Servant Leadership Philosophy

My educational leadership philosophy is founded on respect. Respect must be given and received mutually. From teacher to students, to custodial staff, each person has their own story, fights, successes, and talents. Working together as a team to promote self and community advantages will enhance not only the school, but in turn will affect the world.

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

Who school leaders are – what they do, attend to, or seem to appreciate is constantly watched by students, teachers, parents, and members of the community. Their interests and actions send powerful messages. They signal the values they hold. Above all else, leaders are cultural “teachers” in the best sense of the word. (Deal & Peterson, 1990, p. 201)

“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.

Leaders don’t create followers, they create more leaders. This quote by Tom Peters best summarizes my philosophy of teacher leadership. As a teacher leader, it is up to me to inspire, direct, and encourage others so that stronger teacher, administrative, and student leaders may be born from the process. Teacher leadership involves collaboration between teachers, administrators, and teacher leaders with the goal of positively impacting the student learning environment. With student learning as the ultimate objective, teacher leadership “becomes an indispensable avenue for school improvement” (Coggins & McGovern, 2014, p. 21). So how do I as a teacher leader begin this process? I believe that teacher leadership can be achieved through three means: modeling, mentoring, and collaborating.

The foundation of my personal leadership philosophy can be found in the principles of servant leadership as spelled out by Greenleaf (1970, 1977). Leadership is granted to individuals who are by nature servants. An individual emerges as a leader by first becoming a servant. Servant leaders attend to the needs of those they serve and help them become more informed, free, self-sufficient, and like servants themselves. Leaders and those they serve improve, enhance, and develop each other through their connection. A leader must also be conscious of inequalities and social injustices in the organizations they serve and work actively to resolve those issues. Servant leaders rely less on the use of official power and control, but focus on empowering those they

Leaders are accountable to uphold a safe learning environment and uphold personal and professional values. They demonstrate and live these values, beliefs and attitudes to inspire others to higher levels of performance. Leaders expect others in the school community to demonstrate integrity and exercise ethical behavior. With high stakes accountability, leaders need to interpret and implement policies for the benefit of students, staff, community and themselves and do so with integrity.

Servant leadership is key- Educational leaders must have the interests of the children as their main concern. Hall’s use of fear to achieve results created a bigger problem within the school district rather than solving it. Listening to teachers’ difficulties and working directly with those inside individual schools will help leaders identify and solve problems, as Errol and Castarphen have done and will continue doing.

Over the past six years of my career as a project manager in an IT company, I have been working as a supervisor to manage a team of programmers and designers. Reflecting on this period of time which I have applied my leadership philosophy, I believe the leadership type, servant leadership, aptly describes my leadership style. I agree with what a servant leader stands for, and I aspire to become a better servant leader in the days ahead of me.

Since August of 2015, I have had the privilege of working with an incredible leader in Andrea Williams, principal of Theresa Bunker Elementary School. She is the epitome of a well-rounded leader who exemplifies all of the qualities of a leader as described by House’s path-goal theory of leadership. Mrs. Williams works diligently each day to create a productive work environment. She is direct when she needs to be and is extremely respected by her faculty as a fair leader. As I have observed her over the past two years I have seen her leadership skills in action. I have been extremely impressed with her drive, passion, fairness, supportiveness and ability to create a positive climate and culture that makes work a

Above all else, I view leadership within the school system as essential for its success. My cumulative experiences provide a strong background that will allow me to excel as a school leader. I possess an understanding of the challenges and intricacies of a wide variety of school systems, ranging from small rural programs to inner-city and sub-urban high schools to research universities. My experience teaching at the college level gives me a unique perspective that will allow me to guide a program aimed at cultivating high school students capable of excelling in their educational endeavors. In addition, I believe that to be a truly successful leader, one must have a clear understanding of the challenges faced by educators. My years as a high school teacher have provided me a keen perspective in this regard. University of Northern Colorado’s Doctor of Education in Educational Leadership and Policy Studies Program will be an invaluable avenue for me to learn from experienced educators as I hone my leadership abilities with the goal of using my life to lead improvements in the public education system. I look forward to the opportunity to develop as an educator,

From the group Biblical Integration Paper, it was understood that servant-leadership is not only a gift of purpose that God places in the hearts of His people, but it is also a calling in one’s life to truly touch the lives of others in need. Living a successful life, as a servant-leader is not one that focuses on self-fulfillment, rather it is in seeking a fulfillment that comes from Christ when one pours him/herself out for the sake of others. It is through servant-leadership that one is able to bring hope into hopeless situations (Group Integration Paper,

As written in the lines above, employee engagement has a significant impact on an employee and their engagement. Although there has been many articles and research written about leadership and servant leadership, in this study, it will provide and overview, key traits and influences that servant leaders use in collaboration to address significant problems with strategy and other individuals. Therefore, how do managers and leaders facilitate the engagement of their employees? Leaders do this through their leadership style. In 1970, Robert K. Greenleaf identified servant-leadership, which was different from the traditional views of leadership. According to Greenleaf, “The servant-leader is a servant first. Servant

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

An effective leader needs to be genuine and true to the values he holds. If the leader is not honest with those he interacts with, they will not trust him for long. Being clear about values allows the leader to help establish a solid setting for the community to build upon. Strong leaders demonstrate the following values: being trustworthy, caring, focused, flexible, direct, knowledgeable, and approachable. By having a foundation that focuses on the importance of education an instructional leader can focus on clarity and purpose. Through having this clarity of focus, a leader is further prompted to be a lifelong learner (Robbins, 2009).