It was not easy to adjust myself to the "Educational Leadership" program due to late participation in the course for me. I have learned much beneficial information about leadership and impasted my administrative experience during a short period. I want to locate myself in school education life as an experienced leader with global standards. I inspired by the definition of leadership which is passed during my previous training about school administration as “Leadership is a process whereby an individual influences a group of individuals to achieve a common goal” by Rost (1991). Each word was important to me. I was the leader of the school and not only an administrator. The process did not mean not only educational duration, but also a kind of transactional event occurred between me and teachers, students, and parents. Even workers like guards, sweepers, cook, and drivers. I felt that I have changed their life and I inspired them. They affected me also. I learned patience from one, loyalty from another, service from one another. I have many examples from different countries. For example, one class of two students was not listening to lessons, disturbing friends, kicking his teacher and mother. VP. had tried many ways to change student but she was not successful. Complaining to the parents was not a solution. I observed student for a while. He had a twin brother and he was successful and his problematic brother had burn sign on the face. He was told to parents that he was not willing to go to school because as a result of his behaviors principal (me) might expel him. I invited him to my office and I mentioned one by one what he did in the class and at home. He afraid too much and invite him to close. VP and class teacher were expecting traditional process as Pakistani teachers doing but I just hug him (it’s not allowed in the US I know but its Pakistan culture. I hug him like his father) and said that I will not expel him whatever he does and I believe that he will be successful student and I assume him as my son and I will support him every time. I requested him to ask forgiveness from the class teacher, VP and his mother for his wrong actions before he did. After one year, the mother came to school for sharing his thanks to me. He became the shining star of my school and he received certificates of his success. Another boy from Russia was expecting to suicide himself when he came to school. After a few months guidance, he became closer to me. We went to ice hockey games, theaters, cinemas, breakfasts, and dinners. I invited his family to my home and I visited their home. He became an engineer and he continued to come breakfast every Sunday during university to my home. Now he is calling me. He got married and has one daughter. He is expecting to visit Africa with his family and he visited several times my hometown in Turkey.
Leadership cannot be without groups. A leader influences a group of people who have the same targets. Small or large groups can accomplish common goals. We cannot think schools without students, teachers, workers, parent groups. It has meaning with these groups, otherwise, they are just stones without souls.
Leaders should not forget common goals in any institution. One of the goals of students is being successful on the government exam, another is being a good and beneficial member of society. Teachers, parents, workers have individual goals and group goals to achieve. A leader should have attention to direct people to the correct direction. They should arrange training sessions, studies, certificate programs, coaching and mentoring programs to achieve goals easily.
What about my leading style? Did I study my style? Yes, I trained and went to courses to understand my style. One of the famous leading styles, nowadays, is transformational leadership. Am I a transformational leader? Partially, yes. What about other styles? Yes also. How can it be? Yes, I am sometimes an authentic leader, sometimes a servant, sometimes a facilitative, sometimes coaching leader. My dominant leadership style is transformational but I cannot say completely transformational. Gronn (1996) suggested that leaders should be multilingual. Leader should not use just one style and should change sayings and styles according to the situation. This term fits with me.
What do my friends say about my strengths and my weaknesses? I can set long term goals and train groups according to targets. I have patience, wait and listen without getting bored. I can manage to fund and prevent wastage. I feel responsible for 24 hours and day or night is not important to work. All my friends and workers even students are expecting to work or study with me. I shifted to my apartment and 6 more friends shifted after me. My weakness is talking less. It is enough for me but not enough for my friends. Mostly I work with papers to document and it is my weakness for my friends. Another weakness of mine is one of my strengths at the same time. I can listen to friends without bored but if I listen to the same sentences or repeating phrases, I lost my concentration and just waiting for ending. I am trying to be just and honest. I haven’t received any complain about my actions until today. Just I had one complaint from 10th-grade students about using less humor in the class but I had a reason that they should study for their government exam.
How can I balance behaviors and improve my character? I think I need to observe successful leaders in history. I need to understand historical leaders like prophets of religions, leaders of historical communities, shining stars of nations like Lincoln, Luther, Ghandi, Ataturk, Ikeda, Mandela, etc. A leader should guide people like a candle. Will burn and enlighten. Just, fair, truthful, grateful, creative, loyal, patient, generous, sincere and many other virtues needed for being a successful leader. Leaders should inspire followers and they should stand together and act together.
A leader should manage people but not be a manager. Just following procedures and asking how and when questions make us just simple managers. Need to ask what and why to guide people. We need to do correct things not only in positive way. We need to change the traditional way coming from ancestors, we need to seek change. Our power should not be just our positional power, power should come from our ideas and vision. Our output is our successful, excellent students. Just coming and going to school is not our target. We need to nurture and cultivate then according to eras requirements (Hart,2005).
If we are expecting students’ success, we should gain their trust. They should trust our guidance, vision, and hard work. They need to see proper guides during their study and they want to guarantee university and profession that they created for. They should not waste their life. They should go to a job with joy and they should have a smile on their faces during your life. This smile can be just with our guidance.
I am belonging to the “y” generation and I know my strengths and weaknesses. Today's leader should be trained according to “z” generation those have tablets and mobiles in their hands. The new culture is coming. Do I ready to face? Not yet, but we need to be trained.
As a conclusion paragraph, I can ask myself about what is my target or main goal. I can say with my whole heart that my goal is helping others till the grave. I will try to improve everyone around me and I will push them one level up. In two ways. One in their academic and performance way like providing more training, certificates, degrees, promotions, another in the moral side that they should be perfect human-being with positive moral values.
References:
Gronn, P. (1996). From transactions to transformations: a new world order in the study of leadership?. Educational Management & Administration, 24(1), 7-30.
Hart, L. B., Hart, L. B., & Waisman, C. S. (2005). The leadership training activity book: 50 exercises for building effective leaders. Amacom Books. 103-105
Rost, J. C. (1991). Leadership for the twenty-first century. New York: Praeger.
