Leadership Studies Commons^™

Serving A Death-Denying Culture: Funeral Directors As Servant-Leaders, Shelby Chism, Michael G. Strawser

International Journal of Servant-Leadership

Funeral directors have labeled the typical American society a death-denying culture. For example, parents may try to shield children from the death event because of previous occurrences with death and the funeral home (Mahon, 2009). Unfortunately, by protecting others, the death-denying culture is perpetuated (Mahon, 2009). Therefore, it is no surprise that research on funeral directors, and funeral homes, may be underdeveloped. To address the scarcity of research literature on the impact of funeral directors, this article discusses the importance of the death care industry and provides an overview of servant-leadership theory as a framework for understanding the role of …

Employee Lived Experiences And Initiative Success In Arkansas Quality Award Recipient Organizations, Carol Barton

2017 Program & Posters

Employee experiences and their stories about their experiences influence quality management and continuous improvement initiatives. Transcript analysis of semistructured interviews revealed the most meaningful experiences were those with people, then materials, feelings, time, and space. The study findings also showed that people transferred problem solving methods from the workplace to their homes and communities.

Powerless To Powerful: Leadership For School Change, A Book Review, Rebecca Barrett-Fox

International Journal of Servant-Leadership

Nearly half of new teachers leave the profession within their first five years including almost ten percent who leave after their first year, according to the 2014 Consortium for Police Research in Education report Seven Trends: The Transformation of the Teaching Force. Among the factors that push people who were, at one point, committed enough to education to earn a degree in it to change their career goals, change fatigue is high on the list. Constant criticism, pressure to turn around schools labeled as failing, and the perpetual implementation of new programs with new roles for teachers, new demands on …

A Journey In Servant-Leadership, Larry C. Spears

International Journal of Servant-Leadership

Welcome to our 2015-2017 edition of The International Journal of Servant-Leadership. I would like to offer my special thanks to all of our contributing authors in this journal. The depth and breadth of articles and papers, poetry and research, film reviews and reflections demonstrates the vibrant nature of our ongoing journey in servant-leadership from around the world.

Bring Me My Bow Of Burning Gold, Shann Ray Ferch

International Journal of Servant-Leadership

No abstract provided.

Far Away Waters, Ellen Welcker

International Journal of Servant-Leadership

It s a ways to travel for gravel but no one can deny this parking lot has our undivided attention

A Case Study Exploration Of Strategies To Improve First-Line Supervisor Problem-Solving Abilities In The Retail Supermarket Industry, John E. Jarvis, Irene A. Williams

International Journal of Applied Management and Technology

First-line supervisors in U.S. retail organizations are unable to resolve nearly 34% of typical daily customer problems for their organizations. The purpose of this single-case study was to explore the strategies retail supermarket managers have used to improve first-line supervisor problem solving abilities within a retail supermarket company in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Data were collected from semistructured interviews with four retail store manager participants with a successful record of improving first-line supervisor problem solving abilities. Based on inductive data analysis and methodological triangulation of the data collected, four themes emerged after the data analysis: (a) the importance of communicating expectations …

Human Rights From Its Origins To The Twenty-First Century: A Journey Through Empathy, Love, The Will To Power, And The Will To Meaning, Toni Jiménez Luque

International Journal of Servant-Leadership

What is servant-leadership? And what is the connection between this philosophy and set of practices with human rights design, implementation and defense? According to the Robert K. Greenleaf Center for Servant Leadership s website, we are talking about a philosophy and set of practices with the aim of enriching the lives of individuals, building better organizations and ultimately creating a more just and caring world. With regards to human rights, we have a variety of definitions, but basically we understand them by the respect for the individual, the assumption that each person is a moral and rational being who deserves …

Servant-Leadership In Crisis: A Case Study Of The 2002 Evacuation Of The International Christian Academy In Cote D’Ivoire, Michael F. James

International Journal of Servant-Leadership

Imagine, if you will, that you are at dinner with your family. After dinner, you sit at the table discussing the day s events with your wife and the sounds of gunshots ring out. You realize with a sinking feeling that the kids, as they often are after dinner, are outside playing. You run to the yard only to find it empty but alight with hundreds of tracers streaming overhead. Imagine your relief when, after a frantic search, you find your children huddled in the backyard or safe in a neighbor s home. You gather your family to wait out …

