Running head: LEADERSHIP PHILOSOPHY

Leadership Philosophy

Alexa Forster March 19, 2014

EDAD 570: Leadership in Education I Monica Nixon

LEADERSHIP PHILOSOPHY 1 The term leadership encompasses a plethora of meanings. It is crucial to understand the

purpose of leadership in order to discover how it manifests and how one can become and

maintain leadership status. I believe that leaderships overarching purpose is to provide a guiding

light for an organization. Leadership is necessary for institutions of higher education to motivate

employees towards a common goal and to ensure the shared goals are achieved. According to

Witherspoon (1996), leadership is an interaction process in which an individual, usually through

the medium of speech, influences the behavior of others towards a particular end.

Ideally, as stated above, leadership should be rooted in the ability to influence a group of

people to pursue shared objectives that are held by a majority, but leadership often becomes the

process of persuasion by a leader or leadership team to induce employees to achieve goals held

by just the leader or minority group (Gardner, 2000).

I believe that influencing others to pursue a shared goal is the purpose of leadership not

only because of literature that supports this definition, but also because of how I have

experienced leadership firsthand. I always looked to leaders to provide a vision that would

provide guidance for me to achieve end goals. Without leadership, employees and more broadly

people would wander aimlessly. Most feel they need leadership in order to be productive and

stay on task to work towards shared objectives.

Leadership can look different depending on what an institution needs from the leader at a

particular time and depending on which hat the leader is wearing on any given day (Heifertz,

Grashow, & Linsky, 2009). Leadership may show up very authoritative one day and the next be

quiet. An example of leadership appearing very stoic and presidential, so to speak, would be how

leadership is displayed when a tragedy strikes a campus. When such an event happens, often

leaders step into the spotlight to deliver a message, answer questions and comfort a grieving

LEADERSHIP PHILOSOPHY 2 population. During stressful times, the demand for leadership and the risk of failure are greatest

(Brown, 2006). Other times, leadership may look far less visible. An example of this is when

leaders take on the role of an anthropological sleuth. As leadership manifests in this role, leaders

are on the ground trying to soak up as much culture as possible to gain a better understanding of

the traditions and rituals that are built into an institutions history (Deal & Peterson, 2000).

It is easy to be a self-proclaimed leader, but far more difficult to be an effective leader.

One thing that effective leaders do is to provide oversight to an organization, while limiting the

control that they have over their employees. [One] cannot direct people into perfection; [they]

can only engage them enough so that they want to do perfect work (Wheatley, 2000, p.344).

Effective leaders understand the intricacies of an organization and know what is going on, but

also trust their employees to find solutions to problems and move the institution forward. Control

mechanisms only stifle employees ability to do quality work so leaders need to trust their

subordinates and give them the freedom to do so without the controlling and overbearing

management of a leader (Wheatley, 2000).

Effective leaders also labor to meld [the] past, present, and future into a coherent

cultural tapestry (Deal & Peterson, 2000, p.202). They are able to do this through assuming

several symbolic roles in their work to shape features of the culture (Deal & Peterson, 2000,

p.202). Symbolic leadership plays an important role in a leaders effectiveness. Leaders who are

most effective immerse themselves into institutional culture in order to learn and know the innate

workings of the organization. They also tap in to resources to begin to mold an institution.

Another thing that effective leaders can do is possess a clear set of ethical standards

which can be communicated and understood (Brown, 2006, p.8) to their constituents. Having

expectations and values that are transparent will aid in a leaders ability to gain the trust of their

LEADERSHIP PHILOSOPHY 3 employees. It is important that if a leader articulates a set of ethical standards, that they model

the use of those through their actions. Words and images invoked from the heart convey

powerful sentiments (Deal & Peterson, 2000) but mean nothing if a leader does not back those

words up with actions that convey the same message.

