LARRY SMITH'S PHILOSOPHY
MARCH 29TH, 2022
GRAND CANYON UNIVERSITY
EAD-501
MARCH 29TH, 2022
GRAND CANYON UNIVERSITY
EAD-501
Personal Philosophy of Larry Smith
In the movie, “The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy”, the meaning of life and everything was discovered by the universes greatest computer, Deep Thought, after 10 million years of contemplation. The answer discovered was 42. As silly or humorous as this may be, personal philosophies are probably best delivered with the same answer: truly abstract. To illustrate my point, Northouse (2018) clearly states on multiple occasions and gives many examples of the differences in what leadership is or is thought to be. Having seen literally hundreds of examples of what good and bad leadership is and can do over the past 30 years, I have developed my own ideas of what good leadership should be. It is painfully simple and complex simultaneously. Good leadership is the leadership which is needed. This is my way of saying 42.
My leadership philosophy will be an extension of myself and my learned values I have obtained in my 52 years on this earth. I am a self-starter who firmly believes in razor sharp personal responsibility, integrity and never settling for less than my best effort. I would like to see, but don’t expect at first, these same qualities in the people I work with. I have learned that every individual has a different level of personal responsibility, integrity, and what they determine to be an acceptable outcome. My goal is to inspire people to be the best person they can be. I believe all external actions come from internal chaos or peace. A person’s actions on the outside tend to mirror what is going on inside, to a certain degree, at least. Taking a cue from a veteran principle, I would like to inspire and maintain the an amazing environment for optimal teaching and learning (Ritchie, 2013) by mentoring the ideals I just mentioned.
The leadership needed to satisfy my objectives set forth above will be as varied as the situations and people I work with are. My experience has taught me no one leadership style is a one size fits all. I have had leadership positions where my leadership style changed frequently as the training and maturity level of my subordinates varied dramatically. My tact, tone of voice, and method of giving instruction is much different when speaking to an 18 year old who had 3 days on the job and who needs constant and direct supervision as opposed to the well-seasoned 35 year old who needs nothing more than a general direction and a thank you. Being a school administrator, I suspect, will not be so different. Static staff, those who have a specific and routine function such as maintenance staff will benefit best from transactional leadership. Transactional leadership is nothing more, in reality, than basic management. Managing work load against resources, time and personnel are the primary function of management, and the primary result of transactional leadership. This works well in this type of environment, but does not work well with teachers or other professional staff. The reason for this is transactional leadership fails to motivate and challenge workers past expected outcomes (Sarros, & Santora, 2001).
Inspiring subordinates, peers, or colleagues to a higher plane of personal effectiveness is the essence of transformational leadership. It builds loyalty and commitment while also constructing a cohesive team. It is respectful of each individuals needs while adding to the overall value of the team. (Bass & Riggio, 2005) This is the second level of leadership I would like to obtain. I will not be able to obtain this level in a short amount of time, as the trust required between the staff and myself must have time to spark and grow. I will need to learn what level the staff is at individually and lead them from where they are, and not from where I think they ought to be. The issue of trust is a two way street. The staff will need time, perhaps 6 months, to fully accept me into the clan. I will be watched and talked about and discussed when I am not in ear shot. The staff will make individual and collective decisions if they feel me trustworthy enough for them to allow me to lead them. When I am deemed trustworthy, I may begin to collect their loyalty. This is the point where transformational leadership may begin.
An investment of time and consistent action is required from this point in order to achieve the optimum leadership role, which is one of servant leader. Concurrent with learning about the staff and engendering their trust, I will also be working on the same tasks with the outside stakeholders of the school. This process could take years to take full effect. Although the process is the same, the availability to spend time with and share the personal moments so vital to the growth of trust with the stakeholders is a very rare commodity, and the volume of shareholders as opposed to staff is enormous. The social phenomenon of word of mouth and rumors are just as much a part of this process and any action I personally take or don’t take. Essentially, people talk. When the community and stakeholders have a preponderance of positive messages about me and the work I’m doing and few negative reports, the goal of servant leader can be realized. I hold no illusions that bad things won’t be uttered against me, be they real or imagined. At the time servant leadership is possible after the required time to build trust has been satisfied, my primary job at that time will be to roll up my sleeves and listen. God gave me two ears and one mouth. I should use them accordingly. By genuinely listening to the community, a shared agenda can be developed, deeply rooted in our values as spoken by the hopes and experiences of the community. (Rebora, 2017)
I feel integrity is the core of every action I take, whether anyone is looking or not. To be honest with the people around me ensures I will be fair with all people around me. My solid belief in integrity at all costs can be summed up in what I told my wife when we were dating. It is true for intimate relationships and all other relationships as well. I asked her when she felt a relationship was over. She responded with multiple situations. I countered with a single short answer. A relationship dies with the first lie. Integrity is the foundation of trust. Trust is the foundation of leadership. When I discover someone has lied to me, I can never fully trust them again, and thereby I can never fully follow them. I may do what they ask because of loyalty to their position, but I can not trust the person. That persons ability to rise above a transactional leader, at least for me, will never exist again. My goal is to never break the trust placed in me. If the trust is intact, I can move through transactional to transformational to servant leadership. This process will provide the energy, tools, and resources to ensure success of every teacher, staff member and student at our school.
