Growth of Contemporary Christianity Research Paper

Growth of Contemporary Christianity - Research Paper Example According to the Pew Research Center, total Christian population is estimated to be 2.18 billion, out of 6.9 billion world population. Although the faith is considered to be a new advent in comparison with Hinduism, Jainism, Buddhism and Judaism, yet the religion got popularity in all corners within few centuries of its advent. The credit certainly goes to the saints, preachers and the dedicated adherents of the faith, which turned out to be supportive in spreading its noble teachings. Although the founder of Christian faith belonged to Nazareth, the present day Asian state of Israel, yet it is very popular in Europe, America, Australia, Africa and remote areas of Asia. Growth of Christianity in India Although there is a misconception about the advent of the Christian faith in the aftermath of the European invasions on the sub-continent and colonization era, yet the belief has been introduced in the region during the apostolic age. Historical evidence reveals the very fact that Christianity got its way to the Indian sub-continent during the first century A.D., where St. Judas Thomas, one of the most dynamic pupils of Jesus Christ, was instructed to reach the northern parts of the country in order to spread the message of Christ and Scripture to the indigenous Indian population during the era of Indo-Parthian Kingdom of Takhshashila (Ninan, 2004: 5). ii The Acts of Thomasiii demonstrates that Thomas was successful in communicating the religious belief system to the monarch and subjects as well. Consequently, the king, his family and significant number of courtiers embraced Christianity. Kerala is stated to be the first region to accept Christianity by 3rd century A.D. Missickiv (20 02) notices the existence of an ancient Christian people living along the coast of Malabar in southern India whose origins extend back over one thousand years before they were discovered by European explorers. This is the same community that is claimed to be established by St. Thomas. Taken after the name of St. Thomas, this Mar-Thoma Christian community followed the Assyrian traditions of the faith, which actually consisted of the same conventions, language and teachings that had been attributed to Jesus Christ and his followers belonging to the areas situated in the present day Middle East. With the passage of time, Assyrian faith got popularity in the neighboring parts of the country, and the Indians suppressed under the nefarious clutches of caste and class Hindu system, sought relief in a religion that used to advocate equality, justice and respect of every citizen without discrimination. Consequently, the eastern and southern parts of the sub-continent also started welcoming C hristianity with open arms. Ninan also observes the arrival of Apostle Barthemew by 55 A.D. near Bombay, (present day coastal cosmopolitan city of Mumbai), who taught Gospel and other religious teachings to the local people, and played very important role in convincing different strata of the then Indian population. As a result, the members from the religious Brahman, warriors and peasant communities embraced new faith quite willingly.v However, it does not mean that the apostles and saints did not undergo trials and oppositions altogether in India. On the contrary, they had to face chains of difficulties and mountains of hardships during the course of introducing a religion that appeared to be quite opposite to the prevailing idol-worshipping teachings of the indigenous Hinduism. Thus, the apostles determined to spread Christianity in India had to meet with the same fate the African saints including St. Perpetua, St. Monica, St. Ambrose, St. Augustine of Hippo and others

Procedures for communicating health and safety

Procedures for communicating health and safety SYSTEMS, POLICIES AND PROCEDURES FOR COMMUNICATING HEALTH AND SAFETY It is important for organisations to understand how to administer health and safety for social care workers in health and social care workplace in accordance to legislative requirements. It is vital for all clients and carers cooperate to categorise health and safety risks and identify the best means to manage them. Usual changes in health and social care work environments include: health and safety, and it is best to respond to these usual changes which can influence workplace practises. Communication is vital in ensuring the safety or users and staffs. Every worker must the risks faced and prevention methods put in place and any emergency action plans. This information must be provided in concise and non-technical terms for easy understanding. Good communication between workers and employers includes: Itemisation of all hazardous substances used or produced within the workplace. Having a readily available Safety Data Sheets for any confidential hazardous substances in use. Converting any useful information from Safety Data Sheets into workplace information that provides specific instructions on handling substances that are in constant use. Ensuring proper labelling of hazardous substances, with hazard warnings for physical and health hazards. Communicating the outcome of risk assessments. Regular enquiries from workers about probable health and safety issues. Providing workers with all applicable instructions, lessons and training on the hazardous substances available in the place of work, and the safety measures they should take to guard themselves and other staffs. Making sure that every worker has the knowledge of appropriate usage of every control measures provided, who problems should be reported to, and what should be done in the occurrence of