THE PRINCIPALS ROLE AS A LEADER OF SERVICE

The Principals Role as a Leader of Service -Critical Element Paper #2 Presented to the Department of Educational Leadership And Postsecondary Education University of Northern Iowa -In Partial Fulfillment Of the requirements for the Master of Arts in Education -By Melody Oswald Davenport Central High Davenport, IA November 01, 2013 -Dr. Dewitt Jones

THE PRINCIPALS ROLE AS A LEADER OF SERVICE We are servants first and then become the servant leader. I knew from a very young age that I wanted to serve others. As young as third grade, I was practicing to be a teacher with my younger siblings and their friends.

Everything begins with the initiative of an individual. The forces for good and evil in the world are propelled by the thoughts, attitudes, and actions of individual beings. What happens to our values and therefore to the quality of our civilization in the future, will be shaped by the conceptions of individuals that are born of inspiration. I read the word inspire in Coveys book of Insights on Leadership and thought of motivation. I believe it takes a person who can put others before himself to inspire and motivate. When we have passion in what we are doing, it is easier to share it with others through our actions and service. People have told me that I bring energy to the room when I teach, which inspires them to learn. My energy will spread to others to facilitate a synergistic environment that will allow others to share my passion. As a leader of a building, there are many things to consider and maintain. It is important to have the skills necessary to be a leader of service. Covey states, that Leadership has two aspects: a visionary part and an implementation part. Leadership can be the visionary role by doing the right thing, and management is the implementation role by doing things right. (p.22) Leaders want to make sure everyone can accomplish their goals by sharing a vision. A vision should include the purpose, mission, and values. Goal setting is one way for leaders to implement the vision and be successful. There are five attributes stated by Autry (2001) that will make us most successful as we work toward the service leadership role. (p.10) Authenticity is being the same person at all

THE PRINCIPALS ROLE AS A LEADER OF SERVICE times, no matter what role there is. We must be honest in what we are thinking and admit to

making mistakes. Being vulnerable is the second attribute to being a service leader. I want to let the staff see my human side with the emotions that I may have. Being proud of what we do as service leaders will allow our vulnerability to show through. We can also put ourselves in someone elses shoes or to view the situation from the other persons viewpoint. Acceptance is the third attribute that is more important than approval. Professional relationships can end up being dysfunctional, unless acceptance becomes the norm. Teams must accept the ideas from each other as valid for discussion and review. We need to focus on the ideas themselves, and not on the person who presented them. Autry stated, All can win; nobody has to lose. The fourth attribute is to be present. We will need to have ourselves available at all times. We will need to bring all of our values and be available to others as we respond to the problems, issues, and challenges of other stakeholders. We will need to remain centered and grounded in the middle of a crisis. (p. 16) This would be a good time for us to close our eyes and take a deep breath while we think of something happy. The final attribute is to be useful. This goes back to being a service leader. Be a resource to our staff and stakeholders. We want to assure our team that they have what they need. We will gain trust and support from the people who give us the power. Robert K. Greenleaf (2003) has defined ten principles that servant leaders may use. Listening is an important principle for leaders to have for communication and decision making skills. The leader must commit to listening intently to others and clarify what the issue is. Empathy is the second skill that allows the leader to strive to understand others. People need to have reassurance that others care about them. There might be times when the leader may need to comfort others at times of need. The third and most powerful principle is healing. This happens when the leader has the potential for healing ones self and others. Servant leaders have the

