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Running Header: Cintrón & Nichols - Servant, situational, and team leadership styles Servant, situational, and team leadership styles in nonprofit organizations by René Cintrón and Kayetrenia Nichols MS#7/06-03 René Cintrón 21435 Hunt Dr. Abita Springs, La 70420 985-630-1809 [email protected] Kayetrenia Nichols Tampa Bay, Fl 33607 813-361-4935 [email protected] Cintrón & Nichols - Servant, situational, and team leadership styles ii Abstract In this review of the current literature, leadership styles utilized in the nonprofit industry are examined based on servant, situational, and team leadership models. In the servant leadership model, the focus is placed on the followers and their accomplishments, behaviors, and attitudes. The competence and commitment levels of the followers guide the leadership styles in the situational model. In the team leadership model, the leader assumes that every member of the team has leadership potential. Each style of leadership is discussed as it relates to charitable nonprofit organizations, and best practices are identified. Cintrón & Nichols - Servant, situational, and team leadership styles iii Table of Contents Introduction 1 Purpose of the Paper 2 Literature Review 2 Servant Leadership Model 2 Servant Leadership in Nonprofits 3 Situational Leadership Model 5 Situational Leadership in Nonprofits 6 Team Leadership Model 6 Team Leadership in Nonprofits 8 Conclusions 9 Reference List 12 Cintrón & Nichols - Servant, situational, and team leadership styles 1 Introduction Nonprofit organizations are often operated as profit-earning businesses with a few modifications, and in some sectors are competing with for-profit companies (Drucker, 1989). While a large portion of a nonprofit organization’s budget has historically consisted of funding from donations and grants, today, nonprofit organizations are more self-subsistent. They rely more on self-made income such as charging market price for services, and often create and operate alternate businesses to generate funds (Dees, 1998). During the past decade, they have also learned proper business recording and reporting, such as annual reports, balance sheets, and cash flow statements (Johnston, 2002). Advancing to the role of a manager in a nonprofit organization today requires more than knowledge of the service programs being offered by the organization. There are many leadership skills and traits a person should have to become a quality manager and to succeed in the globalized world of business (Gregersen, Morrison, & Black, 1998). These leaders must possess such characteristics as creativity, innovativeness, flexibility, high ethical standards, energy, prioritization skills, commitment, dedication, goal orientation, empathy, and an extroverted personality. A leader is a visionary who has the end goal in mind and can see the big picture. A leader is a motivator of his/her followers. A leader can visualize change and progress as well as the creation process (Northouse, 2004). Leaders exist in all industries of business, including nonprofit organizations, with a variety of leadership styles a leader can utilize (Cox, 2001). Leaders develop an individual leadership style that they feel comfortable with based on their personality. Some leaders may choose a certain leadership style based on the culture of their Cintrón & Nichols - Servant, situational, and team leadership styles 2 organization (Northouse, 2004). A manager should provide leadership and direction to management levels according to the organization’s goals, mission, and vision. Three types of leadership models which are common used are servant, team, and situational. The servant leadership model places the needs of the followers first (Northouse, 2004). Leaders using the situational model will decide on a style of leadership closely related to the present situation (Blanchard, Zigarmi, & Nelson, 1993). The team leadership style is tasked with managing and coordinating a team, often using consensus to make decisions (Aranda, Aranda, & Colon, 1998). Purpose of the Paper The purpose of this paper is to describe the utilization of servant, situational, and team leadership models in nonprofit settings, specifically charitable nonprofit organizations. Best practices of each of these leadership styles within the nonprofit sector will be identified and discussed. Literature Review Servant Leadership Model The servant leadership model places its focus on the followers and their accomplishment, behavior, and attitude. Servant leadership is said to be about virtue rather than skills. The servant leaders encompass seven virtues: love, humility, unselfishness, vision, trust, empowerment, and service (Nahavandi, 2000). A servant leader exists to serve the followers. Their fulfillment arises from having that as a principal goal. The servant leader expresses humility and credits others when credit is due. Few managers are comfortable with the openness and willingness to share success and face challenges required of being a servant leader (Kiechel, 1992). Servant leaders Cintrón & Nichols - Servant, situational, and team leadership styles 3 are regular people that have attained stature not through their individual accomplishments, but through those collective accomplishments made by themselves and their followers together. A servant leader is effective at bringing people together and bringing out the leader in each of the followers as well as their best performance (Smolenyak & Majumdar, 1992). Servant leaders serve others in order to boost their self-worth and dignity. This model of leadership requires a change in the attitude of the leader. Egos have to be let go and the belief that people perform at their best in an environment of freedom and empowerment has to be seriously adopted (Melrose, 1996). It is a long-term transformation to adapt to a servant leadership model, which can be time consuming. The servant leader traits and qualities are not developed overnight and are in continuous development. For instance, listening, empathy, awareness, persuasion, foresight, and stewardship are some of the traits that the leader may need to develop to become a successful servant leader (Spears, 1998). Servant Leadership in Nonprofits Being a good person is simply not enough to be an excellent leader in nonprofit organizations. The quality of stewardship within a servant leader is more often seen in charitable organizations. Nonprofit leaders must be conscientious and effective stewards of their organization and the public’s trust. The public entrusts them to do what is right for the organization and the community (Carroll, 2005). Trust is not acquired by benevolence alone. It grows from a well-managed and cost-effective