Leadership Philosophy
Great leaders have had to fill very large shoes. They have to inspire others to be their very best. My leadership philosophy is based on my extensive leadership training in administration. Leadership to me means being able to influence others to accomplish a common goal of the larger organization. While decisions must be considered carefully, I am a collaborative and authoritative/decisive leader. I like to collaborate with stakeholders and conduct needs assessments when necessary, but I also understand and know that sometimes I need to make decisions in a timely manner in response to problems. My style of being a collaborative leader and consulting with multiple groups of stakeholders before making important school decisions also helps everyone have buy in on decisions made for the better of the school mission. I believe that how a decision is made is just as important as the decision itself.
Leaders should want to create a positive environment that will help his or her followers understand that decisions made are in the best interest of the students or their stakeholders. The leader must lead by example, and demonstrate that what they focus on, they will get more of.
In addition to the positive environment, I feel that a leader must demonstrate a good professional relationship with the teachers, school, parents and surrounding community. As a prospective administrator, I would build a way of communication with parents to help get them involved in their child’s educational needs and the school needs. The community can provide the school and students with additional support they may need in order to be successful. I feel that if the community is supportive of the fact that students are trying to succeed, the students will be able to see that they are not in their educational experience alone. They have the proper and adequate amount of support in order for them to succeed in their educational goals. As a leader I have to be able to include all stakeholders.
Being a leader is not an easy task. Leaders should poses many characteristics so that stakeholders believe in and buy in the same vision and goal of the leader. Some of those leadership qualities are honesty, open to opinions and suggestions, a good listener, someone who provides constructive criticism and so on.