topic 2 Flashcards
They must center their characters on a Christ-like servant heart, not serving themselves with the benefits of position, power and status, emulating leaders in the world. On the contrary, Jesus calls us, as his leaders, to grow a servant heart.
Christian leaders
He calls us to follow his example with humility, serving those whom we lead; enabling them to achieve the purpose to which God calls them is our goal.
Why? Because in the context of the kingdom of God, they are not our tools but together, we collaboratively serve God and his purposes. This is Jesus’ leadership style.
It is a concept everyone is aware of and in order to understand how democratic leadership works, you must comprehend the age-old theory of democracy.
Democracy
meaning of Demos
The People
meaning of Kratos
Authority
The word BLANK has it roots in ancient Greece, which is where the concept of democracy began.
democracy
The word “democracy” means “BLANK”. The essential idea is that instead of someone ruling over people, such as in a tyranny or oligarchy, the people hold the power to decide.
rule by the (simple) people
It was the ideas of BLANK, BLANK, and BLANK that finally gave birth to democracy as a political philosophy. In his famous bookPolitics, Aristotle describes the benefits of democracy:
Socrates, Aristotle and Plato
READ: “When states are democratically governed according to law, there are no demagogues, and the best citizens are securely in the saddle; but where the laws are not sovereign, there you find demagogues. The people become a monarch…such people, in its role as a monarch, not being controlled by law, aims at sole power and becomes like a master.”
TRUE
READ: The modern basis for the democratic leadership theory dates back to the studies done in the 1930s and 1940s. Kurt Lewin, together with his colleagues R. Lippit and R.K. White, determined three distinctive decision-making styles, which they thought were closely linked with leadership.
TRUE
The three leadership styles
Autocratic
Democratic
Laissez faire
The BLANK, also referred to as PARTICIPATIVE leadership, involved the subordinates in the decision-making. The leader and the subordinates shared an equal voice and these groups didn’t showcase hierarchy. The leadership style involved appraisal of both the leader and the subordinates, with strong feedback structures available.
Democratic style
Lewin et al. Identified threecore elementsof democratic leadership:
- The leader would expect the subordinates to report to leaders regarding the task.
- The leader would expect the subordinates to exhibit self-confidence and the ability to get things done without constant supervision.
- The leader would expect the subordinates to involve others in the decision-making process and therefore not act alone.
One of the most commonly used set of democratic leadership functions came from BLANK. In the article, Gastil outlined the three core elements you need for the framework to work.
Gastil’s 1994 article
Obviously, the first major function of the framework has to be about distributing the power. The democratic leadership requires an equally shared power structure, without any hierarchy in decision-making.
Distribution of leadership
Gastil quoted Krech et al, who wrote in 1962, that the leader must aim “to evoke maximum involvement and the participation of every member in the group activities and in the determination of objectives”.
Distribution of leadership
But the responsibility to share responsibilities doesn’t mean that each decision must always be made within the group. Depending on the specific roles and responsibilities, certain decisions might be only in the hands of the leader. This sort of framework refers to the BLANK
Functionality of representative democracy
READ: Each decision made must be done according to the expectations of the electorate and the member has to be able to explain his decisions to the voter. Similarly, a leader might have the power to make certain decisions, guaranteed that he or she is able to do it with the approval of his or her subordinates.
TRUE
They must therefore carefully define the roles and distribute power in decision-making according to these roles. The focus of it must aim for a democratic framework, where no one person has concentrated power over others.
Organizations
The focus of it must aim for a BLANK, where no one person has concentrated power over others.
Democratic framework
Another vital function of the leadership system is the ability to empower the subordinates. In its simplest form, this happens through the distribution of responsibilities and power to make decisions. Democratic leadership doesn’t purely assume people should participate in decision-making, it actively requests people to contribute.
The empowerment of subordinates
Furthermore, the framework should focus on empowering subordinates through the development of their skills. Since the leadership model requires people to be part of the decision-making process, they should look for enhancing people’s skill set.
The empowerment of subordinates
This includes things likepublic speaking,logical thinkingand organizational skills, aside from the pure professional abilities required within the specific industry.
The empowerment of subordinates
The final core function of democratic leadership model revolves around the creation of structures that support and encourage deliberation.
Aiding of Democratic Decision-Making in deliberations
According to BLANK, this can be achieved “through constructive participation, facilitation, and the maintenance of healthy relationships and a positive emotional setting”. If these are fostered, then the above two functions are easier to achieve.
Gastil
While all leadership styles require the leader to be intelligent and competent, democratic leadership is among the top styles that call for this trait. Because the democratic leader is like a conductor of an orchestra, he or she needs to have the competency to keep all the parts together and moving.
Intelligence
Although the decisions might not be in the hands of the leader, the leader needs to ensure the group is competent enough to make the decisions.
Intelligence
Democratic leaders need to be honest. The open communication and discussion-led leadership framework won’t work if the leader can’t be honest with the subordinates
Honesty
The leader must be able to lay out the situation to ensure decisions are made on real information and the leader has to stay honest about his or her own opinion. While the leader might have the final say, it doesn’t mean the leader shouldn’t lay down his or her own ideas for what the best course of action should be.
Honesty
A democratic leader must also show plenty of creative flair. Since the leadership framework requires innovative ideas and collaboration, the leader must be able to show the way with ideas. The leader must also be able to help other members of the team to innovate and this itself can require innovative thinking from the leader.
Creative
It is often considered an innate trait, but everyone can improve and enhance theircreative thinking. As a leader, you can improve your own creativity, but also subordinate’s creativity by establishing the right environment within the organization.
Creativity
There can’t be a situation where certain ideas are dealt in a favorable manner, while other people’s ideas are not fully appreciated. The democratic framework must be fair and consistent, with the leader bearing the brunt of this responsibility.
Fairness
Since people will be open to speak their mind and decisions are mainly done through majority vote, the leader has to be able to show fairness
Fairness
As a leader, you need to be able to distance yourself from the situation emotionally and to think rationally. BLANK in this context also means transparency
Fairness
READ: If you allow subordinates to understand your own thinking process and decisions, you will show them your decisions are based on rationality and not unfair feelings you might have towards different employees.
TRUE
