The Concept Of Worldview And Its Effects On Individuals And Leadership
Everyone sees the world through his or her unique perspective. This view has been shaped and reformed through the influences of family, educators, religion, culture and government; resulting in his or her worldview. Miller (2001) defined worldview as the assumptions an individual believes consciously or unconsciously about the world and how it works. Willard (2009) offered a similar definition, but adds, “including our assumptions about who we are and what we should do”. He went on to explain that worldviews permeate through the backdrop of individuals’ lives. With this in mind, it is imperative to understand what makes up a worldview; how it impacts individuals and myself on a personal level and how it affects leadership style. Miller (2001) compared a worldview to a roadmap; it guides and directs a person throughout his or her life.
Generally speaking, there are three main worldviews; animism, theism, and secularism. While the definition describes the broad impact of worldview, it does not breakdown the exact components. Miller (2001) offered that worldviews must answer three categories of questions: epistemological, metaphysical and moral. He continued to assert that it requires more than asking the right questions; the answers given dictate the culture an individual creates and leads to positive or negative societal developments. A person may be unaware of his or her worldview, which can be detrimental to how they engage with others; especially those having a different set of beliefs. Individuals must seek to understand the lens through which they view the world. An awareness of a personal worldview can be discovered through answering “man’s basic questions” as categorized by Miller (2001) above or via seven basic question expressed by Sire (2004).
What is prime reality — the really real? What is the nature of external reality, that is, the world around us? What is a human being? What happens to a person at death? Why is it possible to know anything at all? How do we know what is right and wrong? What is the meaning of human history?
Once these basic questions are answered, the worldview must be tested against an individual’s current reality. Did the answers he or she produce create a livable worldview? Even if one refuses to adopt a worldview, that is in fact a worldview in itself. Sire (2004) said, “So long as we live, we will live either the examined or the unexamined life”.
Christ-Centered Biblical Worldview
A biblical worldview or biblical theism states because God exists and is personal, the reality for people subscribing to this worldview is “ultimately personal”. More simply put, a biblical worldview is the alignment with God’s perspective of the world. It answers the above questions through the truth revealed in scripture. A person must consciously evaluate the people and institutions in his or her life to reach a self-awareness of their worldview and how that influences their daily decisions. Others may judge or believe they know a person’s worldview by witnessing their choices. Jesus said, “By their fruit you will know them”.
Leading Through a Biblical Worldview
Mother Teresa is known to many by the selflessness she exhibited by living a life dedicated to serving the poor. She may not be immediately recognized as an inspirational leader; however, it could be argued that her life reflects the ultimate example of servant leadership and modeling a life crucified to Christ and living in complete surrender. She described the lenses that impacted her worldview as such: “By blood, I am Albanian. By citizenship, an Indian. By faith, I am a Catholic nun. As to my calling, I belong to the world. As to my heart, I belong entirely to the Heart of Jesus”. Worldviews develop over time and Mother Teresa’s heart for the poor was birthed at a very young age from the example of her parents. Her mother, Drana, had a particular influence in sowing deep seeds of compassion in her daughter. She told her, “My child, never eat a single mouthful unless you are sharing it with others”. In May of 1931, then Sister Mary Teresa took her initial vows and was sent to Calcutta to serve in a high school. Fifteen years later, now known as Mother Teresa felt a second calling from Christ to leave teaching and serve in the slums of Calcutta to aid the poorest people. The Missionaries of Charity was started by 1950 and by the time of her death in 1997 it had grown from a faithful twelve nuns to over one million coworkers helping the poor at 594 missions in over one hundred countries around the world.
Her faith defined her goal and according to Bose & Faust (2011), “Everything Mother Teresa did in her life stemmed from defining her vision and aligning and rallying all of her resources and supporters to her goal”. Bose worked with Mother Teresa personally and described how she was empowered and truly seen. Mother Teresa’s biblical perspective of how people are supposed to be treated and loved impacted her leadership at every level from the vision she cast to how she interacted with her followers.