a mishap concerning hazardous substances. Management Responsibilities of Health and Safety relating to Organisational Structures. Under section 2 of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974, it is the obligation for an employer (host employer, contractor, and service provider) to ensure, so far as is reasonably viable, a healthy and safe workplace for themselves, their workers, including agency staff and subcontractors, and anyone else in the workplace. To meet up with these obligations, service providers must carry out a risk assessment in the care home, before service provision of any kind clients, to discover probable hazards and put suitable controls in place to reduce the threat of injury or illness for clients, carers and other employees. Figure 1 below outlines the five- step risk management process the risk assessment must follow. This assessment must be done in alliance with service users and their families and every other involved client. Developing client’s care plan must be done identifying suitable control measures. Management has certain responsibilities to employees working in the home environment and should: Communicate plainly and identify with what services are to be provided. Consider supplementary services before being performed. Evaluate any activity that may have altered to guarantee the controls are still working or need to be modified. Document on a daily basis the monitoring of the service using various methods especially where a particular client has various service providers or community workers. Managers should engage in the following to ensure quality control in areas of health and safety: Perform regular audits to guarantee effective controls are in use. Evaluate client’s condition and the work settings on a regular basis. Promote timely reporting of hazards, incidents and early symptoms. Check with with staff and follow-up on issues raised. Ensure suitable staffing by reviewing staffing levels. Providing visibly distinct job descriptions, procedures and policies. Ensuring required competencies of managers. Managing staffs exposure to occupational stress. Providing information to clients about expected behaviour and its effects to service provision. Evaluating organisational and performance management systems. Putting policies and procedures in place for controlling conflict and workplace harassment. Providing staff training and approach on dealing with workloads and handling conflicts and job rotation. Sustaining an unbiased relationship and proper boundaries with clients. Providing relevant therapy services for employees. Declining or transforming client services if in high risk environment. APPROPRIATE HEALTH AND SAFETY PRIORITIES FOR SPECIFIC HEALTH AND SOCIAL CARE WORKPLACE SETTING Employers have a common obligation under section 2 of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 to guarantee, so far as is logically practical, the health, safety and welfare of their workforce. These policies intend to make certain that work settings meet the health, safety and welfare desires of every employee, including individuals with disabilities. Most of the systems involve things to be ‘suitable’. Regulation 2(3) makes it clear that things should be suitable for anyone including those with disabilities. Where essential, parts of the work settings, including in particular doors, stairways, showers, passages, basins, sinks, toilets, bathrooms and workstations, should be made reachable for disabled persons. Health Ventilation Workplaces need to be effectively ventilated. Fresh, hygienic air should circulate and can be from a suitable source outside the work setting, unpolluted by discharges from any process outlets like chimneys and flues, and be disseminated through every room. Temperatures in indoor workplaces Individual preference complicates specification of a satisfactory thermal environment for everyone. For organisations with mainly desk activities like offices, the temperature should usually be no less than 16 Â °C. If the job involves physical effort it should be no less than 13 Â °C (unless other regulations require less temperature). Lighting Lighting should be adequate to permit people to work and move around in safety. If essential, local lighting should be supplied at certain workstations and areas of particular hazards such as passage way to the basement. Lighting and light fixtures should not cause any hazard. Automatic emergency lighting, motorized by an autonomous source, should be supplied in case of sudden loss of power that would generate a risk. Cleanliness and waste materials Every workplace and the furnishings, equipments, surfaces of floors, walls and ceilings and fittings must be in clean and hygienic condition. Cleaning and the taking away of waste have to be carried out by a compulsorily effective means. Waste must be stored in appropriate containers. Workstations and seating Workstations should be fit for the individuals using them for the job. Employees should be capable of exiting workstations quickly in an emergency. If work must be done in a sitting position, seats should be made suitable for those using them for the kind of work they do. Seating should provide sufficient support for the lower back, and footrests should be available for employees who are unable to place their feet flat on the floor. Safety Maintenance The workplace, and certain tools, devices and equipments should be properly retained in competent operational order for health, safety and welfare. Such protection is mandatory for mechanical ventilation systems; apparatus and devices which pose risk to health, safety or welfare in the event of faults; and equipment and devices proposed to avert or reduce