In my opinion, leaders are effective if they can motivate their employees to work together

towards a common goal. Leadership, as discussed above, is the ability to articulate a vision that

members of an organization can then follow to achieve a shared goal. Whether it is motivating

constituents to do something that they do not necessarily want to do, or motivating them to do

something that the leader does not want to do, effective leaders can use influence and persuasion

to get work accomplished in a quick and efficient way.

In identifying myself as a leader, I show up as a leader in certain roles that I play in my

life, and in other areas, I do not see myself as much of a leader. Although I wear many different

hats, I examine my role as a leader in three different contexts below.

With regard to my job as a Program Assistant for Residential Life at UW, I have been

able to embody a leadership mentality through adaptive leadership. I have worked to develop

informal authority by creating and maintaining mutually beneficial relationships with my

colleagues. I also work to increase my informal authority by modeling reliability and exchanging

favors and support with colleagues (Heifertz, et al, 2009). Reading the Heifertz, et al. (2009)

article was quite validating because I was able to put a name to the type of leadership style I

embrace as a Program Assistant, that of adaptive leadership. Something I find so unique and

refreshing about adaptive leadership is that it is leadership that can exist in employees in entry

and mid-level positions. You do not have to be at the top of an organizational hierarchy to be a

leader (Witherspoon, 1996) and this is why adaptive leadership resonates with me so well. With

LEADERSHIP PHILOSOPHY 4 regard to the Leadership Identity Development Model, I would say in the context of work, that I

am somewhere in Stage 4 of leadership. I think this because I understand that I can be a leader

without a title and am able to see the big picture goals of our organization. I enjoy working with

others to accomplish tasks and am working to practice leadership in peer relationships (Komives,

Longerbeam, Owen, Mainella, & Osteen, 2006).

I do not consider myself a leader, however, in the context of being a student at Seattle

University. I feel as though I am still trying to establish my identity as a full time graduate

student and full time employee and how those roles work together so that I can show up as a

leader as a student in the Student Development Administration program. Part of my inability to

consider myself a student leader is because of the lack of face time, so to speak, that I have had

at with colleagues at SU. I also have found it unique that I am now among many other students

who identify as leaders in one way or another and have come to realize that I have not yet found

my fit in a community of leaders. I have dedicated my energy to becoming a better leader at

work and thus have let slip my potential to be a leader in another area of my life. In the context

of the Leadership Identity Development model, I would categorize myself in Stage 1 and

transitioning to Stage 2 because I currently do not identify as a leader, but want to become more

involved and become active in the SU community (Komives et al., 2006). I have received

affirmation from faculty at school and other influential people in my life who see me as a leader,

but I need to begin engaging in diverse contexts and become more involved in order to see

myself as one in the context of being a student (Komives et al., 2006).

In my personal life, among family and friends, I consider myself a leader. I think of

myself as a leader in my personal life because of the external validation that I have received from

people that I consider my developmental influences (Komives et al., 2006). Those people would

LEADERSHIP PHILOSOPHY 5 include my parents and grandparents, teachers and coaches, and even some of my close friends.

The more you get this validation from others, the more you begin to see yourself as such, and

over the years, that is what has happened to me.

It is important that I recognize that I am continuously trying to understand how I am

changing over time and thus how I continue to interact with different systems (work, school,

personal life) that I come into contact with. I need to maintain a diagnostic mindset and

constantly strive to work at my best depending on the organization I am working in (Heifitz,

Grashow, & Linsky, 2009). I am anxious to have the opportunity to further develop as a leader in

the various roles I play. I believe that I can do this through absorbing new literature, taking the

opportunity to participate in professional development opportunities through work and school,

and continuing to learn from my mentors who I consider to be effective leaders.

