Stewardship: Choosing Service Over Self-Interest

What is Stewardship and How Does it Work?

Discuss about the Stewardship for Distribution of Power and Privilege.

Stewardship according to Bloc has to do with an outline of set principles that revolves around a dedicated strong sense of ownership and a well elaborate responsibility that culminates into effective outcomes. It exhibits a sense of indirect control to the clientele which is all about the best quality, improved services, and an elaborate participation. Accountability is inevitable where the involved parties choose service over self-interests. This accountability is without control and is normally necessitated by consistent empowerment by the top cream if the respective organization. This form of stewardship as has been proved and approved by numerous business entities has been the quite successful enhancing distribution of power, privilege and wealth (Block 1993).

This form of stewardship leans more on the partnership bit at the expense of a patriarchy kind of leadership. This enhances the overall relationship between the top cream of any given organization and the regular staff that further improves the performance and productivity of the business entity. With the patriarchy bit, a belief system is usually in play that revolves around control that is backed by authority from the top to the bottom. The leaders in this particular form of leadership are the only ones involved in the making of major decisions of the organization. Self-centeredness and self-interest are mainly the attributes that this particular form of leadership is all about. Partnership, on the other hand, is basically the opposite of this. There is a minimized bureaucracy as far as the administration is concerned with effective and improved customer relations. A balance of power is greatly at play with absolute honesty and joint accountability being the major key elements (Block 1998).

Peter Bloc has clearly elaborated and brought home the idea of best services being placed above individuals interests. This is well founded in trust being brought to light by the ones in leadership positions. Leadership according to Bloc is giving up control so as to efficiently serve others. Power, as it is further explained, is normally granted and presented by those below which now brings the sense of their being respected and served well. An organizations contribution is based on its humanity that revolves around working on ourselves first so as to effectively deliver both within the organization and in the delivery of the services to the respective customers. A thorough and elaborate understanding of members of any given organization lies within themselves as well as the answers to the emerging issues. This should be used for the well being of the organization at hand (Spears Wagner-Marsh 1998).

Partnership vs Patriarchy in Stewardship

These are clear and well-stipulated guidelines that ought to enhance and effect stewardship in any given institution. It mainly revolves around de-glorifying management as a title and basically enhancing its definition in the roles and responsibilities that are placed under its bracket. End of secrecy is also highly encouraged and used as one of the principles for the betterment of the organization at hand. This is replaced by openness in all the departments of the given business set up whose eventuality is improved performance and productivity. There is also effective redistribution of wealth in the said company which brings about responsibility and joint accountability. There are elaborate measures and controls that are used to serve the core workers in the organization.

They act as guidelines to the normal running of the business at hand. An elaborate and effective re-integration of the management with the entire work force is also a very significant principle rolled into play by Bloc’s stewardship. This brings about an effected balance of power for all the departments in the organization. This further brings improved corporation for all the members that result in a good performance. There is also the demand for a promise from every individual in the business set up that further enhances the element of accountability. This brings about determination from the involved members for the wellbeing of the organization at hand. Service being everything as the other principle revolves around the organizations at hand ability to deliver the best when it comes their serving the intended clientele (Spears 2010).

Under this stewardship model, there is a well and clear outline of some of the most significant roles and responsibilities of the main departments in any given organization. Staff workers and line workers are the ones mainly addressed by Bloc in this elaborate model of stewardship. The former department is mainly made up of members who are quite experienced with the necessary expertise. They are mainly situated in central offices and in most cases do not want to associate and interact with the clientele directly (Peter 1993). Line workers, on the other hand, are mainly involved in the basic and core operations of the organization at hand. Things to do with basic inventions, distinguished designs, and general productions are some of their responsibilities.

According to Bloc, there should be a thin line between the two independent departments with the staff workers seeing their fellow counterparts in the name of line workers as basically clients. This they do by generally giving them an upper hand when it comes to the issue of control over the relationship. They should no longer be held accountable and responsible when it comes to the issue of the implementation of policies in the given organization. This goes on to allow more use of economic power for the good of the two categories of workers and the business set up at large (Block 2002).

Peter Bloc on Stewardship and Leadership

This model as presented by Bloc has numerous benefits in any given organization. It brings about improved performances within the organization and it when it comes to the delivery of services to the intended clientele. With the case of a learning institution presumably, this stewardship model would be very effective and efficient. When it comes to the issue of administration in a school set up, the issue of balance of power can be of great help. This might result in a joint administration where the staff workers in the names of the principal, his or her deputy as well as other heads of departments associate and interact well with the other workers.

The other workers in the name of teachers assuming the control and there being involved in the major decisions of the learning institution can usually be effective and efficient. The element of the abolishment of secrets of whichever kind might result in improved togetherness and joint responsibility that ought to enhance the performance and the productivity of the learning institution at hand (Haase-Herrick 2005). There being elaborate measures and sets of control to be followed by all the members of all the prevailing departments should be of great help and significance to this education body. This serves the purpose of bringing to light and enforcing the issue of accountability and responsibility for the well-outlined responsibility of all the directly involved departments. Deglorifying the managerial department in these learning institutions would further enhance the element of the partnership while diminishing patriarchy.

The involved heads should do away with the issue of amassing all the power and control at the expense of the other members of the institution. This they should do by involving all the members in matters pertaining to the day to day running of this higher institution. Self-interests and self-centeredness can be easily eliminated by the top cream of these houses of education. This would enhance the overall and general performance of the members of the institution as well as the recipients of the services rendered by these personalities (Lashway 1996).

This Bloc initiated model of stewardship has several challenges associated with it in as much as the benefits are quite numerous. The element of change is not normally received well by workers in any given institution. The reluctance to embrace changes can also be experienced in the learning institution both by the top cream as well as the bottom work force. The idea of the school heads not exercising their authority can most likely not work out well for them. Some of these leaders being dictatorial in their respective places of authority might bring about the reluctance of relinquishing these prestigious posts of authority. The juniors, on the other hand, might take advantage of their being involved in the major issues of the respective institution of learning.

For instance, when it comes to the area of decision making, they might decide to make the decisions that are in line with their interests and preferences at the expense of the senior executives. This might be brought about by the element of payback where they want to address the issues that were never lived up by the governing body. The wrong implementation of policies might also arise as a result of this model of stewardship. Such disruptive policies might result in a poor performance and productivity of the learning institution at hand (Korten 1999).

References

Block, P. (1993). Stewardship: Choosing service over self-interest. Berrett-Koehler Publishers.

Block, P. (1998). From leadership to citizenship. Insights on leadership: Service, stewardship, spirit, and servant-leadership, 87-95.

Block, P. (2002). The answer to how is yes: Acting on what matters. Berrett-Koehler Publishers.

Block, P. (1993). Stewardship: Putting service ahead of self-interest. San Francisco: Berrett Koliler.

Block, P. (2002). The right use of power: How stewardship replaces leadership. Sounds True.

Block, P. (1993). Stewardship, San Francisco: Barrett.

Haase-Herrick, K. S. (2005). The opportunities of stewardship. Nursing Administration Quarterly, 29(2), 115-118.

Lashway, L. (1996). Ethical Leadership. ERIC Digest, Number 107.

Peter, B. L. O. C. K. (1993). Stewardship.

Spears, L. C. (2010). Character and servant leadership: Ten characteristics of effective, caring leaders. The Journal of Virtues & Leadership, 1(1), 25-30.

Spears, L. C., & Wagner-Marsh, F. (1998). Insights on leadership: Service, stewardship, spirit, and servant-leadership.

Korten, D. C. (1999). The post-corporate world: Life after capitalism. Berrett-Koehler Publishers.