danger. Floors and traffic routes The term ‘Traffic route’ is used for any route for pedestrian traffic and/or vehicles, and includes any fixed ladders, gateway, stairs, passage, and doorway, loading bay or ramp. There must be adequate traffic routes, of plenty distance across and headroom, to permit individuals and vehicles to flow effortlessly and safely. Windows Operable windows, ventilators and skylights must be able to open and close freely or adjusted safely. In an open position, windows should not be of any unwarranted risk to anyone. Ventilators should be designed so for safe cleaning. Doors and gates Doors and gates must be properly built and integrated with safety devices were appropriate. Swinging doors and gates and traditional hinged doors on central traffic ways should have a translucent viewing panel. Escalators and moving walkways Escalators and moving walkways should operate in safety, be fitted with the required safety devices. They must be equipped with emergency and panic controls that can be easily identified and are readily accessible. REFERENCES Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 (Commencement No.1) Order 1974, 1974/1439, art.2(a)/ Sch.1

Nathaniel Hawthorne Essay -- essays research papers

Nathaniel Hawthorne was born on July 4,1804, in Salem, Massachusetts. He was the only son and second child to be born to Nathaniel and Elizabeth Hawthorne. When Nathaniel was four years old his father died of yellow fever in Dutch Guiana. After Nathaniel’s father died, his mother’s family took in his family. As a child Hawthorne developed a love for story telling. When Nathaniel was nine years old, he got an injury to his foot that caused him to stay home for fourteen months. While nursing his injury at home, he got into the habit of constant reading. In his late teen years, he was a handsome, vigorous, and bright young man. Nathaniel was the first in his family to be sent to college.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  While attending college, Hawthorne studied to be a writer were he met two other soon to be famous writers, Longfellow and Pierce. Hawthorne then graduated from Bowdoin College in 1825 in Brunswick, Maine.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  After Nathaniel graduated, he went back to Salem and set his goals at becoming a professional writer. â€Å"Hawthorne was for many years the undistinguished man of America.†1 Nathaniel’s first project collection was â€Å"Seven Tales Of My Native Land†. From 1825 to 1830, Nathaniel studied intensively, wanting to know more about New England history. In 1829, Nathaniel published, â€Å"The Token†, an annual Christmas gift book, which contained fiction, short essays, and poetry. Hawthorne also published sketches and over seventy tales in various maga...

Hannibal Barca and the Carthaginian Campaign Essay

Hannibal Barca is the famous Carthaginian general, who is especially renowned for his successful campaign against Rome during the Second Punic War in 218 BC. Hannibal won some of the most famous victories against a numerically superior Roman army in Roman battlefields, notably the Battle of Cannae, which is universally considered as a masterpiece of military strategy and ranks among greatest military achievements in history (Gabriel, 2001). The innovative use of strategy and resources and capitalizing on enemy’s slightest weakness to turn into decisive victory for himself had been unique characteristics of Hannibal’s leadership that has earned him place in annals of great military leaders of history. Even today, many military schools still teach Hannibal’s military strategy, specially his placement of forces and improvisation in attack maneuvers. Hannibal Barca (247 BC-183 BC) Hannibal rose to his fame during the Second Punic War (218-201 BC) during which he established himself as one of the most brilliant strategists and tactician of the war seen by ancient world. If analyzed from the overall view of leadership, there are very few generals even in modern times who can compete with Hannibal. Hannibal was not only extremely proficient in military techniques and innovations but he was also excellent in understanding the delicate balance between military and political power. He was also very apt in exercising directed will and personal leadership-indeed, it was his sheer personal presence and force that motivated soldiers under him for 16 years in a foreign land. A study of Hannibal’s style of campaign is highly relevant even from modern perspective. Further, the Second Punic War introduced the concept of strategic endurance and tactical engagement, which still form the basis of military strategy. In these senses, the Hannibal’s campaign in the Second Punic War is watershed event in the military history of the West (Gabriel, 2001) . Historians still debate about the exact causes that inspired Hannibal to muster Carthaginian Ships and lead the army to Italy on an inordinately long and, in the end, deliberately unaccomplished campaign. While in more than one ways, Hannibal continued to injure, wound and dent the Roman pride to the degree where Romans were afraid to send an army against him, Hannibal never did actually sack the Rome or take control of the Empire (Gabriel, 2001). It is suggested that Hannibal’s chief motivation was to neither to humiliate Rome for their victory in first Punic war, nor to settle any personal score, but rather a more prudent vision of checking the expansionist ambition of Rome and keep Carthage secure in the only feasibly way-by attacking the Rome itself. Rome of the third century B. C.  