Leading Through a Secularism Worldview
Paul Newman is known famously for his acting career. He was nominated for Oscars multiple times for 'best actor' for movie classics including 'Cat on a Hot Tin Roof' (1958), 'The Hustler' (1961), 'Hud' (1963), and 'Cool Hand Luke' (1967). He won for 'The Color of Money' (1987) (Levy, 2009). Before becoming a household name, Newman had humble roots growing up in Ohio. His father was Jewish and his mother grew up Catholic, but later subscribed to Christian Science (Levy, 2009). Levy (2009) described the Newman family religion as Americanism, more concerned in creating a nice nuclear family and comfortable living than any larger idea of God. Throughout his youth, his mother encouraged him in school and community stage productions while his father considered it to be “star-gazing”. The loose beliefs of his family contributed to his own worldview and the desire to find meaning and fulfillment. When stardom fell short, he sought the thrill of the race track, even achieving four amateur titles. In an interview, he once admitted, “The toughest role is playing Paul Newman… My own personality is so vapid and bland, I have to go steal the personalities of other people to be effective”. As he continued to seek to do something more he began his humanitarian work. He founded 'Newman's Own,” which donates 100% off its post-tax profits to charity and with a promise like that it is not surprising that it quickly gained an impressive reputation. Additionally, he founded a camp for children with life-threatening illnesses to experience friendships and fun. According to Whitehead (2008), Newman was someone “who embodied the American ideals of extraordinary integrity, a tireless work ethic, a commitment to family, and a deep sense of responsibility to the people who made his success possible. ” Many described Newman as humble or modest. Whitehead (2008) assured that he was also well aware of the power he held as a celebrity and fully used that influence to fund social projects and called others to partner together to contribute to charitable investments.
Impacts of Differing Worldviews
Northouse (2010) described leadership as the ability of an individual to influence a group to reach a specific goal. The ability to influence can fall short if a person’s worldview is different than the leader’s. “Leadership also requires a kind of awareness beyond the immediate, an awareness of the larger pictures — of paradigms that direct us, beliefs that sustain us, values that guide us and principles that motivate us, our worldviews”. Mother Teresa was born into a family that acknowledged the need to share their blessings with those that were living without. Her story did not include a desire for upward mobility, but rather to serve. She found Jesus in the eyes of people in front of her and her faith propelled her to serve until her final breath. Paul Newman’s dissatisfaction from the best the world had to other offer led him to leverage his name to find more meaning in the world through humanitarian efforts. A man subscribing to no faith expressed his conviction to give back while addressing students at U. C. Berkeley, 'It seems so human to hold your hand out to people less fortunate than you are'. While both established organizations that continue after their passing and have left legacies for others to carry on, the personal ‘why’ that drove them to their contributions is vastly different, and yet both believed that they had done nothing to desire the graces received and therefore blessed those less fortunate. Mother Teresa believed the grace of God was her benefactor, while Newman simply believed in luck. Mother Teresa said, “At the moment of death we will not be judged according to the number of good deeds we have done or by the diplomas we have received in our lifetime. We will be judged according to the love we have put into our work”. This perfectly summarizes the differences in their worldview, Mother Teresa believing it is only the love that one contributes to the world that matters, while Newman worked diligently to achieve a great number of good deeds believing that was all he could contribute and believing nothing waited for him in the afterlife.
Personal Worldview and Leadership
It can be easy for a person to adopt his or her family’s worldview without being aware of it and it requires a conscious choice to grow in self-awareness and challenge the things that were initially accepted. I was born into a Christ-centered worldview. Growing up as a pastor’s kid; I cannot remember a time I wasn’t familiar with the name of Jesus and the gospel. I remember a peer in an eighth-grade math class asking me about my faith and challenging the idea of God. It was the first time my worldview was questioned by anyone. The conversation sparked the need to become more self-aware of what I believed and why. During my high school years, my father struggled with alcoholism and it once again was a shock to one of the main pillars of my beliefs. I had to revisit some of “man’s basic questions”; but as I answered those questions, my faith grew and I pursued God with greater desire and realized my constant dependence on Him.
Through my discovery, I now long for people to know that they are seen, loved, and cared for so deeply by the God of the universe. Growing up as a follower of many domineering styles of leadership, I often use a democratic or participative approach to leadership. It is important for team members to feel they have a voice, to encourage creativity, and to engage in projects and decisions. Since I cannot be an expert in all areas, I value input from the group. Ultimately, decisions must be made and sometimes circumstances do not allow everyone to reach a consensus; this requires me to make the final decisions. In addition to democratic leadership, I also align with transformational leadership. I love motivation based on a shared vision and open communication. I have high emotional intelligence, self-awareness, and place great value on authenticity. I do not relish conflict per se, but I am quick to address problems or conflicts head on in order to find a solution rather than allowing issues to linger. I want to lead by example — expecting the best from everyone and being accountable for my team to expect the best from me. Personally, I thrive when expectations and clear goals are established, so I believe in doing this for my team.
Such elements of leadership are crucial to provide what I believe is a necessary balance of expectations and providing every team member the opportunity to be an active participant in the overarching goals. An individual’s worldview is like the natural spring of his or her life, everything flows from that source and no matter how far the river reaches it cannot rid itself of the original source. Therefore, the ability to comprehend the components of a worldview, the desire to discover one’s own worldview, and how it influences the lens through which he or she engages the world and the followers he or she leads is significant. If operating within a biblical worldview, the implications are more important as it is a reflection of God.
