Effective Leadership

In the few short weeks since classes have started at JHU, my ideas about leadership have become more thoughtful and focused. I have had the opportunity to study and reflect on multiple theories and ideas presented in Fullen, Burrello and other resources. I believe, after reviewing these resources and thinking about my own leadership style, that I bring my own values, beliefs, experiences and personna to any situation and then these factors influence how I lead. I also believe that I can affect my own style by being thoughtful about what I do and how I perform based on what I know about best practices in leadership. Those practices are the ideas that are commonly viewed as the most effective in leading school organizations from sources that I have studied.

I believe that effective leaders in schools strive to develop a dynamic, learner-centered environment where there is collaboration among stakeholders. Teachers in this environment work in teams and strive to create dialogue with students and parents about learning with support from the administrator. These teams allow teachers to be creative in completing tasks.
The administrator is available for regular dialogue with parents and the community and is highly visible both in the school and community. The administrator is able to deal with daily tasks
through shared leadership and decision-making. I also believe that istructional leadership is part of how an administrator is able to have a reflective dialogue with teachers about technology high expectations for achievement.

A principal in this environment would need to have excellent communication skills and feel comfortable in open dialogue with diverse audiences in the school and community. At the same time this leader would need to be able to listen with understanding and ask thoughtful questions to gain important information. This leader needs to let go and share the leadership with teachers and others so that everyone has a stake in the way the school is operating. This characteristic will also allow the principal to accomplish the daily tasks of school operation. Coming in to a situation the principal needs to develop and share core beliefs and the vision that they bring to the situation so that a dialogue can begin with all stakeholders.
Most importantly to me, the leader needs to be genuine in dealing with situations and people in the school so that trust can be built and teachers, students, parents and community members can feel comfortable that the leader is honest and trustworthy.

I believe that if you were to visit my building (online) now, you would know from the information that I have shared here, that it is my building. Whenever a decision is to be made that affects staff we meet to decide as a team. Grade levels work in teams and learning communities. We still experience challenges, however, we approach them with dialogue and shared decision-making. I also wanted to add that the principles remain the same for me, whether we are talking about a virtual or a traditional building environment. Core beliefs, vision, effective leadership characteristics, qualities of an effective leader are similar. What changes in a virtual environment is the technology skill and knowledge of the administrator needed to lead virtually!