CAN ANYONE BE AN EFFECTIVE LEADER?

Can Anyone be an Effective Leader?

Rolanda A. Eadie

City University
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Abstract

Are people born leaders or is everyone able to be an effective leader when given a chance to

learn and develop the critical skills? That begs the question, what is leadership? And how can

someone become an effective leader? Because of my passion for leadership, I keep learning

about the attributes and skill sets that great leaders have, and take training to widen my horizons

on all aspects of leadership. I also have taken a personality test to discover which traits that I

possess that are complementary to effective leadership, as well as those traits that are not. If

someone is truly interested in leadership, it is essential to learn as much as possible by reading,

observation, reflection and questions. I am willing for all of this and more. To become more

effective I not only need to learn, but also make a plan of action to ensure I am addressing the

weaknesses in myself and not just trying to overshadow them with my strengths.

Keywords​: effective, learn, plan

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Can anyone be an Effective Leader?

Leadership seems simple but in reality it is very complex. A great leader makes it look

easy just like any professional athlete does in his/her sport. Just like excellent athletes, all

effective leaders have specific qualities, or traits that make them outstanding in their field. So

what exactly makes a great leader? After taking a personality test on leadership, it helped me to

identify how my strengths connect my vision of leadership, and my weaknesses hinder my skill

set.

Great Leaders

There are some specific skills that great leaders have. I believe a great leader needs to be

competent, personable, empathetic, and passionate towards a team/group goal. Whitaker (2017)

says, “Truly outstanding educators begin their journey along the path of excellence by knowing

their stuff.” (pg. 24) As a new Vice Principal of a school with 550 students, it is a tremendous

learning curve on a daily basis to learn the administrative tasks required for this position.

Fortunately, I have had excellent teaching experiences in grades three, four and five so I have a

very good handle on the curriculum aspect of the job. I think it is critical that the principal and

vice principal of a school are master teachers. The areas that I feel out of my league are in the

K-2 classes. Therefore went to a conference this year for two days to learn everything that I

could about teaching kids to read and what the essential pieces were. I also went to a Google

Boot Camp and the Google Tech Conference in September. There were three other staff

members that applied for my job and I wanted to ensure that I was capable and competent in the

technology department. It is important to me that I really “know my stuff.”

 
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16 Personality Test​.

According to the 16 Personality type assessment, I have some strengths and weaknesses

in the area of being competent. I was “branded” being a “Consul” and on the positive side, I

have, “​Strong Practical Skills – Consuls are excellent managers of day-to-day tasks and routine

maintenance, enjoying making sure that those who are close to them are well cared for. Careers

as administrators are a natural fit allowing Consuls to organize not just an environment, but the

people in it.” (“16 Personalities,” 2011-2017). However, one of my weaknesses is that I am,

“Vulnerable to Criticism – It can be especially challenging to change these tendencies because

Consuls are so conflict-averse. Consul personalities can become very defensive and hurt if

someone, especially a person close to them, criticizes their habits, beliefs or traditions.”(“16

Personalities,” 2011-2017).

Personable

Being personable is really important in the education business. A great leader knows how

to connect with children, staff, parents and community members. Being in the public eye is a

huge responsibility and like Whitaker (2017) states, “People are always watching to see if we

really mean what we say.” (pg. 110) Connecting with, and being personable with children is

essential. As a Vice Principal, I need to have mastered the skills of being able to make

connections with children quickly. As a teacher, I had days, weeks, and months to make

connections that built trust so that students knew I believed in them and would champion for

them throughout our year together. In a Vice Principal role, I need to go out of my way to

continually seek ways through the patrols and health champ clubs as well as my dance option.
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Students are often sent to the office for discipline reasons. This makes it even more challenging

to create that connection quickly so that the learning can begin. However, I like challenges like

this. According to my “Consul” results, I am, “Sensitive and warm – Helping to ensure that

stability, Consul personalities seek harmony and care deeply about other people’s feelings, being

careful not to offend or hurt anybody. Consuls are strong team players, and win-win situations

are the stuff smiles are made of.” ​(“16 Personalities,” 2011-2017).

Connections with staff members must be positive because they will set the tone and the

culture of a school. Every interaction- words and actions will bring you closer or further away

from your staff. Whitaker (2107) states, “Simple interactions impact the culture and climate of

classrooms and the overall school.” (pg. 119) Because I am a very fast paced efficient type of

person, I have to make an effort daily to slow down and make that small talk with others.