It is important to identify the intersection of salient identities and leadership as they

mutually influence each other. When exploring my identity and in particular identifying which

aspects show up most in the practice of my leadership, I believe that my racial identity as a

White person, is reflected. I know this identity contributes to my leadership style, even if I do

not intend it to. In order to be an effective leader, I need to be in a position where I am catering

to the needs of all of my constituents. I think it is not only vital to acknowledge the privilege

that being a White person carries, but also work diligently to understand the unique needs of the

people I am trying to lead. This starts with me understanding my self-identity and continues

with my ability to develop a sound multicultural competence consisting of building awareness

and knowledge of diverse others as well as a skillset to work with diverse others (Pope,

Reynolds, & Mueller, 2004). One way I can begin to tap into multicultural competence would

be to build relationships and trust with employees.

LEADERSHIP PHILOSOPHY 6 The most effective managers spend time building relationships with key constituents

(Bolman & Gallos, 2011). Taking the time to listen to others and build foundational

relationships will allow me the opportunity to identify needs of people whose salient identities

differ from my own, but will also give me a chance to build trust with the people who I work

with. Building trust will make both me, as a leader, and my employees work harder and more

effectively to achieve a common goal (Bolman & Deal, 2000). Having the ability to trust my

employees and have them trust me will be key in making it possible to be an effective leader.

I engage a variety of resources in my leadership style in order to be as effective as

possible. One resource that I tap into frequently is the garbage can model of decision-making.

The garbage can model is a result of pouring problems, participants, and opportunities into a

mix of possibilities (Witherspoon, 1996, p. 104) and trying to sort it out to find the best

possible solution. I tend to use this decision-making model because I like to have an opportunity

to hear all of the possible voices around the table before making a decision. I would categorize

this as ends-based thinking because I like to make decisions that will produce the best outcome

for the greatest number of people (Kidder, 1995). Although Witherspoon claims the rational

decision-making model is contrary to the garbage can model, I find them similar in that it is

important in both models to gain information from all possible resources (Witherspoon, 1996). I

understand that relying on these decision-making models too heavily though may impede my

ability to make quick and efficient decisions. These models, however, are not the ideal

frameworks to use when a decision needs to be made when limited time is available. Although I

would love to think that time is always on my side, unfortunately, that is not always the case.

Because I enjoy the garbage can model of decision-making, I have come to realize,

particularly when I am under a tight time crunch, that I underutilize my own knowledge to make

LEADERSHIP PHILOSOPHY 7 decisions. I tend to be indecisive at times because I am afraid of making a decision that will not

please all parties, often forgetting that I have a wealth of knowledge that can aid me in making

the best decision. I need to take time to remember that it is not possible to make perfect

decisions that will please everyone and I need to use my intuition and knowledge to make what I

feel is the best decision for the greatest good. While it is ideal to not upset people while making a

decision, the reality is that I will have to make decisions throughout my career that are

controversial. I need to trust that I will make the right decision and stand by that through the

implementation of that choice.

Another resource that I enjoy engaging in with my leadership style is my networking

ability. As detailed above, I place heavy emphasis on building relationships with colleagues, and

particularly those outside of my direct unit or department because all of these people will

contribute to success. As a manager, you need friends and allies to get things done (Deal &

Peterson, 2000, p.170). It is necessary to build and maintain relationships with these allies and to

pay it forward in offering assistance and support when able so that other employees know I can

be trusted and also will support me when I need their allegiance. I feel as though this relates to

the importance of increasing my formal authority in the workplace as well. Fostering mutually

beneficial relationships and exchanging favors and support with others will go a long way in

developing my leadership identity (Heifitz et al., 2009).

Speaking of building relationships, one area that I would like to engage more in would be

building relationships with mentors. It is crucial that I have developmental influences that can

support and encourage me throughout my leadership journey. These mentors will aid in my

ability to develop and become a better leader (Komives, Longerbeam, Owen, Mainella, &

Osteen, 2006). I think that I have observed and learned a lot of colleagues and peers, but have

LEADERSHIP PHILOSOPHY 8 not developed formal mentor/mentee relationships with any of these people. I hope that this is

an area that I can continue to tap in to as I develop and engage in my leadership skills.

