LESSON VII

FEET TO WALK WITH: LEADERSHIP

I. Objectives:

At the end of this lesson, the students are expected to:

1. Describe leadership;
2. Identify the different leadership styles;
3. Discuss the notion of servant leadership;
4. Relate servant leadership to Letranite leadership; and
5. Appreciate the characteristics of a Letranite leader.

II. Time Allotment:

 Three (3) hours

III. Suggested Activities:

 Small Group Discussions and Group Dynamics

IV. Content

A. Introduction

Good leaders are made not born. If you have the desire and
willpower, you can become an effective leader. Good leaders are
developed through a never-ending process of self-study, education,
training, and experience.

To inspire other people into higher levels of teamwork, there are

certain things you must be, know, and do. These do not come
naturally but are acquired through continual work and study.

In the community in which you will be assigned, you will be

working for and with different kinds of people. To do this effectively,
you will need to have a clear view of your role and responsibilities as
a leader.

When a person is deciding if he/she respects you as a leader, he

does not think about your attributes. He/She observes what you do so
that s/he can know who you really are. S/He uses this observation to
tell if you are an honorable and trusted leader. So, as one soft drink
commercial says, “magpakatotoo ka.”
 The basis of good leadership is honorable character and selfless
service to your community. In the eyes of the community, your
leadership is everything you do and that affects the community’s
objectives and their well-being.

B. Lesson

Definition of Leadership

Below are some notions on leadership:

 Leadership is the ability to influence others towards desired

goals (Stephen Covey, 1992).

 Leadership is defined as a complex process influencing

others toward achieving group goals.

 Leadership is developed through education and experience.

 Rev. Fr. Rolando Dela Rosa, O.P., during his installation as

rector and president of the Colegio held last June 18, 2003,
mentioned that leadership is correlative to followership.

 Leadership also means doing the right things.

In general, leadership has something to do with the science and

art of influencing others to follow suit. It is something that one has to
work on through actual experience in the context of a group.

Leadership Styles

Leadership style is very important in any program/project striving

at full participation of the community in a liberating process and self-
reliant development.

There are three leadership styles: Authoritarian, Consultative, and

Enabling (see Table 1). Leadership styles depend upon the situation.
“A group leader can be one of these styles. The word leader is a

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 vague term when we see how many different leadership styles there
are and what is needed in a group”.1

AUTHORITARIAN CONSULTATIVE ENABLING LEADERSHIP

LEADERSHIP LEADERSHIP
A leader who makes decision A leader who presents the A leader who defines the limits
and announces it. tentative decision but such is and calls on the members to
subject to change. make decisions.
S/He announces the decision
with no feeling of responsibility One who announces the S/He shares any given (e.g.
or accountability to share the tentative decision but s/he is funds available, time
reasons. open to questions, clarifications parameters, etc.) and
and discussion. facilitates a decision from
members on the basis of
limitations.
A leader who presents A leader who presents the A leader who calls on
decisions but sells to members. situation, gets input and makes members to identify limits,
decisions. explore the situation and make
S/He announces the decision decision.
and shares the reasons behind S/He identifies situations or
it. problems, facilitates situations S/He maintains a facilitating
to surface assumptions and role that allows members to
suggestions, and makes identify and explore situations
decisions. or problems, set limits, and
make decision.
A leader who presents decision A leader who calls on members
& invites questions or to make decisions but holds
clarification. veto.

S/He announces the decision S/He calls on the group to

but responds on an impromptu identify situations and
basis with a rationale based on limitations, explore and make
the questions of clarification decision contingent on leader’s
from the members. veto power.

Table 1: Leadership Styles and Their Characteristics (Training for

Transformation A Handbook for Community Workers, p. 102)

Attributes of A Good Leader

If you are a leader that can be trusted, then the people around you will
learn to respect you. To be a good leader, there are things that you must
be, know, and do.

1. BE professional.
Examples:
 Be loyal to the organization
 Perform selfless service
 Take personal responsibility
1
Adapted from Training for Transformation A Handbook for Community Workers,
by Anne Hope & Sally Timmel Book II, Zimbabwe, 1984, p.50
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2. BE a professional who possesses good character traits.
Examples:
 Honesty
 Competence
 Commitment
 Integrity
 Courage
3. KNOW the four factors of leadership.
 Follower
Different people require different leadership styles. A
person with a poor attitude requires different approach
than one with a high degree of motivation. You must know
your people. The fundamental starting point is having a
good understanding of human nature: needs, emotions,
and motivation. You must know your member’s be, know,
and do attributes.

 Leader
You must have an honest understanding of who you are,
what you are, and what you can do. Also, note that the
followers, not the leader determine if a leader is
successful.

 Communication
You lead through two-way communication. Much of it is
nonverbal. For instance, when you “set example,” that
communicates to your people that you would not ask them
to perform anything that you would not be willing to do.

