Week 1 discussion
DQ1
While servant leadership can be connected to biblical
principles and Christianity, it is not exclusively tied to it. In what ways do
the principles of servant leadership cross religious and cultural lines?
Justify your opinions by providing specific examples.
DQ2
Discuss the traits, behaviors, and leadership style you
would expect to see in a person who identifies as a servant leader. In your
response, include discussion about the following.
In what ways can servant leadership be considered a
vocation?
When people commit to being servant leaders, what does that
mean about the types of behaviors they exhibit and prohibit personally and
within the organizations they are leading?
How does servant leadership differ from traditional forms of
leadership?
Week 4 discussion
DQ1
Visit the “Competitive Advantages” page of the
Robert K. Greenleaf Center for Servant Leadership website at
https://www.greenleaf.org/winning-workplaces/workplace-resources/research-studies/competitive-advantages/
and review the articles indicating ways that servant leadership helps organizations
gain competitive advantage. Using that information along with the Topic
Materials, discuss how servant leadership contributes to competitive advantage
in contemporary organizations. Provide specific industry examples of companies
that have thrived as servant leaders.
DQ2
One of the challenges often faced by nonprofit organizations
is financial viability. Consider how the service leadership model can make a
nonprofit organization competitive in ways that are not profit driven. In your
post, discuss whether or not the value the nonprofit provides to the community
and the greater good is professionally appealing enough to make you want to
explore as a career opportunity despite the fact that in many cases than the
personal and financial gains offered by nonprofits may not match what is
available in for-profit organizations.
Week 5 discussion
DQ1
Think about how your personal values correlate with the
principles of servant leadership. How can you draw on values and servant
leadership principles to better establish your followership to better serve
those you lead professionally and personally?
DQ2
Suppose you go to work for an organization that you discover
does not align with your personal values. You are in a leadership role and you
are not in a position to leave the job. How do you ethically represent the
company without compromising your own beliefs? What is the deal breaker for
you? How does ethically representing the company demonstrate your ability to be
a servant leader?
Week 6 discussion
DQ1
Think about the principles of servant leadership and provide
two examples of specific ways you can apply them in your current work
environment, as member of a community group or organization with which you are
involved, or in your personal life. Discuss the specific servant leadership
principles you would apply, the methods you would use to apply the principles,
and the results you would anticipate seeing as a result of implementing these
servant leadership principles.
DQ2
Conduct research about a biblical figure such as Moses,
David, Paul, Joseph, Esther, or Nehemiah to learn about how the biblical leader
exemplified servant leadership and see how the principles of servant leadership
transcend time and place. Think about the contemporary leader you are
researching for the Topic 4 assignment, and discuss the similarities you see
between the biblical servant leader and the contemporary servant leader.
Provide specific examples to illustrate the similarities you have identified
and include discussion about what you think makes the principles of servant
leadership applicable regardless of time or place.
Week 7 discussion
DQ1
Learn about current trends in servant leadership by
conducting your own research and locating an article that illustrates how the
principles of servant leadership are being employed in the workplace, as part
of a volunteer or service effort, or in an individual’s personal life. In the
Main Forum, post a short summary and a link to the article. Discuss what you
learned from reading the article and whether or not you would consider applying
servant leadership in a similar way.
DQ2
The article “Why Isn’t Servant Leadership More
Prevalent?” poses the question, “But if servant leadership is as
effective as portrayed in recent research, why isn’t it more prevalent?”
Using what you have learned about the principles of servant leadership and your
own experiences, address this question. Use examples to support your
hypotheses.
Week 8 discussion
DQ1
Think about Greenleaf’s principles of servant leadership and
what you have learned about the biblical foundation of servant leadership.
Identify specific principles of servant leadership that, when employed
effectively, can proliferate respect for multiculturalism and diversity within
the organizations and communities they serve? Provide specific examples to
illustrate your ideas.
DQ2
Research an international servant leader or international
servant leadership organization to examine the similarities and differences in
the way servant leadership is executed in Western culture and Christianity when
compared with other cultures and religions. Summarize the similarities and
differences you discovered and discuss which principles of servant leadership
you think are universal, regardless of religious and cultural differences.
Provide examples to support your opinions.
Week 9 discussion
DQ1
In the Topic Materials you read several examples of ways
that servant leadership can be displayed through true volunteerism and acts of
service to others. Research an historic or current servant leader who is a true
volunteer in service to others. In what ways does the person inspire leadership
while building his or her own character and integrity? How does this leader
exemplify the moral obligation to lead through kindness, compassion, and
justice?
DQ2
Share the servant leadership volunteer opportunity you are
completing. Discuss how you think this experience will help you develop your
own character and give you experience in leading through exhibiting kindness,
compassion, and justice.
Week 10 discussion
DQ1
Now that you have participated in your servant leadership
opportunity, discuss how the experience affected your understanding of how
through serving others one actually leads. Support your ideas with specific
examples from your volunteer experience.
DQ2
Watch the video “Servant Leadership – Joe
Schmitt.” Discuss why this is a good example of leadership through acts of
service in terms of the way the actions of the leader demonstrate integrity and
personal character building while also establishing followership and pushing
others to grow professionally through emulating his actions. Discuss how this
example embraces both Greenleaf’s principles of servant leadership and the call
to service evident in Christianity.