E. was still on the way to power and glory that it would acquire a century later. At this time Rome was largely a land power while Carthage had emerged as the richest and most powerful trading nation due to its control over sea and its access to market of Sicily, Corsica and Spain. But the expanding Roman interests soon brought Sicily in their purview, leading to direct conflict with Carthage (Gabriel, 2001). The strategic position of Sicily had placed it in such position that while it marked as a check over Roman expansion, its loss would translate into a direct threat over Carthage. This conflict of interests led to the first Punic War in 261 BC where Rome and Carthage were locked in a 20 years long war, bitterly fought by each side. Despite suffering huge casualties, Rome won by 241 BC and Carthage suffered heavy losses. Its major markets were annexed by Rome, its trading fleet was reduced and it was subjected to heavy indemnity. Faced with prospects of financial ruin, the state stood at the verge of civil war when it was rescued by its most able general Hamilcar Barca, father of Hannibal Barca. Hannibal was born in 247 BC and he grew up while closely watching his father’s style of leadership and military tactics (Gabriel, 2001). It can be said that defeat of first Punic War was one of the motivating factors for young Hannibal Barca, who quickly rose through military ranks to command the forces of Carthage. At this time, most of the fighting units were primarily composed of tribal mercenaries who only valued chieftains who could lead them to victory and subsequent plunder. Therefore, Hannibal’s rise among these soldiers in itself is a testimony to his formidable reputation as a brilliant young tactician, competent to deliver victory even in most adverse of the situations (Gabriel, 2001). The Second Punic War (218BC-201 BC) The Punic Wars are recognized as the harbinger of modern style of warfare, which is dependent more on strategy, skill and technique than numerical supremacy. They marked an important shift from the earlier one-day affairs where the fates of empires were often settled in a single engagement. The Second Punic War lasted for 16 years, during which Rome hardly ever won a single engagement; however, it maintained its tenacious grip over the empire without collapsing until it gathered sufficient strength to achieve victory (Gabriel, 2001). The war also established the important of political will and social organization as decisive elements towards victory. Eventually, Rome’s victory started the era of political and strategic resource gathering that ultimately led to creation of the Roman Empire. However, these results came much later on. At the time of Hannibal’s campaign, Rome was still a very strong nation-state with ample economic resources, manpower and competent generals with large legions of armies under their command. On the other hand, when Hannibal started his campaign his resources were severely restrained. After discounting all the forces required to secure Carthaginian mainland, Hannibal was left with only 40,000 men and 8–10,000 horse, mostly Africans and Numidians, from Carthage itself. The rest would have to be raised from friendly Iberian tribes. By comparison, Rome had a reservoir of 250,000 foot and 23,000 horses, which it could gather in any instant of war. Including the forces of its allies, the Roman swelled to Drawing swelled to 700,000 foot and 70,000 horse, an army that was even larger than Napoleon’s Grand Army that invaded Russia in 1812 (Gabriel, 2001). With these difficulties in sight, Hannibal was well aware that he could not win a war of attrition or a direct battle against Rome. His only route to success lied through a prolonged campaign where he hoped to defeat Roman army in separate encounters and thus alienate Roman allies, who would no longer see Rome as a significant power. This strategy was dangerous because Hannibal would be directly leading his army to play against Roman strength in ground war. Further, with Roman control over sea routes, the campaign would be required to be self sustaining for its entire period as no help could be reached from Carthage if the troops were entrapped by Roman army (Gabriel, 2001). Added to this multiplicity of difficulties was the fact that the entire campaign was to take place on Italian lands, where Roman generals had better advantage in understanding the weather and terrain. By 218 BC, Rome was itself preparing for a double assault under its two generals, Publius Cornelius Scipio and Sempronius Longus. Scipio was to attack Spain with a force of 24000 thousand soldiers and 1500 horses while Sempronius was preparing to invade Africa with 36000 men and 1800 horses. He started his invasion in May 218 BC, with strength of 50,000 men 9000 horses, and 37 elephants, hoping to recruit the Celtic and Gallic tribes en route during the campaign (Gabriel, 2001). He had to face some hostility from local tribes but after crushing them ruthlessly in a six week campaign he led his forces through Alps. Records show that Hannibal started his crossing with almost 60,000 men and 37 elephants and by the time he crossed the Alps, only 23000 men and horses and 10 elephants were left alive, though barely in fighting condition. This was a terrible setback to his campaign plans, but he did not let despair sink in (Morris. 