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My Leadership Style and Philosophy

Irving Barraza

College of Education, Grand Canyon University

EAD 501: Foundations for the Developing Leader

Micaela Swan

December 21, 2022

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My Leadership Style and Philosophy

Through my drive to help others, empowerment, and communication, I hope to lead

through example, be there to support, and provide guidance. I will lead everyone on my team by

being transparent, honest, and someone they confide in. It is my style of leadership and my

philosophy that drives me to see the best in others.

Personal Values and Beliefs

My value of communication stems from growing up in a household of 6. At a young age,

I valued having a shared space to discuss, be heard, and share ideas and goals. I’ve applied that

belief to my career by creating a space that allows individuals the freedom to feel heard and

understood. Being able to understand someone’s views or ideas, without judgment, expand your

knowledge. Being another one of my values, I’ve always sought out knowledge in all forms. By

reading, taking courses, listening to stories, and always being attentive, I have never stopped

learning and I hope to never stop. Even when you don’t initially see, or understand, others, with

patience you may be able to deepen your understanding. I value patience for everyone because

having patience provides peace of mind for yourself and others, which fosters a welcome aura. I

believe that leaders should listen to their followers. I believe that any individual that follows a

leader is entrusting themselves to the decision of that leader. Due to this, I strongly believe it is

the leader’s responsibility to understand the people they are serving, listen to them, and connect

with them. My values and beliefs drive my decision-making to seek out opinions from others,

hear different sides, and take into consideration how I may affect a greater audience. These same

values and beliefs allow me to set inclusive goals. I can set goals considering others’ viewpoints

and conduct myself in a manner that helps everyone. Furthermore, my value for communication,

and belief that everyone has a voice go hand-in-hand when considering interactions between
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colleagues. Having a shared space where anyone can be celebrated, and all concerns can be

addressed, allows all people to feel included and valued.

Leadership Style

Leadership styles are ever-changing. A style of leadership may change with experience,

the followers you have, and the goals you may want to achieve. In my practice, I resonate most

with the servant leadership and transformational leadership styles. I hope to apply these to

different styles in my practice always staying true to my values and beliefs.

Servant leadership

I resonate most with servant leadership in the way I view myself and how I will lead. In

the textbook by Northouse (2022), servant leaders can be a paradox, because contrary to

common belief, servant leaders lead by putting first their followers by nurturing them,

empathizing with them, and helping their followers reach their full potential. I am a nurturing

person, who values communication, so I take this to my practice by listening and connecting

with people on personal levels. When someone comes to work, I hope that I have created a

workspace where they feel valued for what they do. In a study by Shao et al. (2022), they found

that people who work for someone they consider a servant leader feel that their work needs are

met due to being put first, as employees. This is something I hope to encompass in my leadership

style. When people enjoy what they do for a living, and whom they work for/with, it shows in

the quality of work they do.

Transformational Leadership

Similar to servant leadership, transformational leadership is a style in which the leader

uses empathetic means to connect with their followers. I also resonate with a transformational

leadership style because I feel this is where I am currently at in my practice. Northouse (2022)
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states transformational leaders lead by “assessing followers’ motives, satisfying their needs, and

treating them as full human beings” (p. 239). In my current practice, I naturally connect with

people, and I use this to learn about them, find ways to inspire them and work with them to

achieve a common goal. This leadership, to me, helps motivate individuals to feel they are

capable of more and provides a path to self-efficacy. Although I feel connected to this leadership

style now, I still believe it is important to be further educated on how to best be there for people.

In a study conducted by Salanova et al. (2020), they recommend that to further develop

transformational leadership, leaders benefit from training on compassionate attitude, receiving

feedback from followers, and facilitating open dialogue. In the same study, it was found that over

time, transformational leadership was able to boost group self-efficacy (Salanova et al., 2020).

