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Benchmark: Leadership Style & Philosophy

Caitlin Hallam

College of Education, Grand Canyon University

EAD 501-Educational Administration: Foundations for the Developing Leader

Dr. Randall Hoggard

2 February 2023
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Benchmark: Leadership Style & Philosophy

There are many types of leadership styles that exist throughout leadership positions all

over the world. Three of the styles that school leaders use include servant leadership,

transactional leadership, and transformational leadership. Although transactional leadership and

transformational leadership are very similar and used quite frequently in classrooms, they are

different. There are different aspects of each leadership style that seem useful for various

circumstances throughout the school day. I find myself using transactional leadership quite often

so it would be beneficial to use more of a servant leadership style more frequently to encourage

students.

Servant Leadership

Servant leadership is best described as a style of leadership that revolves around serving

others, usually subordinates. In the instance of a school, it would be administrators serving the

educators who in turn, serve the students. Peter G. Northouse wrote in his book, “Leadership:

Theory and Practice”, “[Servant leadership] begins with the natural feeling that one wants to

serve, to serve first” (Northouse, 2019). Servant leadership is the practice and idea that leaders

should be serving those who are working under them. In schools, principals are expected to serve

their educators so that they can better serve the students. Supplying teachers with all of the tools

and skills they need allows them to focus on educating students and making them successful.

In my own values, I can see where servant leadership fits. I believe that students and

others around me can live and work up to their best potential when I encourage them and teach

them to believe in themselves, however, I do not think it always happens. Investopedia author,

Will Kenton, describes the goal of servant leadership as “developing leadership qualities in

others” (Kenton, 2022). While serving others and teaching them these qualities, the leader should
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also be using “less institutional power and control while shifting authority to those who are being

led” (Northouse, 2019). This is a part of servant leadership that I definitely believe in but would

like to develop more because it is important to be able to transfer the leadership over to those I

am leading.

Transactional Leadership

While I find myself most interested and closely related to servant leadership, I can see

myself using some transactional leadership in my own classroom. Peter G. Northouse describes

the use of transactional leadership in the classroom as “giving students a grade for work

completed” (Northouse, 2019). Every educator has used this model of leadership because grades

have to be entered into the grading system. Transactional leadership makes me think of a

transaction between one person and another.

St. Thomas University describes transactional leaders as “reactive” and an idea based on

“managers giving employees something they want in exchange for getting something they want”

(STU Online, 2014). Transactional leadership relies on a school leader doing something for a

teacher or student after they have done something that they want. I do not believe in using this

leadership style because it relies too much on the work of others. I will not be a school leader

who only helps after getting what I want first. I would rather use a servant leadership style

approach to leading others.

Transformational Leadership

Transformational leadership is often confused with transactional leadership because of

their similar natures when used. The University of Massachusetts Global describes

transformational leadership as a way “to encourage, inspire and motivate employees to perform

in ways that create meaningful change” (Massachusetts Global, n.d.). Transformational

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leadership uses motivation to encourage employees to do their best. Using this type of leadership

in a school would cause principals to encourage teachers who would then be able to encourage

their students. Peter Northouse describes this type of leadership in a similar fashion by stating,

“This approach stressed that leaders need to understand and adapt to the needs and motives of

followers” (Northouse, 2019). In order to stay on top of the way the school is run,

transformational leaders need to work alongside subordinates to “implement effective change”

(Massachusetts Global, n.d.). This change occurs through “communication, charisma,

adaptability and empathetic support” (Massachusetts Global, n.d.).

In this model of leadership, leaders are able to work alongside their employees. This does

not necessarily mean that the principal is going to sit down with a teacher and help plan their

lessons, but it does mean that they would be in the classrooms more often observing and

motivating the teachers. When principals are able to understand the needs of their educators and

meet those needs, teachers can spend more time meeting all of the needs of their students.

Through these observations and classroom involvement opportunities, the principal would be

able to “engage with others and create a connection that raises the level of motivation and

morality” in the principal and teacher (Northouse, 2019). This would then create a more

supportive and efficient relationship between the principal and teacher. When this relationship is

strong due to the leadership, teachers can better lead their students creating successful students

with whom they have great relationships.

My Leadership Style & Philosophy

While all three of the discussed leadership styles have their own unique benefits and

drawbacks, I think my beliefs most closely align with servant and transformational leadership. I

want to be able to use what motivates my students to make them successful. However, I also like
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the idea of serving them so that they can one day encourage and motivate themselves to be

successful. Both leadership styles are very similar in that motivation and encouragement help

students to be successful in the classroom. I will use these as a school leader to help my

subordinates also be successful. As a teacher, I know that when I feel supported and motivated

by my administrators, I am better able to do the same to my students. This makes all of us

successful in the class which results in a more successful school.

When I am a school leader, I will use these leadership styles to ensure that all educators

and students hold themselves and each other accountable for their success. As I motivate

teachers and give them the skills to be successful through service, they should be doing the same

to their students. I will provide opportunities for them to learn about these leadership skills and

styles so that they can teach their students to help one another and believe in themselves

throughout their academic careers.

This leadership combination will allow for students to feel more comfortable around each

other and their teachers creating more successful social interactions as well as academic

situations. My leadership philosophy will inspire others to believe in themselves resulting in

more successful outcomes throughout each level of the school. When the teachers feel motivated

and like they are believed in, they will pass this on to their students who will share this with each

other. In turn, the school will be successful all through the use of servant and transformational

leadership.
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References

Kenton, W. (2022, October 8). Servant leadership: characteristics, pros & cons, example.

Investopedia. https://www.investopedia.com/terms/s/servant-leadership.asp

Northouse, P.G. (2019). Leadership: Theory and Practice (9th Ed.). SAGE.

STU Online. (2014, November 25). What is transactional leadership? structure leads to results.

STU. https://online.stu.edu/degrees/education/what-is-transactional-leadership/

University of Massachusetts Global. (n.d.). What is transformational leadership and why is it

effective? Understanding the impact of inspirational guidance. www.umassglobal.edu.

https://www.umassglobal.edu/news-and-events/blog/what-is-transformational-leadership