My Personal Leadership Style
Schools have become much more complex and represent a much more diverse and technologically connected environment. Leithwood (2010) and Leithwood & Riehl (2003) suggest that the parental influence is significant to student achievement today they must be included in the education picture. Principals must adapt to “increasing diversity in student characteristics including cultural differences immigration status, income disparity, physical and mental learning disabilities and variation of learning capacity” (Leithwood & Riehl. p. 2). Relationships-virtual and real- matter and how people feel is important to create lasting, sustainable change to ensure that all students succeed and teachers work to ensure success and retain students. Leadership today requires an understanding of these technological changes and human interaction to sustain and manage school resources, which needs to include meeting the needs of stakeholders.
Through Leithwood and Riehl (2003, p.5) research they suggest a shared vision is one of the key basic characteristic a leader needs to possess when building relationships that includes their community and beyond. As a child of a mixed race couple, mother Chinese and Scottish father, observing differences in customs, speech and cultural norms created a dynamic and enriching learning environment. Leithwood (2010, p.3) states that the parental factor “explain such a huge proportion of the difference in achievement” their input on what is best for their child’s but also getting stakeholders in the mindset of shared vision and goals is essential. This global experience in my home with high expectations and support and encouragement is what I hope will convey as a person in a leadership position. I believe I have given a unique and enlightened experience rather than a challenging one, which at times it was.
Kaser, Mundry,Stiles, and Loucks-Horsley (2010, p.49) defines leadership as "doing the right thing" whereas management is doing things right. They go on to detail, what I believe is a key point, is separating the day to day decisions from what is essentially the long term vision and goal. One of the more frustrating examples of this is purchasing expensive, but poorly used or out-dated equipment. This decision was made in the vision of being a premier school of the 21st century, which most of the staff believed was acceptable and leadership driven. However, the management and implementation, buying of equipment poorly used impacted motivation of staff members. These decisions have been motivation to become more of an influential leadership throughout this organisation and senior management has been involved in allowing me to train and continuing to actively organize and conduct workshops and this has helped with building relationships throughout the organization.
Building relationships has been emphasized throughout the Ontario Leadership framework (p. 12) and the Eqi (2014) suggests this is an area for growth. The results of the Eqi test indicates that overall I have been achieving mid level range of self regard, self actualization and optimism however interpersonal relationships require attention. I would agree and believe it is in direct relationship with the type of lifestyle I have chosen; a transient lifestyle driven by achieving professional and personal goals is definitely contributing factors. For close to 2 years I was dedicated to the career but to have effective change and influence, I have to work on strengthening these relationships and also work on my own emotional intelligence and value it as much as the academic achievements.
Sheryl Sandberg’s who is the COO of Facebook and has been an inspiration to me as one of the first female successful executives in technology not only because of her successes but her candid personal accounts of women in leadership. One of her defining arguments is women aren’t “liked” as a leader compared to “men” or being considered “too aggressive”, although male counter parts behave in exactly the same way. This has definitely been of the issues that I have had to deal with, especially coming from a math and science background. At times I feel that the facts should speak for themselves rather than how an individual feels about an issue. However, another highly influential female figure Oprah suggests, “people don’t change based on what they know, they change because of how they feel”. Both of these women showcase the importance of feelings and how emotion and perception can influence action and impede changes, which are critical to being in a leadership position and how I would try to management new initiatives and motivate staff deal with emotions as effectively as possible.
The role that I have been currently working in at our school has been PD coordinator which often involves in introducing new technologies. I have to work with the feelings first, mainly people don’t like to feel “stupid” and technology essentially does this every time a new product, application or device is launched. From this experience, and the message from Oprah about dealing with “feelings over knowledge” to induce change has influenced how I approach introducing new technology. One of the significant differences is sharing humorous stories of my mistakes. As a result the technology seems less daunting and possibly give people hope they can become proficient with the device or technology, but more importantly empower them to become independent and confident in their own ability to learn, master and seek out new technologies. This is quite a broad wish list, however, leading by example as suggested by Leithwood and Riehl (2003) as a key to developing people.
