QUALITIES AND SKILLS

OF AN EFFECTIVE
LEADER
BY: JUAN CARLOS D. BRITANICO
MAED ELS 115
Exhibit Adept at building
relationships with Balance tough
Leadership people love with
earned praise
Fair and
consistent

Organized and
prepared

EFFECTIVE LEADER Excellent listener

Visionary
1. Exhibit Leadership
The principal is
the instructional leader
of their building.
A good leader is always
looking to improve their
school and then figures
out how to make those
improvements no matter
how difficult it might
be.
A school without
a leader will likely
fail, and a
principal who is
not a leader will
find themselves
without a job
quickly.
2. Adept at building relationships with people

You have to be able to

connect with each person
that you deal with on a daily
basis.
There are so many groups of
people that principals deal
with daily including
their superintendent,
teachers, support staff,
parents, students, &
community members.
 You have to be able to deal
with each of those situations
effectively by connecting to
the person and showing them
that you care about their
unique situation.
They have to believe
that you will do
whatever you can make
their situation better.
3. Balance tough love with
earned praise
You have to set expectations
high and hold those you are
in charge of to those same
standards.

It is a part of the job that

isn't pleasant, but it is
necessary if you want to run
an effective school.
 At the same time, you must offer
praise when it is appropriate.
Don't forget to tell those teachers
who are doing an extraordinary
job that you appreciate them.
Don't forget to recognize those
students who excel in the areas of
academics, leadership, and/or
citizenship.
An outstanding principal can
motivate using a combination
of both of those approaches.
4. Fair and consistent
Nothing can take away your
credibility faster than being
inconsistent in how you
handle similar situations.
While no two cases are
exactly the same, you have
to think about how you
have handled other similar
situations and continue on
that same track.
Example: If you have a
student who has been in
multiple fights and compare
them to a student who has
only had one fight, then you
are justified in giving the
student with multiple fights
a longer suspension.
5. Organized and prepared
Each day presents a unique set
of challenges and being
organized and prepared is
essential to meeting those
challenges.
No day is predictable.
Each day you still have to
come in with a plan or a to-
do list with the
understanding that you will
probably only get about one-
third of those things done.
 Having policies and
procedures in place to deal
with situations is part of the
necessary planning and
preparation to be effective.
Organization and
preparation will
help reduce stress when
you are dealing with
difficult or unique
situations.
6. Excellent listener
You can disarm most difficult
situations simply by showing them
that you care enough to listen to
what they want to say.
You can be firm on not letting
them belittle a teacher or
student, but allow them to vent
without being disrespectful to
another person.
Be willing to go the next step in
helping them resolve their issue.
 Sometimes that might be
mediating between two
students who have had a
disagreement.
Sometimes it might be
having a discussion with a
teacher to get their side of
a story and then relaying
that to the parent.
 7. Visionary

Education is ever-evolving. There is

always something bigger and better
available.
If you are not attempting to improve your
school, you simply are not doing your job.
This will always be an on-going
process.
Each individual component is a
working part of the larger
framework of the school.
 Occasionally we are even able to
upgrade an existing part that was
doing its job, but something better
was developed.
It is your job to see that no one
gets comfortable and that
everyone is working to improve
continuously.
Other Qualities..
-Inspire action-

Try to paint a vision of the future that

inspires your people to do whatever it
takes to get there. The best leaders
also clear away the organizational
roadblocks that constrain employees
natural creativity and initiative,
unleashing a tremendous amount of
energy in the process.
 -be Optimistic-
We all want to work with and
for people who lift us up into
the clouds instead of dragging
us down into the mud. Make
sure to seek out the positives in
your people, helping them
overcome their own feelings of
self-doubt and spreading
optimism throughout your
organization.
 -have Integrity-
Research shows that the top
thing that employees want from
their leaders is integrity. Be
honest, fair, candid and
forthright, and treat everyone
in the same way that you
yourself would want to be
treated.
-support and facilitate your team-

For people to do their very best work,

they need an organizational
environment that supports them by
making it safe to take risks, to tell the
truth, and to speak up ... without
being punished for doing so. Support
your employees by creating this kind
of environment, and it will facilitate
their progress toward attaining your
organizations goals.
 have
confidence