Running head: LEADERSHIP PHILOSOPHY

Leadership Philosophy
Caitlin Hoover
EDAD 570 Winter 2014
Dr. Monica Nixon
Seattle University
March 19, 2014

In the dictionary, leadership is qualified as a noun. I view leadership, however, as a

continual process, an evolving and adaptive concept, an action that takes attention and reflection,
a verb (Bolman & Gallos, 2011; Heifetz et al., 2009; Kouzes & Posner, 2003; Wheatley, 2000).
Leadership involves emotion, it takes action to accomplish goals or to get results, and it is
continually evolving, moving, and shaping environments and the people within those
environments. It is more than a resume filled with awards and achievements. And it is certainly
more than having the ability to have a hundred friends, a charming smile, and a charismatic

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personality to offer. When examined as a verb, certain factors must be considered in order to
truly understand an individuals personal leadership style. Two examples of such factors are
what a leader personally contributes to their leadership style and what external models or
resources they utilize in their practice of leadership.
Leadership in Theory
Since leadership is a versatile skill that is beneficial and applicable in multiple fields,
finding ways of building ones competency and understanding is easily done and extremely
important to do so throughout ones career (Bolman & Gallos, 2011; Komives, 2006). Some
resources, while specifically designed for executives, managers, or other professions, are still
valuable in what they offer in technique and advice (Heifetz et al., 2009; Kouzes & Posner, 2003;
Witherspoon, 1996). Two examples are knowledge in the form of books and assessment tools.
Instructional books, such as Dale Carnegies How to Win and Influence People, and inspirational
stories of endearing individuals and leaders provide insight, examples of talent, and the
willpower to better ones life. In addition, surveys that assess psychological factors and
communication styles have assisted in showing me where my strengths are and what weaknesses
I need to continue working on in my overall development plan for myself. After using
assessments, such as the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) Assessment, I can find books or
other resources that help define goals and programs for self-improvement on any skill.
There are several other resources available for aspiring leaders in the world. Mentorships
are a prime example of a free resource that provides tangible experiences for building skills and
bolstering leadership ability (Komives, 2006). Although I have had mentors in the past, I believe
I have underutilized this resource, especially in the last couple of months. The reason I have not
used this resource more frequently primarily exists because of time constraints. Since starting
graduate school, it has been difficult to find time to nourish existing relationships, much less
foster new mentorships and relationships. Mentorships can be highly rewarding and helpful;

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however, a downside of mentorships is that it takes time and patience to organically build a
relationship that is meaningful and worthwhile for all individuals involved (Heifetz et al, 2009;
Komives, 2006; Kouzes & Posner, 2003, Wheatley, 2000).
In order to make all of the various leadership styles relatable and identifiable, authors and
scholars of leadership have presented categories of descriptions as a framework or model. A
straightforward framework based around decision-making in organizational contexts is one of the
older versions of a leadership framework. Witherspoon (1996) categorizes the different types of
decision-making around their frequencies of usage illustrating how the combination of
information, organizational deadlines, and structure all impact the process of leadership and how
organizations effectively operate on a daily basis. While being strategic in my decision-making,
I tend to follow Witherspoons political mode out of a desire for acceptability and environmental
harmony (Witherspoon, 1996). A more picturesque set of roles to describe leadership styles are
displayed as symbols in Deal and Petersons (2000) framework. Leadership roles designated as
symbols, like poet or anthropologist, help learners in relating descriptors to leaders they have
worked with or in identifying themselves as leaders. Using Deal and Petersons framework, I
can identify myself as a potter, because I enjoy honoring and promoting the successes of past and
present members of an organization, I find community in rituals and traditions, and focus on
emphasizing shared goals and values among the organizations members. The pottery style of
leadership is not without its negative aspects, though. With such an intense focus on rituals,
tradition and values, it can be difficult for newcomers to feel comfortable and welcome in this
environment. In addition, a person who does not work well with this style of leadership will find
it excessively unproductive and pointless. The benefit of the pottery style is that it builds
community and a strong sense of unity in an organization, which helps in resolving issues or
conflicts when they occur (Deal & Peterson, 2000).