1937). His sudden and completely unexpected descent by Alps had indeed taken the Roman Senate by surprise and thrown many of their military plans into haywire. Both Scipio and Longus were called from their planned invasion to counter impending threat of Hannibal. The Roman generals were indeed somewhat overconfident, having to operate within their own country lands. Further, they had remarkable degree of vanity, anger, impetuousness and ego-elements which Hannibal used dexterously to his advantage in drawing them to battle (Tony.  1992). Battles of Trebia, Lake Trasimene and Cannae. Hannibal’s forces had won a number of small skirmishes and minor battles against the pursuing army of Scipio which had given them confidence and also support of a large number of native tribes. Even some of the Celtic contingents within Scipio army revolted, killed Roman soldiers and joined Hannibal’s forces. This alerted the Roman general who then stationed his army over a hill near river Trebia, awaiting Longus and his army, to jointly take upon the Hannibal’s army that was resting across other side of the River (Tony. 1992). When Longus joined Scipio, the Roman contingent swelled to an impressive degree, far outnumbering Hannibal’s troops. However, even under these circumstances, Scipio urged caution and asked Longus to wait for winters and further reinforcement before beginning the battle. Semponius Longus was instead in favor of a quick action and quick glory. Hannibal provided further provocation to him as small part of his troops attacked Roman legions repeatedly, challenging them for war. Longus took the bait and ordered his troops to cross the Trebia river for a direct showdown against Hannibal’s army(Tony. 1992). However, unknown to him, Hannibal had concealed an elite force of 2000 cavalry under the banks of river, who were ready to spring a trap to Roman army. Further, Hannibal’s forces were well rested and had a definite action plan against their enemies. A 40000 strong Roman and allied army crossed the river Trebia to engage with Hannibal’s 30000 troops on a cold December morning. As the battle started, the hidden units of Hannibal attacked, taking them completely unawares and causing great disarray and confusion in the Roman columns. This confusion, along with strategic marshalling of Hannibal, cost Romans heavily (Tony.  1992). More than 30,000 of their soldiers died and rest fled to safety, handing Hannibal his first great victory of the campaign. His losses were minimal in comparison, which boosted the spirit of his army and drew more native tribes to him. Battle of Lake Trasimene The defeat prompted a change in of command in Roman army and senate appointed Cnaeus Servilius and Gaius Flaminius as counsel of wars to block Hannibal’s invasion to Rome. Hannibal found Flaminius not much different from Longus and therefore decided to lure him to battle using the same strategy that he used at Trebia. Hannibal ordered his troops to burn countryside, towns, villages and slaughter livestocks, but prevented them from taking directly on the Roman armies. The tactics was to enrage the generals, trick them into making a mistake and then destroy the Roman army at the place that offered Hannibal’s troop maximum advantage.. Flaminius fell for the these tricks and he decided to pursue Hannibal’s army through the valley besides lake Trasimene. He mistook 6000 of Hannibal’s troop as his entire army and entered the valley with 15000 of his force to defeat the Roman tormentor. But the full strength of Hannibal’s 30000 strong army was hiding in forest, under the veil of a thick fog, so that the entire Roman army went past them without taking any cognizance of their presence! At the right moment, Hannibal ordered the attack, which completely routed the Roman army. The battle lasted two hours during which 15000 Roman soldiers were killed at cost of 1500 men in Hannibal’s army (Gabriel, 2001). Battle of Cannae Hannibal’s victory in battle of lake Tresimene sent waves of fear through Roman empire. In just two years he had defeat four of the best Roman counsels and caused more than 50,000 casualties. Rome realized for the first time that it was up against one of its most formidable foe and to counter the challenge, it placed the command of battle in hands of Quintus Fabius, who was a very competent commander with acute understanding of military as well as political affairs (Daly. 2002). Fabius made a correct strategic assessment of the situation and concluded that in the end of war, Rome’s domestic advantage, its superior alliance relation and its vast resources would lead to its victory against Hannibal. Therefore, he did not show any hurry in marching to the battlefield and apprehending the culprit. He very well knew that time was working in Rome’s favor (Daly. 2002) The military policy he started was in accordance with this understanding and it was aimed at containing Hannibal rather than defeating him. For more than a year, Fabius policy paid dividends as he strengthened defenses, retained the alliances and by refusing to engage Hannibal in a direct conflict, denied him any opportunity of a victory. Fabius was fighting the true war of attrition, which would have destroyed Hannibal’s army (Gabriel, 2001). But the mood in Rome was favoring war and they viewed Fabius working style as too cautionary. The senate replaced Fabius by L. Aemilius Paulus and C. Terentius Varro as generals of war. These generals immediately fell for the bait of war that Fabius was deliberately avoiding in summer of 216 BC a 86000 strong Roman army under generalship of Varro took to field against Hannibal’s 45000 strong force near the village of Cannae (Daly. 2002). Varro made two crucial errors. First he positioned the river Aufidus on his right flank, which denied his soldiers any space of maneuver and secondly he completely ignored the strong Carthaginian cavalry. Hannibal, in his usual display of brilliance kept his strongest units at flanks and weakest at the center. Varro took the bait and his army pushed deep inside the Carthaginian formation, where they were trapped in a pincer movement by Hannibal’s superior strong force (Daly. 2002). It was akin that they were trapped in a V shaped