Week Three: Effective Leaders

This week we have learned a vast amount of information in regards to how I now view an effective leader. I was given a portrait of how an authentic leader is one who is genuine and sincerely has the vision of the school among their forefront. In my opinion, they will do what is necessary to reach the goal because it is a part of their belief system. They are able to strategic plan for success and when problems arise they can solve them in a constructive, concise manner. These leaders, to me are very confident in what they do and it would be presumed that they were born to lead.
Next we compared and contrasted servant and steward leadership. As stated in the Jossey-Bass Reader on page 80, "Servant leadership is to give a sense of direction, to establish an overarching purpose." I agree and add to that by saying a servant leader is one who leads by serving others. The best cliché that we often hear that comes to mind, when thinking of servant leadership is,” when you find a great leader your have found a great follower.” Abraham Maslow’s theory of hierarchy of needs states in order for someone to obtain personal growth they must go through the different tiers of needs. With that mentioned, an administrator would need to care and serve their staff in order to help them to reach their full potential in life. Stewardship on the other hand, would be define as the administrator who is responsible for taking care to make sure all parties that are related to the school are taking care of. The school is not theirs; however, they have responsibility to make sure the school climate is a positive working and learning environment. The main difference I comprehended between servant and steward leadership is that the servant assist and helps and stewards manage, administer and delegates task that should be done.
With all of that learned I think Leadership has to implement and encourage vision in a school. I believe characteristics of successful leaders should promote teacher leadership and student learning, they should be great listeners and have strong communication skills, they should be willing to lead by example, and possess the traits to have a genuine concern to assist their staff with personal growth.