EDUCATIONAL LEADERSHIP

Chapter # 3 & 4
Lecture # 4
Leadership Theories
25th Feb 2018
Dr. M. Asif Khan
Contemporary Leadership Theories
Transformational Leadership
Strategic Leadership
Level 5 Leadership
Transformational Leadership
Summary
In 1978, James Macgregor Burns developed
the transformational leadership theory
where he proposed that leaders adopted
one of two styles: the transactional or the
transformational. The transactional
leadership style is one which appealed to
the person’s self-interest. In others words, it
asks what the country could do for
the person.
Summary
The transformational leadership style is one
which exhorts the person to go beyond
self-interest, focusing on motivations,
morale and values. This is the “Ask-what-
you-can-do-for-the country” style.
Bernard M. Bass picked up the discussion
from 1985, outlining the need for both
transactional and transformational
leadership traits to lead to a big payoff.
Transformational Leadership Traits
Transformational leaders move followers
beyond normal self-interest through
idealized influence (positive charisma),
inspiration, intellectual stimulation and
individualized consideration. It elevates
the followers’ level of maturity and ideals,
as well as concerns for achievement,
self-actualization, and the well-being of
others.
Transformational Leadership Traits
Idealized influence (as opposed to
undesirable influence, as exerted by Hitler)
and inspirational leadership are displayed
when the transformational leader envisions
a desirable future, articulates how it can be
reached, sets an example to be followed,
and shows determination and confidence.
Transformational Leadership Traits
Intellectual stimulation is demonstrated
when the leader helps followers become
more innovative and creative, providing
them opportunities to learn and grow.
Transformational Leadership Traits
Individualized consideration is
demonstrated when the leader shows
active attention to the developmental needs
of their followers, supporting and coaching
them to meet these needs. Transformational
leaders delegate assignments as
opportunities for growth.
Linking T & T
A transformational leader needs to be able
to address transactional needs while leading
the followers to become transformational
Why?
Because the time has changed
The Time has Changed
There was a time when transactional
leadership was enough to get things done.
Forty years ago, parents believed that it was
most important to teach children to be
respectful of authority, to follow the rules,
obey the orders and avoid questioning
authority. Today, parents feel that it is their
responsibility to teach children to accept
responsibility, be willing and confident to
accepting challenges, and to question authority
when necessary.
The Time has Changed
The picture of the “ideal” worker in the
1970s in Singapore was one who was
totally dedicated to one organization, taking
every bit of instruction that was handed to
them, and never questioning authority. To be
transformational then, it was sufficient to
just move the individual past his personal
self-interest for the good of the
organization.
The Time has Changed
The normal worker of the 2000s, in
contrast, is one who is skeptical and cynical,
and who does not accept anything that the
leader dishes out to them without thinking
it through, asking especially,
“So, what’s in it for me?”
Align Self-interest & Org. Vision
Moving followers towards the good of the
organization requires alignment of
individual self-interest with the values of
the organization. Workers these days will
not move in a selfless manner, requiring
self-interests equally to be aligned with
organizational vision.
Strategic Leadership
Summary
Strategic leaders are highest level thinkers,
planners, social experts and decision
makers. They simultaneously sustain the
organization's culture, envision the future,
convey that vision to a wide audience, and
personally lead change. Strategic leaders
look at the environment outside their
organization to understand the context for
the organization's future role.
They also use their knowledge of the
current situation to anchor their vision in
reality.
Strategic leadership is more than having a
vision about an ideal future. It is about
acknowledging the complex and
unpredictable nature of the future and
developing strategies to ‘prepare for the
unexpected’ rather than just to ‘plan for the
known’.
Principles of Strategic Leadership
1) Future Oriented
2) Evidence Based and Research Led
3) Getting Things Done
4) Opening New Horizons
5) Fit to Lead
6) Making Good Partners
7) Doing the ‘Next’ Right Thing
Future Oriented
Strategic leaders force themselves to look
beyond the present and into an uncertain
future. It is about strategic intent, which is a
powerful concept used to describe how an
organization can take a strategic
perspective into a rapidly changing and
turbulent environment . Strategic intent is
when ‘we know what major change we
want but we do not yet know how to
achieve it’.
Evidence Based and Research Led
Strategic leaders know the importance of basing
their strategic intent, change and action on
evidence-based and research-led practice. Evidence-
based practice means that strategic leaders collect
and examine performance data on a continuous
basis in order to make appropriate decisions about
the organization’s direction. Evidence-based
practice is the judicious use of data to make
decisions. It is about obtaining strategic data from
the social, technological, educational, economic and
political environment; analysing, interpreting and
integrating that data into useful information; and the
exploration of desirable options.
Getting Things Done
Getting things done involves nurturing our
own and our staff’s technical, mental and
emotional capacities and mobilizing these
to achieve desired outcomes. Strategic
leaders draw on their tacit knowledge and
position in the organization to focus action
on what is important. They get things done
both personally and in collaboration with
others.