formation with no route to escape. The battle was over within few hours and its end, 52000 Roman soldiers were laying dead, and 5000 were taken prisoner. Hannibal’s forces had suffered 8000 losses. The combined casualty was around 60000, making it one of the bloodiest battles fought (Gabriel, 2001). Further Campaigns Cannae was a great victory for Hannibal, and it marked culmination of his three years of war efforts where he had incapacitated more than 20 percent of entire Roman population that was capable of entering military. However, it is said, that the terrible sight after battle of Cannae had affected Hannibal deeply and despite the fact that there was no hindrance to his journey to Rome, he refused to take the coveted road, earning him censure and criticism from his own generals (Gabriel, 2001). Post the defeat of Cannae, Rome re-mobilized its army and within two years, it numbers had swelled back to 200,000 men under arms. However, it had learned from the mistakes and instead of attacking Hannibal directly, it played on Fabian strategy of tiring him, denying him an opportunity of waging a direct battle. This tactics worked successfully and by 210 BC, was Hannibal had been contained in southern Italy, while Roman armies won victories in Greece and Spain. True, Hannibal was still out of their reach and every effort to touch him resulted in a defeat for the Roman troops, but overall the Roman grip had greatly strengthened (Gabriel, 2001). By 204 B. C. E. Scipio launched a campaign against Africa, which threatened Carthage itself. This prompted the state politicians to negotiate with Rome which led to recall of Hannibal and his armies from Italy. Hannibal’s last battle was with Scipio on the African plain near the small village of Zama where he was as defeated, and thus ended the military career of one of the greatest generals of the ancient world/ Conclusion Of all the adversaries that Rome faced in its long history, Hannibal Barca is indelibly etched as its greatest foe and for very concrete reasons. In the entire history of Rome, no other general had single handed ravaged the empire to the degree that Hannibal managed, staying virtually undefeated through his 16 years long campaign, while outsmarting best of the Roman generals and strategist. It’s the testimony of Hannibal’s enterprise however, that his most authentic biography is given by none other than Roman historians. . His campaign against Rome produced some of the finest military strategy and thinking that ancient world had seen, or for that matter even the modern world has seen. Like all military leaders he was cruel and ruthless, but only to the degree where these traits served to meet the objective of his campaign. His very decision to abandon the route of Rome in wake of the slaughter at the Battle of Cannae shows the finer elements of his character.

A Leadership Journey

A LEADERSHIP JOURNEY. Created by SHARATH KUMAR Abstract The paper records the evolution of the author’s thinking on leadership through the course of his work involvement. Leadership is viewed as a dynamic process which consists formal and informal roles. The process is introduced as an individual recognizes opportunities and urged to answer back to evolving patterns and pledge action to enable positive change. The dynamics between formal and informal leadership structures and leadership as a state of mind are conferred.The following paper shows a reflection on my personal journey and growing understanding of leadership based on my work experience. As I look back in time, I identify that most of my current interest in leadership and complexity has evolved. This paper archives the development of my view about leadership. Stages in the Journey Over my career I have experienced various milestones that have shaped and inclined my perspectives on leadership. Vitally I have witnessed my role as a leader as one who pronounces and puts into action a vision that inspires others to join in to an extent at least.Along the way, the instability of resistance to that vision that has been the extreme influence on restricting my focus and ideology about leadership, as I’ve fought to overcome obstacles. Now I leadership as a dynamical distributed process among performers. I believe I have inculcated an informal methodology similar to grounded theory, as I take in information on the area concerned, formulate a theory and then test and modify that theory actively. There have been crowning events that have shaped my perspectives about leadership.I evoke the poignant enthusiasm of joining the company. I had been employed as Assistant Chief Information Officer multinational company. My position in the company in my opinion was a dream job – aiding in devising a long-term strategy for the growth of the business unit from a process and technology perspective. I ins tantly noted operational issues and developed suggestions to address them. Although, my dream was shattered as I soon I was made to realize my position and the inclination of the management team to clinch new ideas were not necessary. Organization as OrganismMy first day at work struck by the oppression of meetings absorbed so much time there was no time left to do work. Employees were exasperated because they had no access to their managers for direction. Projects were not being completed in a time due to the perspective experts needed on them were unavailable due to other bookings. Organizational beliefs about alliance needed key employees that were patrons to a project indulge in discussion and decision making. Still, decision making was a tremendously slow process as it lacked clarity as to who had the decision making authority.A group would discuss the issue because one key