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Bolman and Gallos (2011) offer four broad frames of leadership styles often found in
academic administration. Because these frames are characteristically broader than other
leadership frames, I have found it difficult to identify myself in only one. For example, even
though I favor structure and organization in my own work process, my particular style of leading
others is more human resources based with a focus on flexibility and relational leadership.
However, my current position as the advisor for a struggling student organization has me fighting
against my urge to lead with a gentle, compassionate hand to leading with the goal of restoring
balance and structure within the group by being a rational leader. The consensus on what makes
an effective and respected leader is that the leader needs to be both rational and relational, so to
simply concentrate on the structural or the human resources frame is too limiting in what
leadership possibilities are available. Adaptive leadership represents the ability to apply various
leadership approaches when a particular method is needed for a situation or a task. The leader
who has the awareness to know what the limitations are for each style will naturally know how
delegate goals and responsibilities while making others feel accomplished throughout the process
(Bolman & Gallos, 2011, Heifetz et al., 2009; Kouzes & Posner, 2003; Wheatley, 2000). The
critical factor to remember in all frameworks or leadership models is that a perfect frame exists
for all situations, people or projects. There are pros and cons to each frame, which is why my
preferred style of adaptive and ethical leadership is more flexible for the requirements of the
moment.
Heifetz et al. (2009) defines adaptive leadership as the practice of mobilizing people to
tackle tough challenges and thrive (p. 14). My definition of adaptive leadership is doing
whatever needs to be done ethically and genuinely in order to complete the desired mission
(Kidder, 1995). This interpretation of adaptive leadership is similar to Thomas Sergiovannis
(2000) stewardship style of leadership. And while I sometimes find myself leading as an analyst,

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anthropologist, steward, or politician, my ideal leadership framework is the fluid frame (Bolman
& Gallos, 2011; Deal & Peterson, 2000; Sergiovanni, 20001). I would call this leadership frame
the oceanic frame, because it would be assertive and strategic when necessary and warm and
soothing at other times. The great disadvantage of this innovative lens is that it, similar to actual
oceans, is subject to natures unpredictability. On the other hand, the beauty of this lens is that
when it successfully works, it is seamless and accommodating.
A world without leadership would be an aimless one. There would be no excitement, no
thrill or adventure, no curiosity, or meaning behind the actions of individuals. Even animals that
roam and live in packs, such as wolves, have a leader. While it is more for the survival of those
animal packs, leadership within humanity has a significant objective as well. At its core,
leadership is a form of governance, both in terms of self-governance and organizational
guidance. Governance essentially entails that the overseeing of an organization and its systems
are utilized in the most efficient and productive way possible while empowering the people
within that organization (Wheatley, 2000).
It is critical to point out that leadership and management are not mutually exclusive.
Gardner (2000) distinguishes between managers in governance roles and leaders in leadership
roles by pointing out several essential characteristics of a leader in action: they are able to adapt
for the purpose of renewal and long-term prospects, they emphasize the intangible concepts of
motivation and values, they consider the global, external factors for their organization and all
individuals rather than those only under their authority, and they have the ability to juggle
multiple obligations and tasks. Gardners (2000) observations of management and leadership
demonstrate how leadership has evolved to become a process shaped around the actions of
leaders and the psychological and sociological influences that impact those actions in
contemporary society (Kezar et al., 2006; Komives et al., 2006; Witherspoon, 1997).
How Leadership is Shaped

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Theodore Roosevelt wrote in a letter addressed to Henry L. Sprague: Speak softly and
carry a big stick; you will go far (Martin, 2014). While Roosevelt was probably referring to
politics, I have always seen the phrase through a leadership lens. In this context, the phrase
indicates that one does not need a loud voice to make a change or take action, only a symbol of
strength. For me, this symbol of strength was indicative of what I wanted myself to be as a
leader and a person honest, loyal, resilient, and tall. Although leadership has the ability to be
soft spoken, it is still thunderous in the qualities of courage, perseverance, honor, outlook and
vision, authenticity, and compassion. In order to be an effective leader, though, one must have
other productive habits.
Perhaps the greatest influence in personal leadership style is someones personality.
Personality is the myriad of attributes, interests, and preferences that creates a unique identity
(Deal & Peterson, 2000; Komives, 2006; Heifetz et al., 2009). For example, a part of my
personality is that I am keenly aware of the feelings of others and aware of any special
circumstances which they may be going through. Despite this acuity and consideration for
others, I prefer decisions to be made and actions to be taken in a timely fashion. I want others to
feel heard and active in the decision-making process, yet I am highly aware that sometimes these
discussions can turn into a never-ending cycle of deviation and incongruence. I have discovered
that a leader may need to have a firm hand in ending these futile conversations so that priorities
can be restored and goals can be achieved. A similar leader with the same awareness level as I
do may differ in that they are more flexible with change and accommodating with new incoming
information. Although some leaders lead relationally with more emotional-based strategies, like
finding shared goals and interests, others lead more strategically using solution-based strategies
(Bolman & Gallos, 2011; Kouzes & Posner, 2003; Witherspoon, 1996).
There is no perfect formula for who can be an efficacious and inspirational leader. Even

