1

Leadership Philosophy and Action Plan

Leadership Philosophy and Action Plan

Nicole Staab

College of Education, Northern Arizona University

CCHE 600: Leadership Skills

Professor William Guerriero

March 1, 2021
2
Leadership Philosophy and Action Plan
Before this course, I believed that leadership style was associated with attributes that

initially made someone what we knew as a natural-born leader. However, throughout these units,

it is apparent that leadership is much more than having just a set of traits. It is a complex balance

between skills, behaviors, and traits that contribute to a leader effectively command a unit of

people that complement one another to produce results. Although this is a fundamental

understanding of leadership, looking at how leaders lead. Exploring the philosophies behind

successful leadership styles is reflected in how the followers or employees of leaders maintain

their motivation to work towards a common goal. In taking the surveys provided for us, I was

better able to understand myself better in terms of how I can become a better leader and help

motivate myself in my own goals of starting a career within higher education. By taking the

readings, articles, and book by Rath and Conchie, I can look at leadership within the scope of

how leadership styles ultimately affect their followers and why it is imperative to continue to

work towards adapting and improving skills and behaviors needed to motivate team members to

work towards the attainment of goals.

There is no distinct agreement on how leadership should be defined in higher education

because there are many ways to measure, assess and link outcomes. Successful leaders vary, and

many factors constrain the influence of these leaders. In higher education, shared governance

oversees the institution's control or direction so that those who are put into these positions of

power adhere to the values and goals set forth for the institution's good. It is important to

understand how leadership functions within higher education due to the complex web of

governance between the state, the community, and the institution's internal functions. Northouse

(2019) states that "leadership represents a process, that involves influence- and involves a

common goal" (Guerriero, 2021, Unit 1, pp.5). If we look at what the common goals of a
3
Leadership Philosophy and Action Plan
university or college are, we see that serving the community with the promise of an affordable

and attainable education ring true for most values in higher education organizations. The process

is ever-changing as society changes and as it does, so do leaders in their ways to create followers

that will share the same goals. I see leaders as those with the desire to command, and after

having read through Rath and Conchie's book, Strengths-Based Leadership: Great Leaders,

Teams, and Why People Follow, it has changed the philosophy I had about what makes a leader.

In this assignment, I want to explore the skills, traits, behavior approach, team leadership, and

transformational leadership. These three approaches can create and bring forth some of the most

successful leaders in higher education if used together correctly.

In Assignment 1B, we explored the idea of skills, traits and behaviors approach in the

context of Rath and Conchie's book. Rath and Conchie base their findings on strength-based

leadership through years and years of collected data from leaders and followers to compile what

makes an effective leader. I will compare Rath and Conchie's viewpoint on strengths to

Northouse and his outlook on the skills and behaviors of leadership, rather than that of traits.

Traits, as we know, are inherent, shaped by the person's circumstances in their life. Conversely,

skills and behaviors can be developed and emulated from others. Both Northouse and Rath and

Conchie agree that it is almost impossible to lead effectively without being aware of your

strengths (skills and behaviors) (Rath & Conchie, pp.23). Ultimately this means that a person

who may exhibit traits of being a good leader might not demonstrate the needed skills or

behaviors essential for optimizing teams and organizational effectiveness (Guerriero, 2021, Unit

1, pp.10). This is an important detail to remember, especially within higher education, because

leaders are not the final decision-makers.

4
Leadership Philosophy and Action Plan
Just as leaders in higher education are not the end all be all, they are also not the only

ones that keep an organization running. Northouse (2019) describes a team as "a group of

interdependent members with shared goals to achieve and activities to complete" (Guerriero,

2021, Unit 2, pp.19). Leaders and followers assist each other in their attainment of goals.

Without strong leaders that reflect an organization's values or acknowledge their followers as a

fundamental component to achieving goals, performance and effectiveness suffer. Going back to

the traits approach, leaders must be able to model emotional intelligence to understand their

followers' needs. Rath and Conchie, in chapter two of their book, explain how leaders maximize

on their teams. Effective leaders can create teams with strengths that complement others, not

those that are mere reflections of themselves (Rath & Conchie, pp.21). Educational institutions

operate in a complex hierarchy of leadership as a living organization. Hiring motivated

individuals is only the beginning of creating a good team dynamic, but ensuring those

individuals feel supported enough to complete their tasks is a strength that leaders must-have.

As someone who is currently trying to procure a job within the field of higher education,

I am beginning to see the patterns that employers use in their interview assessments of potential

hires. Most recently, in an interview I had with the career counseling department for a private

higher educational organization, they met together with me to see how my set of skills would

benefit their already established team. The head of the department echoed an idea that reminded

me of Rath and Conchie- "although individuals need not to be well-rounded, teams should be"

(Rath & Conchie, pp.24). In a field where policy and goals are always changing, there is one

skill that should be universal among leaders and team members: adaptability.

