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Running Header: LEADERSHIP PRACTICES INVENTORY

Leadership Practices Inventory

Ryan Sheehan
ECC 509: Preparation for Professional Growth
City University of Seattle

Leadership Practices Inventory

During this school year my job description has changed. Because of this, the staff with
whom I have worked has also changed. Currently I am teaching for St. Gabriel Online School. I
teach seven courses online and I work face-to-face with a group of nine St. Gabriel high school
students in a remote area for three days each week. There is one other staff member who also
works in the same facility with younger children. I see my St. Gabriel colleagues at most once
per week. Throughout the school year I have also worked alongside some staff at St. Matthew
School. Because of my unique position, I had few people able to respond to my questionnaire. I
was able to have a few staff from St. Dominic School complete the questionnaire, giving me a
total of eight responses. Some of those people have not seen me work in a leadership role in four
years. My data may not be as accurate as I would like because of these conditions. However, I
feel that this is the best sample I can currently use.
In terms of my headspace, I feel somewhat isolated as I work about 200 kilometers away
from my actual school. On a daily basis, I make many decisions for my students and parents.
There is no administration on site, so I am the leader in the building. No one sees me in action
as a leader other than the students and parents. I feel that one of my biggest responsibilities this
year has been to advocate for my students in Noredgg and to relay information to and from my
administration and my parents and students. I have also worked closely with these students,
many of whom have very low literacy levels. I feel connected to them and like we have
relationships rooted in trust and respect.
The statements regarding Challenging the Process shows that the assessment from my
colleagues was 52.4 My rating of myself was 42. Clearly from this score comparison, I do not
see this characteristic in myself as much as others see in me. I think that people might see this
quality in me because I chose to resign from the division a few years ago. In doing this, I sought

Leadership Practices Inventory

a challenging opportunity, looked for ways to improve, and I experimented and took risks. I also
took a risk by accepting the job in Nordegg, which many which for many people seemed to be
out of their comfort zone. Upon reflection, this is a fair assessment of me and I need to realize
that I have that skill and not underestimate my ability to challenge the process. I may have
devalued my abilities in this segment.
The next section about Inspiring a Shared Vision showed similar data. The observer
group rated me at 50, whereas I rated myself at 44. There were two statements that stood out to
me in the data. Two people rated me lower than I did when it came to describing a compelling
future and appealing to others to share a dream of the future. In reflecting on this, I can see that
although I tend to have an optimistic viewpoint of the future, perhaps I do not share that
viewpoint with all of my colleagues. There are people with whom I naturally work more closely
than I do with others. My goal is to share my optimism with all people regardless of our
relationship. I also plan to try to remove personal bias from a working relationship with a person.
The next section titled Enabling Others to Act, shows that my responses are very
similar to the observers responses. Their assessment showed an average of 52.1 and my total
was 50. I noticed that the two lowest self-rankings were about supporting other peoples
decisions and ensuring that people grow in their job. As a leader, these are important aspects that
I hope to help instill in staff. I need to listen closely to others ideas and support them so they
feel empowered and thus allow them to grow in their job.
Modeling the Way was the category in which I rated myself the highest, but again the
observers rated me higher than I did. My colleagues had an average score of 54.5 and my
average was 51. I feel very strongly about the role of an educator being an example to students. I
try very hard to consistently demonstrate the characteristics that schools hope to cultivate in

Leadership Practices Inventory

students. This is an area that I hope to not become complacent in. The high standards that I set
for myself are obviously being noticed by others.
The final set of behaviors categorized as Encouraging the Heart again reflected that my
peers rank me higher than I rank myself. The observer group shows a rating of 53.1 while my
score was 44. The recurring theme of assessing myself lower than the group assesses me
confirms for me that I devalue my skills. My self-perception is not congruent with the perception
that others have of me. It is interesting to me to consider that others see me differently than I see
myself. What I take from this is that perhaps there is room for me to step further into my skills
and be confident in what I do well. Im curious about how I may learn to do this, moving
forward!