Leadership in Empowered Schools

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Table of Contents

Introduction
Which is better
Effects of change
Steps to reduce negative effects of change
Monitor trends and prepare our organization for the changes
Conclusion
References

Introduction

According to Deborah King, collaborative adult learning is important to help institutions in designing and implementing professional development procedures to support learning and progress of the administrators. She says that the principles and supers of the institutions have realized a need for developing a wider knowledge base of the curriculum to achieve their goals. Their instructional leadership capabilities need to be developed and professional learning groups must be encouraged. For the improvement of institutions, the leaders have to develop skills for collecting and using data from various sources. As she mentions, “Instructional leaders make creative use of all resources – people, time, and money – to support school improvements.” (King, 2002)

According to Ben Bissell, educational institutions must create an environment so that continual changes are viewed as a positive step for creating success and improving learning among the students. He says that a distinctive character of our successful leaders will be their capabilities of managing change on the educational front. Until and unless these educational leaders expose themselves to the changes that are going on, they will ultimately become irrelevant.

Bissell says that the speed of change is a relatively new thing for us and we no longer have enough time to think before a certain new change requires our attention. He says, “First, it is vital to realize that change is not new. The world has always been changing. What’s new is the speed of change.” (Bissell, 2002)

If the leaders are reluctant and display lack of enthusiasm to present changes it will take away success achieved by the students through their formal education. Bissell also says that there is always a resistance to a new change as they produce unexpected and unknown fear among the people. One way of overcoming this is that the leaders need to properly hear out and understand the staff members and also listen to them.

Which is better

The resistance change is better since it realizes that there is nothing new about changes and only those people who can accept change will be the ultimate winner. It emphasizes that other than the things that are taught in the schools, there is also the need to understand how change can be managed and form guidelines for the success of its students and staff members. According to this theory, change is better if it is exercised and accepted slowly and gradually. It is also better since it is consistent with the changing ways of our present millennium.

This is a better model since unlike the older models, which believed that if people had to know something they would be informed about it. According to this model, the people in the organization should be responsible for their needs. This model also does not expect the staff to do according to the leaders but expects them to help the leaders understand what changes need to be done.

Effects of change

The first and foremost effect of change among the individuals of an institution is that they become fearful of the change, as they do not know what to expect of it. The implementation of the change is in a way shut down due to this fear. Sometimes there are misunderstandings among the leaders and staff members, which need to be clarified. Thus, this affects the leaders who in the process of understanding the staff themselves become learners, making them powerful leaders. However, dealing with change is not easy. It requires sustainable relations. “Sustainable improvement requires investment in building long-term capacity for improvement”. This proves to be most beneficial during the event of changes. (Hargreaves, 2003)

Nevertheless, sometimes the leaders themselves become angry. Unresolved anger also creates low morale among the staff and this becomes an overhead cost for the institution. Changes are always followed by stress thus, requiring everyone to take care of their need, both emotionally and physically. If we neglect them then we may get depressed for working too long and too hard. (Wilson, 2002)

Steps to reduce negative effects of change

To implement any new change and reduce its negative effects on the people, the leaders must first increase the flow of information among them so that the people are informed and do not resist to the change. If people have no information about a certain change rumors will be created which can sometimes be harmful. They also should not withhold any information from the staff as it may make them feel incompetent. The staff members should also take individual responsibility to learn about the changes. When changes take place, people’s perceptions become vague, thus the leaders should make sure that the staff properly understands the tasks and goals.

The leaders should clearly listen to the staff and set limits to the time they can give them. This will make them stick to the important points and not blabber around. Both the leaders and staff members should not bottle up their feelings and speak out so that no one gets hurt and problems are solved. As changes bring about weariness and tired people are not able to express, listen or learn self-care becomes a priority for all. Leaders and staff members should also maintain a social life outside their workplaces. (Hiatt, 2004)

Monitor trends and prepare our organization for the changes

In order to monitor the trends affecting our institutions and prepare the people to accept changes, the leaders should increase flow of information so that harmful rumors are not created. In order to do so new models must be developed and the leaders should make it clear to the staff that it is their responsibility to ask questions regarding things they want to learn about. The leaders should frequently check that the staff members are on the same track as them and clarify any misunderstandings.

The leaders themselves need to keep their cool and not get angry as this may hamper their communication with their staff members. Everyone must practice anger management and rules should be established to stop conflicts from taking place. The leaders should make sure that the staff and students engage themselves in sports activities, reading and, if possible, traveling so that their demanding schedules do not make them boring. (Cameron, 2004)

Conclusion

To motivate the staff members of an institution the leader should always encourage, share information with the staff members, and never tell them that they are not responsible or mature enough to handle situations. They should be treated like adults if the leaders want them to behave like adults. In order to clearly listen to the staff, the leaders should set a time limit for them as this keeps them on track and they get to the important points within the limit. But they should not be sarcastic when doing so. People should learn from each other how to handle conflicts and not from theoretical models.

References

Bissell, Ben; 2002; Resistance Change; Leadership; Ebsco publishing Cameron, Esther & Mike Green; 2004; Making Sense of Change Management: A Complete Guide to the Models, Tools & Techniques of Organizational Change; Kogan Page Publishers.

Hargreaves, Andy & Dean Fink; 2003; Sustaining Leadership; Ebsco publishing.

Hiatt, Jeffrey M. Jeff Hiatt, Timothy J. Creasey; 2003; Change Management: The People Side of Change; Prosci.

King, Deborah; 2002; Changing Shape of Leadership; Ebsco publishing.

Wilson, David C; 2002; A Strategy of Change: Concepts and Controversies in the Management of Change; Cengage Learning EMEA.

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