Benchmark - Leadership Style and Philosophy

Ariel Compton

Grand Canyon University: EAD 501

November 18th, 2019

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Benchmark - Leadership Style and Philosophy
My Personal Values

My mom and dad are the two main people in my life who have shaped my personal

values. They raised me and my sister to be strong and independent black women from a very

young age. They also kept my sister and I in church and around a church environment which has

also shaped my personal values. Living a Christian lifestyle and having God as the leader of my

life has driven my thinking, decision-making, goal setting, and interaction with others. God is the

head of my life and my faith inspires me to be the best leader that I can be. As a young Christian

woman, I try to always act with kindness and do things simply out of love. In my short years of

life, I have experienced hard times but my faith always reminds me that God will never give me

more than I can handle.

My Leadership Style

I researched three different leadership styles which were transactional, transformational,

and servant. Transactional leaders are leaders who manage their staff through incentives. “They

are likely to command military operations, manage large corporations, or lead international

projects that require rules and regulations to complete objectives on time or move people and

supplies in an organized way” (STU Online 2014). The next leadership style that I researched

was transformational leadership. A transformational leader leads with inspiration rather than

authority. “Transformational leaders inspire and motivate their workflow without

micromanaging - they trust trained employees to take authority over decisions I their assigned

jobs” (White 2018). The last leadership style I researched is servant leadership. “A servant-

leader is a person who begins with the natural feeling of wanting to serve first - to help, support,

encourage, and lift up others. And because of their noble role model, others being to lead by
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Benchmark - Leadership Style and Philosophy
serving” (Robert K. Greenleaf). Last but not least, servant leaders put the needs of others before

their own needs.

After researching all three leadership styles the one that fits the closest to my personal

values is a servant leadership. As a Christ follower, I take pride in serving and helping others.

Servant leaders put the needs of others before their own needs and I believe I do this as well. As

a future educational leader I want my staff and students to feel supported and know that any

decision I made will have been with their best interest in mind. As a current 4th grade teacher I

know first hand hard the school year can get especially during the months of October and March.

Those two months are months when teachers and students do not have any breaks and student

behavior typically increases. During the school year but those times specifically are when

teachers need to feel supported by administration. I want my staff and students to see me as a

leader who understands what they are going through and is more than willing to jump in the

trenches with them.

Integrity & Fairness

As a future educational leader I believe the most important characteristic one must

posses in order to be a successful leader is to always act with integrity. To ensure my school will

have a system of accountability for every student’s academic and social success, I first must

model what acting with integrity and fairness looks like in a school community. I will hold

myself accountable for mistakes and be ready to take responsibility when mistakes are made. I

understand that no one is perfect and being a fair leader is not an easy job. My staff and I will

need to work together to create a community where all students, no matter their background, will

never be discriminated and a community where differences will be genuinely celebrated.

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Benchmark - Leadership Style and Philosophy
My Leadership Philosophy

“The word philosophy literally translates to ‘the love of wisdom’” (Anastasia 2018). I

believe that my leadership philosophy is based upon Christ and strong values such as in honesty,

trust, credibility, communication, etc. As a future educational leader I vow to always act with

integrity, to put my staff and students needs above my needs, and to build strong and healthy

relationships with the people in and out of my school community. I believe that my leadership

philosophy is one that will be effective and will keep a school community moving forward. I will

be sure to always ask for constructive feedback and input throughout the school year. I am

excited to be part of the change our educational system desperately needs and I am ready to serve

for the greater good.

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Benchmark - Leadership Style and Philosophy

References

Anastasia. (2019, September 24). How to Develop a Leadership Philosophy that Inspires.
Retrieved from https://www.cleverism.com/leadership-philosophy-guide/.

What is Transactional Leadership? How Structure Leads to Results. (2014, November

25). Retrieved from https://online.stu.edu/articles/education/what-is-transactional-
leadership.aspx.

White, S. K. (2018, February 21). What is transformational leadership? A model for

sparking innovation. Retrieved from https://www.cio.com/article/3257184/what-is-
transformational-leadership-a-model-for-motivating-innovation.html.