LEADERSHIP ANALYSIS

THE SCHOOL PRINCIPAL AS LEADER: GUIDING SCHOOLS TO BETTER

TEACHING AND LEARNING

Presented to

In Partial Fulfillment for the Requirements of

ED 241

Submitted by:

NERIZA JEAN A. GENOSAS, LPT

Submitted to:

MONA LISA O. CHAGAS, Ed.D

 “The secret to success is good leadership, and good leadership is all about
making the lives of your team members or workers better.”

- Tony Dungy

INTRODUCTION

What is a leader? Who is a leader? How do you lead? Can everyone be a

leader? What makes a good leader? These are all questions that race through our
minds as we begin to evaluate ourselves as leaders. The answers to these questions
will vary greatly from person to person and generation to generation. The idea of
leadership and what it takes to be a leader changes as our society changes and
varies greatly from one person to the next depending on their experiences, culture
and background.

Leadership can be defined in numerous ways but according to, In Mixed

Company the definition that is generally agreed upon is that “leadership is a social
influence process” (p. 147). Where the power to influence come from depends on
the situation and the individual leader, it could come from a variety of thing such as:
status, authority, personality, communication skills, and many other factors. Influence
comes from many different areas but credibility is at the base of successful influence.
Credibility is a combination of many things: knowledge, skills, honesty, consistency,
character, confidence and assertiveness. Put more simply credibility stems from
three concepts competence, trustworthiness, and dynamism.

In addition, Stephen Covey stated to his book Principle Centered Leadership,

“those who will most strictly adhere to eternal principles, such as integrity, character,
honesty, morality, spirituality, compassion, perseverance, loyalty and respect for
human dignity can become up to 500% for effective as leaders.” Leaders are meant
to influence their followers but it is important to remember that influence is a two-way
street and that followers also influence the leader. A good leader is going to adapt
and change their leadership style and ideas depending on their followers and what
they want and how they need to be lead. The follower can influence the leader by
making demands and setting expectations and their own free will and ability choose
whether they want to follow the leader and the ideas they are presenting.
 REFLECTION

As I reflect on the information that I have learned about leadership and being
a leader, I find it extremely difficult to separately categorize the characteristics of a
good principal. I believe that each component of the principal’s job is inevitably
connected to the others and that if a principal does one part of his job poorly, it will
affect his ability to do the other parts well. So, although I have chosen to divide the
principal’s job into three basic categories for the purpose of this paper, I believe that
great principals devote themselves and their staff to continually addressing all three
areas. The general areas are management, communication, and educational
leadership.

In order to get to the true “meat” of the job, educational leadership, a principal
must first address the basics. Without communication, management is ineffective,
and without communication and management, educational leadership is impossible.
This is not to say that all principals must be experts in all three areas. The best
school leaders will find a way to delegate tasks so that most weaknesses are
imperceptible. In my humble opinion, the best leader that I had is my former
administrator.

I can envision her as a symphony conductor because she communicates with

all members of the orchestra in order for the symphony to commence. She has this
ability to communicate effectively with all stakeholders that is why the school is
improving. A principal who cannot communicate effectively will be unsuccessful in all
other areas. Thus, making a connection, either personally or via messenger with
staff, students, parents, and the community should be the principal’s first priority.

Indeed, common methods of communication for principals include direct

discussion, personal notes, mediation of conflict, observation, technology use,
purposeful meetings, active listening, the use of the media, school newsletters,
school calendars, and parent involvement (K. Proulx, Personal Communication,
September 17, 2004).

An inspirational, effective and successful workplace administrator who is

known for her victorious, servant and genuine leadership style. She is resilient
supporter of placing employees first, with her prominent leadership style being that of
servant leader. She changed people lives in a positive way by creating a family like
culture in the workplace and ensured that her personal ethics and values aligned
with the vision, mission, goals and core values of the school. She fosters innovation
to the extent in which she was such a motivational leader.

There are three specific successful leadership skills that she demonstrated to
have while leading the school were her servant leadership, transactional and
transformational leadership behaviors. As a Transformational leader, she challenged
us to step outside of our comfort zone and connect with her along with organization
at a deeper level by engaging, exciting and rewarding us. She engaged us teachers
through trainings, seminars, group innovation and motivation. Examination in the
behavior characteristics performed by Klein (1990) that innovators are categorized
by “reliability, flexibility, patience, resilience, sensitivity to others, risk-taking, a thick
skin and preference for diversity and new social roles.” All which can be utilized to
describe her.

A genuine Transformational leader inspires their followers to become

transformational leaders (Woods, R.H, 2012). A Transformational and servant-
leadership theory, are not the same as one another, nor is one an example of the
other (Stone, Russell & Patterson, 2003). Servant leadership theory refers to
individuals who convey leadership through their actions and people pleasing
personalities which our administrator has done. With her demonstrated servant
leadership, she went beyond to ensure her teachers, students and stakeholders
were content with her contribution to the improvement of the school.

What I like the most of her as our administrator was her transformational
leadership style. With her charisma, she was able to gain us teachers, students and
stakeholders’ trust along with the improvement of the school. Transformational
leadership theory is exactly that, a “transformation” of leading by example through
idealized influence and motivation through charisma, ethical values and
accomplishment of organizational goals through successful strategic alignment.

As a result, the school is known for her leadership style that every employee
should be dream of. Although, she is known as a very standard leader but she is
also considerate. She is not perfect, we are all not perfect, we have our weaknesses
and flaws. But, I do really admire her as a leader and I would like her leadership to
be implemented by me as well in the near future.
 CONCLUSION / RECCOMENDATION

In conclusion, leadership is not about a title or a designation. It's about the

impact, influence, and inspiration. Impact involves getting results, influence is about
spreading the passion you have for your work, and you have to inspire all your
teachers, students and stakeholders. Furthermore, leadership is not about glorious
crowning acts. It's about keeping your team focused on a goal and motivated to do
their best to achieve it, especially when the stakes are high and the consequences
really matter. It is about laying the groundwork for others' success, and then standing
back and letting them shine.

Therefore, a principal who communicates well in one-to-one, small group and

large group settings. Knowing what to share, how to facilitate and cooperate with
groups to solve problems, and how to resolve conflicts are also skills as a good
communicator. Finally, and perhaps most important, he is visible, approachable, and
a good team member.

On the other hand, although there are other practices that contribute to good
educational leadership, I believe that the principal who communicates and manages
well, who champions a vision, who builds a community of leaders and learners, and
who implements these best practices for educational leadership will be well on the
way to achieving success for his/her school.

The responsibilities of a principal seem endless. This becomes quite evident

when one writes an eleven-page job description that merely scrapes the surface of
what is required for success. I have learned a great deal about the job of principal in
our subject Educational Management 241 with our professor Mona Lisa O. Chagas,
Ed.D but I am still certain that the things that I don’t know about the job far exceed
the things that I know. This is both exciting and unnerving. One of the things that
appeals to me most about the leadership is the opportunity that I will have to
continuously learn and discover new challenges. I know that it will be an uphill battle
but I am ready to take the challenge.