program that produces measurable results (Carroll, 2005). Nonprofit leaders serve the public, community, and their organization without very much financial Cintrón & Nichols - Servant, situational, and team leadership styles 4 return. Nonprofit leaders must be particularly alert and attentive to their organization’s surroundings. They must be in tune to what the organization is doing and most importantly the perception of their clients and the community (George, 1993). An example of servant leadership can be seen in the case of Millard Fuller, founder of Habitat for Humanity International, who possesses servant leadership characteristics as he displays his humility and love to promote his vision of simple, decent, and affordable housing. As a nonprofit leader, he has converted his vision into a reality (Zinkosky, 2005). Fuller has created a worldwide movement that has carried on for 30 years. He has the ability to empower community leaders to carry on his vision of eliminating substandard housing (Walker, 2003; Habitat for Humanity, 2001). The servant leadership model in Habitat for Humanity has a religious and spiritual motivation style. Millar Fuller combined Christian faith with the desire to serve follows the servant leadership model (Walker, 2003; Habitat for Humanity, 2001). Millard Fuller’s Christian mannered stewardship of the organization would be the most noted trait of his servant leadership. His concentration and focus on the mission that give attention to those in need of affordable housing was driven by his reaffirmation of Christ (Zinkosky, 2005). Religious motives and institutions, which are common to servant leaders, have historically been fundamental in the establishment and development of nonprofit chartable organizations. This organizational background provides the servant leadership style that is prevalent among nonprofit leaders and has built the philanthropic character of the nonprofit sector (Butlet & Herman, 1999). Cintrón & Nichols - Servant, situational, and team leadership styles 5 Situational Leadership Model Various situations call for the leader to adapt his/her leadership style (Blanchard, Zigarmi, & Nelson, 1993). Successful leaders adapt through recognition that there is no one best leadership style to use for all situations. The key factor to being successful at adaptation is to know when to use a particular style of leadership. The situational leadership model consists of four leadership styles: directing, coaching, supporting, and delegating. Situational leaders have an instinctive ability to discern when it is best to lead by consensus and when it is necessary to make decisions independently based on the current situation, time, and people involved (How situational leadership fits, 1996). The amount of guidance given by the leader, the depth of relationship support the leader provides, and the degree of preparedness of the follower must be identified by the leader (Lowell, 2003). There are two other factors that the situational leader should consider when deciding on a leadership style: degree of difficulty of the task and the employee’s developmental level. The developmental level gauges the employee’s competence and commitment to perform a particular task with little to no supervision (Blanchard, 1991). Situational leadership concentrates on the task and relationship behavior of the leader and follower. Task behavior involves the specifics of the task, such as to who the task is assigned to, what needs to be done, how and when it should be done. Relationship behavior creates more of a conversation about the task between the leader and the follower(s) (Nahavandi, 2000). Situational leaders adjust their style based on the competence and commitment of their followers. Cintrón & Nichols - Servant, situational, and team leadership styles 6 Situational Leadership in Nonprofits Situational leaders in nonprofits utilize empowerment and motivation to increase employee and volunteer loyalty. A loyal employee or volunteer member will go above and beyond the minimum necessary by doing more than he or she was asked to accomplish. This empowering and motivating environment also builds the confidence of the employees and volunteers (Lauer, 1994). A crucial mission of social entrepreneurs measures the success of their endeavors. This mission or goal is their intended social impact (Dees, 2003). Wendy Kopp’s mission in 1989 was to develop a national teaching corps that would recruit college graduates to teach in public schools in low-income areas (The Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship, 2006b). Her organization, Teach for America, addresses education inequities that children of the United States face. Kopp noticed the education situation in America’s schools and decided to act upon it. The leadership style created for the success of her organization is that of a situational model. Teach for America demonstrates an example of situational leadership theory. Situational leadership does not place emphasis on the personal qualities as much as it does the needs of the follower. These needs are the skills and knowledge the follower has to develop. The competence and commitment levels of the follower guide the styles of situational leadership the leader may use (Rutherford, 1992). Team Leadership Model Team leadership model hypothesizes that every individual on the team has leadership potential. In this model, the quality of the organization is enhanced through employee participation. The leader motivates people within the team to work towards a Cintrón & Nichols - Servant, situational, and team leadership styles 7 common goal while maintaining the best interests of the organization, the team, and the people it serves as a focal point when making decisions (Northouse, 2004). The team leadership model can only be successfully implemented when supported by senior management. Leaders that utilize this model have knowledge in the methods of gaining team member commitment and participation. The leaders apply statistical tools and provide solutions to various organizational issues. However, team leaders must have the skills to handle possible lack of participation, disagreement, criticism, and any disruptive behavior on the part of the team members (Isgar, Ranney, & Grinnell, 1994). To empower the team members, leaders often have to move from an autocratic mode of leadership to a more democratic style. A democratic leader involves the team in decision-making, problem solving, and task assessment. Team leaders hold the team together by organizing meetings and maintaining an emphasis on the identified goals. Leaders also keep the team focused with the use of various tools such as workflow and flip charts. These tools assist the team members in maintaining