The Principals Role as a Leader of Service -Critical Element Paper #2 Presented to the Department of Educational Leadership and Postsecondary

Education University of Northern Iowa -In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Master of Arts in Education -by Kim A. Kleinhans Becker Elementary School Waterloo, Iowa (May 31, 2012) -Dr. Charles McNulty

The Principals Role as a Leader of Service

This paper is the second in a series of four papers required by the University of Northern Iowa as a component of the Masters of Art in Education focusing on School Leadership. The intention of this paper is to articulate my philosophy of the role of a Principal as a Leader of Service. Throughout this paper I plan to provide an overview of servant leadership as it relates to the role of the school principal. In addition, I will provide a correlation to the Iowa Standards for School Leaders (ISSL), and highlight my internship experiences as they apply to the theory of servant leadership. The rearticulated term servant leadership first surfaced in 1970 in an essay written by Robert Greenleaf (Culver, 2010). This leadership style is based on the idea that the leader should not be in this role in order to improve his/her career or to exert dominance over others, but rather should be in the leadership role to improve the organization entrusted to him/her, and to empower those employed there in (Dierendonck, 2011). Since its emergence in the seventies researchers have had difficulty developing one absolute definition of servant leadership. Larry C. Spears, former director of the Greeleaf Center for Servant Leadership, studied the writings of Greenleaf and compiled a list of 10 characteristics thought to be essential parts of servant leadership (Dierendonck, 2011). According to Spears (2010) these characteristics include listening, empathy, healing, awareness, persuasion, conceptualization, foresight, commitment to the growth of people, and building community. Though Spears does not claim that these are the only tenants of servant leadership he does feel that these are the foundation upon which the theory rests. He puts a great deal of value upon this leadership style calling it a great hope for the future in creating better, more caring, institutions (Spears, 2010, p. 30). Culver (2010) summarized Spears ten characteristics as simply stewardship.

The Principals Role as a Leader of Service Dierendonck (2011) echoes Culvers idea of stewardship stating that Servants develop people and are stewards who work for the good of the whole (p. 1232). By empowering and

developing people he feels leaders encourage others to make decisions and work to their greatest potential. He accentuated the importance of capacity building by showing others they are valued members of the organization and recognizing their talents as well as drawing on the experience of those around him/her. All accomplishments are that of the collective group rather than the leader. He further believes that the leader should show authenticity by doing what he/she promises, being visible and honest. The leader is responsible for the feeling of the community. It is vital to Dierendonck that there be an atmosphere of trust where members of the community feel free to take risks, and make mistakes without fear. He further believes that a leader sets the course of the organization by providing clear direction and setting expectations for community members. In essence, according to Dierendonck, the servant leader must take responsibility for the organization demonstrating stewardship through creating a trusting culture, putting the best interest of the organization and followers first and by providing a model for others to follow. Russell and A. Gregory (2002) reviewed servant leadership noting that the servant leadership theory is somewhat undefined and not yet supported by sufficient empirical research (p. 153). In this work they outline nine functional and eleven accompanying attributes of servant leadership many of which overlap each other. The nine functional attributes include vision, honesty, integrity, trust, service, modeling, pioneering, appreciation of others, and empowerment. The accompanying attributes include communication, credibility, competence, stewardship, visibility, influence, persuasion, listening, encouragement, teaching, and delegation. One could conclude that based on these attributes servant leadership relies heavily on relationships and the values of the leader.

The Principals Role as a Leader of Service

While theorists might not be able to agree on one nicely stated definition of servant leadership or one concise set of characteristics it is clear throughout the literature that a servant leader does not lead in order to gain notoriety, rather he/she leads in order to improve those around him/her. Servant leadership relies heavily on establishing a relationship with others, creating a trusting community and empowering those within the organization. It is no surprise then that this theory of leadership would be a good fit within the school system. Education is often thought of as a compassionate occupation (Taylor, Martin, Hutchinson, & Jinks, 2007). In their research article, Taylor et al looked at public school principals who had been identified as servant leaders and the extent to which this leadership style affected the perception of their ability to challenge the system, promote vision, inspire others, model the way, and encourage the heart. Although Taylor et al called servant leadership an extension of transformational leadership they found that teachers rated principals identified as servant leaders as more effective in all five of these categories than those not identified as servant leaders (p. 405). In fact, servant leaders scored higher than any of the leaders from the business world, which were used for the normative data. The three highest teacher rated behaviors were defined as follows.

Modeling the way: Teachers expect the principal to not only define the expected behavior of the community, but also to live these behaviors themselves.

Enabling others: By building communities of trust and encouragement teachers expect that principals will bring out the best in all members of the staff, and will not lead by fear or intimidation.

Encouraging the heart of followers: Principals elicited the passion of others and light the fire of desire to achieve the vision.

The Principals Role as a Leader of Service By combining these behaviors the principal creates an environment where all members are expected to be their best and are not afraid to take risks. Teachers emerge as leaders themselves and a kind of collective leadership where teachers take ownership of the success and failure of school becomes the norm. Bowman (2005) states that, servant leadership forces educators out of their heads and into their hearts (p. 259). He proposes that if we encourage others to greatness we will in turn improve the organization. He feels that it is the responsibility of the leader to help others find hidden talents and encourage followers to seek out new interests. Culver (2010) has the same opinion; in fact, she generalizes it to life outside of the school as well. She states that Servant leaders understand that theyre responsible for helping their people grow as individuals. They also have a responsibility toward society and the disadvantaged. (p. 24). In her article she says that the principal should not lead by being loud and authoritarian. She believes that no one can be great at everything, and encourages leaders to surround themselves with skilled teachers in order to draw on their abilities to move the school forward. This does not make the servant leader weak; rather it builds a community of interdependence where once again the success and failure of the school is owned by all.

