facilitate a process of creating a workplace community with registered nurses that will not only provide a supportive environment, but will perform better as well. This paper explores the attributes of a non-traditional nurse manager that will promote the development of a workplace cornrnunity.

Establishing A 'Place Of Hope' In A Homeless Shelter For Families And Children, Annette E. Rodriguez

Theses and Graduate Projects

This project analyzes the critical leadership style of the management team, including this writer, in establishing "A Place of Hope' at a homeless shelter (The Shelter) for families and children located in a major city in the Upper Midwest Region. This project will assess the author's use of the following characteristics found in critical leadership: critical in nature, transformative in style, educative in form, and ethical in character (Foster, 1986, p.52). This project took place from 1999 to 2001.

A Study Of Mothers Working In Functional Hospital Positions And Their Perceptions Of How Well They Are Balancing The Responsibilities Of Work And Motherhood, Lisa A. James

Theses and Graduate Projects

This study describes mothers with children and their perceptions of success and their ability to balance responsibilities of home and work. The study is the result of hospital leaders' expressed concern for the inability of hospitals to recruit and retain qualified employees to fill service oriented non-professional jobs. The research method is a descriptive survey utilizing a convenience sample of working mothers in nonprofessional hospital job categories. The survey questions are designed to elicit answers to the research question: How do mothers with dependent children and working full-time perceive their ability to balance the responsibilities of employment and motherhood? The …

Affirmative Action And Implications For Effective Cultural Diversity Training, Jill L. Pittelkow

Theses and Graduate Projects

Diversity is an important factor in organizations today. As the workforce becomes more diverse in terms of gender, race, ethnicity, age, national origin, and other personal characteristics, employers are looking for ways to develop and manage the changes.

Beginning with Affirmative Action, several approaches have been used to both ensure equal opportunity and encourage diversity. This paper will examine Affirmative Action both historically and in recent times and identify various approaches to training. An emphasis will be made on determining the effectiveness of current training and methods and determining recommendations for leaders to develop cultural competence.

Followership And The Dance Of Lead And Follow, Ellen Thayer

Theses and Graduate Projects

The purpose of this study is to show how thinking about leadership changes when followers are valued. Traditionally, leadership studies focus on leaders-who they are, what characteristics they possess and what they do. Even when followers are mentioned in the literature, it is easy to overlook them. The main questions addressed here are: What is followership about? and How does thinking about leadership change when the focus is placed on followers? Two authors, Robert Kelley and Ira Chaleff have written books about followers from the perspective of the follower. Additional research has shown that a paradigm shift is underway to …

Influences Upon Organizational Decision Making: Leaders As Role Models, Caroline M. Woitas

Theses and Graduate Projects

There are five influences that affect organizational decision making. These influences are the code of ethics, corporate values, personal values, peer values, and leadership values. All influences affect the decision making of employees, with leaders having an increased influence due to their position and image as a role model. The strength of leadership influence may be difficult to offset, but an organization can develop formal and informal controls that balance the effect of influences upon the decision making process. When influences are balanced, employees consider both the actions involved and outcome achieved by decision making. Efficient organizational operations are achieved …

Parental Influence Factors Affecting Christian Faith Maturity Of Children Through Adolescence, James W. Anderson

Theses and Graduate Projects

The role that parents play in the faith formation of their children is and has been historically significant. Modeling their religious beliefs as well as verbalizing them play an important part in the child's view of God. It has also been found as this paper will articulate, that participation in the church life of the congregation and service projects are also an integral part of the development of the child's faith development into the adolescent years. This paper will review the importance of the parents as the primary participants of their own child's faith destiny and give applicable results for …

Impacts Of Westernization On Non-Western People, Patrick W. Xaphakdy

Theses and Graduate Projects

On the global scale, Western values become the symbols of dominant mentality, economic prosperity, and possibly universal values. In general, Western values focus on free market, democracy, rules of law, separation between church and state, individualism, and human rights. In the past, major Western countries tried to promote these values through their political and economic influences on non-Western countries and their people. According to many moderate views of both Western and non-western scholars, these values are considered positive, constructive, and prerequisite for social and economic modernization of non- Western countries. Western values are primarily political, but their effects spill over …

What Motivates A Leader?: A Grounded Theory Study Of Hagberg, Maslow, And Mal Alumni, Rita A. Wetzel

Theses and Graduate Projects

What motivates an individual to become a leader? Why do individuals want to influence and provide direction to others? What drives someone to be part of the leadership process? It is these questions that present the framework of this study.

