11 Service Learning Project Final Paper Name OBLD 511 Organizational Leadership School

11

Service Learning Project Final Paper

Name

OBLD 511 Organizational Leadership

School

Professor

Date

The organization

The United Way of the Black Hills (UWBH) was formed in the 1940s. The organization’s mission is to unite individuals and resources to enhance livelihood in the Black Hills by providing quantifiable long-term solutions to various community issues in health, education, and financial stability. Its vision is to empower people and improve their lives while facilitating positive and long-lasting change (United Way of the Black Hill, 2022). The United Way of the Black Hills brings together volunteers, leaders, non-profits, and advocates and tackles the most pressing needs of the Black Hills region. The organization improves mental health affordability and access, childcare services, economic opportunities, affordable housing, substance abuse resources, food security, and home and family life resources and services.

UWBH has been making significant investments in non-profits since 1944, to help it achieve the intended objectives. There have been substantial changes to the region during the period that UWBH has been operating, leading it to align its mission and role to the changing needs of the organization. This includes increasing the geographic coverage to the whole Black Hills region stretching from Edgemont to Belle Fourche and improving its strategic support for nonprofit organizations.

The past twenty years have seen an evolution of United Ways around the nation from its initial mandate as a fundraising entity to a community convener championing mobilization of partners such as nonprofits, community leaders, and businesses, to increase opportunities for individuals to succeed. The efforts have impacted the community positively and improved resource leverage. UWBH is now embracing a new model that is impact-based. United Way of the Black Hills has adopted a new mission that emphasizes uniting individuals and resources to better lives in the Black Hills through the delivery of long-term solutions to community issues in financial stability, education, and health. UWBH will be a champion for the community by empowering people and improving their livelihoods while endeavoring to facilitate positive and lasting change. The organization will emphasize the top seven issues singled out through a needs assessment as the most critical needs in all communities in the Black Hills. They include substance abuse, mental health, food security, affordable housing, birth to 5 services, home, and family life, and economic opportunities.

The activities with the organization

The volunteering process will involve collaborating with the organization’s top management. It will help understand the degree of partnership between the organization and other stakeholders, including non-governmental organizations, governments, and companies, to address the challenges. Below are some of the major activities that I will participate in.

Community needs assessment

I will participate in a community needs assessment to discover the challenges that the community is facing and snapshot of systems, local policy, and change strategies that have been implemented to identify areas that require improvement. This data will be used by UWBH to map out a course for improvement to enhance the lives of the people. conducting a needs assessment will help uncover the gaps in the community. After all, the UWBH program is aimed at addressing these gaps through services and resources. The assessment is also important in guiding priority-setting and decision-making for the underlying programs while engaging community members in the process. Adhering to this method will enable the organization to establish its program around the most critical services for members of the community.

Mental health initiative

Mental health is an issue that most people are struggling with and which needs serious attention. UWBH has a robust mental health initiative in which I will be actively involved. promotion and intervention initiatives will work by identifying the social determinants of mental health, identifying the individuals, and taking the intervention to limit risks, increase resilience and create supportive surroundings for mental health. UWBH will design its interventions for specific groups, individuals, or the entire population.

Restructuring the mental health determinants usually requires action that supersedes the health sector and thus prevention and promotion initiatives should entail education, environment, labor, welfare, and housing sectors.

I am happy because the initiatives will play a significant part in suicide prevention. It has been established that the highest percentage of people who commit suicide suffer from some form of known mental problems. Early intervention and promotion will minimize the number of suicide deaths. Much progress will be achieved by restricting access to means, emotional and social learning, responsible media reporting, and early intervention initiatives. My priority will be improving the mental health of adolescents and children.

Substance abuse initiatives

Substance abuse prevention services have normally been delivered separately from mental health initiatives. Since substance abuse has conventionally been viewed as a social issue, prevention services were considered not to be the responsivity of health care services. Substance abuse is a problem that many Americans are struggling with, and research indicates that nearly 20.8 million Americans were suffering from substance abuse disorder by 2015 (Nelson, Bundoc-Baronia, Comiskey & McGovern, 2017). This explains why UWBH is at the forefront of fighting against this scourge that is threatening to rob the U.S of its most productive workforce. Better incorporation of treatment, prevention, and recovery services within the community is vital for addressing substance misuse.