THE PRINCIPALS ROLE AS A LEADER OF SERVICE

opportunity to help make whole those with whom they come in contact with. Awareness is the fourth principle and can strengthen the servant leader. Self-awareness is also very important when dealing with ethics and values. It allows the leader to view most situations from a holistic approach. When a leader can persuade others without using their authority, it can be very powerful. The leader will seek to convince others, rather than force compliance. This is a distinction between the authoritarian model and of servant-leadership. Conceptualization is the sixth principle and occurs when the leader is able to nurture the ability to see the vision in themselves and others. The leader is able to find short and long term goals for a solution. The leader must be able to keep calm even when there are challenges. The seventh principle is foresight. This describes a leader who is intuitive and can understand the past, the realities of the present, and the decisions needed for the future. This principle may be one that the leader must be born with, unlike the others that can be developed. Stewardship is the eighth principle in which the leader must understand they are trusted to take care of things that dont belong to them. The leader must commit to serving the needs of others. The ninth principle is the commitment to the growth of people. The leader must nurture the personal, professional, and spiritual growth of employees. The tenth and final principle is building community. The leader must inspire others to work together towards a common goal. I believe this is one of the most important principles. (p.16-19) We as leaders must encourage all stakeholders from students, parents, staff, and the community to be involved in our school for the success of everyone involved. Robert Greenleaf stated a new kind of leadership model that puts serving others as the number one priority. It emphasizes increased service to others as a holistic approach for promoting a sense of community. There are four tenets that describe the servant-leadership

THE PRINCIPALS ROLE AS A LEADER OF SERVICE framework. Service to others is the first tenet, and it begins when a leader assumes the position of servant in their interactions with followers. Legitimate leadership rises from the power or

self-interested actions to help others first. Greenleaf stated that this one simple fact is the key to a leaders greatness. (p.7) We as leaders have a primary motivation and purpose to encourage greatness in others, while the organizational success is the indirect outcome of servantleadership. As stated in the Iowa Standards for School Leaders Standards #1 and #2, the leader promotes the success of all students by creating a shared vision and that the leader must be an educational leader. Servant leadership that takes the holistic approach is the second tenet. Greenleaf stated that the work exists for the person as much as the person exists for the work. This theory promotes a view that individuals should be encouraged to be who they are, in their professional as well as their personal lives. This ultimately benefits the long-term interests and performance of the organization. In ISSL Standard #3, it explains how the servant leader must be a manager that ensures the students have a safe environment to learn in. The third tenet is that we must continue to promote a sense of community. (p.8) Greenleaf states, throughout his writings, the loss of community in modern society. The community can be defined as groups of individuals that have a common interest, such as the school. I have spent many hours in the school working with students to create a community that we share. ISSL Standard #6 explains how a servant leader will promote the success of all students by understanding the profile of the community. We must build the community that has an interest in our students. It is important for the servant leader to inspire others to work as a team. The fourth tenet is the sharing of power in decision making. (p.20) The leader needs to nurture others within the team by encouraging the talents of the staff. ISSL #4 is relevant to the fourth tenet about surrounding yourself with skilled teachers. It can cause an inverted pyramid

THE PRINCIPALS ROLE AS A LEADER OF SERVICE with employees and other stakeholders at the top, and the leaders at the bottom. This will then motivate the employees and other stakeholders to be more successful. ISSL Standard #5

discusses the importance of acting with integrity. As administrators, we need to demonstrate our values and beliefs so that we can inspire others to reach higher levels of performance. One action I have taken as a leader of service is to be a district mentor. This allows me to build relationships with new teachers so they will feel comfortable coming to me when they try a new idea without the fear of failure. Even if the new teachers idea does not work, he does not feel like he is being evaluated by an administrator. I really enjoy building the relationships with the year one and year two teachers. I use the ORID questions when I talk to the new teachers about certain behaviors I see of them in the classroom, or scenarios that the new teachers bring to me. I am also on a district committee that is discussing the bell schedule, and how the new state laws will affect the district. This allows me to build relationships with the administration at the central office and become familiar with the issues that are happening district and state wide. These opportunities allow me to share my passion that will spread to others that will facilitate a synergistic environment that will benefit the students, families, teachers, staff and the surrounding community.

THE PRINCIPALS ROLE AS A LEADER OF SERVICE References

Autry, James A., (2001) The Servant Leader. New York, New York: Three Rivers Press. Covey, Stephen R., (1998) Insights on Leadership. John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Culver, Mary K., (2009) Applying Servant Leadership in Todays Schools. Eye on Education, Inc. Greenleaf, Robert K., (2003) The Servant-Leader Within. Paulist Press. Wilmore, E., (2002) Principal leadership. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.