Leadership As A Leader And A Strong Leader

The importance of effective leadership and its impact on improving student achievement are evident in today’s schools (Leithwood, Louis, Anderson, and Wahlstrom, 2004). While the school principal is traditionally thought to be the school leader, Glickman (1989) proposes that “the principal of successful schools is not the instructional leader but the educational leader who mobilizes the expertise, talent, and care of others” (p. 8). Lumpkin, Claxton, and Wilson (2014) contend that helping “each school fulfill its mission and energize and expand the professionalism and professional contributions of teachers, the expertise of all teachers, especially teacher leaders, is needed” (p. 59). Teachers directly impact student learning, and

“Leaders don 't create followers, they create more leaders,” Tom Peter famously proclaimed. As the principal of Crestview Elementary, I have always taken this quote to heart by continuous striving to empower my faculty and staff. Most recently, I have decided to train my assistant principal, Kathy Robinson, who was appointed to her position this summer after ten years as a classroom teacher. I quickly recognized that she possessed many of the qualities that make great leaders. Kathy is an excellent communicator, a great problem solver, innovative, very personable, and cares about the students and staff (Sheninger, 2011). Therefore, I have decided to mentor her and hone her skills so that she will be prepared for a transition to the role of principal.

The second quality of an effective leader is to have a vision. The vision should also include the schools missions, purpose and goals. The principal should be progressive and constantly looking for ways to keep the staff and students motivated to work towards a common goal. As an effective leader you must continuously promote the vision. This could be done with a school created slogan that fits the community. Most people want to belong and feel a part of something successful or on the path to greatness. It is a wonderful feeling to be a member of a successful school community where people really

As a principal, one must be an effective leader to create a school environment that enables your faculty and staff to improve student achievement, the main objective of

Using the 21 leadership responsibilities, which are based in research as being correlated with student achievement as the basis for a strong and balanced leadership framework. What has become clear to me is that just as we ask teachers to be intentional and show the purpose of their lessons, we too as leaders need to be very clear about creating a purposeful learning community. In their interviews with principals, it was said that none were outstanding leaders when they started. It was the only attained by working hard overtime. Patters started to emerge across these highly successful leaders and through qualitative analysis six common traits were identified: deep conviction & moral purpose, a selfless, iron will to improve performance, a deep reservoir of optimism, emotional intelligence & relationship building, a commitment to self-improvement and less mystery, more

A successful principal is going to learn to combine their roles as managers and leaders and understand the importance of both roles. I think many administrators mistakenly view themselves as leaders. In my experience, some staff

A strong vision is set and modeled by all to follow, teachers are respected, and students/families working as one to share the school vision. A principal sets the vision of the school that all must follow. I believe that all teachers, students, and families should be working together to achieve that vision. Teachers should feel they have the respect from their colleagues as well as administration, students and families. Family involvement is an important component in a child's journey to success. The open communication from school to home is essential.

In becoming the principal that I am now, I have relied upon leadership practices that were modeled for me in my own Catholic school experiences and which are as varied as the administrators that I was fortunate enough to work with along the way. I started my leadership journey with a plan for how I would lead and then I learned from

Klaus Balkenhol, a German equestrian and Olympic champion, once stated, “There is a difference between being a leader and being a boss. Both are based on authority. A boss demands blind obedience; a leader earns his/her authority through understanding and trust (Lamoureux, 2015).” Joan Salmon is the 35 year old daughter of Garret Salmon the owner of a medium size party invitation company “Invitations Inc.” Joan’s goal will be to do just as the quote states, “earn her authority through understanding and trust (Lamoureux, 2015).” Therefore, in order for Joan to accomplish the goals of improving and growing the business, trust will be the primary factor in how mid-managers work together, listen to one another, and build

Principals must be taught by universities and and preparation programs transformational leadership practices. This will prepare them to use accountability and achievement data to drive instruction, serve as an instructional coach, challenge the status quo, motivate and mentor staff, manage personnel, handle disruptions in and out of the school and understand economic, social technological and global change on schooling.

In the field of education, there is a tremendous amount of classroom theory that is applied during student teaching. The newly inducted teacher has time to develop strong practices. During this phase, the teacher is observed, mentored, and coached. Valuable insight, feedback, and guidance is provided from staff to assist with the development of the new teacher. On the other hand, when an assistant principal becomes a newly named principal, there is minimal direction about next steps. Becoming an effective principal is a true example of on-the-job training. Possessing strong leadership abilities is a far greater feat that takes time to develop.

As the leader of a 21st century school one must embody the qualities that best reflect the ever-changing face of education. Traditionally, the leader of a school focused a large portion of time and energy on typical managerial functions within the school. These tasks, although important, will not propel a school to achieve excellence. Today’s school leaders must be visionaries who create a sense of purpose driven unity. As a transformational leader, one must also be the beacon of learning in establishing and effectively cultivating professional learning communities. One must recognize and further develop the leadership skills of those within the school in order to ensure the vision and mission of the school is achieved. Keeping in

In Grogan (2013) Bambrick-Santoyo set reality straight because it is quite evident that the principals cannot “serve as instructional leader for more than fifteen teachers,” (Grogan, 2013, p337). Therefore, a principal must know how to “lever” leadership within a school.

When I first started teaching, I was told to think of a teacher who truly made me feel special. When asked to reflect on powerful leaders, I was able to remember the people who have truly modeled for me true leadership. In my academic career, I can only think of one leader who has made me excited for what was to come. My college principal, Julianne Malvueax was the most outspoken, ambitious and engaging leader I’ve known. In the week 4 discussion, I recalled describing the feeling of overall joy and excitement I felt when listening to her speak. Whenever she entered a venue, you could feel the electricity in the room. When students left her presence, we knew we wanted to change things. We knew that we were an integral part of the institution’s mission and she reminded us of this constantly. After thumbing through the resources, I realize that Malvueax was an effective leader. Not only did she get us excited, the goals she set for our institution were clear. We knew what she expected from us as

The principal is the leader of learning, the teacher for the teachers, and the one who needs to model what is expected from teachers in