Preparing Millennials For Leadership: Understanding How Leadership Transitions Well Between Generations, Benjamin S. Stumph

Theses and Graduate Projects

There are measurable differences between those in the Generation X and Millenial generational cohorts. This study has been conducted to aid in identifying specific leadership tendencies that may cause challenging leadership transition in a large health cate organization. Research was completed to understand the differences in values and tendencies between members of these two cohorts. Following this research, two separate focus groups were conducted to discuss the differences and identify areas of opportunify in improving the leadership activities of both Generation X and Millennial leader at the organization. Finally, recommendations regarding ways to improve leadership transition were compiled and presented.

A Leadership Analysis Of The Un Security Council, Omar Moallim

Theses and Graduate Projects

The United Nations (LN) is an organization established to "maintain international peace and security...develop friendly relations among nations [and] to achieve international cooperation ("UnitedNation",20l6). The Security Council is the UN's primary leadership body. It is led by five powerful countries - United States of America (USA), Russia, Great Britain, France and China -- that sit as "permanent members". The leadership of the Security Council is augmented by ten representatives from other countries who are elected by the General Assembly to serve two-year terms. The UN has guidelines for insuring and maintaining world peace. In spite of these positive intentions, international …

Papers Of Dr. V. James Mannoia Arc2001-013- Finding Aid, Ats Special Collections And Archives

Finding Aids

No abstract provided.

Sticky Like Butter: The Language Surrounding Corporate Social Responsibility Is Uninspiring And Therefore Not Embraced, Matt Kincaid

International Journal of Servant-Leadership

The research discussed in this article began with an interest in examining the relationship between servant-leadership and social responsibility. In my time both owning and working within companies, I had become familiar with different perspectives and opinions on social responsibility, and had witnessed first-hand the struggles that organizations often experience in attempting to carry out effective strategies.

Learners’ Perceptions Of Servant-Leadership In Classrooms, Kong Wah Chan

International Journal of Servant-Leadership

The term servant-leadership was coined by Robert Greenleaf (1970) through his collection of essays titled The Servant as Leader. His message is that the best leader is first a servant. Beazley (2003) described servant-leadership as an art, a calling, a way of being, and a philosophy of life. Hence, it is not modern theory of leadership and management technique but rather the process of serving, and the development of the led, who are being served. Omoh (2007) considered that the results of servant-leadership include follower-empowerment as well as mutual trust and collaboration between the servant-leader and the led. More specifically, …

The Mentoring Experiences Of Four Missouri Teachers Of The Year Through The Lens Of Servant-Leadership Characteristics, Audrey Ebbrecht, Barbara N. Martin

International Journal of Servant-Leadership

Teachers are facing overwhelming pressure in today s classrooms with core standards, and high-stakes testing (Grissom, Nicholson-Crotty, & Harrington, 2014; Oliver, 2009; Phillips, 2015) resulting in many new teachers decision not to continue in the profession (Hancock & Scherff, 2010). Across the country, 23% of teachers with one to three years teaching experience either left the teaching profession or moved to another school district (Keigher & Cross, 2010).

How To Handle Face-Saving In The Chinese Church Through Servant-Leadership, Jiying Song

Faculty Publications - George Fox Digital

Excerpt: "Leaders unknowingly functioning out of face-saving, the tendency to try to protect ones standing or reputation or to avoid losing some aspect of these, have a negative impact on organizational leadership. The purpose of this paper is to discuss how leaders can mitigate the negative influence of face-saving through servant-leadership in the Chinese church setting."

