Leadership Philosophy

1
Leadership Philosophy

• By Jill S. Boisvenue
• EAD 867
• Michigan State University
• Summer 2006

2
The Beginning

• At the start of this course, I thought of
  leadership only in the sense that a leader is a
  solo entity, the decision maker, and ultimately
  the person who is in charge. I have been
  accustomed to this way of thinking because this
  is what I have witnessed and is the way
  leadership is conducted within my school.
• I thought that leadership was defined by the
  situation, meaning that different situations
  required different leadership.
  
• I thought of a follower as one who does not have
  a goal or a focus and changes with the wind, so
  to speak. I did think of a follower as something
  I did not want to be for it is a weakness and a
  title with negative connotation.
• I thought people who like to do things
  differently were attention getting and just
  enjoyed being different or causing problems.
  

3
What Happened Along the Way?

• During this course I visited several areas of my
  thinking in terms of leadership. One of the
  first things that happened along the way was
  during one of our first requirements the
  posting about our favorite leadership myths. I
  confidently posted
• One of my favorite myths about leadership is
  that anyone who has been a leader in a
  businesslike organization can be a leader in a
  school. I think that in order to be truly
  effective, a school leader must have had some
  classroom teaching experience. They must have
  been there, done that because if they have,
  they can relate to what teachers are
  experiencing. Therefore, the teachers these
  effective leaders are evaluating, supporting, and
  working with will have more respect for him or
  her and the decisions that are made.
• I was convinced that my unfortunate experience
  with a principal who lacked teaching experience
  was a direct result of her lack of classroom
  teaching know-how. Then, a classmate and my
  professor challenged my way of thinking. At
  first, I thought they just dont know what it
  was like. However, having now revisited these
  postings, it is clear to me that these two women
  had far more insight regarding the situation than
  I.

4
What Happened Along the Way?

• The next thing that happened took place during
  Part Two of the course. The required article
  The Secret of Great Groups by Warren Bennis
  was an article that I found myself revisiting
  throughout this term. It was my first exposure
  to the idea of collaborative leadership and it
  really made sense to me. As the article points
  out none of us is as smart as all of us, and
  the problems we face are too complex to be
  solved by any one person or any one discipline.
  As I mentioned before, my school operates under
  the old lone-ranger myth of the leadership. We
  have problems much like all elementary schools.
  Yet, our problems do not seem to get solved and
  keep resurfacing. Three heads are better than
  one, and fifteen heads are better still. Much
  like my suggestion for Big Mountain High School,
  I would suggest getting input from all of our
  fifteen teachers, and perhaps this collaboration
  could help to solve these reoccurring issues.
• While the formation of a great group would
  probably have its challenges, it is evident from
  the article that the ten principles shared by
  such collaborations would far out weigh the
  potential hardships.

5
What Happened Along the Way?

• At the start of the course, the Leadership
  Definitions activities allowed me to realize that
  being a follower is not negative it is
  necessary.
• Initially I defined a follower as someone who
  does not have a goal or a focus and changes
  direction with the wind I had several
  classmates challenge my idea of followers, and I
  now realize that this is a very elementary way of
  thinking.
• In addition to this, Leading with Soul forced me
  to reevaluate this way of thinking. According to
  our base text, The moral leaders need
  followers. The real drive comes from below
  (Bolman Deal 150). In essence, leaders need
  followers and without them there is no need for
  leaders. If the drive comes from below, the
  followers are in a sense, the motivation for
  leadership and a key necessity.

6
What Happened Along the Way?

• Prior to my reading of Creative People by Max
  De Pree,I thought people who like to do things
  differently were attention getting and just
  enjoyed being different or causing problems.
  We have a teacher in my school who is always
  walking a fine line. She is always challenging
  ideas and testing the limits of our principal.
  She is often bold, and she can be a bit
  overbearing. However, she is one of the best
  teachers I have ever observed. The rapport she
  establishes with her students and their families
  is amazing. Her classroom always has a great
  sense of community, and her students always
  perform well on standardized testing.
• While reading Creative People I instantly
  thought of this teacher. It was a great way for
  me to realize how important it is for a leader to
  make a personal commitment to be hospitable to
  creative people and a broader commitment to open
  himself to contributions from many quarters (De
  Pree 2001). I know that I have never thought of
  this teacher as a creative person, and I think
  that it is safe to say that my principal has not
  either. It is evident in the fact that she has
  not learned to live constructively with
  eccentricity (De Pree 2001).
• Now that I have read and worked with this
  compelling article, I realize what an asset this
  teacher is to our building and to the students.
  Because of this realization, I would love to
  share this article with my principal, in hopes of
  giving her the insight and knowledge necessary to
  embrace this teachers creativity and uniqueness.

7
Where Am I Now?

• I know that collaborative or group leadership is
  most effective.
  
• I know that leadership is not unique to
  situations. A great leader is a great leader no
  matter where he or she works.
  
• I know that followers are necessary in order for
  leadership to exist, and you cannot have one
  without the other. To me it is like chocolate
  chip cookies and milk. Chocolate chip cookies
  are good, but theyre even better with milk. And
  milk is not that great without chocolate chip
  cookies.
• I know that creative people are important in any
  organization. While they are unique in many
  aspects, their uniqueness can prove to be heroic
  and making the effort to be a leader to creative
  people and learning to follow such people signal
  both real leadership competence(De Pree 2001).

8
As a Leader and a Follower

• Because of my new ways of thinking, I will be a
  better leader and a better follower. I will be
  open-minded to new ideas and experiences. I will
  realize that my role as a leader is just as
  important as my role as a follower. I will, in
  all likelihood, be easier to lead and have an
  easier time being signifcant in the my follower
  roles. As a leader, I will ensure that the
  followers I am working with share my vision and
  share my goals. Communicating these ideas to the
  followers is not effective, but sharing these
  ideas with the followers is monumental.

9
What Do I Still Need to Accomplish?

• Experience, experience, experience! I still feel
  like there is so much more for me to learn and
  experience in the area of leadership. While I do
  think I have made a lot of progress in this
  course, it seems like the more I know, the more I
  feel I need to know, if that makes any sense. As
  I learn about leadership, I realize that there is
  so much I do not know. It makes me eager to
  continue my leadership education and continue
  gaining experiences. Not only is leadership
  literature beneficial in my quest for knowledge
  and experience, but the experiences and knowledge
  I gain from my classmates and my professors is
  just as significant. I feel that this package is
  what I need in order to become the best leader I
  can become.