ETL504 Assessment 2 Part B

What is a leader?

Early in this subject I was intrigued by the concept of ‘Servant Leadership’, as it was not a term I had encountered before and it is the idea to which I come back to continually. The idea of leading to serve the best interests of others (Burkus, 2010; Kokemuller 2017) cuts to the very heart of leadership. Whether it be in the classroom, in the library, or in one’s personal life, leadership should be undertaken not for glory or adulation but to improve the circumstances of others. I feel that those who work with children are uniquely qualified to see the value in, and be called to, this style of leadership.

I have always considered myself a leader. Throughout my schooling and professional life I have always been the first to get involved and have usually found myself in leadership positions of some kind or another.

In undertaking this subject, however, I found myself encountering a new form of leadership. Failed leadership. Despite my best intentions, full immersion in the case studies and my study group (Group 7) did not occur. This was not the fault of the group. They pulled together fantastically, with the early Transactional Leadership style (‘let’s get this done’) making way smoothly to a Distributed Leadership with everyone falling neatly into their roles. My minimal participation was on me and this is something I have had to reflect on further.

It would be easy to say that I was busy (aren’t we all?) but I think there is value here, in this task of writing a reflective blog post, to reflect on the truth of the situation.

Case study 6 outlines a scenario that feels all too real for many of us who teach and though it is a feeling I am well acquainted with, this is the first time it has so impacted my life to the point that I have let responsibilities drop. In responding to this case study several students made reference to burn out and betraying one’s own expectations of self. Having studied this subject and considered deeply the ways in which TLs are called upon to be a leader for and among our students and peers, I think it is all too important to have a Plan B for when this ball is, invariably, dropped.

In planning forward, I would take measures to ward off a repeat of this semester. Improved time management and proper recognition that study, work, and family is a juggling act. I would strive towards the kind of leader I would want to be: one who wholeheartedly embraces collaboration to bring together the expertise and shared responsibility to improve a community (Johnstone, 2015). I would continue to call back on my preferred leadership style of Servant Leadership, but to also employ Transformational and Distributed Leadership styles as tools at hand as a combined approach to ‘motivate and inspire’ (Smith, Minor, & Brashen, 2018).

I think of what I would say to my students, call on my best practice, and I realise that I would say to them that this too is a learning experience. That not meeting your own expectations is not a failure, but an opportunity for growth. A leader takes obstacles and makes them challenges. Effective leadership means learning to work effectively through failures to make improvements.

 

Reference

 

Burkus, D. (2010). Servant leadership theory. In DB: David Burkus. Retrieved from http://davidburkus.com/2010/04/servant-leadership-theory/

 

Johnston, M. (2015). Distributed leadership theory for investigating teacher librarian leadership. School Libraries Worldwide, 21(2), 39–57. https://doi-org.ezproxy.csu.edu.au/10.14265.21.2.003

 

Kokemuller, N. (2017). Mintzberg’s five types of organizational structure. Hearst Newspapers: Small business. Retrieved from http://smallbusiness.chron.com/mintzbergs-five-types-organizational-structure-60119.html

 

Smith, G., Minor, M., & Brashen, H. (2018). Spiritual leadership: a guide to a leadership style that embraces multiple perspectives. Journal of Instructional Research, 7, 80–89. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.csu.edu.au/login.aspx?direct=true&db=eric&AN=EJ1188325&site=ehost-live

 

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