J. Gregory Reynolds is a visiting assistant professor and Walter H. Warfield is scholar in residence at the University of Illinois at Springfield.
To lead people, walk beside them....As for the best leaders, the people do not notice their existence. The next best, the people honor and praise. The next, the people fear, and the next best, the people hate....When the best leader's work is done the people say, ‘We did it ourselves!'" — Lao Tzu, Philosopher
Schools today continue to evolve into increasingly complex organizations, as the diversity of students continues to expand. In tandem with these developments is the expectation for all students to meet increasingly higher learning standards — thus the vision of maximum educational success for all students.
Escalating standards and changing demographics place new demands on educational leaders. Knowledge in the traditional areas of school finance, law, personnel, curriculum, instruction and state mandates was once the focus for preparing school administrators. Today, federal and state educational reforms coupled with increased accountability create an urgent need on development of leadership skills to promote student achievement as measured by sound academic assessments.
Moreover, today's educational leaders must recognize and assume shared responsibility not only for the intellectual and educational development of students, but also for their personal, social, emotional and physical development. These changes in diversity, standards and demands in school communities places a premium on school leaders able to create a vision of success for all students, and use their skills in communication, collaboration and building learning communities within the schools to ensure that the vision of educational excellence becomes a reality.
Educational visionaries
Effective leadership plays a vital role in setting the direction for successful schools. This is true for all schools, whether the leader is a school board member, superintendent, principal or teacher. More than ever, educational visionaries and authentic leaders are needed. It has generally been accepted that leaders are born, not made. Yet, contrary to this belief, research shows that leaders are made, not born. Leaders are those who have the desire and willpower to be effective, and learn what true leadership is, and is not.
Schools have traditionally been full of quality managers but desperately short of leaders. Leadership and management are terms often used interchangeably in meaning and application, even by school board members, administrators and teachers. However, this is simply not the case. By definition and in practice, leadership and management are different functions requiring different skill sets. In short, managers have subordinates, while leaders have followers.
Examine the difference in descriptors between management and leadership:
In their 2007 book The Leadership Challenge, James M. Kouzes and Barry Z. Posner, both from Santa Clara University, took their 25 years of worldwide leadership research and condensed it into their fourth book. Their leadership ideas are far more than another university level esoteric discussion. The authors provide a blueprint for real development of leaders, and in this case, school leaders. Their research found four leadership characteristics that annually come to the top in 60 percent of all leadership surveys:
These components matter greatly, as exemplary leaders must be credible in their actions and clear about their beliefs. Their actions must match their words. People trust leaders when their actions match their words. People follow leaders when they trust them.
To conduct the research, Kouzes and Posner collected thousands of stories of exceptional leadership from around the world from leaders in many different areas. Despite differences in leaders' personal-best stories, their experiences revealed similar patterns of behavior. The study found that when leaders are at their personal best, they:
Model the way — Leaders establish principles concerning the way people should be treated and the way goals should be pursued. They create standards of excellence and then set an example for others to follow. Because the prospect of complex change can overwhelm people and stifle action, they set interim goals so that people can achieve small wins as they work toward larger objectives. They unravel bureaucracy when it impedes action; they put up signposts when people are unsure of where to go or how to get there; and they create opportunities for victory.
Inspire a shared vision — Leaders passionately believe that they can make a difference. They envision the future, creating an ideal and unique image of what the organization can become. Through their magnetism and quiet persuasion, leaders enlist others in their dreams. They breathe life into their visions and get people to see exciting possibilities for the future.
Challenges the process — Leaders search for opportunities to change the status quo. They look for innovative ways to improve the organization. In doing so, they experiment and take risks. And because leaders know that risk taking involves mistakes and failures, they accept the inevitable disappointments as learning opportunities.
Enable others to act — Leaders foster collaboration and build spirited teams. They actively involve others. Leaders understand that mutual respect is what sustains extraordinary efforts; they strive to create an atmosphere of trust and human dignity. They strengthen others, making each person feel capable and powerful.
Encourage the heart — Accomplishing extraordinary things in organizations is hard work. To keep hope and determination alive, leaders recognize contributions that individuals make. In every winning team, the members need to share in the rewards of their efforts, so leaders celebrate accomplishments. They make people feel like heroes.
Kouzes and Posner also found that leadership can be learned. It is a skill mastered from applying the lessons learned from the research. It is a myth that only a lucky few can be a true leader.
First though, you must believe that leadership applies to you, and that leadership development is self development. Integrity and humility must be at the top of the list. No one can do the total job alone. Leaders are human and need help.
Constituents look for leaders who demonstrate an enthusiastic and genuine belief in the capacity of others to help do the job. A true leader strengthens people's will to achieve and supplies the means to make achievement possible. They also have a vision and express optimism and hope for the future.
An authentic and exceptional leader must love leading and care about the people they work with and the organization in which they work.
Being effective leaders
Effective leadership is at the core of every successful organization. Effective leaders collaboratively create a vision and establish a climate for people in the organization to reach the highest level of achievement. They communicate the vision and work with others to achieve the vision. They mobilize resources and promote collaborative activities among people in the organization to achieve the agreed upon goals.
Effective leaders recognize their own strengths. In doing so, they also recognize their weaknesses and attract competent people thereby enhancing the organization in its quest for achieving the goals, whatever they are. Leaders cultivate and focus on strengths. They eliminate many organizational weaknesses and alleviate those they cannot eliminate. They embrace change as an opportunity for growth rather than as an obstacle to be overcome. They lead their organization through the uncertainty of change, whatever it is and whenever it is needed.
Effective leaders seek advice and guidance from the knowledge and experiences of others while they freely offer their expertise and insight to others.
The task for educational leaders is to educate all students, each to the maximum of their individual ability, to reach for and achieve ever higher learning standards and become life-long learners.
Research, such as Kouzes and Posner's, additionally shows that the leadership skills needed today are different from those of the past. Today's school leaders are those who create a vision of success for all students, value diversity and provide effective instructional leadership for high student achievement. They are key to educational success because it is their responsibility to set the tone. Authentic leaders will and must define the path for educational and personal success for all students, now and in the future.
So how does all of this transfer to the school setting, and your role as a school board member? Quite simply, it fits to ensure that each and every professional development program include a leadership development component. Clearly, classrooms, committees, departments, school buildings, central office and other far corners within a district can be fertile ground to cultivate future leaders.
As a school leader in your capacity as a school board member, leadership can be as simple and effective as taking the time to review the school district's professional development program and supporting, even demanding the inclusion of a strong leadership development component. In doing so now, the search for your next school leader could very well be found closer than you think!
References:
James M. Kouzes and Barry Z. Posner, The Leadership Challenge, 4th Edition, Jossey-Bass, San Francisco, California, 2007