Tip-Toe Through the Tulips: An Alliterative Reflection
At the advent of spring, I am excited to launch into the season of planning for the next K-12 academic year within my organization. Our administrative team invests a full week of collaborative meetings to chart the course for the next year and beyond. Looking back into the distant past, a full two and a half months ago, I contemplate how my perspective on leadership has changed. I recall (since it is staring me in the face in black and white here) stating that my affinity to servant leadership MAY be rife with personal values and a heavy-handed dash of idealism. Now, nine or ten weeks later, with the vast maturity of a 1-year MALAT veteran, I would like to correct my own verbiage and acknowledge that my perspective is DEFINITELY rife with both personal values and idealism. However, having confessed that, I am also proud to recognize that it is now much more informed by personal and collaborative research, yet remains largely unchanged.
One standout consideration that I am still mulling is the role of leadership versus management traits and skills. These seem to be inevitably complicated and overlapping, possessed by singular individuals in varying degrees and strengths, but also necessarily balanced within an organization (Workman & Cleveland-Innes, 2012). My learnings over the past months affirm that personal and organizational values must align to a substantial degree, so as I enter into this potent planning season, I anticipate lively consideration of personal values relative to organizational mission, vision, and values along with strategic planning.
I traversed a tangential side-trail as I considered change implementation that took an informal approach as opposed to a formal, planned project. The analogy of bush-wacking versus hiking an established trail, and even guerilla leadership from the edges or the woods took shape (Harrison, 2022) as we considered the reality of grass-roots mini-revolutions through unofficial projects (note the not so subtle tongue in cheek hyperbole, if you are not already reading it here). To extend this metaphor of a forest hike, leadership and change is as complex as a natural ecosystem with an added layer of trails and humans strolling through it. I will spend a lifetime learning and still be in awe, so my best self-counsel is to assume a very humble, respectful, sensitive, and holistic perspective as I continue the journey.
References
Harrison, M. (2022). Agile Communication for Distributed Teams. https://malat-webspace.royalroads.ca/rru0200/lrnt-525-unit-3-activity-2-leading-projects/
Workman, T., & Cleveland-Innes, M. (2012). Leadership, personal transformation, and management. The International Review of Research in Open and Distributed Learning, 13(4), 313-323. https://doi.org/10.19173/irrodl.v13i4.1383
Hi Alisha,
I have been enjoying your analogies throughout the course – and as a biologist (or former biologist I suppose 🙂 – appreciate your comparison to the complexities of our natural world. I also agree that we are constantly learning – and I am always amazed how much I have changed my own perspective on leadership since I started teaching this course. I am more convinced of the importance of leading from the edge – so much can be accomplished when you can shape your organization through the relationships you build with everyone around you. Thanks for your reflection and best wishes on your leadership journey.
“Vast maturity of a 1-year MALAT veteran” – this is awesome! The more I learn, the less I know for sure!
We’re also in planning mode at work. I agree with what you say about management vs. leadership as I contemplate the next phase of my career after we graduate. I’m leaning more and more to staying out of formal “management” because this course has shown me that there are SOOO many other ways to lead! Formal management-type leadership doesn’t permit so much “bushwhacking” like you’ve said. I feel reassured that there are others like you (who I respect very much) who are feeling similarly.