Insight on Leadership

Mother Teresa in my opinion is one of the most highly facinating people of the 21st century. She is a model of someone who was truly inspired to work toward personal goals.
Mother Teresa had several personal achievements which exemplify her dedication to her work. These include:

• In 1962 Mother Teresa won the Pandra Shri prize for extraordinary services.
• Mother Teresa received the Pope John XXIII Peace Prize in 1971.
• In 1979 Mother Teresa received the Nobel Peace Prize for work undertaken in the struggle to overcome poverty and distress, which also constitute a threat to peace.
• Mother Teresa received the John F. Kennedy International Award.
• Mother Teresa received the Templeton Award for progress in religion.
• Mother Teresa also received the Jonaharlal Nehru Award.

Her innovation and dedication are clear indicators of leadership. When a crisis arose she was not afraid to tackle it head on and come up with a positive solution. As educators we to need to face educational issues of the 21st century and develop innovative and creative ways to challenge our students and in order to remain competitive in the global market. Mother Teresa's compassion was evident. Through compassion as teachers we can gain the trust of students and colleagues. She strove to make the world a better place and to educate and feed children of the world. On a smaller scale in our own world if teachers can take a small part of her determination and innovation sprinkled with compassion we can create an environment of life long learners.

Avolio, B. J., & Bass, B. M. (1994). Improving organizational effectiveness through transformational leadership. Thousand Oaks, CA.: Sage Publications, Inc.

Bass, B.M. & Avolio, B.J. (1993). Transformational leadership: A response to critiques. New York, NY: Free Press.

Desmond, E. W. (1989). A pencil in the hand of God. Retrieved March 12, 2003, from Time Magazine Online: http://www.time.com/time/reports/motherteresa/t891204.html

I believe that Mother Teresa was one of the best leaders of all time because, simply put, she was not a follower. She was a woman who, no matter what the consequences, chose her own path and made her own decisions. She was not afraid to point out flaws in cultures or countries. She was truly pure at heart and was extremely goal oriented. She never became the person who needed to be recognized or praised for her work. She truly worked and accomplished her goals simply because God called her and she felt in her heart it was the right thing to do. She is my leader because I feel that she was truly out for the good of others and her heart was filled with goodness and love. One could be a great leader but have no compassion. We mentioned Hitler's leadership skills and how he could draw the crowd into his speeches. It can be determined that he was a leader with the ability to have millions call his name. Mother Teresa was a great leader who opened her heart to everyone. She not only drew a crowd but she worked for good and loved everyone that she touched. In my profession if I could tap into her ability to be a strong leader yet understanding I will have succeeded.

According to , Works of Love are Works of Peace, by Michael Collopy, Mother Teresa was born Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu on August 26, 1910, in Skopje, Macedonia, in the former Yugoslavia, she was the youngest of three children. In her teens, Agnes became a member of a youth group in her local parish called Sodality. Through her involvement with their activities guided by a Jesuit priest, Agnes became interested in missionaries. At age 17, she responded to her first call of a vocation as a Catholic missionary nun. She joined an Irish order, the Sisters of Loretto, a community known for their missionary work in India. When she took her vows as a Sister of Loretto, she chose the name Teresa after Saint Thérèse of Lisieux.
In Calcutta, Sister Teresa taught geography and catechism at St. Mary's High School. In 1944, she became the principal of St. Mary's. Soon Sister Teresa contracted tuberculosis, was unable to continue teaching and was sent to Darjeeling for rest and recuperation. It was on the train to Darjeeling that she received her second call -- "the call within the call". Mother Teresa recalled later, "I was to leave the convent and work with the poor, living among them. It was an order. I knew where I belonged but I did not know how to get there." Mother Teresa started with a school in the slums to teach the children of the poor. She also learned basic medicine and went into the homes of the sick to treat them. In 1949, some of her former pupils joined her. They found men, women, and children dying on the streets who were rejected by local hospitals. The group rented a room so they could care for helpless people otherwise condemned to die in the gutter. In 1950, the group was established by the Church as a Diocesan Congregation of the Calcutta Diocese. It was known as the Missionaries of Charity.
I admired her for her courage and strength. She was not afraid to live a life of radical poverty and service and to dare the world to do the same. Leaders of countries, prestigious universities and organizations received uncompromising challenges from her on issues of human dignity, chastity, respect for the unborn and the impoverished. She knew there was nothing lasting about the material possessions that we strive for and cling to. And she was quick to point out that some of the richest nations in the world, are the most spiritually poor. Her example was loud and clear. She is an inspiration to devotion and purity of heart (Lester, 2004).


(2002)."Mother Teresa of Calcutta (1910–1997)". Vatican News Service. Retrieved February 16, 2010.
Lester, Meera (2004). Saints' Blessings By Meera Lester Saints' Blessing. Fair Winds. pp. 138. ISBN 1592330452. http://books.google.com/books?id=HSg6f3JaN1IC&pg=PA139&lpg=PA139&dq=Nikolle+bojaxhiu&source=web&ots=bCgwkpbTe7&sig=sIXUKONOEt1BcY9DtqkJcg_NQfM&hl=en&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=2&ct=result Saints' Blessings By Meera Lester. Retrieved February, 16 2010.
(2005). Collopy, Michael. Works of Love are Works of Peace. Harper Collins.