person was not present (being double booked in another meeting) hence, the decisions were not finalized. Line of meetings being unresolved was common. Although I was brought into a company as a change agent tasked to bring strategic change to the business unit, I realized that it was not truly the case. Interest in change was driven by the instantaneous short term demands of particular clients, executives. At this point I managed to gather a team responsible for coordinating technology linked projects.After extensive talks with my head, the team that reported to me was handed over to someone else, and I was to report to this new head as an independent contributor. This change was an extremely difficult period for me, yet important in shaping my views of leadership. This was a period where deep reflection on my sense of identity, my values, and sense of personal integrity was brought out. I interpreted this change as the system. I will speak more about what I learnt of the change in a later section. A new major acquisition had just been signed and the focus had shifted from long-term st rategy to short term integration.After six months in the position, I moved out of the business unit to work with a larger parent company. My favorite definition of leadership relics Sun Tzu in the Art of War: â€Å"The way [of leadership] means inducing the people to have the same aim as the leadership, so that they will share death and share life, without fear of danger† (Sun Tzu, 2005, p. 43). The definition recognizes the collaborative dynamic that leader and follower share– both share the benefits and risks in its pursuit. Moreover, Senge’s work presented me to systems thinking and understanding the unified wholeness of organizations.This view was reinforced by my study of Neurolinguistic Programming and Neuro-Semantics, understanding human communications and the way in which we learn to construct our mental maps of the area. I saw conscious decisions to be freeing and challenging at the same time. This commitment was a challenging as I began to explore the process of leadership outside the hierarchical power structure that could command action by positional authority. Now as an independent contributor I found myself able to lead freely in a variety of ways, highlighting the need of influence in the contexts that I was called for.I mentally stepped back from the situation and took a look at the business, it’s internal and external stakeholders. I would foresee the recede and flow of people as they enthused about their work, the processes of numerous departments that enabled this organism to be effective. I also realized that minor issues evolved into major problems. I witnessed that an aspect of leadership is to distinguish this ebb and drift of the organization and identify the systemic pain points – soon enough so that adequate time is available to resolve the pain points.Often key issues remain intact solely because the situations have not reached the pain point to seize adequate attention. Partly it appeared to be an issue of prioritization; partly a problem of prevailing beliefs within the culture that impacts what employees attend to. A fundamental belief I have about leadership is that the leader is one who recognizes a potential future and asserts in motion actions that move those involved. Disequilibrium Disequilibrium is a vital situation in the dynamics of an organization, point at which the possibility for self-excelling construction of novel approaches to specific challenges to occur.The pressures associated with disequilibrium is the point when pain thresholds reach a important point that gives an organization to be receptive to emerging possibilities. Although, there are differences in the role that leadership plays in such situations. I was one of the senior employees called to speak to the other employees after the declaration that the company was to be closed. After weeks of discussions of the positive doles of the merger, one hundred and fifty people were told of losing their jobs (a third of them, the very day! I bid everyone to come together, acknowledged that there had been a death in the family and we knew where we all stood. Also, I was able to distribute a booklet to each employee on tackling with consequences of a merger. I had prepared these booklets without awareness of what the outcome of the merger would be. After discussions with the employees post meeting, I got validation for the value of the confab in bringing about a collective sense of acceptance to the veracity we faced. They also agreed that the booklet carried a tangible sense of being cared for in the development.There is a paradoxical dynamic to disequilibrium states. A disequilibrium state can although have the inverse effect occasioning in a resistance to transformation. In my understanding, the test of leadership is the capacity to anticipate and influence change afore the state of disequilibrium becomes serious. My sense of obscurity assisted as a motivator to securing the â€Å"me rger transition† booklets prior to the settlement of the merger (It was intuited that the result may not be as favorable as had formerly been voiced by management).As organizations operate as complex adaptive systems, the dynamics leading to disequilibrium usually exist as symptoms which could be observed and responded before the problem becomes serious. In this context, the process of (proactive) leadership shows self-regulating effect in the organization by permitting the process of self-transcending structure. Leadership as a Process Concluded by my experiences I see leadership as an ongoing process that befalls in human organizations through the interplay of formal and informal