 Situation
All situations are different. What you do in one leadership
situation will not always work in another situation. You
must use your judgment to decide the best course of
action and the leadership style needed for each situation.
For example, you may need to confront a member or
follower for inappropriate behavior, but if the confrontation
is too late or too early, too harsh or too weak, then the
results may prove ineffective.

4. KNOW yourself.

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 Examples:
 Strengths and Weaknesses of your character, knowledge,
and skills.
5. KNOW human nature.
Examples:
 Human needs
 Emotions
 How people respond to stress
6. KNOW your job.
Examples:
 Be proficient and be able to train others in their tasks
7. KNOW your organizational structure.
Examples:
 Where to go for help, its climate, and culture
8. DO provide direction.
Examples:
 Goal-setting
 Decision-making
 Problem-solving
9. DO implement.  Planning
Examples:
 Communicating  Supervising
 Coordinating  Evaluating
10. DO motivate.
Example:
 Develop moral and sprit in the organization, train, coach,
and counsel

Servant Leadership: A Christian Perspective

“Servant leadership is at the heart of Christian leadership.” 2 It

emanates from Christ. Christ showed how to become a leader by washing
the feet of his disciples (cf. John 13:3-5). It is seems ironic that to be a
leader is to be a servant. But ironic it may be, the great wisdom behind
delivers the very nature of a Christian leader. The meaning of the story of
Christ washing the feet of his disciples emphasizes that the primary
motivating factor of any Christian leader is to serve others. Personal gains
are set aside for the benefit of other people. We also see this in Jesus’
prayer at Gethsemane: ”Father if you are willing take this cup from me,
yet not my will, but yours, be done”(cf. Luke 22:42). In spite of the pain
and impending death, he pursued his mission to save humanity. His
personal safety was put aside in order to serve the whole of God’s
2
See http://www.teal.org.uk/dl/servant.htm
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creation. Jesus painstakingly taught his disciples to follow his examples.
He journeyed with them, opened himself to them as his brothers, helped
them remove barriers in order for them to grow and become mature, and
through His words and deeds, He showed them how to serve others.

Applying these learning to our life as Christians and as leaders,

we could surmise that servant leadership “emphasizes service to others,
a holistic approach to work, promoting a sense of community, and the
sharing of power in decision- making.”3

Servant Leadership in a Letranite

The Colegio’s quarter of a century of existence in the region has

produced quality and dependable leaders. It shares with the long tradition
of the Dominicans of producing leaders who in one way or another have
made a great impact to people and society. Following the same line of
tradition, Colegio de San Juan de Letran-Calamba, through its mission
statement, commit to hone Letranite leaders with the goal of promoting
and nurturing total human development in any endeavor through an
education that is Christian, Dominican and Filipino in orientation. 4 These
orientations in the formation of a Letranite do not only compliment our
notion of servant leadership but also set the unique characteristics of its
leaders.

A Letranite leader is one who is effective, efficient and, through

his/her words and deeds, bears the following:

1. Christian orientation

A Letranite leader puts Christ at the center of his/her life.

Following His examples, s/he stands as a witness to servant
leadership putting service for others as the priority over
personal gains.

2. Dominican tradition

A Letranite leader shares and manifests the passion for truth

and compassion for humanity. S/He influences others
according to the truth of the Gospel not from the ivory tower
but, in the spirit of genuine solidarity, journeys with the people
towards total human development.
3
See LCDC, DLSU-Dasmariñas. The La Sallian Way Towards Transformation.
2004. p.100.
4
See Letran-Calamba Mission Statement, 2004
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 3. Filipino in heart and mind

A Letranite leader imbibes and lives the heart and mind of a

Filipino. S/He talks and acts according to the life-giving
elements of the Filipino culture. The process of pagpapakatao,
from the Filipino-Christian perspective, serves as a guide in
the promotion and nurturance of the experience of ginhawa
whenever and wherever s/he is present.

As a whole, the Letranite leader, through his/her competencies

and the above mentioned orientations, serves the people and stands as a
witness to the Letran dictum: Deus, Patria, Letran!

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 REFERENCES

Bible

Revised Standard Version

Books

La Sallian Community Development Center, DLSU-Dasmariñas.

The La Sallian Way Towards Social Transformation:
Modules for NSTP-CWTS. Philippines: DLSU - Dasmariñas,
2004.

Hughes, Richard L.; Ginnett, Robert C. & Curphy, Gordon J.

Leadership: Enhancing The Lessons of Experience. Irwin
McGraw-Hill, 2001

Internet

The Teal Trust. Servant Leadership. June 28, 2005 from

http://www.teal.org.uk/dl/servant.htm

Clark, Donald. The Art and Science of Leadership. May 11, 1997
http://www.nwlink.com/~donclark/leader/leader.html

Other Sources

Mission Statement of the Colegio de San Juan de Letran-Calamba,

2004.