Schools function because every individual plays a part in the school’s success, including

cafeteria workers, instructional associates, teachers, janitorial staff, and receptionists. A

transformational leader, that can identify with each of these sub-groups of workers, build

relationships with them, and understand how they make a difference in the school’s success, can

lead them in a manner in which they feel important and valued. Through this shared

responsibility, I hope my staff will be motivated, will show self-efficacy, and will do their part

for each other, and especially for the students.

My Leadership Style

I identified my values being communication, knowledge, and patience. As mentioned

above, transformational and servant leaders identify their followers’ needs. Through thoughtful

communication and open discussion, it is my goal to incorporate these leadership styles in my

practice. Valuing knowledge in all forms extended to my knowledge of people. Seeking to know

how people work, what their motivators are, and how to better assist them, will help me as a
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leader be a transformational leader. Using the knowledge I’ve gained from further pieces of

training, professional development, and research, I will be able to further support my staff. It was

concluded that both leadership styles influence their followers positively (Van Dierendonck et

al., 2014). Van Dierendonck et al. (2014), compared the similarities and, more so, differences

between both leadership styles. In the study, they identified transformational leaders as being the

“center of the leadership process” as compared to servant leaders, who “attribute successes to

followers, instead of themselves” (Van Dierendonck et al., 2014). In my professional journey, as

I previously mentioned, I more strongly identify with transformational leadership, but through

patience and knowledge, I hope to be able to achieve being seen as a servant leader.

Integrity and Fairness

As a future transformation-servant leader, I will act with integrity by upholding honesty

and sincerity in my practice. It will be my mission to seek the best, research-based, practices to

implement and provide my staff with appropriate training and opportunities for personal and

professional growth. I vow to make decisions with an open door, be considerate of feedback, and

be open to improvement. I will act fair by sharing the room for others’ voices to be heard. I will

be fair in my action by doing my best to keep everyone’s opinions and bests interests in mind. To

uphold accountability for students’ academic and social success, I will work closely with grade-

level bands and use data-based evidence to identify needs and work on solutions. It will be

within my duties, alongside teachers, to measure student success, celebrate students, support

those in need, and be responsible for their achievements.

Model of Effective and Inspirational Leadership

I propose to implement this personal philosophy because I believe teachers join this

profession for a reason. Teaching is not a job most people do because they happened to get hired;
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teachers teach because of the love they have for educating the youth. I aspire to empower my

staff and their actions, be an effective role model and be a transformational servant leader. By

using my current knowledge, along with gain knowledge as I gain experience in my practice, I

will apply transformational leader attributes to grow my staff and boost self-efficacy. With

patience, I aim to learn how to be a servant leader and over time be able to put first my staff to

help them grow. Through this effort, I intend to be an effective and inspirational leader.

Conclusion

To be a servant leader, the leader must put their followers first; a transformational leader

helps their staff transform, for the better, in their profession. It is my philosophy to lead my staff

through thoughtful communication, patience, and a shared love of knowledge, to push our

students academically, and emotionally to learn and grow. It is my philosophy to help those

around me be better educators, and transform them into leaders in their own ways. I will lead by

allowing a space for everyone to be heard, everyone to be noticed, and our joint successes and

achievements to be shared.
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References

Northouse, P. G. (2022). Leadership: Theory and Practice (9th Ed.). SAGE.

Salanova, M., Rodríguez-Sánchez, A. M., & Nielsen, K. (2020). The impact of group efficacy

beliefs and transformational leadership on followers’ self-efficacy: A multilevel-

longitudinal study. Current Psychology, 41(4), 2024–2033.

https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-020-00722-3

Shao, Y., Xu, A. J., & Lin, S. (2022). How and when perceptions of servant leadership foster

employee work meaningfulness. Journal of Work and Organizational Psychology, 38(2),

121–127. https://doi.org/10.5093/jwop2022a11

Van Dierendonck, D., Stam, D., Boersma, P., de Windt, N., & Alkema, J. (2014). Same

difference? exploring the differential mechanisms linking servant leadership and

transformational leadership to follower outcomes. The Leadership Quarterly, 25(3), 544–

562. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.leaqua.2013.11.014