Cultivating A Culture Of Food Justice: Impacts Of Community Based Economies On Farmers And Neighborhood Leaders In The Case Of Fresh Stop Markets In Kentucky, Heather Hyden

Theses and Dissertations--Community & Leadership Development

In this thesis, I focus on two tensions within the alternative agro-food movement. First is a question of who/what community is allowed to define food systems problems and then implement solutions. For example, food desert metaphors rely discursively on defining communities as being “without”, which perpetuates needs-based narratives, in which only professional “experts” know how to solve problems of food access. These representations ignore the creativity, agency, and resiliency of everyday food justice mobilizations happening at the grassroots level. Second, what form can solutions take within hegemonic constructions of development? I build a theoretical model based on Black geographies (McKittrick, …

Development And Application Of Self-Awareness In Project Leadership: A Multiple Case Study Of Department Of Defense Project Managers, Jeffrey Brian Hart

Dissertations

Problem

This study explored how Project Managers (PMs) in the Department of Defense (DoD) come to understand, develop, and apply self-awareness in leading their projects. The DoD invests heavily in developing their project leaders by providing training, experiences, developmental assignments, and other tools such as self-assessments presumably to help them lead more authentically and become more self-aware as a way to improve project management. Despite this investment, it is unclear how self-awareness is actually developed in PMs and integrated into their leadership practice. In view of the importance of self-awareness in leadership, more understanding is needed on how self-awareness is …

The Spirituality Of The Leader And Its Influence On Visitor Experience Management At Sacred Sites In The Island Of Ireland: Insights And Implications, Vreny Enongene, Kevin Griffin

Other resources

Despite growing interest in understanding the sacred site visitor experience management, scholars have predominantly explored the phenomenon from the visitor’s perspective. There is very little exploration from the managerial perspectives, given that decisions regarding the nature of the experience and product and service delivery strategies aimed at providing a diversity of visitors with rewarding, satisfying and memorable experiences solely depends on these individuals, whose personal attributes may play a fundamental role. In this case their spirituality, that may either implicitly or explicitly influence visitor experience management strategies and their implementations have not received attention in the religious and pilgrimage tourism …

How One Public School District Implemented Interest-Based Bargaining, Arthur Conrad Ebert

Master's Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

School districts implement a variety of initiatives that too often fall short. This case study investigated how one public school district in southeastern Michigan implemented interest based-bargaining (IBB). The study also sought to understand the factors that influenced the decision-making process and what was considered when making implementation decisions. By carrying out this study, the researcher expanded the current literature base that districts can draw upon should they decide to implement IBB. District’s implementing IBB can use this study to better inform their decision-making process. The primary data sources were the primary decision makers involved with implementing IBB in the …

Michigan’S Quantitative School Culture Inventories And Student Achievement, Alexander A. Mcneece

Master's Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

Schools must help all students achieve. Leaders who understand the elements of culture and their impact on an organization can be very effective. In 2015, as part of a strategy to cultivate healthy school cultures, the State of Michigan deployed a new self-reporting school culture inventory as part of each school's annual reporting. In this quantitative study, correlational and comparative analyses were conducted to examine the relationship between schools’ self-reported school culture inventories (School Systems Review) and student achievement measured by the state’s reading assessment data (MStep). This study analyzed achievement data from students in Grades 3 through 5 during …

The Reinforcement Of Hegemonic Masculinity Through Gender Frames During The 2016 Election, Kevin Gordon, Ryanne E. Gordon, Anthony Nabor

Global Tides

Gender and its perception by the media played a big role in the election of 2016. The media simplifies the roles of women candidates and redistributes information to the public using gender frames. Though framing based on gender had varying effects on the election, it is still prominent among the media and usually negatively affects women in the public sphere.

The Relationship Between Involvement In Religious Student Organizations And The Development Of Socially Responsible Leadership Capacity, William J. Black

Theses and Dissertations--Educational Policy Studies and Evaluation

This study of 76,365 students from 82 U.S. institutions explored the relationship between involvement in a religious student organization and student capacities for socially responsible leadership, based on the Social Change Model of Leadership (SCM). Results from t-tests found students involved in both religious and secular student organizations reported statistically significantly higher scores on all eight measures of socially responsible leadership than students involved in only religious student organizations.