According to Northouse (2019), transformational leadership involves leaders that inspire

change in individuals, team members, and even entire organizations (Guerriero, 2021, Unit 3,
5
Leadership Philosophy and Action Plan
pp.1). In higher education, institutions are governed by structures in parallel within a dual system

of control. Constraints come from external and internal environments. Leaders must be

responsive to these environments for their institutions to survive. This concept reminds me of the

six conditions of systems change by Kania, Kramer and Senge (2018). One of the characteristics

that a transformational leader has is a visionary. Since higher education will continue to change

with society's flow, so must the strategic planning of organizations, starting with its leaders.

When we discussed the issues facing case study 3.2 we saw the effects of a leader who chose a

laissez-faire style of leadership. In the case study, Pinnacle Community College District (PCCD)

needed Chancellor Gladstone to embrace an intellectual stimulation approach for the working

parties of PCCD to create an innovative way of seeing that the failure (consolidation or

obsoletion of programs) is a necessary part of the institution to grow. This would mean that the

members of PCCD needed to trust their leaders, and trust is an integral element of being an

effective leader.

Along with these three leadership approaches, I'd like to compare them with the path-goal

theory and leader-member exchange theory, as well as with authentic and adaptive leadership.

Traits, skills, behaviors approach, and transformational leadership goes hand in hand with

authentic and adaptive leadership. Authentic and adaptive leadership calls for leaders to

demonstrate the need to put their follower's needs and desires at the forefront (Guerriero, 2021,

Unit 1, pp.5). With a strong emphasis on character, we go back to what traits and behaviors a

leader have to make them authentic and relatable to their followers? The same could be said

about adaptive leadership. If adaptive challenges cannot be solved easily, what skills does a

leader need to creatively and innovatively solve their organization's issues? Authentic and

adaptive leadership require a fine balance between skills, traits, and behaviors because as stated
6
Leadership Philosophy and Action Plan
before: although a leader may not have all the answers, they can use their strengths to tackle

problems they are capable of and force leaders to think transactionally on how to entrust tasks to

their followers to help solve the challenges faced.

Lastly, path-goal theory and LMX theory coincide with team leadership. Path-goal

theory is how leaders assess their follower's ability and willingness to work, whereas LMX

theory is how to optimize relationships between leaders and followers. I like to think of these

three workings together, as described in chapter three: why people follow Rath and Conchie's

book. They state that one of the greatest challenges a leader will face is creating hope and

helping people see the way forward (Rath & Conchie, pp.91).

While I was applying and interviewing for jobs in higher education, I found that the

appendix assessments helped me understand and answer the questions posed to me. Upon taking

the questionaries for traits and behaviors, I realized that I scored higher in trustworthy, diligent,

empathetic, and perceptive traits. In skills, I received a score of 24 for human skill, a 15 for

conceptual skill, and a 14 for technical skill. Lastly, for the behavior questionnaire, I received a

higher score for relationship behaviors with a high range of 42, tasks being moderately high with

a 35. This surprised me slightly because although I do find myself drawn towards relationship

building, I thought perhaps I had cultivated my skills in task-related behaviors. It's interesting to

see what still needs to be worked on and what strengths can help foster those that could be

viewed as a working weakness.

The inclusion of the surveys helped me pinpoint what gaps I had between my personal

philosophy, behaviors, and skills I assumed to be my strengths. I reflect on my time as a teacher

and administrative lead to better understand how I was able to develop skills and behaviors that I

felt were necessary to do my job effectively.

7
Leadership Philosophy and Action Plan
           My first as a teacher seemed simple. As a follower of my principal, my responsibilities

were that of my own students' progress, the implementation of lesson plans, and at the end of the

week tracking and inputting grades. I saw myself as a member of the group but individually

responsible for my tasks. I was a strong communicator and actively made sure that and knew my

needs would be met from my leaders' support. I was thorough and able to come up with solutions

during meetings to issues that would affect our school's entire nature. My principal saw a

potential leader in me that I did not see in myself. I soon entered into what I know now as a

servant leadership role.

           As described by Robert Greenleaf's philosophies, servant leadership puts the needs of the

followers first for them to develop higher levels of success and satisfaction. I became a liaison

between my school's staff, administration, and upper management. In reality, I was the

representative for my school, expected to uphold my school's values with integrity. Reading

through Greenleaf's and Frick's ideas of servant leadership based on traits, behaviors, and skills, I

realized that these were what my principal noticed in me, which helped make her decision to

place me into this new role. According to my surveys, I am more people-oriented, with tasks-

based skills following closely behind- this I attribute to my third year in my leadership position.

Here is where I notice the gaps within my leadership.

           Greenleaf emphasizes that "servant-leaders always accept the person but may not always

accept the person's effort or performance as meeting expectations" (Guerriero, 2021, Unit 1,

pp.32). Although I persuaded the administration to anticipate challenges that arose within the

school based on listening to my colleagues, I noticed that the issues were externally created

because of policy constraints. In tracking performance evaluations and conducting professional

development meetings to gather information on logistical issues, I came across dealing with my
8
Leadership Philosophy and Action Plan
own personal weakness of confronting staff who were now putting forth the same effort to

produce results for issues to be solved. I'm able to identify the feelings of hesitation I felt then

now as being a part of an in-group. My leadership weaknesses involved not being able to

delegate tasks to colleagues for fear of being ignored confidently. I was looking at an out-group

of members on my team who, like I once was, did the bare minimum of my job duties. Being a

part of the in-group forced me to realize that although I was chosen for this role based on my

interpersonal skills, I still had much to learn about managing people and handling conflict among

my peers. I see now, thanks to this course, that there is a fine balance in educational leadership.