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if an individual has the perfect personality and is highly skillful in all of the areas required in
leadership, other factors, such as uncontrollable events, will have a bearing on how that person is
perceived as a leader. Gardner (2000) says that this perceived conclusion is influenced by
environmental and historical factors along with the opinions of observers. This does not give
leaders an excuse for mistakes; however, it helps to understand the facts of situations and for
followers to appreciate that their leader in not infallible because they are a leader (Komives et al.,
(2006).
A pivotal habit of an effective leader is the continual practice of self-assessment. A
leader who regularly assesses who they are and where they are going is one who is highly selfaware, willing to accept and improve upon mistakes, and continuously learns about how to
improve their leadership style and the environment around which goals are created and cultivated
(Heifetz et al., 2009). When this becomes the habit of a leader, the team of followers, leaders,
the organization, and the pursuit of working towards a common mission and purpose are all
enriched. As Komives et al (2006) identify, when an organization and its members have a
common purpose, relational leadership is enhanced and developed with collaboration, teamwork,
and community. They say, A path to encouraging this development is to create environmental
conditions in which [members] will make lasting commitments to groups (Komives et al, 2006,
p. 417). More than simply a style of leadership, relational leadership emphasizes how crucial
communication is in sustaining successful leadership (Witherspoon, 1996).
Active listening, negotiating through interpersonal conflict, motivating others, and
speaking with warmth and honesty are powerful indicators of a skillful communicator. Leaders
are not excellent communicators out of a need to manipulate, lie, or discredit their followers or
organization (Deal & Peterson, 2000). Effective leaders understand that communication is
necessary for a team to maintain positivity, even during disappointing and frustrating times, and

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helping the team to become a cohesive and supportive unit where everyones strengths are
employed. If a leader strives to be a visionary leader and understand the value of
communication, then they also realize that without communication it would be extremely
difficult to imagine possibilities and contemplate on what methodologies to apply and
incorporate towards the completion of a project (Deal & Peterson, 2000).
Some may feel that everyone is a leader. I believe that everyone has the potential to be a
leader, yet not everyone has the aspiration, disposition, or aptitude to be a valuable and
honorable leader. When I was a teenager, I considered myself a leader without any reservations.
Now that I am older and have a more expansive view of the world and its intricate complexities,
I see myself as a leader in the making, ripe with potential and eager to grow. This perception of
myself may stem somewhat from insecurities leftover from past events, but for the most part it
does not stem from anything negative. It comes from a humble place of maturity and knowledge
that perfection is a process rather than a destination. The most important question that I and
other aspiring leaders can ask themselves is: how will we make the most of our strengths and
develop our weaknesses? I consider myself to be a lifelong learner, so I will never stop trying to
better myself as a leader or a person. I will always carry my strengths in empathy and inclusivity
in fulfilling my personal mission of empowering others and making them feel prosperous and
content.
My strongest and most positive attributes as a leader are ambition and compassion. I
want group members to be happy with their work, feel included, supported, and indispensable in
the decision-making process. I strive to be open in availability and communication, outline roles
and expectations for everyone and myself, point out team members assets when possible, take
collective accountability when a mistake occurs, and hold a commitment to improvement in all
capacities (Bolman & Gallos, 2011; Deal & Peterson, 2000; Kouzes & Posner, 2003; Wheatley,

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2000). Sometimes our most positive traits can be a hindrance to effective and adaptive
leadership. In the case of my caring nature, I still find myself susceptible to the interpersonal
safety zone (Bolman & Gallos, 2011). I genuinely care about everyone I know; however, I find
it necessary to maintain some distance in building relationships out of fear of vulnerability and
judgment. Others can often perceive having a fear of being judged and vulnerable as being
insecure, uninterested, unfriendly, or potentially conceited (Kouzes & Posner, 2003).
The Test of Leadership
The foremost trial of my leadership ability has been the role of the first Adviser of a
student organization that was partially funded by the Alumni Relations Office. Student Alumni
Ambassadors (SAA) had been functioning as a paternalistic organization, where the executive
leadership was formed through a succession plan and executed all of the decision-making (YuChi & Ping Ju, 2012). Their primary goal at the beginning of the year was to transition to a more
democratic style of leadership. However, due to the lack of accountability, consistency, culture
of laissez-faire decision-making, and structure, the executive leadership began to deteriorate and
decision-making became increasingly more ineffective and unproductive. Minor issues, like
meeting times, became an incessant issue that dominated meetings. Details, miscommunication,
and the refusal to ask for assistance became significant hurdles in completing projects. By the
winter quarter, the organization that I saw such enormous possibility in was at a cross-road.
Unless someone took charge and formulated a plan of action, the risk of SAA failing was
undeniable.
Despite the students resistance to change, I was determined to find a solution that would
create a secure organizational foundation that would allow members to be more goal-oriented
and visionary, and would sustain the groups success for the long-term rather than concentrating
on convenient fixes for the immediate pacification of the executive leadership and overall group.
The first step was to craft an evaluation of the organizations needs, future potential, strengths,

