Leadership Philosophy

I believe the sum is greater than its parts. It’s our monthly department meeting in February, a month typically characterized by the onset of teacher malaise and student mutiny. My fellow Social Studies colleagues comprised of veteran and new teachers trickle in to my classroom in varied emotional states. As the department chair and instructional coach, I believe it is my mission to create a democratic and collaborative environment. It is my job to see both people and a goal. As I survey the room, I wonder how to amplify my colleagues’ collective skills and expertise to meet our students’ academic and social needs. I consider my innate skills unveiled in my Myers-Briggs results and wonder how to use my talents to benefit my team, my school, and ultimately our students. I wonder how large our sum can be.

I believe an effective leader embodies communal leadership. Communal leadership shifts the locus of control away from a single leader to the community as a whole (Furman, 2004). As an ENFJ, a teacher, but bordering on an ENTJ, a field marshal, my personality tends to be both idealistic and rational. I enjoy creating strong efficient structural systems that cultivate my colleagues’ talents and skills and acknowledge their emotional needs (Myers-Briggs, 2017). By creating strong structural systems, diffusing political power, and understanding people, I would like to create communal leadership opportunities that give shared meaning to our work. School systems should highlight the ‘why’ of our shared purpose. This is particularly important in working with a diverse student body to ensure our students’ needs are being met. Like any robust democratic process, communal leadership seeks to magnify minority voices to find a more inclusive vision for the school. Additionally, when one diffuses political power, a leader can mitigate the pitfalls of a variety of organizational problems like becoming too autocratic or too far removed from problems as they arise (Bolmen & Deal, 2017).

I believe a shared vision begins with curiosity. In Turning to One Another, Margaret J. Wheatley encourages people to be curious about one another. Curiosity can deepen people’s understanding when they slow down to listen and listen to understand (Wheatley, 2009). When they work to understand each other, educational leaders can enlarge a community’s institutional capacity to critically think and evaluate cultural assumptions in curriculum, instruction, and decision-making by empowering people (Bolmen & Deal, 2017). Wheatley (2009) argues, “thinking is the place where intelligent action begins” (p. 101). The ‘F’, or feeling part of my personality, and the ‘N’, or intuition part of me, drives me to consider both the feelings and values of my colleagues and the shared possibilities of my organization. I believe when we create opportunities for people to learn and hear from each other, we can create arenas that magnify teachers’ and students’ potential.

I believe education can be transformative. Supervisors and teachers, like students, learn best by doing and clarifying the ‘why’, the symbolic meaning of our work. The collaborative process in developing curriculum, instructional practices, and a shared vision is in itself a learning experience for all involved and should be guided by the shared meaning of our work. My extroverted personality thrives when multitasking. I must be mindful to include the preferences of my introverted colleagues as not everyone likes to multitask. It is important to create structures and systems to allow people to work towards the shared vision of the school through a variety of avenues. The ‘J’ in me believes it is also give team members clear expectations, goals, and deadlines, but I must also work to be flexible as new ideas arise. Bolman and Deal (2017) explain how to confront organizational complexity by avoiding cognitive shortcuts and thoughtfully recognizing the biases in our mental models (p. 39). Expanding institutional capacity requires tapping into teacher ownership of key initiatives. According my Myers-Briggs results, I enjoy being a “catalyst for individual group growth through long term planning and goal setting” (Myers-Briggs, 1987). Bolmen and Deal (2017) note that creating appropriate structures “in allocating work and coordinating diverse efforts after parceling out responsibilities” (p. 53) is key to structural design. I should employ a combination of the four frameworks to deepen my understanding of the complexity of the school organization in which I work to be a more effective leader (Bolmen & Deal, 2017, p. 19). I want to create strong structures for teachers to feel empowered to take instructional risks. When leaders take risks and challenge old paradigms, students and teachers grow (Glickmen, Gordon, & Ross-Gordon, 2018).

James Madison, writing in Federalist Paper 10, argues that democratic institutions best suited to controlling factions, balancing interests, and ultimately creating a unified state, distribute power among the decision makers and the people (Madison, 1787). I believe effective leaders create dynamic democratic systems within their schools by maximizing the four frameworks and understanding their complexity. And while democratic processes can be complex, cumbersome, and messy, they yield the most inclusive environments capable of transformation. Like Madison, I believe by empowering teachers to participate in decision making and change through effective supports and structures, we create schools with a shared vision best able to meet students’ needs.

References

Bolman, L & Deal, T. (2017). Reframing Organizations: Artistry, choice and leadership (6^thedition). San Fransisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

Briggs, K. C. & Myers, I. (1987). Myers-Briggs type indicator. Form M. Palo Alto,Calif. Consulting Psychologists Press.

Furman, G.C. (2004). The ethic of community. Journal of Educational Administration 42. 215-235.

Glickman, C. Gordon, S., & Ross-Gordon, J. (2018). SuperVision and Instructional Leadership: A Developmental Approach. New York: Pearson.

Madison, J. (1787, November 22). The Same Subject Continued: The Union as a Safeguard Against Domestic Faction and Insurrection. New York Daily Advertiser.

Wheatley, Margaret. (2009). Turning To One Another. Berrett-Koehler Publishers.