Resolution of family conflicts

United Way of the Black Hills is committed to resolving family conflicts. Family conflict impacts all wealth brackets and races, and almost all families are vulnerable to strife at some juncture in their relationship. Such conflicts can be short-lived. Nevertheless, constant family conflicts such as violence, sexual assault, and abuse may cause issues that ripple through the whole family. Conflicts between couples can be damaging to the younger generation who are still growing emotionally and physically. Children should feel safe to develop good emotional and attachment responses. Participating in the family conflict resolution initiative will expand my understanding of how families work and ensure my contribution to the stability of society in general.

Leadership Styles

Leaders at United Way of the Black Hills are employing a transformational leadership style. It is a leadership approach that causes a change in social systems and individuals. Transformational leaders normally inspire positive changes in their subjects. They are enthusiastic, energetic, and passionate about what they do (Leithwood & Jantzi, 2005). Not only are they fully involved and concerned in the process, but they are also committed to ensuring that every member succeeds. The main goals of transformational leaders are to promote loyalty, inspire growth, and instill confidence in members of the group.

While transactional leaders emphasize giving compliance by withholding and giving rewards, transformational leaders strive to transform others to support one another and the whole enterprise (Ghasabeh, Soosay & Reaiche, 2015). The followers of transformational leaders respond with admiration, feeling trust, respect, and loyalty, and are willing to put extra effort to impress the leader.

Elements of transformational leaders

Idealized influence

Transformational leaders are role models and follow through on theory pledges, stand up for their beliefs, show the highest standards of ethical behavior, admit when they are wrong and act in a socially appropriate and respectable way. Dishonest leaders and leaders who flout the rules to suit their situations cannot be said to be transformational.

Individualized consideration

Another component of transformational leadership at UHBW is individualized consideration. It underscores the extent to which the leader addresses the needs of the individual team members (Reza, 2018). The leaders empathize, give support, and ensure openness in communication. It also entails the need for respect and celebrating the contributions that each team member makes to the team.

Individualized consideration goes beyond just knowing the names of the followers’ pets, spouses, favorite hoboes, or children. It is imperative to understand the dreams and goals of the followers, the types of work that the followers enjoy or do not enjoy, and what the followers are passionate about. Individualized consideration is the foundation of transformational leadership. Taking more interest in their team members enables transformational leaders to design communications and assignments in the most effective manner possible. Leaders who lack interest in their followers should consider other roles. Leadership entails relationships and it rarely works if none of the parties has no interest in the other. Leaders at The United Way of the Black Hills are prepared to go first. They show a genuine interest in their team members and they equally show an interest in them.

Inspirational motivation

This element underscores the degree to which the particular leader formulates a vision that is inspiring and appealing to the followers. Leaders at United Way of the Black Hills have shown this element by challenging their followers with high standards, communicating positives about future goals, and providing some meaning for the task at hand. Consequently, the followers have shown a strong sense of purpose.

The leaders talk realistically and positively concerning the work of the team and the positive impact and mission of the team organization as well. Everybody is striving to find purpose in what they do. Leaders who are unable to help people see the value of their contribution or dismiss the value of work will not be capable of inspiring the people they lead. Transformational leaders remind their followers that the teams would be non-existent without clients. Effectively managing clients, notwithstanding how they may be frustrating at times, is one of the pillars of an inspirational leader.

Intellectual stimulation

This refers to the extent to which the leader takes risks, challenges assumptions, and collects the ideas of the followers. Intellectual stimulation enables transformational leaders to encourage and stimulate creativity among their followers. Leaders at United Way of the Black Hills usually develop and nurture their followers who think autonomously. For these leaders, learning is an important value and unforeseen situations are regarded as learning opportunities.

Individuals perform better when they are accomplishing tasks that interest them and hence providing intellectual stimulation benefits to everybody. It is one of the reasons UWBH is emphasizing hiring the right individuals.

Leadership Traits of Transformational leaders

The transformational leaders of The United Way of the Black Hills have shown the below characteristics.

Openness

Transformational leaders are open to new ideas and innovation whenever any may arise. Such leaders constantly look for prospects to handle things differently (Asbari, 2020). Openness to new thinking involves the constant pursuit of opportunities to accomplish different activities in unique and new ways.

Effective communication

Transformational leaders can communicate effectively. When people communicate honestly, compassionately, and clearly, they can achieve almost everything as a team (Montgomery, 2018). These leaders accept ideas from different sources , without knee-jerk reaction or judgment. Besides, transformational leaders have attained mindfulness about how often and whether they make their colleagues feel listened to genuinely.

