Having managed various education, programming and building automation projects in the past, working through the readings over the past two weeks has been interesting. Based on the readings it appears that both my past leadership training, as well as my negative experiences with a number of leaders, have in some part been tied to leadership styles that were employed. In particular, much of the leadership training I have received previously has been presented in terms of the “Great Man Theory” (“What is the Great Man Theory?,” 2019), where someone is born to be a leader, possessing innate traits for leadership while those born without them are lacking and cannot be trained to lead. Having initially studied theology my personal views on leadership lean towards stewardship, servanthood and community. As such, I found myself drawn more to the descriptions and findings regarding Indigenous leaders, particularly the idea that Indigenous leaders view their roles in spiritual terms (Julien et al., 2010, p. 125).
Julien et al. reference Conger (2001) in stating that this preference may be due to my being a part of Gen-X, though I have not yet read further in that regard and so cannot comment. With that said, it was interesting that our Team’s discussions, particularly between Shelley Dougan, Vanessa Tran and I, seemed to relate back to this shared background, as well. For instance, many of the choices we made when working through our own leadership rankings, as well as further reflections on the established research, appear to reflect stark differences between our rankings and that of the research (Dougan et al., 2021). As Julien et al. have pointed out, while I can recognize that some behaviours may be beneficial in leaders, focusing only on these character traits is problematic since they will not only take a lifetime to cultivate all of them, some (i.e. Narcissism and a high personal integrity) are also in conflict with one another (2010, p. 116). Again, this leads me to believe that a combination of those attributes noted by Julien et al., along with the reflective leadership framework detailed by Castelli (2016), would be more in place in both this current age and, in particular, in digital learning environments. They also appear to align more closely with constructivist learning theory which relies on community-building, reflective learning and the integration of previous experiences in order to build new connections for learning retention (“Constructivism” 2021).
As a South African immigrant, one thing that I am curious to look into is readings regarding African leadership traditions. While I have a cursory knowledge of concepts such as Ubuntu, (Kamwangamalu, 1999) the combination of growing up outside of South Africa with a White Afrikaans heritage has clearly limited my understanding of how leadership styles might differ between the various tribes, groups and backgrounds. On a personal level, I am curious how much of the friction in my birth nation’s past is due to these differing viewpoints and how they are being resolved. Especially as South Africa is often noted to be a “melting pot,” a term which Dantley describes as impotent from an African-American perspective (Dantley, 2002), the combination of readings on decolonization of leadership and differing South African leadership methods may offer a broader understanding of leadership expressions. It is my hope that this investigation might provide clarity on how to bridge any current gaps, whether in understanding or practice, between Western and non-Western leadership methodologies. Finally, It may also be interesting from a Canadian perspective to see how these same African ideals regarding leadership might compare to those of Indigenous Peoples. One possible link in this regard might be that of storytelling, a concept that has a good deal of history within Afrikaaner culture, and in particular White Afrikaaner culture, as well as in Indigenous cultures.
Overall, it has been great reflecting on leadership theory. As noted, while I agree there is value in studying leadership traits, I believe that the concepts of community, spirituality and servanthood align more closely with my own beliefs on leadership. In addition, I would enjoy digging into more African-centric leadership literature, particularly regarding South Africa, as I believe that there may be overlaps and concepts of value in our increasingly global society. Combined with reflective leadership principles, these ideals will allow for a more constructivist learning environment that is in line with my views on the ideal digital learning environment while also providing a richer environment for current leaders to encourage a more distributed leadership approach (Huggins, 2017).
References
Castelli, P. A. (2016). Reflective leadership review: A framework for improving organisational performance. The Journal of Management Development, 35(2), 217–236. http://dx.doi.org.ezproxy.royalroads.ca/10.1108/JMD-08-2015-0112
Conger, J. (2001). How ‘Gen X’ managers manage. In I. Rubin (Ed.), The organizational behavior reader (pp. 9−20). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice-Hall.