The last resource that I heavily rely on when engaging in leadership is my practical

knowledge. I have found, particularly so since becoming a student, that I love to use practical

knowledge gained in the student affairs field to guide my leadership style. I am an observer of

my work so I like to look for information or knowledge that I can gain not only from my own

experiences at work, but my colleagues interactions as well. I have noticed when I am in class

or talking with peers that I most often contribute with knowledge gained at work versus

information obtained through reading or theoretical frameworks.

On the other side of the knowledge coin, I think I underutilize classroom knowledge in

my leadership style. I am continuing my education to gain insight into how to be a successful

professional, and I think part of that learning comes from taking theory and frameworks and

being able to put them in to practice in the workplace. I think I can better tap in to this area by

making concentrated efforts to use theoretical frameworks to guide conversations I am having

with students. For example, the leadership identity development model is one that I can use to

aid student leaders in their own personal leadership development (Komives et al., 2006), but I

often forget to utilize this classroom knowledge. As I continue through school, it is my hope to

become more comfortable with a more natural incorporation of theoretical frameworks.

In the spirit of utilizing theoretical frameworks to inform my leadership practice, I

undoubtedly feel as though I best embody leader as a politician. This framework speaks to my

strengths, and thus within it would come most natural to me. I feel like my skillset is particularly

strong in setting an agenda, networking and building coalitions, and bargaining and negotiating.

Mapping the political terrain is something that will be harder to achieve because it is

LEADERSHIP PHILOSOPHY 9 contextually rooted in specific institutions. Knowing whom the players are, what the interests of

each player are, and how much power each player is likely to wield will take time to discover

and understand. I think I would be able to map the political terrain by embodying the

anthropological sleuth role that is discussed in Deal & Peterson (2000). It would be beneficial to

spend a year soaking up the culture of an institution in order to understand the key players and

their particular agendas, and that is something I would do when coming in to a new institution.

This may have been a contributing factor to President Quixotes demise (Bolman & Gallos,

2011). Quixote came into his presidency with a hot agenda and took no time to learn or

appreciate existing structures and processes. Thus, he struggled to achieve buy-in from his

constituents and ended up eventually being removed from office after a series of no-confidence

votes (Bolman & Gallos, 2011).

I think a benefit of the political leadership framework is that it begins with setting a

strong agenda that articulates a clear vision of the purpose and long-term goals of an

organization. It has been articulated in many different texts that establishing a clear vision is

important to any leadership style (Deal & Peterson, 2000; Heifitz et al., 2009). In my opinion,

setting an agenda and always having the lens to see the big picture will aid in any leaders ability

to go far in their leadership ventures.

A potentially negative aspect of this framework is that, on the surface, it lacks the ethic of

care and encouraging of the heart. As a leader who likes to work within the political leadership

frame, if I do not find the time and space to participate in recognition and care and compassion

of my constituents, I will lose their loyalty very quickly (Kouzes & Posner, 2003). A leader as a

politician and a caring leader must be one and the same and must work in concert with one

another in order to produce the most effective leadership style.

LEADERSHIP PHILOSOPHY 10 One situation that exemplifies my leadership was the development of a process for Spring

Quarter housing tours at the University of Washington. In a given three week span each year,

our department hosts 7,000 visitors including prospective students and their families who come

to tour the on-campus residential hall and apartment communities that we offer. Historically, we

have provided traditional tours, in which two tour guides lead a large group through our spaces,

three times a week for guests, but with the exponential growth of our residential communities

and influx in the number of people touring campus during the spring time, the demand to see

spaces far outweighed our capacity to provide them. Because I had prior experience with

facilitating tours as a student at the University of Washington, I was tasked to work with a

colleague in our Student Services Office to develop a completely new tour process that would

allow us to accommodate the large volumes of customers we were expecting to campus. We

were given this project in October of 2012 and had until the middle of March 2013 to solidify

plans for this new tour structure. The two of us met weekly to brainstorm, plan and eventually

execute a new process. This new structure included providing open house tours to visitors in

which we had a central hub where we provided information and had promotional videos running.

