There is a prodigious need for leaders – authentic leaders to facilitate the process of building relationships and resolving conflicts in a more effective manner as affirmative models in the capacities served. Leadership of all kinds has been coming under unprecedented attack. The inability to effectively resolve conflict is an issue impacting the relationships of past and current leaders of all realms. Opposed to using conflicts and/or crises as an opportunity to rise above the issues – becoming solution-oriented beacons for others, leaders either inappropriately fight back; hope that time will heal all wounds (conflicts); ignore the issue(s) at hand; or make unnecessary changes that further damages relationships and credibility. In an ever changing global society, authentic leaders have a great influence to empower and provide individuals with the necessary tools to resolve conflict; building social capital. Social capital is defined by making connections with one another, and keeping them going over time, people are able to work together to achieve things that they either could not achieve by themselves, or could only achieve with great difficulty (Falk & Kilpatrick, 2000). The definition of social capital intertwines with the meaning of empowerment. The state of our society is an image of the quality of our leadership. To build social capital, meaningful relationships must be established that foster accountability, competencies (resources and skills), and safety. A paradigm shift occurs when community infringements are no longer viewed only as having a punitive outcome but rather a continual restorative relationship to repair the detriment. In taking a restorative approach, authentic leadership flourishes from the w... ... middle of paper ... ...Bass. Falk, I. & Kilpatrick, S. (2000). What is social capital? A study of a rural community. Socialogia Ruralis, 1(40), pp. 87-110. Gardner, J. (1990). The Nature and Tasks of Leadership. In J. T. McMahon (Ed.), Leadership Classics (pp. 171-175). Long Grove, IL: Waveland Press. George, B. (2007). True North: Discover your Authentic Leadership. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. George, B. (2010). Authentic Leadership. In J.T. McMahon (Ed.), Leadership Classics (pp. 574-583). Long Grove, IL: Waveland Press. Grootaert, C., Narayan, D., Jones, V. N., & Woolcock, M. (2004). Measuring Social Capital: An Integrated Questionnaire. Washington: The World Bank. Hutchinson, M. S. (2000). Restorative justice, voluntary action and social capital: a perspective from Northern Ireland. In the Fourth International Conference of The International Society for Third Sector Research.
Pierce, Jon L. and John W. Newstrom (2011) 6th edition. Leaders and the Leadership Process.
To fully understand why social, economic, and cultural capital could lead to success or failure, it is essential to know the difference between the three. Social capital is defined by the Organization for Economic Co-Operation and Development as “the links, shared values, and understandings in society that enable individuals and groups to trust each other and to work together” (OECD, 2015). Social capital can be multiple things including family members, colleagues, and strangers who have the
The Leadership Challenge by Kouzes and Posner (2007) is the result of twenty years of research on the factors that influence and create great leadership. Through studies and stories from leaders with various backgrounds throughout the world, the practices and characteristics that create great leadership are delineated. Leadership is viewed not as a group of inherent characteristics, but as learned behavior that anyone can achieve. The goal of Kouzes and Posner’s book is to inspire and educate leaders through transformational leadership. As such, leadership is about mobilizing others to become and do extraordinary things.
Cultural capital has great power through the control and maintenance of traditions, expected and accepted roles and behaviours, notably gender roles, important artefacts, language, institutions and services (Navarro, 2006). Of these, two essential contributors being educational facilities and religious institutions (Navarro, 2006). Finally, economic capital holds power through property and literal financial capital or monetary resources, this empowers individuals to have some degree of agency and autonomy (Navarro, 2006). This gives power to individuals to interact with higher classes, or form part of such, to purchase and interact with goods and services that are valued by the society and in turn receive respect and enhances social status (Navarro, 2006).
Reicher, S., Haslam, S., & Hopkins, N. (2005). Social identity and the dynamics of leadership: Leaders and followers as collaborative agents in the transformation of social reality. Leadership Quarterly, 16, 547-568. doi:10.1016/j.leaqua.2005.06.007
Mlls, D. Q. (2005). Leadership How to Lead, How to Live. Boston: Harvad Business School Press.
A Comparison of Theories of Social Capital by Pierre Bourdieu and James Coleman Social capital is a sociological theory which has gained increasing attention in recent years. Whilst Bourdieu can be credited with introducing the term to sociology, it was James Coleman who allowed the concept to gain widespread recognition, highlighting its importance as an individual notion. For Bourdieu social capital forms a part of an overarching theory of ‘fields’, ‘capital’ and their relation to class reproduction. The key importance of social capital for Bourdieu is its relationship with economic capital, whilst for Coleman, social capital is seen to lead to human capital. It seems that both Bourdieu and Coleman agree that social capital represents social ties or membership of particular communities that make resources, advantages and opportunities available to individuals.
Northouse, P. (2010). Leadership: Theory and practice (5th ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, Inc.
Social capital allows for actors, or those benefitting from the social connection, to secure resources that aid them in achieving their goals. The usefulness of the social capital is dependent upon the social structure in which the connection exists. Once activated, the social capital can be used along with other resources in the pursuance of additional forms of capital to produce different outcomes for actors. The value of the outcome, once again, is dependent upon the social structure (Coleman 1988). Connections made in primary or secondary education are most valuable in those institutions. It follows that mentor/mentee relationships formed in K-12 education will be at their pinnacle of social and cultural accumulation while the mentee is
Leaders life stories and crucibles shape their True North.True North provided sound information about authentic leaders based on numerous real life stories. Several case studies and narratives made the content simple to comprehend the concept of True North. Gaining information from several leaders stories’ gave a good insight on leader’s True North. It appeared that the case studies originated from author’s close network of friends and acquaintances. The leaders in the book were drawn from corporations to non-for-profits, to the areas of politics and academia. The leaders’ narratives came from different parts of the globe that gave a diverse perspective on leadership. The author appeared to have a personal association with most of the leaders in the text. There were many quotes to back up life stories, crucibles, and self-awareness in the narratives in the emergence of True North. That helped to make a deeper connection with the
The ambiguities of "social capital" can be elucidated by reformulating it as a gathering-based asset got from social relations, the viability of which is dependent upon the extensity and force of social ties and the gathering's assets, and the making of which may include a potential cost to a person.
Dekker, P. and Uslaner, E. M. (2001). “Introduction”. Social capital and participation in everyday life. Edited by E. M. Uslaner. London: Routledge.
Leaders will no matter what have an influence on our world. They have missions, dreams and ambition, and with these things they are bound to go far. For leaders, what makes these dreams come true is having strong qualities such as leadership practices, values and strengths. If developed and learned how to use correctly, these are what take leaders to the next level and accomplish great things. In the following paper I will talk about leadership in our ever-changing world, explore my leadership practices, values and strengths as well as elaborate on the goals I have made to challenge myself as a leader.
Leadership is complex to define In the past century, more than 10,000 articles have been published about leadership. Through the decades, the complex definition of leadership has intrigued the masses. In the book The Extraordinary Leader, the authors Zenger and Folkman write that there has been no way to define the different constituencies of the leader (Folkman, 2009). According to J.M. Burns, “Leadership is one of the most observed and least understood phenomena on earth.” Leadership is a p...
Onyx Jenny, Bullen Paul (2000) Measuring Social Capital in five communities. The Journal of applied behavioural science. Vol. 36, March 23-42.