Question

The clashing of cultures, which is a phenomenon that one easily experiences on a regular basis within any organization that has people coming and going, for in those situations, organizational culture is in a constant state of flux.

How might you utilize principles of servant leadership as a means to navigate the difficulties of this constant change, such as gaining a new leader or conducting mass hiring in situations such as seasonal work or expansion of the organization?

Answer 1

Servant leadership is a leadership style. In this leadership style, the servant-leader shares power and put the needs of others first. This helps the people to develop thus increasing their performance. In this style, the leader serves the people rather than the people working for the leader as in the traditional style. This leadership style results in higher performance, engaged and self-fulfilling employees.

Cultural change is constant in a business atmosphere. The dynamic business environment involves individuals of different personalities. Clashing of cultures ofcourse will be a prominent phenomenon on a regular basis within an organization. The changes in the business environment leads to either hiring new leaders or conducting mass hiring in situations as expansion of the organization or seasonal work.

Servant leadership style plays a critical role in handling these challenges in the workplace. The below servant leadership principles that helps in these scenarios are:

• Listening- Servant leaders should listen critically to everyone’s concern to handle the conflicts arising out of culture clashes.
• Empathy- Servant leaders should strive to empathize others. The high employee turnover rate by making the employees feel recognized.
• Awareness- Self-awareness strengthens the servant-leadership relationship which contributes greatly in a growing or expanding organization.
• Convincing- Servant leaders try to convince others for a decision. This brings in consensus among the team members and makes it easy for day-to-day focus.
• Foresight- Servant leaders foster foresight which is critical for achieving the long-term objectives of the business.
• Nurturing the spirit- the servant leader understand the basic human needs and contribute personally to the growth of a meaningful enterprise.

The above are some of the principles of servant leadership. I would utilize these principles in resolving conflicts arising out of cultural changes. Mass hiring for seasonal work involves a mix of people from different cultures and I would adapt the above principles to handle this complex cultural diversity. Understanding each individual is the key to the success of any organization. Similarly gaining a new leader requires training them adequately in servant leadership style to effectively handle the team of diverse culture.