A sense of a bigger picture

Loyalty to the organization’s vision is the first step. Step two involves commitment to overriding the ethos. Transformational leaders should figure out how to discuss the ethos in a manner that inspires others to change their behavior and thinking so as to achieve better results.

Leadership at United Way of the Black Hills inspires the followers not only through introducing new ideas to them, but also through touting opportunities that are available within the organization and which they can take advantage of to better their careers. The organization has leaders who are capable of generating real enthusiasm as opposed to reactionary politicking. The leaders are also capable of telling big stories irrespective of who these stories are being told to.

Improving collaboration

Achieving group success is the primary goal of achieving success. This calls for collaboration given that one individual cannot hold all the power to made decisions. Transformational leaders at United Way of the Black Hills are good at encouraging discussion between a group of experts in the industry or on a specific topic. These leaders are cognizant of the fact that the beauty lies not only in having the knowledge, but also the sense that detect the ones that will be successful.

Collaboration does not just refer to brainstorming. Leaders experience a lot of criticism all the time in their careers. What matters is how they handle these criticisms, whether positive or negative ones. Transformational leaders are not cynical to the people who criticize their decision-making. They take the disadvantages and benefits to a product, program or plan and they employ the collective knowledge to make the most appropriate decisions that sit well with the followers.

Creativity and autonomy

Transformational leaders must collaborate because their future in the organization is not known, and they will not be with ye organization. They must be dependent on others to keep up with the creativity to be able to innovate, and the autonomy to work without close supervision (Craig, 2019). That is what the transformational leaders at United Way of the Black Hills are doing. They give the followers the freedom to work autonomously without being supervised closely and encourage them to be more creative and innovative. Those who possess educational leadership skills are able to inspire autonomy and creativity in part due to the fact that they harbor the qualities in plenty. They comprehend the core of leadership team development and are capable of making some decisions without the book knowledge.

Strong leadership ego

Balancing a leaders ego in the pursuit of ambition can be quite challenging. After all, it is possible to shove other folowers aside for individual gains. Good transformational leadership qualities require leaders to be able to share the credit, to ensure that all the team members are acknowledged for the contribution they make to the organization. Transformational leaders at United Way of the Black Hills are cognizant of how the importance of taking criticism with positivity, not by shifting the blame to others for their inadequacies or passing the buck. They acknowledge their shortcomings freely and work round the clock to balance or improve them. These leaders do not let allow everyone to denigrate or insult them. Rather, they leverage their gifts and use the talents to overcome their shortcomings. All in all, transformational leaders at the organization strive to share the limelight with the team members who they believe are most deserving.

Conclusion

The United Way of the Black Hills was founded in 1940s with a vision to improve resource sharing and enhance the livelihoods of the community. Some of the initiatives that this organization is involved in include mental health initiatives, drug abuse control initiatives, resolution of family conflicts, and economic empowerment of the community. The organizational has been largely successful oer the years in the execution of its mandate thanks to the transformational leaders that it has. Transformational leaders are able to inspire their followers and encourage autonomy. They also encourage effective communication and collaboration among the team members with the main goal of achieving organizational objectives. Openness is the hallmark of transformational leadership as it enables leaders to take inputs from different sources and make informed decisions.

References

Nelson, J., Bundoc-Baronia, R., Comiskey, G., & McGovern, T. F. (2017). Facing addiction in America: The surgeon general’s report on alcohol, drugs, and health: A commentary. Alcoholism Treatment Quarterly, 35(4), 445-454.

United Way of the Black Hills (2022). About. https://www.unitedwayblackhills.org/

Asbari, M. (2020). Is Transformational Leadership Suitable for Future Organizational Needs?. International Journal of Social, Policy and Law, 1(1), 51-55.

Craig, W. (2019).8 Must-Have Transformational Leadership Qualities. Retrieved from https://www.forbes.com/sites/williamcraig/2019/01/31/8-must-have-transformational-leadership-qualities/?sh=1671a06b1117

Montgomery, A. (2018).Transformational Leadership Style: 7 Traits Of Transformative Leaders. Retrieved from https://eml.usc.edu/blog/transformational-leadership-style.

Reza, M. H. (2019). Components of transformational leadership behavior. EPRA International Journal of Multidisciplinari Research, 5(3), 119-124.

Leithwood, K., & Jantzi, D. (2005). Transformational leadership. The essentials of school leadership, 31-43.

Ghasabeh, M. S., Soosay, C., & Reaiche, C. (2015). The emerging role of transformational leadership. The Journal of Developing Areas, 49(6), 459-467.