Attributes of Good Leaders
As part of our new course, LRNT 525, we worked in teams to rank twenty leaders’ attributes. My team prioritized competent, supportive, caring, honest, and broad-minded (Beeby et al., 2021). It was interesting to discover that once we clarified the twenty attributes’ definitions, it was easier to reach a consensus. Prioritizing good leaders’ attributes is essential for leading digital learning environments and developing a personal leadership style.
Before our team discussion, my strategy was to choose one leader attribute I value most. I have always thought that a good leader needed to care. I am a teacher and have looked at leadership through that lens. My students have given me feedback time and time again by saying good teachers care. Gabriel (2015) argued that leaders not only need to demonstrate competency, knowledge, and good communication skills, but most importantly, they must show that they care. Followers expect a leader to provide personalized attention to those they lead. However, after careful thought, I realized caring is not enough. Kouzes & Posner (2011) also found that caring ranked in the bottom fourth, with a trend downwards from 1987. I needed to extend my thinking beyond caring.
Beyond caring, I began to consider today’s ever-changing environment and what attribute would most align with this consideration. My team quickly pointed out that context matters when prioritizing leadership attributes. Because contexts often change depending on the state of the environment, my focus shifted towards the attribute of forward-looking—anticipating and preparing for what lies ahead and providing teams with the tools they may need to adapt. Kouzes & Posner (2011) researched the characteristics of admired leaders, and from 1987 to 2010, forward-looking was second in the ranking, with a promising increasing trend in future years.
Forward-looking leaders are better able to survive our currently volatile world. People respect and admire leaders who take charge, anticipate the future, and prepare to respond to what may lie ahead. Followers develop a certain level of trust when leaders focus on the future. Senge (2015) points out that the verb “to lead” literally means to step ahead or step across the threshold, and leaders care about shaping the future. O’Toole (2008) alludes to this fact by stating that the “role of leaders is to focus on attaining ends that are food for them all” (p. 3). Leadership deals with focusing on moving forward, and the most important attribute of any good leader is forward-looking.
Along with forward-looking, other important leadership attributes include transparency and honesty. Kouzes & Posner (2011) posited to lead well, you must examine your inner self and discover “who you are, what you care about, and why you do what you do” (p. 24). Good leaders are “transparent” by sharing “hopes, dreams, talent, expectations, and loves” (p. 26). Followers want to believe and trust in their leaders, and they need to get to know who they are first.
Digital Learning Environments
The pandemic is one of the most devastating, tragic times in education, but I cannot help but quietly celebrate. I am a team leader—a teacher—and because of the pandemic, I finally have been given the tools I need to incorporate a digital learning platform and maintain direct communication with students outside of email. It took a pandemic to ignore the fears and misconceptions of using personal hand-held digital technologies in the classroom. Interestingly, there wasn’t a vision needed for practical use—we just dove right in. Shenigner (2014) insists that schools should move towards the digital age to create relevant, meaningful, and applicable learning experiences, but he wondered why, how, and where to begin. The pandemic answered Shenigner’s (and my) why, how, and where to start, and this is why I celebrate.
The pandemic and the introduction of personal hand-held digital technologies into my classroom have impacted how I lead. I can look at the week ahead, anticipate what might happen, and share my plans. Accessibility to course content and communication with students and parents have improved. I am also better able to gather information more quickly and adapt to fit students’ needs. Khan (2017) talks about the importance of being flexible and supportive, and digital tools allow me this freedom. For these reasons, it has been easier to develop a level of trust in the classroom.
My Personal Leadership Style
The leadership style that most fits the attribute of forward-looking is an adaptive leadership style. This type of leader “is flexible, considers current complexities, and is highly motivating for followers” (Khan, 2017, p. 182). The adaptive leader focuses on the “leader-follower relationship and environmental issues” (p. 182) that arise. I strive to be an adaptive leader. As I reflect on the learnings from the last course on digital learning environments, it is interesting that the forward-looking attribute and an adaptive leadership style aligns with four of my recently discovered design principles: purposeful, practical, evolving, and sustainable. Perhaps I have uncovered another important leadership attribute worth investigating—consistent.
References
Beeby, K., Grymaloski, W., Koval, D. Norum, S., & Stoesz, R. (2021, February 3). Team Forums [Discussion post]. Royal Roads University, Moodle. https://moodle.royalroads.ca/moodle/mod/forum/discuss.php?d=733512
Gabriel, Y. (2015). The caring leader: What followers expect of their leaders and why? Leadership, 11(3), 316–334. https://doi.org/10.1177/1742715014532482
Khan, N. (2017). Adaptive or transactional leadership in current higher education: A brief comparison. International Review of Research in Open and Distributed Learning, 18(3), 178–183. https://doi.org/10.19173/irrodl.v18i3.3294
Kouzes, J., & Posner, B. (2011). Credibility: How leaders gain and lose it, why people demand it (2nd ed.). Jossey-Bass. https://doi.org/10.1002/9781118983867
Kouzes, J., & Posner, B. (2011). Leadership begins with an inner journey. Leader to Leader, 2011(60), 22–27. https://doi.org/10.1002/ltl.464
O’Toole, J. (2008). Notes toward a definition of values-based leadership. The Journal of Values-Based Leadership, 1(1), 10. https://scholar.valpo.edu/jvbl/vol1/iss1/10/
Sarder, R. (2015, June 4). What makes a great leader? by Peter Senge, author of the Fifth Discipline. [Video]. YouTube. https://youtu.be/1aYaj2-GZqk
Sheninger, E. (2014). Pillars of digital leadership. International Centre for Leadership in Education. http://leadershipmedia.net/pdf/LeadingintheDigitalAge_11.14.pdf
Attribution: Photo by Natalie Pedigo on Unsplash
I think it’s great that you mentioned transparency as being important to a good leader. It was an attribute that we added to our list and it made it up to #8 in our list. I do think sharing the vision behind the goal or task is so important to getting engagement from the group. The one caution we had with transparency is that in some situations, revealing too much information may be inappropriate or dangerous to the group dynamic. For example, as a leader you may know why someone was fired or repremanded, but telling the rest of the team the details is likely a breach of privacy. Transparency is possibly used with utmost care and discretion.
Oh yes, Patrick. Transparency is not always a good thing. I try to only focus on myself but that is dangerous as well. I really do not like those times when I realize I’ve revealed too much.
Hi Wendy,
Thanks for sharing your reflections on leadership. You highlight adaptability as an important attribute for a leader and your experience in “jumping in” to using digital devices over the past year illustrates how being able to respond and move quickly can lead to successful change. As you highlight, many of our organizations are resistant to change even when the benefits are apparent – the pandemic has required these shifts, what strategies for implementing change can we take forward (one of our questions for the next two weeks)?
Michelle,
I think about change in terms of physics. An object will not change its motion unless a force acts on it (pandemic was the force that pushed for more technology use in the classroom). However, without some sort of force, things just stay the same. A good strategy for change is to gradually add the force needed for the change. I use two strategies as a teacher: 1. start the change “chit-chat” with a small, influential group of students and 2. convince them to join in on the change. If the right people join in, the shift happens and more and more students accept the change.