More specifically, this grounded theory study will analyze the factors that motivate an individual to become a leader based on: Janet Hagberg's Leadership Model, the various writings of psychologist Abraham H. Maslow, and the data gathered from qualitative interviews with the Augsburg MAL Alumni.

This study used the grounded theory research model for data collection, coding, logging, and analysis, as …

The "Tao Te Ching:" A Primer For Developing A Leadership Philosophy, Merilee J. Light

Theses and Graduate Projects

A leader's behavior and actions flow from their values and beliefs. The focus of this thesis is to create a forum where people can explore their beliefs around how to positively influence others when in a position of leadership.

The forum is a three-session study group using a 2,500 year-old book of Chinese philosophy called the "Tao Te Ching." The 5,100-word book of 81 aphorisms provides pearls of wisdom on leadership--using nature as the model. Participants documented their leadership philosophy in session 1 and after reading the "Tao Te Ching" in session 3. Session 1 is an introduction to the …

Community Sustainability Through Citizen Leadership, Wayne N. Monsen, Barbara A. Toren

Theses and Graduate Projects

The origination of two projects, their development and implementation, described in this paper, illustrate a concept of non-partisan citizen leadership. The report begins with a discourse on the over-arching theme of community sustainability through discussions of our complex world and citizen participation in democracy. This leadership concept is embodied within the context of two projects, the Rural Community Leadership Project, and the Sustainability Forums Project.

Methodologies to examine community sustainability used by both projects described in this thesis were designed to foster proactive citizen leadership, which will help to plan their community's future. It provides for project participants at the …

The Role Of The Internet Entrepreneur In The Information Economy, Neal Hauser

Theses and Graduate Projects

The information economy and the Internet entrepreneur are two significant developments of the late 20th century. This theoretical study seeks to understand the connection between the two phenomena. From a perspective of leadership it is critical to understand the relationship between individual actors and a system, and the implications of their interaction on the world. The research question asks whether Internet entrepreneurs are active creators of the information economy, or are they a creation of the information economy?

Central to answering the research question are the theoretical concepts of active and passive human agency. Active human agency proposes that the …

Individual Or Shared Entrepreneurship: The Influence Of Personal Leadership Style, Susan M. James

Theses and Graduate Projects

A key issue faced by new entrepreneurs is selection of a business structure. Overwhelmingly, one of two options is chosen: sole proprietorship or shared partnership. Personal leadership style, encompassing personal values, an individual definition of success, and possession of entrepreneurial traits, impacts the ultimate decision. Through a woman's perspective, selection of a business structure through definition of personal leadership style is examined in this paper.

A Discussion Of Response Distortion In Personality Tests And Its Effect On Criterion Validity And Applicant Ranking In Employee Selection, Mary E. Stacke

Theses and Graduate Projects

Personality testing is widely used in the employee selection process, particularly to determine leadership potential for management positions. Recent research has established personality tests as potentially valuable predictors of job performance. However, a reliance upon personality testing in the employment setting raises a common concern about the prevalence of response distortion and its effect on criterion validity and applicant ranking.