the course of the tasks and goals (Dew, 1995). Often team leaders find themselves managing a diverse group of people with a wide variety of backgrounds, values, languages, styles, training, and commitment. With the use of new technologies, team leaders may be leading a group that is geographically dispersed (Parker, 2003). It can become difficult to create a harmonious diverse team considering the multicultural differences. Realizing the potentials and possible downfalls of the multicultural team is just the start. The selection of team members and the assignment of tasks play a huge part in this harmony (Aranda, Aranda, & Colon, 1998). Cintrón & Nichols - Servant, situational, and team leadership styles 8 The team leader should be prepared to accept the responsibility of leading a culturally diverse team Team Leadership in Nonprofits Nonprofit leaders know that charitable organizations succeed not because of one person alone, but through the efforts of many. Nonprofit charitable organizations rely heavily on volunteers due to the lack of funding available for paid staff. These volunteers are included in the team leadership model. Nonprofit leaders conduct team meetings at various hours to include volunteers who have other obligations (George, 1993). Michael Brown and Alan Khazei, founders of City Year, use their team leadership style in the operation of their civic service oriented organization. The mission of City Year is to demonstrate the power of service as a method of enhancing the community. The majority of this mission is accomplished through the work of their youth corps programs. These corps teams work throughout communities, performing various social service activities. (The Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship, 2006a). Another example of team leadership in nonprofit organizations can be seen in Americorps*NCCC. As a part of the Corporation of National Community Service’s Americorps program, NCCC works locally or nationally as teams doing various community projects. Each team is assigned a team leader from within the group. Team leaders are rotated according to the current project (Corporation of National Community Service, 2006). The different points of views from the team members may create difficulty in determining the final objective of the team and the milestones involved in the project, thus the involvement of the team leader. For this reason, the team leader should closely Cintrón & Nichols - Servant, situational, and team leadership styles 9 guide the group and define the overall goals (Aranda, Aranda, & Colon, 1998). A leader using a team style should be aware of all the benefits and drawbacks of such utilization. Conclusions For-profit businesses can learn from nonprofits in many aspects of their organizational leadership style. A major aspect involves attracting and mobilizing volunteers. In the for-profit business, the volunteer workforce is the paid staff (Johnston, 2002). In earlier years, not much was being asked of volunteers because they were not being paid. A recent shift in nonprofit organizations changed the attitude of how to treat volunteers. Now, volunteers are treated as unpaid professionals with responsibilities and accountabilities to the organization (Drucker, 1989). Whether in a nonprofit or for-profit organization, leaders have certain traits and characteristics. The three leadership styles reviewed give organizational leaders the options to explore their organization for the best fitting model. Servant leadership theory is the principal model used by Habitat for Humanity’s founder Millard Fuller, however, there are other styles used at times. For example, team leadership can be utilized while physically building the houses. There is a primary leadership style and secondary styles used by leaders. The same can be viewed in the examination of the other two organizations. The use of a theoretical model also varies in the Teach for America case. The main leadership style is the situational model. However, servant leadership is observed in Teach for America as the level of care for education is placed above self in order to offer a year of service to teaching in the most needed schools (Blanchard, Zigarmi, & Nelson, Cintrón & Nichols - Servant, situational, and team leadership styles 10 1993). Team leadership is also seen during the groups’ training periods as the members are trained as teams. City Year and Americorps*NCCC’s primary style of leadership is that of a team. However, the other styles may be observed here as well. With the same reason as to why servant leadership may be present in Teach for America, servant leadership may be seen in these two organizations. While all three styles of leadership examined here can be observed within the organizations discussed, some styles have better fit in particular organizational settings than others. In the nonprofit sector, using a servant leadership style would be effective the majority of the time, yet the other two models can be used for specific purposes. Team leadership can be used in the nonprofit sector when the need for unity of the group is necessary. This would the ideal situation for committees. All three styles can be mixed and matched within the industry, depending on what the leader would see as the best fit. The decision of which style to use in each industry depends on the leader, follower(s), and tasks. Different leaders would have different perspectives and comfort levels with the style they choose. A leader should learn and practice those skills needed to be a successful leader. Individual leaders who have the skills and qualities necessary to succeed are better equipped to execute the styles of leadership discussed. Some of these qualities and skills are not learned overnight, and may require long-term or even continuous adaptation. To become a successful leader one should utilize the best suiting style to everyone in every situation. While organizations may have a primary style of leadership, this is not the inclusive selection or style. The leadership technique and characteristic of the leader Cintrón & Nichols - Servant, situational, and team leadership styles 11 varies as the various experiences change. The leader must know to adapt and adjust their leadership style according to the current events of the organization. As the organization evolves through its growth stages, it calls for the use of different leadership styles. Since many other leadership styles exist that have not been examined in this analysis, further analysis of those styles should be conducted using other leadership models. A similar literature review can be performed utilizing varied styles in a different industries and settings. 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