Mother Teresas Style of Leadership - Essay Example

Mother Teresa’s Style of Leadership Before adopting deciding to be called Mother Teresa after St. Teresa1, she was known as Agnes Gonxha. She became interested in serving individuals and so she went to Sisters of Loreto convent later on.2 Agreeably, if not for her leadership qualities, Mother Teresa would not have quickly emerged to great heights to attract many followers and win the hearts of many individuals from different parts of the world. She claimed and cantered her inherent power and authority over that which surrounded her and she lived amidst poverty and unimaginable diseases3 in order to help the poor and the sick. Mother Teresa was just a wonderful leader as she served the poor, orphaned, and those in critical conditions for many years and never got tired in doing so. She was never scared in helping the sick, for instance, when individuals affected with leprosy were secluded and considered untouchable, Mother Teresa extended her services to them whole heartedly and cared for them by establishing many homes for them. She had unconditional love for the disadvantaged and she had enhanced and makes life meaningful to those ranked at the bottom in the society.4This essay provides a critical discussion on the leadership qualities of Mother Teresa. It covers her forms of influence, her personality that enhanced her mergence and effectiveness, leadership communication, and lastly, the type of leadership she possessed. Arguably, by the time Mother Teresa started her missionary work, she had little money in her hand, but she proved to the entire world that a person can achieve anything and flourish in this world without money. Mother Teresa taught individuals that being wealthy does not necessarily mean everything. She proved to all that it is possible to prosper without money. Mother Teresa created a world full of love where the disadvantaged are cared for and showered with unconditional love.5Mother Teresa was so caring to the extent that she used to beg others to give her food so that she can provide the orphan children dying of hunger with something to eat. Some of these individuals had no mercy on her and spit on her hand when begging but she would respond calmly that she would continue keeping the spit for herself and continue begging them to provide food for the poor and orphaned children. In addition, at the end, they realized her gentle character and donated something for the poor whenever she asked for. This shows her magnanimity, which is one of the best leadership qualities she possessed. Mother Teresa displayed a great mental strength by building homes for the destitute through fundraising and seeking support.6Furthermore, Mother Teresa was a teacher and a caregiver who majorly focused on how to relieve suffering from the poor and the disadvantaged in the society7. In addition, Mother Teresa was so simple and humble and having comfort was never on her mind. The clothes and sari she put on were not expensive and according to her, the white sari with blue border symbolized peace and solace to the poor and destitute. Mother Teresa was convinced that she needs to suffer for her to heal and help other individuals and this is something she told Princess Diana when she met her. More so, she took initiatives during a famine in Ethiopia and informed the US President Ronald Reagan, during that time to send his support to the place with food and medicine. Indeed, Mother Teresa was very humble and she never paid more attention about her own image or condition when helping others. This for sure is a rare quality that is hardly seen in many leaders all over the world. For instance, whenever she happened to travel in flights, Mother Teresa used to collect some leftover food from all the other travellers on the plane and distribute the food to hungry and needy individuals. In most cases, she had no money to help her assist the poor, but she never hesitated to beg and help these individuals. Nevertheless, Mother Teresa was courageous as she helped those individuals suffering from leprosy when the rest of the society confined them in solitude area. More so, she was never felt tired or discouraged to construct homes for the refugees and the homeless, care for the blind, and attend to those affected by flood and famine or any national disaster with a lot of passion and affection. Through her efforts, the poor and homeless individuals were brought to the homes and given food and medical attention. Again, those were very sick beyond recovery were given a chance to die with dignity in their last moments. She possessed moral qualities by being concerned with needs of the disadvantaged in the society and ensure that their dignity was upheld accordingly. Even though she was a Christian, her generosity exceeded as she only focused on doing what pleases God by making other people’s lives meaningful and better. Some scholars have referred to her as an authentic leader and her achievements and personal qualities remains as an inspirational figure.8 Mother Teresa was a great leader figure admired worldwide and she influenced many people with her work. She saved and transformed the lives of many individuals through her faith and determination. In 1948, Mother Teresa founded Missionaries of Charity through which she dedicated her whole life to assisting the disadvantaged all over the world but particularly those in India. What motivated her to establish such association was for the poorest individuals are cared for accordingly.9This association composed of many sisters who are active worldwide and her followers were to adhere to the vows of chastity, poverty, and obedience. Most importantly, the followers of other Teresa were to provide free service to the disadvantaged individuals wholeheartedly. Her work and selflessness attracted many people to join her and serve other people in the society (Lussier and Achua, p.348). Mother Teresa continued travelling and working even though she was weak because according to her, life is not worth living unless it is lived for others. The world lost such a great leader in 1997 but she has been memorialized through educational institutions, museums, and photos among others. Mother Teresa left a legacy of leadership by her humanitarian work many followers worldwide to spread her message and take up her service. Her association continues to grow and attract many new followers annually with many people being moved by her work. Today, Mother Teresa’s