This paper provides background information on personality definition and construct validity and then discusses the two primary types of response distortion, self-deception and impression management. Areas of focus include the prevalence of impression management in personality testing for employee selection, …

Dying To Lead: Connections Of Fear Of Death, Personal Power And Leadership, Ann Johnson

Theses and Graduate Projects

From the earliest phases of the development of human consciousness to the present day, it appears that death is what is most feared. Consequently, over vast periods of historical time, strategies to avoid death became increasingly sophisticated - from sacrificial rituals to complex symbolic structures created to transcend or forestall death's eventuality. The topics of death and dying have regularly mystified and engaged many of the world's most highly respected leaders, from scientists and healers to playwrights and poets; and their extensive observations - both in scope and depth - illuminate the fact that death and dying are an extremely …

The Teacher's Impact Upon Building A Classroom Community, Diane Walker

Theses and Graduate Projects

This study looks at the teacher's role and impact on building a classroom community. A heterogeneous mix of 20 second grade students (ages 7 and 8) in a self contained classroom were videotaped daily having a fruit snack. A Qualitative method of research was applied to the data. Fieldnotes were written daily to describe the visual data. The study found that the teacher's role is very significant in the community. The results indicated that rules, procedures, and etiquette were the themes that centered around the group in their quest to build community. This study evokes questions concerning group dynamics and …

Inclusion And Exclusion Of Religion: Is There Only One Solution?, Anita Walters

Theses and Graduate Projects

Religious freedom in practice and expression has been a paramount force in American society since the pilgrims originally settled in the New World. Many came to escape religious persecution and to be free to pursue their own beliefs. The fact that the First Amendment of the Constitution provides for religious freedom further demonstrates the importance of this principle.

The truth is that in spite of the importance placed on this topic and the debate in interpreting its meaning, the issue of separation remains confusing. Even in today's diverse society, it is a compelling, yet illusive principle. This paper addresses this …

Leadership In The Future: Preparation For Future Generations Of Leaders, Sherry A. Myers

Theses and Graduate Projects

What does the future of leadership hold? As books, lectures, seminars, and college courses are created, guiding the public through ideas on how to develop leadership skills, we remain concerned about what the leaders of tomorrow will need to know. Will the leadership skills of today apply to the workplace of tomorrow? Will our world politicians be those with the most education or the one with charisma? How do you lead numerous people spread throughout the world?

Beginning with a discussion of two leadership theories existing today that will be viable in the future, we will look at how this …

Music And Leadership: What Can We Learn About Leadership From Music?, Anne Margaret Kucurek

Theses and Graduate Projects

Through the phenomenological research method, this thesis asks, what can we learn about leadership from music? A review of literature providing links between the two subjects is presented in the Literature Review. Concepts of aesthetic education and experience are presented as significant links between music and leadership. The researher's own experiences are also discussed. The thesis body explores how leadership theories and leadership characteristics apply to ensembles, performance and the director. The relationship between music subjects, performers and audiences are discussed through historical examples. The conclusion addresses the thesis question, "what can we learn about leadership from music?"

A Case Study Of Servant-Leadership, Juli Rasmussen

Theses and Graduate Projects

This case study poses the following question; does Greenleaf's servant- leadership theory provide a sufficiently comprehensive framework for effective leadership?

This study offers a review of literature that explores five key tenets of servant-leadership. These tenets include the exploration of the interconnections between leader, follower and institution, the idea that individuals are active agents in the creation of their life, the transformational nature of servant- leadership, the importance of a common purpose or vision and the use of persuasion as the primary means of influence.

The second half of the study is dedicated to evaluating the theory in practice. The …

Historical Case Study Of Stella L. Wood, Bonnie G. Ostlund

Theses and Graduate Projects

The focus of this historical case study is to examine the life of Stella Louise Wood, an educator recognized for her leadership in public kindergarten and teacher training in Minneapolis, Minnesota. She spearheaded the campaign for free public kindergartens in the city in 1896, and was the leader of its teacher training school for the following fifty-two years. In that time, Stella Wood shared her strong commitment to the youngest students and her dynamic spirit with over 2,500 teacher trainees, known as Miss Wood's girls. She lived to approve a merger of her school with Macalester College in St. Paul, …