It is clear to see that many of these theorists affirm ideas, behaviors, and skills that link nicely to the Iowa Standards for School Leaders (ISSL). The first standard includes creating and articulating a shared vision for the school (Iowa Department of Education, 2008). Wilmore (2002) makes it clear that it is the principals responsibility to create and articulate the vision of the community; however she makes it equally clear that all stakeholders must be included in this vision. She feels that if they are involved they will be more likely to work toward the success of the vision, and will continue working toward this vision even when barriers make success difficult. By including everyone they become empowered and community of trust and support

The Principals Role as a Leader of Service emerges. This is not unlike theories discussed within this paper. Spears (2010) wrote that servant leaders employ listening, persuasion, conceptualization, foresight, commitment to the growth of people, and building community. Dierendonck (2011) wrote about creating a community and drawing on the expertise of others. Russell and Stone (2002) supported the attributes of vision, trust, pioneering, appreciation of others, and empowerment. Their accompanying attributes related to ISSL 1 included stewardship, persuasion, listening, encouragement, and delegation. Any combination of these behaviors will surely assist a principal with the creation of a vision for a school.

ISSL 2 states that a principal must be an educational leader and ISSL 3 demands a leader who can manage the day to day operations of the school (Iowa Department of Education). If the principal is successful under these standards he/she will create a collaborative community with a focus on student learning and continual teacher improvement which is maintained through skilled communication and excellent interpersonal skills. Wilmore (2002) supports the idea that the principal must be willing to try new things and make mistakes and must encourage this behavior in others. She feels it is important for the principal set the expectations that when the school hits bumps in the road they do not stop progress. As a group the school community must come together and work through the problems. This is one of the basic ideas in servant leadership that many of the theorists can agree upon (Bowman, 2005; Culver, 2010; Dierendonck, 2011; Spears, 2010; Taylor, Martin, Hutchinson, & Jinks, 2007). In addition, Russell and Stone (2002) make clear the importance of communication and trust within the community. ISSL 5, ethical leadership, also has close ties to servant leadership (Iowa Department of Education). As a principal you must act with integrity. Integrity takes a lifetime to build and only one moment to destroy. As reported by Taylor et al in their 2007 study the highest teacher

The Principals Role as a Leader of Service

rated behavior a leader of service can display was to lead the way. In addition, Russell and Stone perceived honesty, integrity, trust, modeling, and credibility to be among the most important attributes of a servant leader (2002). While it is true that principals need to surround themselves with quality teachers upon whom they can rely it is additionally clear that teachers expect they will have a principal upon whom they can depend. Someone they can look to for guidance and someone they can fashion their own behavior after. Throughout my internship experiences I have had the opportunity to demonstrate this form of leadership. While conducting my action research on the effects of Professional Learning Communities (PLC) on the climate of a building I was able to introduce the concept to my building. During the course of this research I was able to have a positive effect on the staff. We were able to come together and create a list of acceptable norms for behavior. We agreed as a staff what the vision of our PLCs would be and created ways to address violations of our norms. Through positive behavior and my commitment to the norms I was able to model for others what would be expected within our community. When things happened and conflict arose we were able to come together and work through the difficult time together. This experience couples nicely with my membership on the school leadership team. As a member of this team I am afforded the opportunity to come together with other professionals within our community to develop plans to move our school forward. We create professional development and assist teachers with new learning. We are visible in the community and approachable by others. Teachers are encouraged to ask questions without fear of judgment or ridicule. In addition to this project I have also been able to demonstrate my leadership of service through the supervision of a student teacher. By creating an environment within my classroom that was free of judgment she was at ease and able to try new and inventive ideas without fear of failure. I was able to communicate well with her and encouraged her to use the expertise of the

The Principals Role as a Leader of Service other community members to gain multiple points of reference for a skill or strategy. She was able to gain additional insight into the teaching profession by exposing her to additional leadership team conversations.

In the future I hope to continue with this leadership style by continuing my work with PLCs. It is my desire to continual display a positive attitude and embrace conflict as a means to move us forward as a community. My work within the leadership team will continue as well. We have vision for our school and through the hard work and dedication of our community we will achieve our goals. I aspire to be a leader of service. I agree with the findings of Taylor et al, two of the greatest attributes of a servant leader is the ability to model the way and encourage the heart. When used together they create a powerful force.

The Principals Role as a Leader of Service References

Bowman, R. F. (2005). Teacher as servant leader. Clearing House, 78(6), 257-259. Culver, M. K. (2010). Servant leaders: Its all about moving the pack forward. Women in Higher Education, 19(1), 24-25. Iowa Department of Education. (2008). Iowa Standards for School Leaders [data file]. Retrieved from http://educateiowa.gov/index.php?view=article&id=1447. Russell, R. F. & Stone, A. G. (2002). A review of servant leadership attributes: Developing a practical model. Leadership and Organizational Development, 23(3), 145-157. Spears, L. C. (2010). Character and servant leadership: Ten characteristics of effective, caring leaders. Journal of Virtues and Leadership, 1(1), 25-30. Taylor, T., Martin, B. N., Hutchinson, S. & Jinks, M. (2007). Examination of leadership practices of principals identified as servant leaders. International Journal of Leadership in Education, 10(4), 401-419. van Dierendonck, D. (2011). Servant leadership: A review and synthesis. Journal of Management 37(4), 1228-1261. Wilmore, E. (2002) Principal leadership: Applying the new educational leadership constituent council standards. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.