Literature Review

THE AMERICAN RED CROSS AND SERVANT LEADERSHIP 1

THE AMERICAN RED CROSS AND SERVANT LEADERSHIP 6

THE AMERICAN RED CROSS AND SERVANT LEADERSHIP

Ashley Cook

HMSV 8404

Carolyn Allen

The American Red Cross and servant leadership

This organization is mainly operated and run by the volunteer members of the public for the sake of providing services to the members of the public. The organization helps the people in case of occurrence of different calamities which might hinder the people’s ways of living. The manner in which the organization is run is facilitated by the servant leadership of the people working for the organization thus ensuring that the members of the public are served accordingly. The assistance given to the people is provided especially during the times of disasters like, hurricanes, fires, earthquakes and floods which end up wasting the people’s properties. (Lingenfelter, 2018)

This organization is well known for the relief they give to the people after they experience the disasters. It was founded in May 1881 by Clara Barton for the sake of helping the American who is in distress. The founder therefore paved way for the volunteerism to happen hence ensuring that the suffering amongst the members of the public is reduced significantly. The organization’s effectiveness if facilitated by professionals such as the doctors, nurses, surgeons and the fire fighters who provide servant leadership in their practices to ensure that the people receive quality services.

However, the manner in which the organization is operated is controlled by its mission statement which is as follows, “The organization ensures that human suffering is prevented and alleviated in times of occurrence of emergencies by encouraging different people to volunteer themselves with the help of generosity as their controlling virtue”. The stringent principals used by the organization do not encourage dislikes, discrimination, negativity and prejudice as that would hinder the effectiveness of the delivery of the services to the members of the public.

Moreover, the American Red Cross’ servant leadership by the members ensures that humanity is encouraged therefore ensuring that the people’s lives are protected through the respect to the people being provided with the services. It provides effective priority in the cases which are the most urgent by not condoning discrimination of the people. Again, neutrality, impartiality, voluntary services and independence are encouraged amongst the member so as to ensure that the people in the society receive the best from the organization.

The independence of the organization ensures that it maintains the needed autonomy by abiding by the laws of the country. This enables it to receive enough support from the government therefore making it easy for it to deliver services to the people in the entire country. The relief movement by the organization encourages the servant leadership by the members thus ensuring that the voluntary work is carried out effectively.

The universality of the American Red Cross is facilitated by the ability to have equal responsibilities and status with all the societies in the entire country. On the other hand, the organization’s vision statement is that “Through the connections it has with different donors, partners and volunteers it has been available to help the members of the society in case of occurrence of disasters”. As a result of its dedication to serve the members of the public, the organization has made different efforts which have ensured that the people affected by the disasters in the United States as well as the other countries in the entire world receive quality care, hope through guidance and counseling and shelter which enable them to live high standard lives as they lived before. The communities of the American Red Cross are always prepared to handle any form. This plays an important role as it makes it easy for the people access lifesaving blood, blood products and safe services especially when their experience healthy issues in the country. (Tabors, 2018)

Due to the fact that the organization was developed to offer servant leadership to the suffering in the society, the target population benefiting from the American Red Cross is the people affected by disasters who cannot have the ability to help themselves after the occurrence of such calamities. It is therefore controlled by principles such as impartiality, humanity, neutrality, universality, unity, voluntary service and independence which ensure the people working in it to deliver services to the affected members of the society without have to expect payments. (Maxwell, 2018)

The theory of servant leadership plays important roles as it enable the people working for the American Red Cross to listen and practice mindfulness which makes it for the services to be provided to the people. When the people are listened to, the workers in the American Red Cross become aware of the challenges and the barriers which the people are facing hence coming up with a strategy to reduce the people’s suffering. The listening by the leaders again helps in exposing the prejudice which might affect the manner in which the leader carry out different tasks for the sake of ensuring that the people’s needs are addressed in the most effective way possible.

As far as the leadership theory in the organization is concerned, the leaders are skilled enough and they therefore ensure that the people are not asked for payment after certain services are provided to them. This plays a significant role in providing equality due to the fact that the American Red Cross is supported and funded by volunteers who are well-wishers for the sake of ensuring that the needy in the society do not suffer for the rest of their lives. For the leaders found violating the policies of the organization, disciplinary actions are taken against them thus acting as a warning to the others. (DeFrank-Cole, 2018)

Due to the fact that the organization is a human services organization, the servant leadership ensures that the people are willing and ready to serve the public in any time the emergency occurs. As a result of such acts, the service delivery processes of the organization are made effective therefore reducing the suffering of the people.

The servant leadership as used by the American Red Cross portrays values of diverse opinions, cultivates a culture of trust whereby different tasks can be carried out without maximum supervision, development of other leaders in the organization, help the members of the public in their life issues, he encourages the other leaders to deliver the services effectively, the leaders think more about helping the people in the society and they therefore act with humility to ensure that the people are served in the best way possible.

The values of the leaders in the organization play significant roles in ensuring that the manner in which the delivery of services is carried out conforms to the policies of the organization. The American Red Cross should therefore develop strategies in which the beneficiaries of the services provided by the organization are involved in the delivery of the services to the other suffering individuals in the society. The values of leadership theory ensure that the leaders work without having to be supervised by the superiors in the organization. (Schindler, 2018)

References

Schindler, C. E. (2018). Early Public-Private Partnerships for Public Diplomacy. In The Origins of Public Diplomacy in US Statecraft (pp. 111-144). Palgrave Macmillan, Cham.

Lingenfelter, S. G. (2018). Leadership in the Way of the Cross: Forging Ministry from the Crucible of Crisis. Wipf and Stock Publishers.

DeFrank-Cole, L., & DeFrank, E. H. (2018). Matrilineal Stories of Leadership. Women's Leadership Journeys: Stories, Research, and Novel Perspectives, 2.

Maxwell, J. C. (2018). Developing the Leader Within You 2.0. HarperCollins Leadership.

Tabors, C. (2018). A Voice for the" Least of These:" Eleanor Roosevelt's Servant Leadership. Servant Leadership: Theory & Practice, 5(1), 2.