Three Pillars
Three Pillars Essay
Leslie Jones
Grand Canyon University: UNV 504 Innovation and Entrepreneurship
June 10, 2014
Three Pillars Essay In his video Ken Blanchard, discusses the three pillars of business; servant leadership, innovation and entrepreneurial spirit (Blanchard, 2011). Servant leadership is not being a servant to those that you work with, it is offering direction and vision with stated goals. It sets a platform for all employees to know where the company is headed, while focusing energy on the set goal. It requires that both management and employees live according to the vision with customers being the primary focus. Servant leadership if done correctly draws out the innovation in employees. It asks people to bring their ideas to work and put on their thinking caps to move towards better practices, efficient processes and more satisfied customers. It allows for the entrepreneurial spirit in employees to be developed. Employees not only become a part of the process for development and innovation, but partners in the business. They have a personal stake in the company which can build long term loyal employees working to sustain and grow for the customer, themselves and the business. Although servant leadership focuses on others and needs of the whole in most cases there could be some shortcomings to servant leadership. According to Lynch and Friedman servant leaders might easily focus more on the needs of the followers than the needs of the organization as a whole or considering the needs of society. It is important that servant leaders have an ethical base while considering the higher values of truth, justice, peace, compassion and human dignity (Lynch & Friedman, 2013). Servant leadership has its base in spiritual leadership in that both put their own needs aside for the greater good and require a following in order to lead. Servant leaders empower others and want at a core for everyone to succeed, as well as the
Leslie Jones
Grand Canyon University: UNV 504 Innovation and Entrepreneurship
June 10, 2014
Three Pillars Essay In his video Ken Blanchard, discusses the three pillars of business; servant leadership, innovation and entrepreneurial spirit (Blanchard, 2011). Servant leadership is not being a servant to those that you work with, it is offering direction and vision with stated goals. It sets a platform for all employees to know where the company is headed, while focusing energy on the set goal. It requires that both management and employees live according to the vision with customers being the primary focus. Servant leadership if done correctly draws out the innovation in employees. It asks people to bring their ideas to work and put on their thinking caps to move towards better practices, efficient processes and more satisfied customers. It allows for the entrepreneurial spirit in employees to be developed. Employees not only become a part of the process for development and innovation, but partners in the business. They have a personal stake in the company which can build long term loyal employees working to sustain and grow for the customer, themselves and the business. Although servant leadership focuses on others and needs of the whole in most cases there could be some shortcomings to servant leadership. According to Lynch and Friedman servant leaders might easily focus more on the needs of the followers than the needs of the organization as a whole or considering the needs of society. It is important that servant leaders have an ethical base while considering the higher values of truth, justice, peace, compassion and human dignity (Lynch & Friedman, 2013). Servant leadership has its base in spiritual leadership in that both put their own needs aside for the greater good and require a following in order to lead. Servant leaders empower others and want at a core for everyone to succeed, as well as the
References: Blanchard, K., (2011) The Ken Blanchard companies, Blanchard media solutions http://lc.gcumedia.com/zwebassets/courseMaterialPages/unv504_KBvideos.php Friedman, H.H., Lynch, J.A., (2013) Servant leader, spiritual leader: the case for convergence, Journal of Leadership, Accountability and Ethic, 10(2) 87-95. http://eds.a.ebscohost.com/eds/detail?vid=11&sid=84615525-2fc3-4322-84ce-dae1710e1cef%40sessionmgr4002&hid=4213&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWRzLWxpdmUmc2NvcGU9c2l0ZQ%3d%3d#db=bth&AN=89867393 Morris, L. (2013), Three dimensions of innovation, International Management Review, 9(2) 5-10. http://eds.a.ebscohost.com/eds/detail?vid=9&sid=84615525-2fc3-4322-84ce-dae1710e1cef%40sessionmgr4002&hid=4213&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWRzLWxpdmUmc2NvcGU9c2l0ZQ%3d%3d#db=bth&AN=91879701 Tuck, R., Zietsma, C., (2012), First, do no harm: evaluating resources for teaching social entrepreneurship, Academy of Management Learning and Education, 11(3) 512-517. http://library.gcu.edu:2048/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=bth&AN=51600554&site=ehost-live&scope=site