association consist of over four thousand sisters, over three hundred brotherhood followers, ten thousand volunteers, and six hundred and ten missions worldwide.10 Expansion of her efforts over the years since her death shows how she influenced many people worldwide.11 According to servant leadership theory, a leader has a desire to serve others so that they can develop themselves and carry out duties to meet organizational need. One needs to have trust in order to be a servant leader (Lussier and Achua, p.348). Based on this perspective, Mother Teresa’s qualities are in line with what servant leadership entails. For many years, Mother Teresa took care of the disadvantaged and the needy people in the society and placed a lot of her efforts without getting tired. Moreover, she was very selfless as her major concern was to make other individuals’ lives better. Her organization significantly expanded and had many mission in various countries worldwide just to serve the poor and needy persons. Mother Teresa’s selfless work and attitude towards the disadvantaged people enabled her to win many awards, which she in turn dedicated to the poor. Thousands of individuals got inspired by her works and followed her footprint to contribute their life to the charity work. In most cases, Mother Teresa convinced her followers to live in the same poverty just like the people they are serving. Mother Teresa had many important servant leadership qualities and these include listening, empathy, healing, persuasion, stewardship, and commitment to ensure growth of other people. She was just wonderful as she led by example and dedicated her life to serving others while encouraging other individuals to also contribute towards the same. Mother Teresa endured criticism from others but she persisted and never gave up on helping the disadvantaged in the society. Mother Teresa displayed important leadership style include both charismatic and transformational leadership. Mother Teresa was a charismatic leader, for instance, she inspired thousands of individuals around the world to help the needy persons disregard of their status or racial background. She was highly esteemed and confident, displayed exemplary leadership qualities and she articulated the goals, which enabled her followers to be cognitively and emotionally committed. More so, Mother Teresa had an unexplainable moral inspiration and power over her followers. Additionally, she was capable of moving people to act willingly by just communicating only a simple few words. Further, she communicated in a language which everyone understands better. Because of her work and interests, she had to learn to communicate with great people in order to seek help in her charity work. Mother Teresa carefully listened to individuals and warmly addressed issues affecting them and as a result, she managed to converse and share ideas and concerns with others in a very simple language that all could understand easily. She was an exceptional leader who revealed charisma in her interest and works.12Studies describe transformational leadership as that which aims at engaging the hearts and minds of individuals. In this type of leadership, the power of the leader emerges from creating understanding and trust. Transformational leadership needs trust, concern and facilitation as opposed to having full control over others. A transformational leader is capable of inspiring individuals to aspire to and to achieve something beyond their imagination. According to Bass and Bruce13, transformational leaders focus on every person’s achievement and they intervene as mentors to these people. She is one of the most famous universal transformational figures who assisted other individuals to aspire and achieve a higher performance in their lives.14Mother Teresa served as a perfect example of a transformational leader as she had the ability to inspire and influence her followers to abandon their personal interests and work towards achieving the common goal of the organization. She manifested essential qualities linked with transformational leaders like being concerned with other people’s emotions and values among others.15Nevertheless, she was able to influence her followers to forego their personal interests for the sake of the needy people in the society. Therefore, it can be noted that Mother Teresa was a transformational leader because she as she assisted individuals to work hard and achieve their set goals and that of the association. In conclusion, Mother Teresa remains to be a respected and influential leader worldwide. Her leadership qualities and personal attributes made her emerge to great heights and win the hearts and minds of many individuals from different parts of the world. Mother Teresa established Missionaries of Charity and her main aim was to serve the poor, sick, orphaned and the dying individuals in the society. She dedicated her entire life for humanitarian work and never got tired or discouraged until her death. More so, Mother Teresa built homes for the need and ensured that the dying had dignity at their last moments. She touched the untouchable including those suffering from leprosy, extended her services to them by building those homes, and made them live a meaningful life. Mother Teresa possessed many admirable qualities that many individuals have tried to follow. She was a teacher and a caregiver with a strong passion to relive many people from suffering and poverty. More so, she showed a great mental strength by building homes for the destitute through her endless efforts. Mother Teresa was a great leader figure who saved and transformed the lives of many individual across the world through her faith and determination. She never cared about her reputation and begged others to help the poor. Moreover, she communicated in a language that that every person could understand easily. She listened carefully to every person and responded to their needs calmly and communicated to them in manner that everyone could easily understand what she intended. Many people globally have referred to Mother Teresa as an authentic, charismatic, servant and transformational leader. In conclusion, she left a leadership legacy by her humanitarian work with many followers globally continuing with what she started. Works Cited Allen, Richard D. The Genesis Principle of Leadership: Claiming & Cultivating Your Created Capacity. Mustang, Okla: Tate Publishing, 2008. Print. 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