In conclusion, my emerging philosophy is still in the definition stage of Deep Thought’s finding of 42. Philosophies are fabulous statements to write, read, reflect upon and debate. I am not a big fan of, and rather loath, philosophy statements written to incorporate the latest political or social buzz words. I find them to be dishonest. As of this moment, my philosophy statement would be either really short or really long. The long version I have contained in this paper. The short version, which will probably change over the next two years while I am taking these courses and gaining experience, is as follows: My leadership philosophy is to demonstrate personal responsibility, justice and integrity in all things, and to inspire these attributes in all I have the pleasure of meeting.
References
Bass, B.M., & Riggio, R.E. (2005). Transformational Leadership (2nd ed.). Psychology Press. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781410617095
Northouse, P. G. (2018). Leadership (8th ed.). Sage Publishing.
Rebora, A. (2017, May 1st) Whole School Leaders. Perspectives. https://www.ascd.org/el/articles/whole-school-leaders
Ritchie, J.M. (2013). The Effective and Reflective Principle. Phi Delta Kappan, 94(8), 18-21
Sarros, J.C. and Santora, J.C (2001), “The transformational-tranactional leadership model in practice”, Leadership & Organization Development Journal, Vol 22 No 8, pp 383-394. https://doi.org/10.1108/01437730110410107
In the movie, “The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy”, the meaning of life and everything was discovered by the universes greatest computer, Deep Thought, after 10 million years of contemplation. The answer discovered was 42. As silly or humorous as this may be, personal philosophies are probably best delivered with the same answer: truly abstract. To illustrate my point, Northouse (2018) clearly states on multiple occasions and gives many examples of the differences in what leadership is or is thought to be. Having seen literally hundreds of examples of what good and bad leadership is and can do over the past 30 years, I have developed my own ideas of what good leadership should be. It is painfully simple and complex simultaneously. Good leadership is the leadership which is needed. This is my way of saying 42.
My leadership philosophy will be an extension of myself and my learned values I have obtained in my 52 years on this earth. I am a self-starter who firmly believes in razor sharp personal responsibility, integrity and never settling for less than my best effort. I would like to see, but don’t expect at first, these same qualities in the people I work with. I have learned that every individual has a different level of personal responsibility, integrity, and what they determine to be an acceptable outcome. My goal is to inspire people to be the best person they can be. I believe all external actions come from internal chaos or peace. A person’s actions on the outside tend to mirror what is going on inside, to a certain degree, at least. Taking a cue from a veteran principle, I would like to inspire and maintain the an amazing environment for optimal teaching and learning (Ritchie, 2013) by mentoring the ideals I just mentioned.
The leadership needed to satisfy my objectives set forth above will be as varied as the situations and people I work with are. My experience has taught me no one leadership style is a one size fits all. I have had leadership positions where my leadership style changed frequently as the training and maturity level of my subordinates varied dramatically. My tact, tone of voice, and method of giving instruction is much different when speaking to an 18 year old who had 3 days on the job and who needs constant and direct supervision as opposed to the well-seasoned 35 year old who needs nothing more than a general direction and a thank you. Being a school administrator, I suspect, will not be so different. Static staff, those who have a specific and routine function such as maintenance staff will benefit best from transactional leadership. Transactional leadership is nothing more, in reality, than basic management. Managing work load against resources, time and personnel are the primary function of management, and the primary result of transactional leadership. This works well in this type of environment, but does not work well with teachers or other professional staff. The reason for this is transactional leadership fails to motivate and challenge workers past expected outcomes (Sarros, & Santora, 2001).