Hierarchical multiple regression models explained between 26% and 29% of the variance in student reported levels of overall socially responsible leadership. Compared to students involved in no organizations, involvement in …

On Making A Difference: How Photography And Narrative Produce The Short-Term Missions Experience, Joshua Kerby Jennings

Theses and Dissertations--Community & Leadership Development

Short-term missions participants encounter difference in purportedly captivating ways. Current research, however, indicates the practice does not lead to long-lasting, positive change. Brian M. Howell (2012) argues the short-term missions experience is confined to the limitations of the short-term missions narrative. People who engage in short-term missions build assumptions, seek experiences, understand difference, and convey meaning, as a result of this narrative. The process of telling and retelling travel stories is integral to the short-term missions experience. Drawing upon literature on tourism, narrative, development, and photography, this study intends to evaluate the inefficacy of short-term missions through the stories which …

Workplace Bullying In Kuwait, Hamad A. Alaslawi

Theses and Dissertations--Social Work

Workplace bullying (WPB) is a pervasive problem in contemporary society, inflicting detrimental repercussions upon employees, employers, and organizations alike. It affects the physical, psychological, and financial wellbeing not only of its victims, but also their families, their communities, and society as a whole.

Research into this phenomenon has evolved significantly over the past two decades. While related to the physically violent phenomenon of schoolyard bullying, WPB is primarily a psychological phenomenon, manifesting as abusive power in workplace relationships, rather than as interpersonal conflict. Bullying at work comes in many forms, has many faces, and occurs in many places. It ranges …

[Introduction To] Escape From Democracy: The Role Of Experts And The Public In Economic Policy, David M. Levy, Sandra J. Peart

Bookshelf

The orthodox view of economic policy holds that public deliberation sets the goals or ends, and then experts select the means to implement these goals. This assumes that experts are no more than trustworthy servants of the public interest. David M. Levy and Sandra J. Peart examine the historical record to consider cases in which experts were trusted with disastrous results, such as eugenics, the regulatory use of security ratings, and central economic planning. This history suggests that experts have not only the public interest but also their own interests to consider. The authors then recover and extend an alternative …

[Introduction To] The Dream Is Lost: Voting Rights And The Politics Of Race In Richmond, Virginia, Julian Maxwell Hayter

Bookshelf

Once the capital of the Confederacy and the industrial hub of slave-based tobacco production, Richmond, Virginia has been largely overlooked in the context of twentieth century urban and political history. By the early 1960s, the city served as an important center for integrated politics, as African Americans fought for fair representation and mobilized voters in order to overcome discriminatory policies. Richmond’s African Americans struggled to serve their growing communities in the face of unyielding discrimination. Yet, due to their dedication to strengthening the Voting Rights Act of 1965, African American politicians held a city council majority by the late 1970s. …

[Introduction To] Augustine's Leaders, Peter Kaufman

Bookshelf

In Augustine's Leaders, Peter Iver Kaufman works from the premise that appropriations of Augustine endorsing contemporary liberal efforts to mix piety and politics are mistaken--that Augustine was skeptical about the prospects for involving Christianity in meaningful political change. His skepticism raises several questions for historians. What roles did one of the most influential Christian theologians set for religious and political leaders? What expectations did he have for emperors, statesmen, bishops, and pastors? What obstacles did he presume they would face? And what pastoral, polemical, and political challenges shaped Augustine's expectations--and frustrations? Augustine's Leaders answers those questions and underscores the …

[Introduction To] Ambassadors Of The Working Class: Argentina's International Labor Activists And Cold War Democracy In The Americas, Ernesto Seman

Bookshelf

In 1946 Juan Perón launched a populist challenge to the United States, recruiting an army of labor activists to serve as worker attachés at every Argentine embassy. By 1955, over five hundred would serve, representing the largest presence of blue-collar workers in the foreign service of any country in history. A meatpacking union leader taught striking workers in Chicago about rising salaries under Perón. A railroad motorist joined the revolution in Bolivia. A baker showed Soviet workers the daily caloric intake of their Argentine counterparts. As Ambassadors of the Working Class shows, the attachés' struggle against US diplomats in Latin …

[Introduction To] Women And Leadership: History, Theories, And Case Studies, George R. Goethals, Crystal L. Hoyt

Bookshelf

The compact Women and Leadership: History, Theories, and Case Studies, provides valuable research by experts on leadership and women's history to help students and citizens who want a more nuanced explanation of what we know about women as leaders and about how they have led in different fields, in different parts of the world, and in past centuries.