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and weaknesses based off of best practices discussions and research of similar student
organizations and their coordinators. After this process of collecting information, I concluded
that the fastest and most advantageous method of solidifying a strategy was to form a taskforce
that would propel SAA into a thriving future.
When I started my position as the Adviser to SAA, I envisioned myself as a competent,
empowering, ingenious, and supportive leader. After speaking with the organizations members
and executive leadership, I was profoundly impressed by their individual leadership capability
and assumed that my role would be as I had originally predicted. I was comfortable and pleased
with this form of human resource framework of leadership, because its the style that I naturally
developed as a leader (Bolman & Gallos, 2011). The realization that the human resource
framework or a traditional style of democratic leadership was not suitable for this type of
organization at that particular time was a challenging transition for me. My internal authority to
be assertive and self-assured was being tested. My hopes of being a transformational leader were
slowly diminishing.
During this transitional period, I wavered between being a servant leader and a political
or transactional leader. Because of my earnest intentions as an adviser, I often found myself as
the organizations servant (Sergiovanni, 2000). Other times, as the primary conduit between the
Alumni Relations department and SAA, I played the transactional role of politician and made
every effort to advocate and negotiate for both sides (Bolman & Gallos, 2011).
The day I decided to combine my role as politician and social architect was the day I
received an email from one of SAAs executive leaders who characterized my supervisor and Is
guidance as dictatorial and blatantly dismissed our experience as leaders (Bolman & Gallos,
2011). This email erased any doubts I had regarding my own leadership and prompted me to
take swift action towards revolutionizing what leadership was in this student organization. In
order to achieve the desired human resource influenced, student-centered focused and

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transformational leadership everyone essentially wanted a firm and organized style needed to
repair the fractures that existed in the organization (Bolman & Gallos, 2011; Datnow, 2014).
The taskforce of five people was carefully and intentionally selected in order to achieve
optimal results in the briefest amount of time. We all knew that we needed to implement
effective modifications immediately. Using the evaluation document and examples of best
practices from other institutional student alumni organizations, the taskforce was able to unite
their diverse skills, suggestions, and viewpoints into a cohesive set of rules and standards for
SAA. The team assisted me in finding practical ways of implementing and enforcing the new
guidelines, preparing for any opposition from students, and was extremely supportive of my
unique position. In addition, they also encouraged and guided me through the process of asking
the disruptive and uncouth executive leader who had emailed me to step down from his position
after resolving that his leadership was not a style that we wanted to endorse.
The scariest portion of the implementation phase was explaining to the members of SAA
the dismissal of an executive leader, what changes were being made in the organization, and
clarifying why SAA needed these changes. There had been such a refusal to accept any
alterations to what [they had] always done that I was prepared for argument, defiance,
members to quit; I was ready for the worst. I was honest, open, and sincere with my messaging
as I explained the situation to my students. I emphasized the positive elements of the new
strategic plan: this meant more leadership opportunities for all members, SAA could spend more
time on projects and being innovative, and that Alumni Relations was rededicating their
department to the students, which meant that they were finding new benefits and means of
championing them.
Some members were hesitant in believing that the organization would be more lucrative
with more routine and structure. Many of these students were seniors and had heard similar
proclamations of hope and possibility in the past that had never come to fruition. The younger

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members were motivated by the positive elements of the plan and were eager to find out how
they could contribute and participate in the process of transforming SAA.
The most impactful lesson from this experience has been that a leader cannot always
follow consensus without impeding progress. Without progress, an organization lays stagnate.
The organizations contributors and stakeholders are left discouraged. The goals and mission of
the organization suffer tremendously. On reflection, when I thought I was following the true
consensus of my students, in actuality I was hearing only what the executive leadership needed
and wanted rather than the overall group. From this lesson, I now make sure that I get all of the
facts and document everything I can to ensure quality and transparency.
Another significant lesson was that setting expectations without any or minimal
enforcement of those standards can be a catastrophic mistake for an organization. The main
complaint from students in SAA this year has been that they feel they have not accomplished
much. This is due to several factors; however, I believe that if I had been more forceful in my
role as adviser then they might have accomplished more. This is not a certainty, though, and I
still would have been met with friction by SAAs executive leadership. I have accepted that
these uncomfortable situations will occur, and how one handles these situations influences how
their organizations develop and thrive.
My journey as a leader has rapidly matured since I started studying leadership. Studying
leadership has given me the foundation and security to act as a leader does rather than how an
aspiring leader might. Although I am not immune to the sting of having my weaknesses brought
to my attention, the lessons in leadership that I have consumed have given me the endurance and
drive to move past those barriers to emphasize my strengths and assets. Leadership, in the end,
made me a better person and professional.
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reader on educational leadership. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

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Bolman, L. G., & Gallos, J.V. (2011). Reframing academic leadership. San Francisco, CA:
Jossey-Bass.
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Witherspoon, P. (1996). Communicating leadership: An organizational perspective. Boston, MA:

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