According to my test results, “Whatever they choose to do, Consul Personalities’ comfort with

busy social situations and practical knowledge and skills come together to create people who are

not just able to be productive and helpful, but people who genuinely enjoy it.”​(“16

Personalities,” 2011-2017).​ I like to help others and make our school the most effective place

that it can be educationally, physically and emotionally. According to my results, I’m, “Good at

Connecting with Others – These qualities come together to make Consuls social, comfortable

and well-liked. Consul Personalities have a strong need to “belong”, and have no problem with

small talk or following social cues in order to help them take an active role in their

communities.” ​(“16 Personalities,” 2011-2017).​ I like to consider the staff my extended family. I

try to be thoughtful and bring others joy. For example, on World Teacher Day, I made up little
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baskets with items and stated how they related to teaching, complete with a note of thanks in

them. As Crowley, (2011) says, “...we have to bring the heart back into leadership.” (p. 23).

Unfortunately, I was crushed when no one expressed their appreciation. This is truly a weakness

that I need to strengthen. The personality test hit it right on the money when the results spewed

out that I was, “Often Too Needy – Consuls need to hear and see a great deal of appreciation. If

their efforts go unnoticed, people with the Consul personality type may start fishing for

compliments, in an attempt to get reassurance of how much they are valued.’ ​(“16 Personalities,”

2011-2017). ​And that is not all. According to the results, I am also, “Too Selfless – The other

side of this is that Consuls sometimes try to establish their value with doting attention, something

that can quickly overwhelm those who don’t need it, making it ultimately unwelcome.

Furthermore, Consuls often neglect their own needs in the process.” ​(“16 Personalities,”

2011-2017).

Being personable in the eyes of the public is essential to leadership in a school. Making

connections with community members is essential because they are a school’s partners in

education. For example, we have had the fire department in for fire safety week and I we invite

user groups to book our gym throughout the week. The Ponoka community church has run

popular youth events on Friday nights which is such a win-win for our school and community. I

always say, happy parents = happy school. Parents are one of your greatest assets in a school.

Our school has an amazing parent council who has fundraised to provide our students and

community with a beautiful fun new playground. Parents can also be one of your worst

nightmares! It is imperative to be able to navigate through those challenging conversations while

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leaving both parties dignity intact. I am glad that we participated in the Crucial Accountability

course as a part of our aspiring leader program. It helped me with some starting sentences like,

“Help me understand…..” so that I can communicate personably and effectively.

Empathetic

Empathetic leaders have an ability to see through another person’s eyes to make

thoughtful decisions without hurting employee’s feelings. Goldman (1999) calls this emotional

intelligence. Further, he points out, “The components of emotional intelligence--self-awareness,

self-regulation, motivation, empathy, and social skill--can sound unbusinesslike. But exhibiting

emotional intelligence at the workplace does not mean simply controlling your anger or getting

along with people. Rather it means understanding your own and other people's emotional

makeup well enough to move people in the direction of accomplishing your company's goals.”

(p.82). While I never hesitate to share my opinion on things or my suggestions for ways of doing

things, I need to be very sensitive to other people’s perspectives. As my results stated, I can be,

“Inflexible – Consuls place a lot of importance on what is socially acceptable, and can be very

cautious, even critical of anything unconventional or outside the mainstream. People with this

personality type may also sometimes push their own beliefs too hard in an effort to establish

them as mainstream.” (“16 Personalities,” 2011-2017).

Goleman, (2004) explains that empathy is just one part of emotional intelligence. He

further explains that emotional intelligence encompasses many more attributes like:
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self-awareness, self-regulation, motivation and social skill. Skills that he says are not just “nice

to have,” but instead, “these are ingredients that leaders “need to have.”

Passionate

I love the word “passion” to describe my joy and enthusiasm and drive for education. I

enjoyed a slide in my ECC 509 class that stated “Passion without skill is dangerous.” It made me

chuckle and then think a bit more soberly about it. Lencioni (2016) would argue that a leader

needs to be “Hungry, Humble, and Smart.” Let’s focus on the “Hungry” or “Passionate” or

“Motivational” part of the equation. Whatever word is used, to me it means that a leader is

driven to perform, loves a challenge, is highly efficient, innovative, resilient, loyal, and loves

what he/she does. Another strength from my personality test stated that I am, “Very Loyal –

Valuing stability and security very highly, Consuls are eager to preserve the status quo, which

makes them extremely loyal and trustworthy partners and employees. Consuls are true pillars of

any groups they belong to – whether it is their family or a community club, people with this

personality type can always be relied upon.” (“16 Personalities,” 2011-2017).