In these times of increasing global complexity, growing local diversity and competing economic factors solutions are now going to require more investigation, thoughtful consideration and increased consultation. One the most important experiences of the Principals’ Qualification course were and are the guest speakers. Ian Allison’s quote “treat people as they want to be treated” is significant personal paradigm shifts from what many of us personally abide by “treating everyone as you would like to be treated”. After pondering this first apparent conflicting ideology the more acute message “is get to know your people and figure out a solution that will work best for all stakeholders”.
In a lot of ways I have lived in a “utopia” teaching world and this has in way driven my motivation. It has been a continuous positive feedback loop and this has provided me with confidence and determination to continually work to improve my skills and make an impact and to expand this “utopia”. Working as a teacher leader and becoming an individual who help other teachers to strengthen learning within a cohesive team building structure has helped develop my leadership style in an effective school environment (Leithwood & Riehl, 2003, p. 5). Kaser et al. (2006, p. 98) suggest mental and spiritual motivations are the most sustaining dimensions both of which have been fostered overseas, I have been given a lot of PD opportunities and also this type of positive teaching environment provides the spiritual motivation, I feel I am continuously making a difference overseas, where a foreign teacher is a rare gift.
My own personal leadership style is spending the time researching issues, dealing with emotions that impede progress and working with people to move toward a solution and taking the time to really understand both problems and complexities of an issue. Munby (2009) suggests that taking on leadership positions and being accountable enables those individuals to “make things happen”. Through completion of my Masters and enrolling in a number of leadership courses (Junior AQ- administration focus) and the Principals’ Qualification has given me credibility among staff, however my practice through PD has developed competency and confidence to lead. Fullan (2009) defines it as “having the right capabilities and being able to deliver results”(p. 7); earning a graduate degree with a focus on technology, having comfort with data from my educational background and diversity experience from my personal life has contributed to me being effective in understanding how change can be best implemented and developing strategies through an efficient, collaborative and thoughtful way. Also, my age, as being part of a cusp generation, born between Generation X and Y according to Generations Canada (2011) and also being a digital immigrant to digital native has greatly influenced my style. My work ethic, experience and dedication have built my confidence and I do believe that I will make the impact that is currently required in a complex educational landscape.
References
EQ-i. 2.0 assess.predct.perform Workplace Report (2014) Report. OISE. Multi-Health Systems Inc.
Generations in Canada (2011). Statistics Canada. Retrieved from: http://www12.statcan.gc.ca/census-recensement/2011/as-sa/98-311-x/98-311-x2011003_2-eng.pdf
Kaser, J. Mundry, S., Stiles, K.E., Loucks-Horsley, S. Leading every day; 124 actions for effective leadership, 2d ed. (2006). Corwin –Press. California
In Conversation Evolving perspectives: leaders and leadership. An Interview with Ken Leithwood (2010). Ministry of Education.
In Conversation The Authentic Leader An Interview with Steve Munby (2009) Ministry of Education
In Conversation Values Driven Leadership An Interview with Michael Fullan (2009) Ministry of Education
Ontario Leadership Framework (2013). Ontario: The Institite for Education Leadership. Retrieved from http://iel.immix.ca/storage/6/1380680840/OLF_User_Guide_FINAL.pdf
Leithwood, K.A, Riehl, C. (2003) A report by Division A of AERA: What we know about successful school leadership. National College for Leadership.
McCarthy, C. (2010). Cyberbullying. (). Norwalk: Belvoir Media Group, LLC. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/1370178289?accountid=14771
Oz, M. (2011) Dr. Oz Talks to Oprah About Food, Family and What It Really Means to Be Healthy. Retrieved from:
http://www.oprah.com/health/Dr-Oz-and-Oprah-Interview-How-to-Find-Balance-in-Your-Life
Sandberg, S. (2010). Why we have too few women leaders? Retrieved from:
http://www.ted.com/talks/sheryl_sandberg_why_we_have_too_few_women_leaders#t-17252
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ASSIGNMENT 5.3 PERFORMANCE CRITERIA:
The candidate 5 uses the opening paragraph to present a strong thesis 5 reviews and analyzes their Emotional Intelligence 5 synthesizes the article, selected course readings and personal experience 5 uses the essay to communicate in a clear, concise and professional style 5 makes meaningful connections between the various sources 5 includes an appropriate bibliography of up-to-date research
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