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Leadership

What is Leadership?

Defined

  • A process of influencing the activities of an organized group in its efforts toward goal setting and goal achievement - (Stogdill, 1950)
  • The process of influencing the activities of an individual or a group in efforts toward goal achievement in a given situation - (Hersey & Blanchard, 1988)
  • Those who consistently make effective contributions to social order, and who are expected and perceived to do so - (Hosking, 1988)
  • The art of mobilizing others to want to struggle for the shared aspirations - (Kouzes & Posner, 1995)
  • A process of giving purpose (meaningful direction) to collective effort, and causing willing effort to be expended to achieve purpose - (Jacobs & Jaques, 1990)
Quotes
  • A leader is best when people barely know he exists, when his work is done, his aim fulfilled, they will say.. we did it ourselves - Lao Tzu
  • Leadership is about vision and responsibility, not power - Seth Berkley
  • The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands in times of challenge and controversy - Martin Luther King Jr
  • The employer generally gets the employees he deserves - J. Paul Getty
  • If your actions create a legacy that inspires others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, then, you are an excellent leader - Dolly Parton
  • The cost of leadership is self-interest - Simon Sinek
  • A leader is like a shepherd. He stays behind the flock, letting the most nimble go out ahead, whereupon the others follow, not realizing that all along they are being directed from behind - Nelson Mandela
  • Change will not come if we wait for some other person or some other time. We are the ones we've been waiting for. We are the change that we seek - President Barack Obama
  • There are two kinds of stones, as everyone knows, one of which rolls - Amelia Earhart
  • The pessimist complains about the wind. The optimist expects it to change. The leader adjusts the sails - John Maxwell
Educational Leadership Qualities?
  • Academic credibility, continued with managerial role (Spendlove, 2007)
  • Communication and negotiation skills
  • Systems knowledge
    • Procedures and rules
  • Are open and approachable
  • Empowers employees
    • Emphasizes employee strengths
    • Create environments where employees take responsibility for their own, and their team's, engagement
  • Are highly engaged (Adkins, 2015)
    • Female managers are more likely to be engaged (Fitch & Agrawal, 2015)
    • Higher levels of engagement = higher performance

Leadership versus Management (Chuang, 2013)

  • Leadership is people-oriented; Management is task-oriented
  • Leadership focuses on motivation and influence; Management focuses on directing and controlling
  • Leadership requires achievement; Management demands results
  • Leadership facilitates work; Management is engaged in work
  • Leadership appeals to the emotions; Management appeals to thought

7 Characteristics of Effective Education Leaders 

(Hinn, 2017)

  1. Continually learn, open to alternative ideas and perspectives
  2. Service-oriented, team needs first
  3. Positive energy, promoting positive actions and attitudes
  4. Proactive, seeking positive alternatives and utilizing constructive feedback
  5. Work-Life balance, develop vision boards (long-term goals)
  6. Adventurous, enjoys challenges and exploring best options
  7. Create synergy, effective communicator, integrates strengths of team and organization
Types of Leadership
  • Context is critical to any leadership approach
    • Stogdill (1948) concluded that the qualities, characteristics, and skills required of a leader are determined to a large extent by the demands of the situation
    • Bass & Bass (2008) context must be studied when analyzing leadership and leadership capabilities
    • Leadership is a learned capability which is context specific

Autocratic/Authoritarian

  • Leader is the decision-maker for most or all aspects
  • Time efficient and typically clear expectations
  • Some team members will function well in this environment
  • Greater dependence on leader
  • Can lead to low morale, low creativity and innovation, group apathy
  • Ignores expertise from other team members
  • Most common approach in the American workplace (Manhattan College)

Democratic

  • Multi-level (within the team) leadership approach to meet goals
  • Shared decision-making seeking or offering the opportunity for input from all team members
  • Seeks a consensus
  • Employees/team feel heard and valued
  • Empowers creativity and innovation
  • Effective where team members have specialized roles (Manhattan College)
  • Inexperienced or new team members may lack development opportunities
  • Time-consuming

Laissez-faire

  • Leadership authority is delegated
  • Subordinates, employees, departments operate with little to no input from leadership
    • Forces other team members into leadership roles
  • For success, requires highly-experienced and highly motivated team
  • Inspires creativity but can overwhelm employees (Manhattan College)
  • Can result in
    • Leader-team disconnect, low productivity & lack of accountability
    • Poor quality work and less productivity

Servant

  • Power sharing approach
  • Prioritizes team and collective decision-making
  • Can boost morale, foster a positive culture & enhance diversity
  • Can create conflicts of interest