We offered tours of a residence hall and an apartment complex and tours left every ten minutes.

We held open houses for four hours every weekday during the three-week period. My colleague

and I also hired 50 student staff to serve as tour guides.

A leadership frame that I utilized while engaging in this process was the political frame.

The director of our Housing & Food Services department always says that filling beds is

everyones responsibility, meaning that even though only two of us developed this new process,

every unit within housing had a stake in ensuring the tours were successful. This caused the

need to navigate bureaucracy throughout my entire experience building this tour structure. I had

LEADERSHIP PHILOSOPHY 11 to set a strong agenda and then negotiate with stakeholders in order to secure space, funding, and

staff for the open house tours (Bolman & Gallos, 2011). In order to negotiate, it was imperative

to first map the political terrain in order to mobilize enough power to move our initiative

forward (Bolman & Gallos, 2011). I needed to present our agenda and plan to the correct

people in power who had the authority to approve our ideas and move our plan toward action.

In large part, my approach in developing this process was successful. Our department

was able to accommodate the most visitors during the three-week spring period in our history.

This was due to the implementation of the new structure that my colleague and myself created.

Working in a department that is very driven by data and results, as is evident in many

bureaucratic organizations (Manning, 2013), from the perspective of management, this was our

most successful tour season. While I believe that using the political frame allowed me to

develop a sound tour process that accommodated the needs of the prospective students and

guests visiting the University of Washington, those were not the only people who deserved my

attention.

After the tour season ended and I had time to reflect on the process, I knew that I did not

provide the best leadership to our student employees who needed direction as tour guides, during

this time. This is where I should have used the human resources frame of leadership to facilitate

better communication and support to our students who were volunteering their time to ensure the

success of the tour process. Our students often felt confused about the expectations that the

department had of them and, at times, did not feel like I was providing them with clear

instructions. I had assumed that they had received all necessary information through our training

sessions prior to the start of tour season, and disregarded that I should have periodically checked

in with them to make sure that they were comfortable in their role as tour guides. I should have

LEADERSHIP PHILOSOPHY 12 used my leadership to encourage people to bring their best talents and selves to work (Bolman

& Gallos, 2011). I should have spent time building trust with my employees and given them the

resources and space they needed to make them as successful as possible in their role as tour

guides (Bolman & Gallos, 2011). Lastly, I should have provided the support, coaching, and care

that my staff needed throughout the tour season (Bolman & Gallos, 2011). By doing this, the

staff would have felt more confident in their abilities to lead tours effectively. One aspect of the

human resources model of leadership that I did utilize, however, was hiring the right people who

had the experience and knowledge to be successful as a tour guide.

Throughout the process of developing the open house tour process at the University of

Washington, I learned that most likely, to be successful as a leader, that it is necessary to

simultaneously utilize multiple frameworks of leadership. I would have been more successful as

a leader in this particular situation if I could have used aspects from both the political frame and

the human resources frame to establish my leadership. I get caught up in thinking using one

frame of mind and I need to work to expand my way of thinking so that I am able to incorporate

a multitude of frameworks in my day-to-day work. The best way, in my opinion, to develop the

skills to think in different leadership frames is through practice in the student affairs field. I will

continue to challenge my way of thinking with the hope of growing as a practitioner to become

the most successful leader I can be.

LEADERSHIP PHILOSOPHY 13 References

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Brown, D.G. (Ed.). (2006). University presidents as moral leaders. Westport, CT: American

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LEADERSHIP PHILOSOPHY 14 Pope, R.L., Reynolds, A.L., & Mueller, J.A. (2004). Multicultural competence in student

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