relationships. Leadership as a process is personified by actors who respond to a situation.Therefore, the manager should be able to carry more complex thinking to issues that a subordinate may encounter, and bring value to understanding the work. Similarly, the subordinate is responsible for sharing visions about the work with his/her manager who can pass on the developments and insights further up the hierarchy. Whatever skills I may have in endorsing leadership may be totaled by ineffective structure in the system. In fact, I point the lack of an obligatory organizational structure as one if not the major inhibitions to organizational ineffectiveness within my work environment.Leadership as a State of Mind To finish, I have come to see leadership as a state of mind. This lures originally from the work of Robert Quinn (2004), which recommends that there are certain states that act as attractors for the performer to take action that can be viewed as leadership in a particular setting. The Fundamental State of Leadership (FSL) generates the internal context that motivates the performer to respond and is replicated in interrelated attitudes, which Quinn gaps with opposing attitudes reflecting the â€Å"normal state. The FSL serves two functions: mainly by creating an attractor that boosts active behavior that aids the greater betterment of the organization. Second it gives way for the performer to be more aware of his/her perceptions and arrays of behavior. In the year of my tenure with my employer, I was aware of the requirement for a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system to be able to serve the organization and needs of its customers efficiently. My suggestions met substantial confrontation with management as an earlier attempt to put in a CRM system had been unsuccessful.I was determined in expressing this requisite – to the point that my manager expressed that if I brought the matter up again I would be left out from management meetings. And then came the day when he wanted a current clients list and found out that our current systems could not yield an accurate list. All of a sudden putting in a new system became a primacy- months after the actual recommendation. In an akin manner, as I transitioned to a role in the parent company, I p iloted a research, which headed me to an awareness of the important of e-business and germaneness for the growth of the company.I became a fervent advocate of e-business and presented several proposals to senior executives. But, my recommendations were not incorporated, mainly because senior executives did not trust that it was a feasible tool within the industry. Atypically, a few months later there is renewed concern in expanding e-business for the company. These situations reinforced for me a primary norm that the process of leadership is introduced as an actor who recognizes a specific need and makes an effort to take action, even in times of obstacles.This shows an alignment with the core defiance described in the FSL. I end with a case study where I intentionally experienced the FSL in exercising leadership. I took part in a voluntary cross-functional team looking to enhance employee work experience. With gas prices on the hike, there was a strong curiosity in developing a str ategy for telecommuting. Numerous solutions were suggested and were instantly shot down by the representative from IT as either being too expensive, too time consuming for the IT staffs, or too risky from a company’s security.I do not terminate the importance and connotation of formal leadership structures, rather I am noting that leadership fundamentally functions as an internal response to attractors that allow self-transcending construction as an answer to a perceived reality. Inside the organizations, the interplay of actors captivating action to lead in formal or informal capabilities is dynamic and complex and outside the scope of this discussion. Note that this portrayal is not intended to reflect deleteriously on the behavior of the IT representative.As an entity caught in the webs of loftier meaning – synchronization of the myriad of service appeals from multiple functional departments with partial resources in staff and dollars can impart a mindset that by a specific technology that had not been discussed. Despite obvious resistance from IT to propose a solution, I decide on doing my own research and found that a technology that had been conversed seemed to offer a sensible compromise on low cost, minimal IT backing, and strong enterprise security. I went back to the board with a bid to pursue this option.This was not a job that was part of my normal work assignment, and also I could have drop the idea. Yet the internal states that fixated on serving the greater good, and sighting the opportunity that this solution could deliver served as an attractor to endure through the resistance and eventually lead to a successful outcome. Had I opted to stay within my comfort zone, the new process and organizational dynamics would not have been developed. I’ve gratified on a number of aspects of the leadership process, which I have garnered through my work experience.In summary, I have emanated to see leadership as a dynamic process that en sues in human organizations as actors identify emerging possibilities and elect to take action. The inclination to do so is sturdily related to the actor’s internal states, and engagement of the Fundamental State of Leadership. Lastly, the efficiency of the actor may be wedged by the actor’s sphere of influence and by the actors’ formal or informal eminence and authority to act, and organizational willingness to embrace the transformation. 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