Educational Leadership Scenario Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Educational Leadership Scenario - Essay Example (2001). Management pertains to the effort of utilizing resources towards the fulfillment of the organizational mission in an efficient, effective, and ethical manner. In contrast, school leadership is focused on the mission and the vision of the organization rather than its goal. The emphasis of management is on the management and accountability of school resources. In a sense, Effective leaders identify and understand their preferred and natural leadership style. These leaders have command of a variety of leadership styles and aptly match the correct style to the needs of a particular situation. In addition, effective leaders know that a high level of input and participation is sometimes necessary for decision-making and understand the skills, talents and styles of those who work for them. There are four main leadership models: Peters and Waterman's In Search of Excellence; Covey's-The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People; Wheatley's Leadership and the New Science and Deming's, Out of the Crisis. Peters and Waterman stated that leaders must focus on people and on the tasks of an organization. Peters and Waterman also feature the attributes of effective leaders: bias for action, staying close to the customer or the clientele, autonomy and entrepreneurship, productivity through people and hands-on and value driven. (Peters and Waterman, 1982). Covey (1989) posits that the success of an organization depends on the development of and commitment to a shared vision of the organization at its best. He stated seven principles of effective living: responsibility, integrity, respect, mutual understanding, patience and purpose. Proactivity, the first habit, refers to the ability to take charge of situations. The second habit is to begin with the end in mind. This means that one fulfills the goal. The third is putting "first things first". The fourth is that leaders think, "win-win." The fifth is that leaders seek first to understand. The sixth is that leaders create new alternatives to old and to static ways of knowing. The seventh is that leaders seek self-improvement consistently. (Covey, 1989) Wheatley (1989) believed that leaders should focus on order rather than control in organizations. He stated that leaders should recognize the ebb and flow or to the order and chaos in an organization. According to him, chaos in an organization is useful in that it stimulates growth and evolution. Leaders then should allow disequilibrium and discomfort in an organization to stimulate growth and evolution rather than exerting control to bring the organization back into equilibrium. Wheatley posits that order and chaos are both natural states of an organization, each with its own purpose. It is natural for organizations to have periods of chaos and periods of order.Deming (1984) had emphasized collaboration and teamwork among workers and managers. Each worker is focused on their appropriate role in the organization with productivity in mind. All the members of the organization have quality improvement as a goal. The Total Quality Management organization (TQM) improves quality, serves a nd satisfies the customer, encourages innovation, communicates information freely, addresses problems in the system, not the employees, takes pride in quality work, promotes