Leadership In Eucation

Leadership does make a difference. Leadership can make or break a school district, organization or even a country. In this paper I will discuss the values, skills, traits and actions of a successful leader.

In the article Secrets of Leadership: Hitler and Churchill the author asks "What is leadership?" Leadership is a process where as an individual influences others. These influences can be positive or negative. Hitler's great leadership skills and were able to influence his countrymen but his influences caused destruction, death, and fear. On the other hand, Dr. Martin Luther King, Junior had a positive effect on people. He promoted change through peaceful means. Why do we need leadership? We need leadership because the desire to follow a leader seems to be a common human instinct - a less common instinct is the ability to take on the leadership role. (Roberts 2003).

It is generally acknowledged that the success of the school depends in large measure upon the skills of the individual school leader - the principal.(Reed 1982) This leader needs to possess strong interpersonal communication skills. He spoke plainly...Men and women from the assembly line to the boardroom could relate.(Rorke 2005)

A strong leader must be able to facilitate change. To facilitate change a leader must deal with resistance, motivate, inspire, influence and sustain change in self and others. Why change? Change is important to a school district or other organizations because it allows for growth. Most people are not ready to deal with change head on. We look to a leader for guidance in these situations.

Bibliography

Krishnan, V. (2001). Value systems of transformational leaders. Leadership and Organization Development Journal, 22(3), 126-132.

Reed, R. (1982). Urban Secondary School Leadership: Contemporary