Leadership

Paper Summary:

This paper discusses the important characteristics of a leader, particularly focusing on leadership that is necessary in a school environment. The writer presents his views as the coach of a sports team and relates his experience to the leadership qualities that would be necessary in a school principal. The paper presents many of its points in point-form.

From the Paper:

"Successful school leaders understand the importance of a vision, positive culture, effective management, collaboration, fairness, and political understanding. I believe that all of these standards are essential to the success of the school. A principal to me is very similar to the coach of a sports team. I currently have no experience as a school principal, but I do have quite a bit of experience as the coach of a girls' basketball team. Personally, I can interpret the standards from that viewpoint and make the connection between leading the team and leading a school. With a sports team, the vision is to develop the skills of each player on the team, and ultimately to win. But this can't be done unless the players play as a team. I often tell my players that there is no "I" in team. Our success is based on the performance of all of the players. Collaboration is essential. Practice is an essential part of a team's success. This is the where most of the skill development takes place. It is the instructional component of the game. During a game, a coach must demonstrate fairness when deciding who plays. There are periods with set amounts of time and this time must be managed effectively. Timeouts and substitutions need to be planned out, but of course things don't always go as planned, so flexibility is a must. Lastly, a coach must know how to interact with the referees, the political/social/legal component of the game."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Bass, Bernard M (1985), Leadership and performance beyond expectations, New York: Free Press.
• Conger, Jay A. and Rabindra N. Kanungo (1987), Towards a behavioral theory of charismatic leadership in organizational settings. Academy of Management Review 12/4: 637-647.
• Burns, John M. (1978), Leadership, New York: Harper and Row
• Bernstein, R. Should You Be the Boss? Mar 99, Vol. 108 Issue 6, p33, 3p, 1c
• Duffy, F.M. Supervising Schooling, Not Teachers. Educational Leadership, May 97, Vol. 54 Issue 8, p78, 6p

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