Situational

  • Different leadership approaches are utilized depending on the situation and maturity of the employee (Hersey & Blanchard, 1969)Task specific and adaptable to the need
  • Four behavior types:
    • Directing; Coaching; Supporting; Delegating
  • Characteristics of the situation and the decisions employed (Vroom & Yetton, 1973)
    • Decision-making ranges from autocratic - consultative - group-based
    • Developed 7 questions to determine followers involvement in the decision-making
  • Criticisms
    • Lack research, logic or theoretical justification
    • Theoretical and structural ambiguity

Transactional

  • Transactional - between a leader and a follower, clear chain of command
  • Rewards and punishments
  • A relationship in which the leader initiates an exchange of ‘valued things’ which motivate and bind followers to the leader (Goethals, 2005)
  • Limits creativity and innovation

Transformational

  • Transformational - transform followers into leaders
  • A transforming leader (Bass & Bass, 2008, p. 619)
    • Raises the followers' level of consciousness about the importance and value of designated outcomes and ways of reaching them;
    • Gets the followers to transcend their own self-interests for the sake of the team, organization or the larger polity; and
    • Raises the followers' level of need from lower-level concerns for safety and security to higher-level needs for achievement and self-actualisation
Mentoring
  • Mentoring is a one-on-one relationship in which "a more experienced or more knowledgeable person helps to guide a less experienced or less knowledgeable person" 
    (Hood, 2014)

Why Mentor?

  • It is beneficial to both the mentor and mentee
  • For the mentor (Howard, 2018)
    • Investment in the future of the program, department or college
    • Improves communication or supervisory skills
      • Develops positive and trusted relationships
    • Expands professional networks
    • Promotes self-reflection
      • What skills and attributes empowered progress along career path?
    • Offers an opportunity to influence the culture of the program, department or college

Mentoring Strategies

  • Mentor colleagues you believe in
  • Be available and approachable to requests from the mentee
  • Focus on the mentee
  • Set goals which accelerate the mentee's career goals
  • Share successes and failures that will assist the mentee
  • Be honest and challenge them to stay focused on their goals (Howard, 2018)
Morale/Culture

"Morale is a state of mind that involves feelings and emotions. Created uniquely within each employee and manifest collectively, it is often considered an elusive quality, but at its core it is knowable and demonstrable. It involves the attitude and perception toward the job, work environment, team members, managers, executives, and the organization as a whole" (Cheverie, 2018).

Why Mentor?

  • The 'people' in a program, department or college are the most important and expensive resource who drive it's character and reputation
  • Therefore the 'people' need to care and be invested in the program, department or college
  • A positive culture needs to be established typically consisting of
    • Shared governance and by-in to the mission and goals
    • Individual empowerment to perform and attain goals
      • Develop confidence and discipline
    • Support
      • To fulfill roles and expectations
      • Take appropriate risks (creative/innovative)
    • Pay/compensation equity for role and responsibilities
      • Women of color earn only 67 cents on the dollar compared with white men in the higher-education work force (CUPA-HR, 2018)
      • Perceived pay inequities can cause significant declines (52%) in productivity and 13.5% increase in absenteeism (Breza, Kaur & Shamdasani, 2018)

Enhancing Morale

  • Engage meaningfully with the team
  • Effectively and efficiently communicate
    • Honest, consistent and open
  • Challenge the team and encourage creative approaches to these challenges
    • Utilize the teams' strengths
  • Delegate to develop trust and confidence
  • Encourage professional development
    • Provide opportunities to develop new skills and capabilities
  • Recognize and acknowledge your team's successes and development
  • Support your staff and take responsibility where appropriate
    • Buffer them from unnecessary issues (Cheverie, 2018)

Low Morale

  • Need to address as soon as possible... it involves feelings and emotions
  • Be open in rectifying
  • Identify the causes (there is always more than one!)
    • Common causes include (Cheverie, 2018)
      • Poor leadership, particularly trust
      • Lack of clear expectations
      • Dissatisfaction with current role or position in team
      • Other colleagues (one bad apple.....)
  • Low morale is costly
    • Poor productivity or quality of work
    • Turnover removes valuable assets, knowledge and capabilities
      • Costs in covering for absent colleague while searching for a replacement
      • Search costs
      • New employee training and development
    • Absenteeism

Leadership Roles?

Depending on how leadership is viewed, there are many roles for the leader to fulfil. 

Accountant
Adviser
Arbitrator
Coach
Colleague
Commander
Conductor/director
Disciplinarian

Evaluator
Example/model
Explorer
Facilitator
Friend
Fundraiser
Guide
Interim ____________?
Manager
Mentor
Moderator
Motivator
Organizer

Politician
Referee/judge
Representative/spokesperson
Reviewer
Servant
Sponsor
Supporter/advocate
Teacher/tutor
Team builder
Trailblazer
Visionary

Resources

May 26, 2022