3.2 The principalship: manager to leader  (Page 3/3)

Breaking the dependency

In reality, a principal never controls how staff members come to work, just as a principal should not control every aspect of the teacher's job. "Directive or command-and control behavior may get the immediate task done, but it undermines the growth anddevelopment of those who are subjected to it, diminishing teacher leadership and the leadership capacity of the school" (Lambert, 2003, p. 44). A principal never gives up complete control, but needs to be acutely aware of ways that they increase dependency.

As the leader, the principal needs to break this dependency. To do this he should continue working to empower the staff, ". . . releasing the full potential of [his] employees in order for them to take on greater responsibility and authority in the decision-making process and providing the resources for this process to occur" (Cartwright, 2002,p.6). The principal can ask individuals to take on the responsibility of researching problems and coming up with possible solutions. People find ". . . that challenge,significance, and the need to solve problems are important attributes of work that [they] find interesting, enjoyable, and, in a word, motivating" (Owens, 2004, p. 330). When teachers become a significant part of the solution, their motivation andenthusiasm rises. They regain their self-initiative and are less dependent.

Building leaders

As teachers become less dependant they are no longer approaching the principal with problems that need to be solved, but rather they are presenting him with solutions to problems they are experiencing. They are asking for support and guidance rather than answers. A principal needs to continue to serve his staff and build servant leaders among them. Spears list ten characteristics of a servant leader: listening, empathy,healing, awareness, persuasion, conceptualization, foresight, stewardship, commitment to growth of people, and buildingcommunity. These characteristics are what a principal will try to build in his staff. "Servant leaders will listen to what is being said and what is not being said"(Spears, 2002, p. 5). A servant leader is not only aware of what is happening around them, but is also self-aware. Servant leaders should rely on persuasion, rather than on one'spositional authority to make decisions (Spears, 2002). A servant leader needs to have vision and have a grasp of the "big picture". All of these things help prevent a school from being stagnant and keeps it moving forward. Even with well-established core values, a school may need to revisit and possibly update the core values in order for thevision to continue moving forward. A principal needs to be aware of the importance of foresight to head off possible problems. Theprincipal should introduce the idea of stewardship to his leaders to reinforce the commitment of serving others and helping others togrow. Together a principal and his leaders can work to build community within the school by developing unity among thestaff.

Leadership by outrage

With more and more leaders in the school,norms are established. One of the greatest norms is the response when the core values of the school are ignored. When this happens, the response of the school leaders and the whole school community is one of outrage. If no one shows that falling short of the school's expectations bothers them then the school, by default, lowers its values. This "leadership by outrage" stops the lowering of values and keeps the school moving forward.

Conclusion

Setting the purpose of the school, empowering the staff to carry out that purpose, and being outraged when that purpose is ignored should set the basis of a principals leadership style.

The link between servant leadership and moral authority is a tight one. Moral authority relies heavily on persuasion. At the root of persuasion are ideas, values, substance, and content, which together define group purpose and core values. Servant leadership is practiced by serving others, but its ultimate purpose is to place one self, and others for whom one has responsibility, in the service of ideals (Sergiovanni, 2000).

This ideal of serving the core values of the school is what leads a school. The administrators are first to embrace the ideal, then the teachers, and eventually the students. When the whole school community starts serving the core values the school's climate changes. Students begin to care about their education, and higher expectations are set and met. Teachers believe in students and work to provide them with the best learning environment possible. Principals that follow servant leadership over a bureaucratic style of management will lead schools to achieve their fullest potential.

References

Allen, G. (1998) Supervision: Management modern. Retrieved June 20, 2005, from (External Link)

Cartwright, R. (2002) Empowerment. Oxford, United Kingdom: Capstone Publishing Ltd.

Lambert, L. (2003). Leadership Capacity for Lasting School Improvement. Alexandria, VA: Assoc. for Supervision andCurriculum Development

McMahon, K. N. (2001). An Interview with Helen S. Astin. In Developing Non-hierarchical Leadership on Campus (p.8). Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press

Owens, R. G. (2004). Organizational Behavior in Education. (8th ed.) Boston: Pearson Education

Prideaux, R. (2001). The Effective and Democratic School Principal. Retrieved June 14, 2005, from (External Link)

Sergiovanni, T. J. (2005).The principalship: A reflective practice perspective 5th ed. Needham Heights,Maryland: Allyn and Bacon.

Sergiovanni, T. J. (2000). Leadership as Stewardship. In The Jossey-Bass Reader on Educational Leadership. New York, NY: JohnWiley and Sons, Inc.

Spears, L. C. (2002). Tracing the Past, Present, and Future of Servant-Leadership. In Focus On Leadership: Servant-leadership forthe Twenty-first Century (pp. 1-10). New York, NY: John Wiley and Sons, Inc.