Although there are many authors who have different names for the attributes that make an

effective leader, I am happy with the list I have chosen: ​competent, personable, empathetic, and

passionate. Just like the professional athlete performs a difficult move but makes it look easy, a

great leader is smooth and easily followed because of his/her “come along with me approac​h.​” I

recognize my strengths that are an asset for my administrative role: ​Strong practical skills, strong

sense of duty, very loyal, sensitive and warm, and good at connecting with others. (“16
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Personalities,” 2011-2017).​ ​However, it is imperative that I also work on my weaknesses: Worried

about my social status, inflexible, vulnerable to criticism, often too needy, and too selfless. (“16

Personalities,” 2011-2017). We need to be reflective in our work each day and continually set goals

for improvement.

Growth Plan

Our school division recognizes that as an educator we need to grow each year. Just as we

expect the children that we teach to grow by at least a year in their reading ability and knowledge,

we too as professionals must do the same. Every staff member must fill out a Professional Growth

Plan (PGP) which outlines our professional goals and the plan for reaching them. Luckily, my

growth plan ties in beautifully with my master’s program. My capstone project is going to focus on

how we can empower first nations children who are suffering from intergenerational trauma. The

school that I am in has one quarter self identified first nations students. I am excited for the

research and the experiences that I am seeking out to help me with my internship.

Our school division also requires us to be in a Professional Learning Community. The PLC

is a group of colleagues that get together to study a topic, author, or resource that will help them

grow. I joined a group that is studying Literacy because I want to apply the knowledge that I learn

about in my PLC to tie into my capstone about helping first nation’s students with literacy.

Luckily, as an administrator, I get to take advantage of a lot of leadership professional

development. The Alberta Teachers’ Association provides a conference for all principals and vice

principals in their first five years of teaching. The two day event was packed full of excellent
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speakers and sessions. I focused on the first nations sessions and came away richer with more

knowledge and resources. We also have monthly administrative association meetings in our

division which always give me more information about the policies and procedures governing our

school division. Also on our school based professional development days, we often have sessions

that encompass district wide like the recent one on accessing first nations films on the National

Film Board of Canada website that our district bought a subscription to. We also perused the books

and edu kits that representatives from Edmonton Public shared with us.

Personality tests can help me become a better leader. After taking the 16 Personalities test

and seeing my strengths and weakness, the first step towards improvement is for me to recognize

when I am falling into these negative habits. The next step to improving my skills is to think of

other ways of acting/reacting to events/situations. Lastly, I need to reflect daily and think about the

ways I have handled things or could have handled things differently. Our school division asks each

school leader to take the 360 Leadership Assessment at the end of each school year. I am looking

forward to this review because not only will it allow me to take a critical look into my practice, but

it will take those whom I serve- the teachers’ feedback into consideration. My goal is that I

improve on the deficits that I am aware of by the end of the school year. After I take the 360 test, I

will be getting more feedback about more areas that need improving for my second year into

leadership and my master’s course. Therefore, I need to be looking into a longer time period of

goal setting. It is my desire that during the next two years of my masters in leadership studies, I

will learn more about leadership, and the skills needed to be an excellent leader. This next two

years will mold me into a competent leader with a clear vision.

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In conclusion, I believe anyone who wants to be a leader can learn skills that will help them

to become more effective. However, to truly be a great, effective leader, takes work, practice, and

reflection on the compilation of the aforementioned skills, and I am not convinced yet that

everyone can learn/achieve them. Goleman (2004) argues that his​ research, along with other recent

studies, clearly shows that emotional intelligence: is the sine qua non of leadership. Without it, a

person can have the best training in the world, an incisive, analytical mind, and an endless supply

of smart ideas, but he still won't make a great leader. Therefore, I think anyone can be a leader, but

not everyone can be a​ great leader​ ~ who inspires and motivates others to work collaboratively

towards achieving a vision/goal.

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References

Crowley, M. (2011). ​Lead from the heart. ​Bloomington, IN : Balboa Press.

Goleman, D. (1999). What makes a leader?​ Clinical Laboratory Management Review: Official

Publication of the Clinical Laboratory Management Association / CLMA, 13​(3), 123

Goleman, D. (2004). What Makes a Leader? Harvard Business Review, 82(1), 82-91

Lencioni, P. M. (2016). ​Ideal team player​ (1st ed.) Wiley.

Neris Analytics Ltd. (2011-2017). 16 Personalities. London, UK. Retrieved from:

https://www.16personalities.com

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