Inspiring subordinates, peers, or colleagues to a higher plane of personal effectiveness is the essence of transformational leadership. It builds loyalty and commitment while also constructing a cohesive team. It is respectful of each individuals needs while adding to the overall value of the team. (Bass & Riggio, 2005) This is the second level of leadership I would like to obtain. I will not be able to obtain this level in a short amount of time, as the trust required between the staff and myself must have time to spark and grow. I will need to learn what level the staff is at individually and lead them from where they are, and not from where I think they ought to be. The issue of trust is a two way street. The staff will need time, perhaps 6 months, to fully accept me into the clan. I will be watched and talked about and discussed when I am not in ear shot. The staff will make individual and collective decisions if they feel me trustworthy enough for them to allow me to lead them. When I am deemed trustworthy, I may begin to collect their loyalty. This is the point where transformational leadership may begin.
An investment of time and consistent action is required from this point in order to achieve the optimum leadership role, which is one of servant leader. Concurrent with learning about the staff and engendering their trust, I will also be working on the same tasks with the outside stakeholders of the school. This process could take years to take full effect. Although the process is the same, the availability to spend time with and share the personal moments so vital to the growth of trust with the stakeholders is a very rare commodity, and the volume of shareholders as opposed to staff is enormous. The social phenomenon of word of mouth and rumors are just as much a part of this process and any action I personally take or don’t take. Essentially, people talk. When the community and stakeholders have a preponderance of positive messages about me and the work I’m doing and few negative reports, the goal of servant leader can be realized. I hold no illusions that bad things won’t be uttered against me, be they real or imagined. At the time servant leadership is possible after the required time to build trust has been satisfied, my primary job at that time will be to roll up my sleeves and listen. God gave me two ears and one mouth. I should use them accordingly. By genuinely listening to the community, a shared agenda can be developed, deeply rooted in our values as spoken by the hopes and experiences of the community. (Rebora, 2017)
I feel integrity is the core of every action I take, whether anyone is looking or not. To be honest with the people around me ensures I will be fair with all people around me. My solid belief in integrity at all costs can be summed up in what I told my wife when we were dating. It is true for intimate relationships and all other relationships as well. I asked her when she felt a relationship was over. She responded with multiple situations. I countered with a single short answer. A relationship dies with the first lie. Integrity is the foundation of trust. Trust is the foundation of leadership. When I discover someone has lied to me, I can never fully trust them again, and thereby I can never fully follow them. I may do what they ask because of loyalty to their position, but I can not trust the person. That persons ability to rise above a transactional leader, at least for me, will never exist again. My goal is to never break the trust placed in me. If the trust is intact, I can move through transactional to transformational to servant leadership. This process will provide the energy, tools, and resources to ensure success of every teacher, staff member and student at our school.
In conclusion, my emerging philosophy is still in the definition stage of Deep Thought’s finding of 42. Philosophies are fabulous statements to write, read, reflect upon and debate. I am not a big fan of, and rather loath, philosophy statements written to incorporate the latest political or social buzz words. I find them to be dishonest. As of this moment, my philosophy statement would be either really short or really long. The long version I have contained in this paper. The short version, which will probably change over the next two years while I am taking these courses and gaining experience, is as follows: My leadership philosophy is to demonstrate personal responsibility, justice and integrity in all things, and to inspire these attributes in all I have the pleasure of meeting.
References
Bass, B.M., & Riggio, R.E. (2005). Transformational Leadership (2nd ed.). Psychology Press. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781410617095
Northouse, P. G. (2018). Leadership (8th ed.). Sage Publishing.
Rebora, A. (2017, May 1st) Whole School Leaders. Perspectives. https://www.ascd.org/el/articles/whole-school-leaders
Ritchie, J.M. (2013). The Effective and Reflective Principle. Phi Delta Kappan, 94(8), 18-21
Sarros, J.C. and Santora, J.C (2001), “The transformational-tranactional leadership model in practice”, Leadership & Organization Development Journal, Vol 22 No 8, pp 383-394. https://doi.org/10.1108/01437730110410107
|
Name of Artifact: SMITH EAD-520 CIRRICULUM PLAN SURVEY
Date of Artifact: 11 October, 2022 Course #: EAD 520 ELCC Standard Alignment Rationale: Candidates understand and can collaboratively develop, articulate, implement, and steward a shared vision of learning for a school. (NPBEA, 2011, ELCC 1.1). Collaborating with staff for input on curriculum , which directly supports the vision and mission is a vital skill for educational leaders. ELCC 1.1 dictates candidates master collaboration for the effective administration of the school’s vision. National Policy Board for Educational Administration (NPBEA). (2011). Educational Leadership Program Recognition Standards: Building Level. |
Your browser does not support viewing this document. Click here to download the document.
|