How Honor and Protection Guide Servant Leadership in the Workplace

Answer this question
Topic 8 DQ
When we consider the word love as a verb instead of a feeling, the biblical worldview would state that this loving relationship is related to two principles: honor and protection. Explain how these two principles guide servant leadership in the workplace.
Example from class mate below
Re:Topic 8 DQ
Love and honor, as verbs, seem to embody the essence of servant leadership as a whole. We have been speaking of servant leadership in the work environment so it is interesting that in all of the discussions we have had on this topic that these words have not come up before. In thinking about it though, even in the work environment leaders can love and honor their followers and in turn themselves through servant leadership. To be more specific, "Healthy organizations encourage others...honor others...accept others...love others..build up others. They catch others doing it right. Leaders recognize accomplishments and celebrate creativity. They speak words of encouragement and intentionally affirm"(Laub, 2016).
The "catch others doing it right" is such a strong sentiment, especially in healthcare when it can seem like we are only recognized for what we are not doing or have done wrong. As nurse leaders I think we need to make a commitment to catch someone doing it right every single day we can and not forget how it has felt to be treated otherwise. If we can focus on loving and honoring what makes each and every individual valuable in their own unique way, we can be creating a trusting and empowering environment.
Other ways we can do this are:
Take initiative
Leadership takes action. It doesn't hold back in order to protect the leader from making mistakes. Leaders move out in order to serve others...and to serve the agreed upon mission of the organization.
Clarify goals
Healthy organizations are clear on where they are going. Leaders use clear and open communication to point the direction that the group is committed to pursue. The leader encourages accountability to the goals set...for themselves and for others(Laub, 2016).
Reference:
Laub, J. (2013). Organizational Leadership Assessment: Servant leadership. Retrieved March 10, 2016, from http://www(dot)olagroup(dot)com/Display.asp?Page=servant_leadership
Example 2 Re:Topic 8 DQ
We are all familiar with the verse, “Love your neighbor as you love yourself” Matthew 19:19, but at work, who is my neighbor? Can, or should, a leader loves his or her followers? What does it mean to love? Employees today do not see the employer through the same loyalty-shaded glasses. Rather, there is a much greater sense from employees that they stay with an employer because it is mutually beneficial on several levels: in physical terms, such as compensation; in mental terms, such as in a stimulating relationship. This is the basis for love, to consider each employee/follower as a total person with needs, wants, and desires. Employees want to be considered for their brains and their hearts as well as their hands.
As a leader is important in order for the organization to go far beyond seeing people as “hired hands,” to seeing them as “hired hearts. “Employees and followers want leaders who are honest, open, and who keep the organization moving in a positive direction during both calm and stormy seas. Employees and followers want leaders who are “others-centered.” Employees and followers want leaders who can bring out the best qualities in them. In his book, Leadership Jazz, Depree (1992), provides a wonderful and colorful description of the employer/employee exchanges that happen in servant leadership. Depree (1992), states that you must love someone so much that, within the framework of employment, you care enough to learn the gifts of the individual and draw out from them what is good and what fits the needs of the organization. This puts the emphasis on the employee first followed by earning what the individual's “best” talents are, and then seeking how to apply this to the organization. It is important for leaders to be authentic, and demonstrate honor and protection for the employees. According to Smallwood &Ulrich (2015), building on one's strengths is incomplete unless one's strengths strengthen someone else. Authenticity without a positive impact on someone else is more narcissism than leadership. Effective leaders turn their emotional intelligence into helping others find their purpose and meaning. When leaders focus on the value they create for others, they think less about whom they are and how who they are, will make others better. They realize that the value of their values is in that others will achieve what matters to them. Ultimately, leaders are measured by what they leave behind and how their present actions shape future success (Finnie &Early, 2002).
Reference
DePree, M. (1992) Leadership Jazz: Composing Voice and Touch, New York: Bantam Books
Finnie, W., & Early, S. (2002). Results‐based leadership: an interview with Dave Ulrich. Strategy & Leadership, 30(6), 23–29. doi:10.1108/10878570210451597
Smallwood, N., & Ulrich, D. (2015). What is an Effective Leader? The Leadership Code and Leadership Brand. The AMA Handbook of Leadership, 155–166. doi:10.5848/amacom.978-0-814415-14-6_17