The balance hangs between being a leader who can connect with people and being authoritative

enough to produce results. As with any leadership, it is important to make sure that the leaders in

positions of power understand that their decisions and actions affect the entire organization as a

whole; because of this, shared governance acts checks and balances for leadership in higher

education.

Unit four of our course focused on leadership in action and the importance of inclusion,

diversity, and leadership ethics. In higher education, these three topics are the keys to these

institutions' future because higher learning is ever-evolving with societal changes. When I first

started my educational leadership program, I took CCHE 680, which focused on higher

education in the united states. Our first module discussed the traditional role of universities and

colleges, which was to "cater to the public good," but was transitionally moving towards

functioning as a business industry and redefined the term "public good" as private advancement.

Upon taking this course, I understood better why leadership should be examined closely in

higher education organizations due to the nature of whom these institutions serve: those with the
9
Leadership Philosophy and Action Plan
desire to pursue advanced education. Therefore, universities and colleges should reflect and

recognize the demographics of the populations that they cater to.

I want to delve deeper into the underrepresented populations. The charter school I worked

for advertised to "honor the promise of education" and focused on students' individualized

experience in ways that traditional education could not cater to. The demographics my particular

school served were what is considered "at-risk youth." These students were from low-

socioeconomic households, lacked interest in academics, or were considered homeless, young

parents, and those with learning disabilities. Our school did its best to make sure they hired

teachers and staff that understood our students' diverse population to make them feel comfortable

enough to advocate for their own academic needs.

           I now see the same importance for higher education leaders and members. Shore (as cited

in Northouse, 2018) states that organizations have two competing desires: To feel included (i.e.,

to belong) and to feel valued and respected as unique individuals (Guerriero, 2021, Unit 4, pp.2).

Now more than ever, it is imperative that higher education institutions work on plans for

inclusion, diversity, and strengthening ethical leadership. With a pandemic, social justice

movements, and questionable leadership within our own presidency, higher learning must

navigate ways to make sure students of all demographics feel represented during their time

attending college or university. Many institutions have already put in place inclusion plans as

part of their official organizational policy. These plans ensure that students, faculty, staff, and

administration are chosen based on their abilities and not because of their race, color, religion,

sex, national origin, age, disability, veteran's status, sexual orientation, gender identity or genetic

information. This becomes the norm for the future of higher education and higher learning.
10
Leadership Philosophy and Action Plan
Looking to the future of leadership in higher education required a deeper look into how

society is changing. These changes affect students' needs, the type of employees needed, and the

leadership styles that reflect the whole of the organization. To quote Gary Berg, Mihaly

Csikszentmihalyi, and Jeanne Nakamura, “work in higher education becomes engaging when the

job has a goal that the workers find clear and worthwhile…” (Berg, Csikszentmihalyi,

Nakamura, 2003, pp. 46). Change happens externally and internally to benefit the institution. The

meaning behind this quote helps me think about how leaders need to also work on their own

personal leadership styles to support their employees better. A trickle-down effect oftentimes

happens in higher learning institutions. Leaders must anticipate future obstacles, trends, and even

ways to problem-solve issues that may arise.

Conclusively, I’d like to think that the future of leadership within higher education is

taking a turn for the better. With inclusion plans put in place and with a higher demand for

ethical leadership, higher learning institutions are making sure that they reflect the changes of

their community’s needs. As stated before, colleges and universities promised a way for all to

access an education. Now, the promise, although similar, has adopted ways in which they hold

those in positions of power accountable – not only creating better environments for learning but

also for those hired to work within the organization. Leadership is a quality most people have,

but assessing one’s own skills and strengths sets apart successful and effective leaders from those

that stray away from the true nature of leading: an example for others to follow.
11
Leadership Philosophy and Action Plan
References

Berg, G. A., Csikszentmihalyi, M., & Nakamura, J. (2003). Mission Possible?: Enabling Good

Work in Higher Education. Change: The Magazine of Higher Learning, 35(5), 40–47.

https://doi.org/10.1080/00091380309604118

Northern Arizona University. (Unk). CCHE 600 Online Unit One, Trait, Skills and Behavioral

Approaches; Authentic and Servant Leadership.

Northern Arizona University. (Unk). CCHE 600 Online Unit Two, – Situational, Path-Goal,

LMX, Followership, Team Leadership.

Northern Arizona University. (Unk). CCHE 600 Online Unit Three, Transformational,

Authentic, Servant and Adaptive Leadership

Northern Arizona University. (Unk). CCHE 600 Online Unit Four, Leadership in Action.

Northern Arizona University. (Unk). CCHE 600 Online Case Studies, Case Study 3.2 Unit Three

- Leading in a time of Retrenchment – Pinnacle Community College District

Rath, T., Conchie, B. (2009). Strengths based leadership: Great leaders, teams, and why

people follow. New York: Gallup Press.