Constructivism (philosophy of education). (2021). In Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Constructivism_(philosophy_of_education)&oldid=1004759668
Dougan, S., Joubert, J.-P., Tran, V., & Yu, E. (2021). Characteristics of Admired Leaders
Worksheet. Retrieved from https://docs.google.com/document/d/1DPHc42J4eBinSMmuD3lTTm_VuBMgkyZa
Huggins, K. S. (2017). Developing leadership capacity in others: An examination of High School Principals’ personal capacities for fostering leadership. International Journal of Education Policy and Leadership, 12(1), Article 1. https://doi.org/10.22230/ijepl.2017v12n1a670
Julien, M., Wright, B., & Zinni, D. M. (2010). Stories from the circle: Leadership lessons learned from aboriginal leaders. The Leadership Quarterly, 21(1), 114–126. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.leaqua.2009.10.009
Kamwangamalu, N. M. (1999). Ubuntu in South Africa: A sociolinguistic perspective to a pan-African concept. Critical Arts, 13(2), 24–41. https://doi.org/10.1080/02560049985310111
What is the Great Man Theory? (2019, May 6). Villanova University. https://www.villanovau.com/resources/leadership/great-man-theory/
Hi Jean-Pierre,
Thanks for sharing your reflections and leadership experiences. It is interesting that you considered the alignment of leadership approaches and learning – and I think it would be a very relevant point for those working in educational settings. Our view of how people learn, how we value knowledge and how we build relationships would all need to be in alignment – so if the leadership approach was out of sync then there would like be tensions within an organization. Wendy alluded to this in a post to the team forums – as we have shifted our educational approach (and perhaps parenting as well) then our perspectives on leadership (particularly in schools) and the values we want to see in those leaders will also shift (to more community-focused and reflective as you point out). You also focused on considering leadership from different cultural perspectives – and would love to see what you find as you dig into African perspectives.
Hi Michelle. Thank you for your comment and for pointing me towards Wendy’s comments. Not having been a teacher, at least not within the Canadian school system, that was an interesting read!
Thanks for your post, Jean-Pierre. I had a similar experience in this unit. I began to define desired qualities in a leader based on those qualities I’ve found ineffective during my experiences in a digital learning environment. For example, I reflected on how quickly I shut down with leaders who are self-involved or outwardly proudful of their accomplishments as opposed to those leaders that recognize everyone’s strengths and develop a united team. I’m also interested in your perspective and questions around African leadership qualities/traditions. I think it’s interesting how here you’ve considered not just the recent past but the far past and the influence of historical trauma on cultures and leadership. Just as leaders will have to react to the trauma from the pandemic. Other than formal research, what strategies do you think leaders can use to adjust to cultural differences in leadership?
Really well-written and interesting read, Jean-Pierre. This article reminds me of why our podcast conversations back in LRNT 523 were so engaging. Great insights as always.
I agree that the Western cultural perspective of leadership is conflict-laden. So many of these leadership traits and behaviours become obsolete when taken out of context – as though they are but low percentage predictors of effective leaders that largely subject to ever-evolving external environments.
I’m curious – what is your take on The Great Man Theory? I personally feel all leadership theories hold some merit. For instance, I believe many leaders have in fact harnessed innate qualities, skills, and even behaviours to lead change and foster community. Perhaps it comes down to the environment and social discourse within it.
Hi Jonathan. Thanks for your comment. It’s funny you mention the podcast; I was just thinking about that this week and how great an experience it was, both in working with you and in learning the material. 🙂
Regarding The Great Man Theory, I think you’re right: All leadership theories have some merit. In this case, it seems a bit like the “Nature vs. Nurture” debate, and it may be influenced by my upbringing as well, but I do believe some people have more innate “leadership” qualities. Some people simply gravitate more towards roles where they take charge, whether through egalitarian or control reasons (or others). And it seems that these skills can be harnessed or grown through use just like you or I with music. We gravitated towards our instruments and recording because it’s a part of who we are. So, from that perspective, The Great Man Theory seems, to me at least, correct in its assumptions.
Where I feel it diverges is in what I see as its assumptions about what leadership is, particularly being a more Western mindset that is based in hierarchy. Hierarchy doesn’t have to be a bad thing but, if the people at the top are there because, naturally, they belong there due to genetics, well, there’s no hope for anyone who is “lower”. It becomes a Caste System, essentially. We can even start going down the Eugenics road. Having a more egalitarian structure, where the community is overseen by the leadership with the collective good in mind seems to avoid these issues (although the article by Julien et al. also alludes to some other potential pitfalls that crop up). Seems to me it’s a balancing act. 😀
Jean-Pierre
You mention the experiences with poor leadership, which is a great find. While ideally wise and kind leadership is effective, the opposite too can have a strong impact on a team or individual. Seeing a leader causing an issue instead of working for resolution can be demoralizing for sure. As you appear to have taken that experience with you to heart, now your leadership skills have expanded to include what should be done and what not to do. A book cannot always pass on this information as succinct as hands on experience.
Thanks for the reply, Rod. That’s honestly a great perspective … it can be so easy, given a negative experience, to view only “the bad” but there is good that can come from that. Well said!