Opening New Horizons
The strategic work of leaders is to collect and
expose possibilities beyond the routine and to open
horizons and new directions for their followers.
Strategic leaders are always on the look-out for
new ways of doing things. Strategic leaders need to
understand how their work interweaves with that
of their followers, colleagues and communities to
create opportunities for innovative practice. They
know that accessing new horizons requires
educated minds that can create, absorb and apply
new and emerging knowledge.
Fit to Lead
Leaders strategically manage their physical and
mental wellbeing in order to be resilient, flexible,
reliable and resourceful.
Resilience is the ability to overcome the inevitable
obstacles which accompany change and the stress
of working with the unknown. Resilient leaders are
able to persist in meeting the challenges of the
future.
Flexibility is the ability to adapt professionally and
emotionally to the change and diversity which
typifies work in futures-oriented schools.
.
Fit to Lead cont…
Reliability is about being there when the
going gets tough. An unfolding future can
cause a high degree of anxiety; unexpected
changes can pose threats and risks which in
turn can lead to stress and illness and time
off work. Reliability is also about being to a
degree predictable, so that people know
where the leader is coming from and have a
firm basis for decision making
Fit to Lead cont…
Being ‘fit to lead’ is also about getting a reputation
for being resourceful. Resourceful leaders are
mentally prepared to exploit opportunities which
arise unexpectedly, to cope with uncertainty and
‘make things happen’ with limited resources. They
are seem to be able to ‘find the resources’ that are
needed and when they are needed. Which is usually
not about being a excellent manager or procurer,
but about being ‘cool’ in times of pressure and
being able to think laterally about what to do when
everyone else is panicked.
Making Good Partners
Strategic leaders work effectively with all the stake
holders. They understand how their work
interweaves with that of their colleagues to create
opportunities for innovative practice. Strategic
leaders learn together, share a compatible view of
the future, communicate freely and respect others’
values. This often involves a knowledge of, and
sensitivity to, different cultures and cross-cultural
issues, and requires an understanding of
partnerships within and out side the organizational
setup. Partnerships are based on comradeship and
trust.
Doing the ‘Next’ Right Thing
Strategic leadership is about ‘doing the next
right thing’, which is about ethics.
Leaders who are strategic will recognize
the importance of ethical behaviors and act
accordingly, whereas leaders who are
egotistic, openly ambitious (for personal
gain), autocratic, manipulative or just
dishonest are not likely to be successful
leaders or to hold their positions for very
long.
Doing the ‘Next’ Right Thing
Strategic leaders constantly find themselves
struggling with ethical dilemmas and issues of
accountability. Strategic leaders know that putting
self-interest to one side and maintaining an ethical
and socially just stance is not easy. They constantly
and consistently apply the ethics of justice and
caring in responding to hard and ambiguous
questions. In dealing with such questions, integrity is
vital. Integrity in leadership means being honest and
transparent in motivations and intention; it calls for
leaders who can acknowledge mistakes and failures
and are prepared to expose their humanness.
Level 5 Leadership
A Level 5 Leader is an “individual who
blends extreme personal humility with
intense professional will”.
The Level 5 discovery derived from a
research project that Collins began in 1996,
when he set out to answer one question:
Can a good company become a great
company and, if so, how? The answer was
the concept of a Level 5 leader.
Level 5 Leadership
Level Five Hierarchy

Level 5 Executive
Level 4 Effective Leader
Level 3 Competent Manager
Level 2 Contributing Team Member
Level 1 Highly Capable Individual
Level 5 Leadership
The L5L sits on top of a hierarchy of
capabilities and is, according to Collin’s
research, a necessary requirement for
transforming an organization from good to
great. Individuals do not need to proceed
sequentially through each of the lower four
levels of the hierarchy to reach the top, but
to be a full fledged L5L requires the
capabilities of all the lower levels, plus the
special characteristics of Level 5.
Special Characteristics of Level 5
Builds enduring greatness through a
paradoxical combination of personal
humility plus professional will.
Key Traits of a Level 5 Leader
Humility; whenever your team has success,
make sure that credit goes to them for their
hard work. But a leader, you need to take
responsibility for your team's efforts,
particularly when things go wrong.
Ask for help when you need it3. Knowing
how to ask for help lets you call upon the
expertise of someone stronger in an area than
you are. The result? The entire team or
organization wins; not just you.
Take responsibility for your team's mistakes
or failings.
Key Traits of a Level 5 Leader
Be disciplined in your work. When you
commit to a course of action, no matter how
difficult it is, stick to your resolve. It's always
important to listen to differing opinions, but
don't let fear be your driving motivator when
you make, or change, a decision.
Take the time to finding the right
people, and then help them reach their full
potential.
Lead with Passion. When you demonstrate
to your team that you love and believe in what
you're doing, they will too.