It doesn’t matter if you are a school teacher or a school administrator you are in the business of leadership as well as education. With all of the responsibilities that teachers have the one that is the most critical is the one that seems to get over looked and that is leadership. Principals and vice-principals have to lead, that is the nature of their position. However, many administrators lack leadership qualities for a variety of reasons many of which are personality based. Teachers who embrace leadership posses certain qualities that ultimately translates into them becoming effective school administrators. Teachers who aspire to be school administrators, principals and vice principals need to develop five essential qualities if they are going to be effective educational leaders

 

The First C of Effective Educational Leaders

 Character

 Character is a very abstract word and needs some type of definition in order to put some feet to this essential quality. Character is a set of behavior traits that define what sort of person an individual is. It determines whether a person will effectively achieve goals, be forthright in dealing with others and will obey the laws and rules of the group. Although character is related to personality, it is not the same thing. Personality is primarily inborn traits, while character consists of learned behavior and is usually taught to a person by his/her parents when they are very young. It would bode well for a person who is considering a leadership position to evaluate what their values are and decide if they have the character qualities that are necessary to effectively motivate, and inspire people to perform at their personal best. With that in mind I like to define character in very simple terms; “The ability to subordinate and impulse to a value.” An effective educational leader has a clear understanding of what his/her values are and has a core set of values and principals that they use to lead and base their decisions on.

 

Leaders make decisions based on who they are inside. They engage in activities based on

who they are inside. Without character a leader cannot “walk the talk” for the long-term.

Though he or she may start well, eventually the true character emerges and the path of

integrity is left behind for the path that gratifies self-serving desires. Hence, there are

situations where leaders espouse the talk but fail miserably in the implementation of the walk.

 

Character also determines how a leader will engage in the work of leadership. Those of

highly developed and noble character will handle problems with grace and tact, while

those of baser character will resort to such tactics as manipulation, power plays, over control, emotional outbursts, and tirades that tear down the one who is addressed.

Character then is a compass that shows which way to go. If the compass is off-kilter,

then so will be the steps of the leader.

 
The Second C

 Consistency

 I think that it is important to understand what the dictionary definition of consistency is: Consistency – steadfast adherence to the same principles, course, form, etc. There is consistency in his pattern of behavior. Check out the sentence that helps to define the word, educational leaders need to be consistent in their patterns of behavior. I also find it interesting that words like steadfast and principles are used. Educational leaders who are consistent produce security in the minds of the people who they are leading by creating an environment where everyone is aware of their methods of management and approach to solving problems. Teachers who are consistent, have clear expectations for their students have less behavior problems and spend more time teaching their students than disciplining them. Administrators who are consistent develop the same security in their staff and are viewed as a team player and who has the ability to see further down the road than those around him/her can.

 

The Third C

Confidence

 A confident leader knows what to do or how to go about finding out what to do in any given set of circumstances. Effective educational leaders know who they are and are confident in their own skin. Confident leaders know who they are. They not only know who they are but can they can separate who they are and who they want to be from what the world thinks they are and wants them to be. No one can teach a person how to become themselves, take charge, and to express themselves except the leader themselves. A confident leader knows how to teach themselves, accept responsibility (blame no one) and use their experience as a tool to reflect on their own performance. Confident leaders are not afraid of making mistakes and can admit their mistakes when they make them. They are not threatened by teachers or other administrators who may know more than them, rather they use these people as a resource to help improve instruction, student discipline, and school climate.

 

The Fourth C

 Commitment

 It really doesn’t matter what profession you are in if you are not committed to it failure is imminent. Educators have always had to struggle to make a descent salary and many of them have had to work other jobs just to be able to feed their families. Often these jobs are at night and may require a person to work late hours, maybe as late as midnight. This leaves little time for rest and preparation for the task the next day of working with students. Sometimes these jobs may pound for pound pay more than the persons teaching job and may provide a better income than teaching. It is extremely difficult to be committed to a profession that doesn’t provide the necessary income to meet the needs of a growing family. Personally I experienced this problem with commitment during my first ten years of teaching. I suffered from the teacher, bartender, painter, real estate salesman syndrome. I worked as many jobs as I could in order to make ends meet. It wasn’t until I realized that in order to be successful I had to commit myself to something for the long term. I chose to remain in teaching and worked to develop my skills and use my credentials as a teacher and an administrator. Everyone benefited when I committed myself to one thing. I did and so did my family. My students did, and so did my career. There was a sense of security that developed in my mind and in the minds of my children. I became steadier, consistent, and yes committed to my job. Getting committed and staying committed not only improved my outlook about my profession but about life as well.

 

The Fifth C

 Courage

 When we think of courage in light of educational leadership I think it is important to realize what are fears really are. In my experience I have found that that the biggest fear that most people have is the fear of other people. Angry parents, administrators who are dictatorial, and power hungry students all have the ability to instill fear in the hearts and minds of educators and can make their professional and personal lives almost unbearable. It is obvious that we can’t control others so we have to have the courage to change ourselves and have the courage to manage the behaviors of people that we would otherwise fear. Our own emotional maturity is the key to developing courage and having the ability to confront without condemning can create a balance between courage and consideration. Stephen Covey in his book “The 7Habits of highly Effective People” offers a wonderful definition of emotional maturity, “The ability to express one’s own feelings and convictions balanced with consideration for the thoughts and feelings of others.” Courage then is the ability to express your concerns and still have the ability to see life from another person’s point of view. As educational leaders we certainly don’t want to be treated like a four year old nor do we want to be a door mat for an angry parent or child. Expressing ourselves without creating a stressful and tense learning environment is a true example of courage.