Our deepest calling is to grow into 

our own authentic self-hood, whether or 

not it conforms to some image of who we ought to be. As we do so, we will not only 

find the joy that every being seeks - we will also find our path of authentic 

service in the world. 

- Parker Palmer

My leadership philosophy stems from the strong belief in the transformative power of a community rooted in compassion. Modeled after the work of Peter Block (2008), community in this context is a group of individuals and their surrounding natural environment that influences the individual and itself, while providing the essential support necessary to connect to our collective truth. This personal belief in a compassionate connection with ourselves, others and the Divine is at the core of my belief system. It is the driving force from which I draw strength, reasoning and action in almost every situation. As stated on my home page, my leadership vision is to be a leader who continues learning, questioning and challenging myself and others to come back to our "path of authentic service in the world" with openness and compassion. Leadership comprises of introspection, community connection, and a global vision.

Given this context, I define leadership as the constant development of an interdependent relationship with self, others, institutions and the Divine to actively facilitate both internal and external transformation.

Looking Inward 

 Compassionate connection is at the heart of my philosophy on leadership, and this connection I believe can shift in focus between self, the Divine, others, institutions and the environment. But between shifts in foci from one to another, great leaders engage in sincere self-reflection; taking time to reconnect with the source of our inspiration and power as leaders.  As a result of the past two years of studying leadership and servant-leadership, I strongly feel as though I have slowly shifted from a phase two to phase three leader according to Hall’s development theory (Horsman, 2014); seeking meaning, transcendence and creativity in all that I do. For leaders in this stage, this means a deeper look internally into self and organization to find meaning. From this deep place of connection leaders can more effectively fulfill and reach their purpose as leaders.

Some of the best writers on the necessity of leaders to focus introspectively I believe are Palmer (1983), Greenleaf (1996) and Maddi (1999). Though different areas of focus with these researchers, both are approach challenging leadership situation with a mindset of introspective steps forward. For example, Palmer’s (1893) approach to spirituality and education has really influenced the ways in which I interact with students. Palmer (1983) combines fact, theory, reality and objectives to help arrive to the collective “Truth” of students and teachers together. Taking time for me to listen “wholeheartedly” to each student allows a discernment as to which steps to take moving forward. And in that discernment is what Palmer (1983) calls our “collective Truth” will lead us, thus debunking the notion that learning between student and teacher is unidirectional.

Greenleaf (1996) connects this practice of deep listening beyond the educational relationship to leadership stating listening as a cornerstone of practicing and embodying servant-leadership. As I practice this skill with students and colleagues, I am reminded that listening fully is a commitment and responsibility to be open to the possibilities of the future.

Likewise, Maddi’s (1999) research calls for an internal response of commitment, control and challenge in the face of difficult situations. From both a personal and organizational standpoint, this research calls us to fully embrace the situation, and actively choose responses rooted in a commitment to values or purpose, finding what can be actively influenced, and challenging parts of the situation. This research holds a mirror to leaders to re-examine their personal and organizational behavior in times of stress since it ultimately states a personal investment into the issue for sustainable change to occur. As a leader this research is a reminder in the face of challenges to pause and consider how I and my organization are best engaging the situation.

Community

While introspective thought and listening are strong elements of leadership, I believe they must be followed by bridging the gap between self and the community. The connection between self and community in the servant leadership model, is an interesting connection between independence and interdependence. In this model, the self and community are separate, yet sustain one another constantly as they move toward a common goal. In the process of finding the balance of interdependence and independence is the ability to shift perspectives and the way we approach one another and leadership as discovered in the leadership and creativity course. This metanoia of viewing others in the context of leadership requires a suspension of previously conceived thoughts of leadership. Luthern’s (2002) research states that a key component of this metanoia is the promotion of positivity, resiliency and creativity. If these three components are encouraged as students engage with one another, I am able to help shift their views on leadership and fully bridge the gap between their personal, self-reflective thinking and engaging the community; placing community needs before self needs.

This practice of leaders placing the community at the heart of leadership can also be explored in the humble setting of a monastery during a leadership and community course. Questioning whether it an ego or a truth speaking is another hard question for leaders to face. Humility is a necessary practice to bridge the gap between personal and communal interests (Horsman, 2016). Practicing this pause to connect to the community a helpful daily strategy as I look to support my team and lead students in their self-discovery as college students. 

Moving to a Global Perspective

An extension of community is the larger institution or organization in which leaders function. As previously mentioned, a core aspect of my leadership philosophy is connection with the institution that is also rooted in a compassionate connection to self and community. Regarding communication, the web of inclusion (Helgesen, 1995) highlights the effectiveness and importance of open and varied communication beyond a hierarchical line of communication. This has been particularly effective I’ve found in developing transparency and trust between myself, students and colleagues. A practical manifestation of this is identifying the channels of communication and ensuring that the communication about student programming is not going through a singular point. This strategy is not as organized, but provides flexibility to respond quickly to student programming needs.

Kouzes and Posner (2007) cite challenging the process as another way to create change organizationally and with the surrounding environment. My strongest role as a staff member modeling leadership to students is to constantly pose the critical-thinking and reflective questions. Questions vary from topics such as researching best practices, to questions about their decision-making as students. These questions run the gamut of their student experiences is typically a very practical way of brainstorming, thinking creatively, and encouraging leadership practices.

Finally, great leadership involves a vision and strategy for the future. A strong influence on my personal leadership strategy has been the servant leadership courses on foresight and strategy. The methods used in this experiential course helped shift my perspective from processing information externally, to looking at information internally first; taking the time to examine the heart of the situation for myself personally before moving forward. Although this is something difficult for me to express to others in a work setting, taking the time for personal reflection and meditation on the issue helps me as a leader develop a clear vision to elicit re-engagement of others in the situation.

Personal Leadership Plan

As I move forward and progress in my leadership journey, I would like to focus on challenge. Maddi's (2004) extensive research on resiliency identifies three components of resiliency behaviors: commitment, control and challenge. This has been a central point of conversation with students and colleagues alike as we talk about ways to help students and ourselves develop resiliency. I’ve come to realize that this mindset is essential in both the proactive and reactive phases of day-to-day operations of an organization. With this strategy comes risk. The most poignant reading in high altitude leadership, was a story of a man who was able to take risks and conquer fear in an outdoor setting, but not in his office workplace. Having his mentor point that out to him resonated a deep truth within myself. A fear of risk professionally in the stark contrast to the risks I regularly engage in when I am in the outdoors. Because of this story, I now weekly choose a small task at work in which to practice taking risks and challenging myself and students. Though uncomfortable, it has led to eye opening progress and shift in how I view and accept challenges. This ability to re-engage challenge has tied into all three areas of personal, community and organizational leadership. Working in education and the possibility of working in a different setting that also serves and educates people, being able to embrace challenge as a leader is my most important goal at the moment.

I also hope as a leader to continue to engage in Kouzes and Posner’s (2007) step of inspiring a shared vision. This development of vision is not a strong area for me, and continually pushes me into an uncomfortable place as a leader. Acknowledging this, I also realize that a personal vision first helps me to articulate to both co-workers and students a dream of the future. With this starting vision, I can begin the process of co-creation of a group vision which is far greater than what I can envision on my own. This process by far has been the epitome of shared leadership and building ties to the future.

I believe there are times in life in which we can feel the challenging shift in perspective. The considerations of leadership arising in this program have brought (sometimes painful) realizations for which I am deeply grateful. As I grow into what I hope will be a servant-leader, my desire is to continue learning, questioning and challenging myself and others with persistence, confidence and joy.