1.
How would you define
leadership?
My definition of leadership is someone (the leader) who knows when to take control and when they should delegate certain things. jLeaders do not have to handle everything they need to value everyone’s strengths and they need to be able to admit their own weaknesses. Being able to recognize everyone’s strengths and weaknesses, in my opinion, makes someone a good leader. According to Hughes et. al (2022) “leadership is a complex phenomenon involving the leader, followers, and situation.”
2.
Identify and discuss one of the“Leadership Myths" and how it stands in the way of fully understanding and developing leadership.
There are three myths about leadership: good leadership is all common sense, leaders are born not made, and the only school you learn leadership from is the school of hard knocks. The myth of the only school you learn leadership from is the school of hard knocks states that leadership “can be acquired through actual experience” not an education (Hughes et.al, 2022). Hughes et.al (2022) mentions that both ideas, schooling and experience, actual “complement each other.” They believe that “being able to analyze your experiences from multiple perspectives may be the greatest single contribution a formal course in leadership can give you.” Courses in leadership can help you use those experiences as learning experiences and the courses can help you better understand why certain things in those experience happened, good or bad.
3.
Does every successful leader have a valid theory of
leadership? Discuss the characteristics of leaders, followers, and situations.
Does every leader have a valid theory of leadership, yes and no. As times change, theories on leadership must change. What might be a good theory on leadership at one point might not be valid theory down the road. A leader can bring a lot to leadership including “unique personal history, interests, character traits, and motivations” (Hughes et. al, 2022). Leaders tend to share a lot of the same character traits but are not usually alike. When companies promote leaders from within, they already have experience in the company and can start their new role with confidence and experience but if they are chosen by a group, they might get more demands put on them because the staff already knows them. Followers, in the past they were viewed as people who followed what a leader told them. As time has evolved leaders are starting to realize what an important role followers have in the process. Successful leadership involves the followers and the role they play. The last part of the leadership equation is the situation. I believe this is one of the most important parts of the equation. A leader can look good on paper, have great ideas, and the followers to help put everything in motion but how they handle a situation says a lot about them and how they will lead in the future.
Rachelle
Defining Leadership
Leadership is guiding and empowering people to strive toward a set goal or mission by pulling on the collective organization's strengths and pushing on the weaknesses. Leadership encompasses solid character, empathy, strength, and strategic thinking. A leader must know when and how to adapt to various situations to steer the organization and build success as defined by the common goal or organizational vision. Leadership can take on many forms to help others in the organization work toward their full potential. A leader must provide guidance and direction to help them reach their goals and, in turn, make changes and adjustments to help the organization work toward its goal. Research shows that members "with shared goals in the collaborative environment who trust their peers are more likely to enact changes in their practice" (Ronen, 2019, p. 74). Trust is at the heart of leadership; a leader must build relationships to build trust.
Leadership Myths
One myth in leadership is that "Leaders are Born, Not Made" (Hughes et al., 2021, p. 13). This thinking is problematic because a young professional as a first-year teacher with limited experience may assume they are not a born leader because they need help with classroom management and may not see themselves ever stepping into a leadership role. However, in reality, their limited skill set creates the problem, not their lack of ability to lead. Additionally, someone in a leadership role may have relied on some innate abilities to get them to their current leadership level. However, they must gain the skill set necessary to take them further because they have always been told they are natural leaders. Falsely this person may perceive themselves as more competent than they are and prevent them from developing a skill set necessary for a leadership role.
This mindset will stunt a person to advance as a leader because there are specific refined skills a solid leader must have to be successful in educational leadership. For example, someone can be charismatic, and members of the school might like that person, but when it comes to creating a master schedule or budgeting, their charisma will not help them in making data-informed decisions. Their charisma will not help them to create a master schedule that maximizes teachers' strengths and consider what is best for students based on the thirty other variables one must consider when building a master schedule. Charisma will not help one understand the complexity of placements around IEPs and reading data. These skills are necessary to make the best decisions for the organization and its stakeholders. Charisma can help, but more is needed to keep a person in a leadership role.
Clearly, "research indicates that many cognitive abilities and personality traits are at least partly innate" and helpful; one cannot rely only on the born-in characteristics to shape them into a thriving leader (Hughes et al., 2021, p. 13). Leaders must refine their leadership skills to move and change with the organizational and cultural demands. It is not enough to be born a leader; leaders are made.
Theory of Leadership
The Interactional Framework for Analyzing Leadership builds a theory of leadership that considers three functions of leadership: the leader, the follower, and the situation (Hughes et al., 2021). These three functions are interconnected to describe the practical factors of successful leadership.
Successful leaders have core values that play into valid theories of leadership. Most leaders have a mix of leadership styles that hold to multiple leadership theories. Leaders have good character and are trustworthy. They have follow-through and strong communication. Leaders help bring people to their potential and support mentoring the areas of insecurities. Leaders are flexible to a degree and consistent with everyone; there are no favorites and no special backend deals – what is fair is fair for all.
The characteristics of a follower are someone who is teachable and willing to learn. A good follower supports the organizational goals and works well with others to accomplish the end goal. Additionally, a good follower can be counted on to get the job done with high expectations and complete work with a high standard: "Followers' motivation to do their work is also important" (Hughes et al., 2021, p. 17). A good follower is trusted to give and take constructive feedback when necessary.
Lastly, leadership is situational. A leader must be aware of the situation in which they lead. As described on page 534, Situational Leadership is a theory that suggests leaders should adapt their leadership style and responses to the current situation (Hughes et al., 2021). The climate of the educational organization has changed drastically in the past three years, specifically. There are a multitude of new situations that continue to arise as a result of many societal and political influences. A leader must be aware of the situation they are in in order better to serve the students, staff, and community positively. A strong leader must be attuned enough to perceive the situation at hand.
Aquarius21
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