| Course | OML-6200 Organizational Management and Leadership II |
|---|---|
| Module | Module 2 |
| Paper type | Discussion forum: initial response and two comments |
| Length | About 450 words |
| Format | Discussion post with APA 7 citations |
| School | Thomas Edison State University |
| Program | M.S. in Management in Organizational Leadership |
| Updated | October 2026 |
Free sample paper for OML 6200 Module 2
Module 2 Discussion: What a Soccer League Taught Me About Leading Without Authority
Leading Without Authority: What a Volunteer Soccer League Teaches About Leadership at Any Scale
Two years ago I became president of our township's youth soccer league: 410 players, 38 volunteer coaches and no budget for anything but fields and referees. At the plant I have authority; in the league I have none. No volunteer has to do what I ask.
Coles (2000) describes Dorothy Day's work with the Catholic Worker movement as leadership rooted in community: living among the people she served, doing the daily work herself and drawing others in by example rather than by command. Her influence spread nationally, but it began in soup lines and houses of hospitality. Coles suggests that this kind of leadership, grounded in service and in direct contact with people's needs, gives a moral authority that position cannot.
Greenleaf (1977) held that the best leaders serve first, and that servant leadership is proven when the people served grow healthier, wiser and readier to serve others themselves. The league taught me what that means in practice. When a coach quit midseason, I could not assign a replacement; I had to find a parent willing to serve. I learned to ask in person, to explain why it mattered to the kids and to take the worst jobs myself, like lining fields at 7 a.m. Van Dierendonck (2011), reviewing research on servant leadership, lists behaviors such as empowering others, humility, stewardship and standing back to let others take credit; lining fields and thanking coaches publicly were my versions of those behaviors.
Those lessons came back to the plant. I now explain why a rush order matters before asking for overtime, and I take a turn on the least popular task, cleaning the finishing booth, once a month. Overtime refusals on my shift fell after I started explaining reasons.
Scale changes things. Coles shows national leaders like Robert Kennedy working through institutions, media and politics, far from the people they served. Day kept close contact even as her influence grew. The question for any leader moving up is how to keep that contact: I worry that as a plant manager someday, I would see people only as numbers, as I did with the sander operator.
Comment on Grace's Post
Grace, your church finance board has authority over budgets but depends on volunteers to carry out every decision. Did the board's members learn to persuade, or did they rely on their authority and lose volunteers?
Comment on Tony's Post
Tony, as a union local steward you lead people who elected you and can vote you out. That seems like Day's kind of authority, earned through service. How do you keep in contact with members as the local grows?
References
Coles, R. (2000). Lives of moral leadership. Random House.
Greenleaf, R. K. (1977). Servant leadership: A journey into the nature of legitimate power and greatness. Paulist Press.
Van Dierendonck, D. (2011). Servant leadership: A review and synthesis. Journal of Management, 37(4), 1228-1261. https://doi.org/10.1177/0149206310380462
Reading the OML 6200 Module 2 assignment instructions
OML-6200 runs two discussion forums per module, which carry 10 percent of the grade and are scored with the rubric in the Evaluation Rubrics section. This forum asks how community leadership relates to leadership at larger scale. Expect to reflect on a community or voluntary role you hold or have held, compare it with leadership in your workplace and connect both to Coles's portraits. Post well-reasoned reflections that refer to the readings, then reply respectfully to classmates with questions that extend their thinking. If you have no community role, describe one you would take on, or a voluntary role from the past, and explain what leading without authority would demand of you. Keep the post focused on what community leadership teaches.
How the OML 6200 Module 2 example is put together
The post opens with the writer's community role and the absence of authority in it. A paragraph draws on Coles's account of Dorothy Day, and another applies research on servant leadership to what the league taught. A paragraph shows how those lessons returned to the plant with a result. A paragraph considers how scale changes leadership and what the writer fears losing. The two replies ask about persuasion on a church board and contact with members in a growing union local. Research on servant leadership names behaviors, such as stewardship and standing back to let others take credit, and the post matches each to something the writer actually did in the league, which keeps the theory tied to practice.
OML 6200 Module 2 rubric: what earns full marks
Mentors grade discussions on thoughtful reflection grounded in the readings, connection between personal experience and course concepts, and respectful replies that extend classmates' thinking. Posts that compare a community role with a workplace role, and draw a lesson that transfers, show insight. Using research on servant leadership alongside Coles demonstrates graduate-level reading. Replies that ask a pointed question about the classmate's own experience earn more than general agreement. Matching research categories to the writer's own behaviors shows that the post applies theory rather than citing it. A result reported from the plant, fewer overtime refusals, demonstrates that the lesson transferred. Brief, specific replies keep the forum useful.
OML 6200 Module 2 help from the desk
Students lose points by describing a community role without connecting it to the readings, by summarizing Coles without reflection or by replying with praise alone. Others ignore the question of scale. Compare your community and work roles. Name a lesson that moved from one to the other. Consider what changes when leadership grows. Ask classmates a question about their experience. Show one result of applying a community lesson at work, even a small one, and connect it to a named behavior from the readings. Ask classmates about their own roles rather than restating yours. A free first sample on your own OML-6200 discussion post is available on request.
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OML 6200 Module 2 questions, answered
Where can I find a free OML 6200 Module 2 sample paper?
A supervisor's comparison of leading a volunteer soccer league and a plant shift, with two replies, is the discussion above.
What is servant leadership?
Greenleaf's idea that the best leaders serve first, and that their success shows in whether those served grow.
How does community leadership differ from workplace leadership?
Community leaders usually lack formal authority and must lead by persuasion, example and service.
How does Coles describe Dorothy Day's leadership?
As leadership rooted in community and service, drawing others in by example rather than by command.
How many discussion forums does OML-6200 have?
Two in each module, together worth 10 percent of the grade.