Tuesday, August 7, 2012
Educational Leadership
This topic is incredibly important to my school right now. My current principal has only been there for 4 years - and yet we have had 2 culture/climate surveys in that time and have set up a building wide committee to deal with much of the perceived tension. While the current leadership is very political, she appears to be much weaker in some of the other areas (specifically human resource). I have found the reading so far to be interesting and am looking forward to further discussions. I truly feel that a good leader can do more to further your organization than anything else; and, in contrast, a bad leader can bring it down just as quickly.
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It's interesting how much influence a leader can have on an organization and it's image. I have spoken with a few families that had chosen NOT to send their kids to my school because our principal rubbed them the wrong way. They said he seemed arrogant and cocky. I also talked to a few families who said just the opposite. They thought he seemed like a confident leader and had a commanding presence. It is a difficult task to find that perfect balance where you can come across positively to everyone.
ReplyDeleteAfter reading in our breakout groups in class last week it was interesting to see that poor leadership in the school can effect student achievement. We have a newer principal at our school as well. I actually started the same time she did so I have never know anything different. The veteran staff say that she is strong, but dislike some of the newer approaches. I guess with every new "head" leader there are always going to be those who dislike the style. But is sounds like the leader around you is having issues and there are documents to support it. Check to see if there is a change in student achievement and maybe read the article group 4 had last week in class. You may find similarities to your situation.
ReplyDeleteAfter learning about the four frames I can see how it is difficult to balance all of the roles. I think it sounds like your principal has not necessarily built up trust among all members of the staff. I just commented on Rob's post about the same issue as building up trust from the stakeholders is one of the most important things a leader must do.
ReplyDeleteI have had 12 different administrators over the past 4 years across the 5 schools I teach at and I also find that sometimes they have a hard time getting across the message they want. Language often gets in the way because of perception (especially through email). Building up trust is essential, and hopefully your principal/school can continue to build that relationship!
ReplyDeleteMy post discusses my political leader and I agree wholeheartedly that the leadership can either elevate or bring down an organization. Maybe we both need to get anonymous emails and start sending some of the course materials to our leaders. We both probably need to work on these leadership skills that work towards alleviating tension.
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