Digger Deeper... Why Is The Leader I Admire Successful?

 

Picture Credit (Brian Jackson)

It was interesting to consider the leader I had written about at the beginning of the semester in contrast to Michael Fullan’s work. It was easy for me to connect a leadership style to the person I admire, but I was more so interested in understanding the why behind each style. While reading chapter three, I felt I was able to understand and grasp different leadership styles while also easily applying the typical characteristics to leaders I have worked with before. On page 35 of the text, Fullan includes a list of all of the leadership styles he touches on within this chapter of the text. The Goleman Leadership Styles were similar to leadership styles I had seen in other encounters before, but I appreciated the direct identifying traits associated with each style. 

When I was thinking about the leader I wrote about, I had a difficult time choosing only one style to pick. I was stuck between an affiliative style or coaching style. The leader I wrote about is very dynamic in her teaching and mentorship ways, and I see both of these styles come out quite frequently when she is working with myself or other students. It was best described further down in the text when Fullen quoted, “The affiliative leader pays attention to people, focuses on building emotional bonds, builds relationships, and heals rifts. The leader as coach helps people develop and invests in their capacity building (Goleman, 2000).” (Fullan, 2001, p. 41). I found it interesting that these two styles were considered together in Fullen’s writing, but was also intrigued later on in the text when Fullen mentioned that there can be danger in applying only one style of leadership into your practice. I can see the benefit of a dynamic lineup when it comes to leadership, but I am also left wondering if this is the case for every situation. For instance, my chosen leader works with students primarily so to me, it makes sense for her to have adopted affiliative and coaching leadership styles. Those serve her and her students best. 

As mentioned, because of the kind of work my leader engages in and thinking about the people she works with, I personally have not seen her deter from these two leadership styles. I believe that there are times when she leans on more one than the other, but it is usually a 50/50 split. But, I also think it is important to remember that everything is about perspective. Her leadership styles presented this way to me, and worked for me, but this may not be the case for each student or coworker she has. I feel that this was another reason why I found this text to be interesting. Point of view and interactions with others can influence how we feel and help us to make decisions. So, from my point of view, the leader I chose used coaching and affiliative leadership to the best of her ability and leaned in on the defining traits very well. 

References 

Fullan, M. (2001). Leading in a Culture of Change . ERIC.