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I really like the scenario in this TedTalk. He secured all of his employees' jobs through great leadership. WORTH WATCHING!

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Why good leaders make you feel safe  Simon Sinek - Ethical, Servant and Authentic Leadership

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Overview of 12 different leadership styles

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Overview of 12 different leadership styles

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According to Research by asaecenter, leadership style is the way a person uses power to lead other people. Research has identified a variety of leadership styles based on the number of followers. The most appropriate leadership style depends on the function of the leader, the followers and the situation.

Some leaders cannot work comfortably with a high degree of followers' participation in decision making. Some employers lack the ability or the desire to assume responsibility. Furthermore, the specific situation helps determine the most effective style of interactions. Sometimes leaders must handle problems that require immediate solutions without consulting followers.

What are Different Leadership Styles?

We have covered 12 different types of ways people tend to lead organizations or other people. Not all of these styles would deem fit for all kind of situations, you can read them through to see which one fits right to your company or situation.

1. Autocratic Leadership

Autocratic leadership style is centered on the boss. In this leadership the leader holds all authority and responsibility. In this leadership, leaders make decisions on their own without consulting subordinates. They reach decisions, communicate them to subordinates and expect prompt implementation. Autocratic work environment does normally have little or no flexibility.

In this kind of leadership, guidelines, procedures and policies are all natural additions of an autocratic leader. Statistically, there are very few situations that can actually support autocratic leadership.

Some of the leaders that support this kind of leadership include: Albert J Dunlap (Sunbeam Corporation) and Donald Trump (Trump Organization) among others.

2. Democratic Leadership

In this leadership style, subordinates are involved in making decisions. Unlike autocratic, this headship is centered on subordinates' contributions. The democratic leader holds final responsibility, but he or she is known to delegate authority to other people, who determine work projects.

The most unique feature of this leadership is that communication is active upward and downward. With respect to statistics, democratic leadership is one of the most preferred leadership, and it entails the following: fairness, competence, creativity, courage, intelligence and honesty.

3. Strategic Leadership Style

Strategic leadership is one that involves a leader who is essentially the head of an organization. The strategic leader is not limited to those at the top of the organization. It is geared to a wider audience at all levels who want to create a high performance life, team or organization.

The strategic leader fills the gap between the need for new possibility and the need for practicality by providing a prescriptive set of habits. An effective strategic leadership delivers the goods in terms of what an organization naturally expects from its leadership in times of change. 55% of this leadership normally involves strategic thinking.

4. Transformational Leadership

Unlike other leadership styles, transformational leadership is all about initiating change in organizations, groups, oneself and others.

Transformational leaders motivate others to do more than they originally intended and often even more than they thought possible. They set more challenging expectations and typically achieve higher performance.

Statistically, transformational leadership tends to have more committed and satisfied followers. This is mainly so because transformational leaders empower followers.

5. Team Leadership

Team leadership involves the creation of a vivid picture of its future, where it is heading and what it will stand for. The vision inspires and provides a strong sense of purpose and direction.

Team leadership is about working with the hearts and minds of all those involved. It also recognizes that teamwork may not always involve trusting cooperative relationships. The most challenging aspect of this leadership is whether or not it will succeed. According to Harvard Business Review, team leadership may fail because of poor leadership qualities.

6. Cross-Cultural Leadership

This form of leadership normally exists where there are various cultures in the society. This leadership has also industrialized as a way to recognize front runners who work in the contemporary globalized market.

Organizations, particularly international ones require leaders who can effectively adjust their leadership to work in different environs. Most of the leaderships observed in the United States are cross-cultural because of the different cultures that live and work there.

7. Facilitative Leadership

Facilitative leadership is too dependent on measurements and outcomes - not a skill, although it takes much skill to master. The effectiveness of a group is directly related to the efficacy of its process. If the group is high functioning, the facilitative leader uses a light hand on the process.

On the other hand, if the group is low functioning, the facilitative leader will be more directives in helping the group run its process. An effective facilitative leadership involves monitoring of group dynamics, offering process suggestions and interventions to help the group stay on track.

8. Laissez-faire Leadership

Laissez-faire leadership gives authority to employees. According to azcentral, departments or subordinates are allowed to work as they choose with minimal or no interference. According to research, this kind of leadership has been consistently found to be the least satisfying and least effective management style.

9. Transactional Leadership

This is a leadership that maintains or continues the status quo. It is also the leadership that involves an exchange process, whereby followers get immediate, tangible rewards for carrying out the leader's orders. Transactional leadership can sound rather basic, with its focus on exchange.

Being clear, focusing on expectations, giving feedback are all important leadership skills. According to Boundless.com, transactional leadership behaviors can include: clarifying what is expected of followers' performance; explaining how to meet such expectations; and allocating rewards that are contingent on meeting objectives.

10. Coaching Leadership

Coaching leadership involves teaching and supervising followers. A coaching leader is highly operational in setting where results/ performance require improvement. Basically, in this kind of leadership, followers are helped to improve their skills. Coaching leadership does the following: motivates followers, inspires followers and encourages followers.

11. Charismatic Leadership

In this leadership, the charismatic leader manifests his or her revolutionary power. Charisma does not mean sheer behavioral change. It actually involves a transformation of followers' values and beliefs.

Therefore, this distinguishes a charismatic leader from a simply populist leader who may affect attitudes towards specific objects, but who is not prepared as the charismatic leader is, to transform the underlying normative orientation that structures specific attitudes.

12. Visionary Leadership

This form of leadership involves leaders who recognize that the methods, steps and processes of leadership are all obtained with and through people. Most great and successful leaders have the aspects of vision in them.

However, those who are highly visionary are the ones considered to be exhibiting visionary leadership. Outstanding leaders will always transform their visions into realities.

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According to Research by asaecenter, leadership style is the way a person uses power to lead other people. Research has identified a variety of leadership styles based on the number of followers. The most appropriate leadership style depends on the function of the leader, the followers and the situation.

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Also a review included below on this book.

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Theory and application in School Counseling

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Determining your personal Leadership Philosophy

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Determining your personal Leadership Philosophy

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Take the needed time to thoughtfully answer some pertinent questions and begin to design the kind of leader you would like to be. One ship sails east and another sails west,
With the selfsame winds that blow;
'Tis the set of the sails and not the gales
That tells them where to go. Like the winds of the sea are the winds of time,
As we journey along through life;
'Tis the set of the soul that determines the goal,
And not the calm or the strife.
If our sails are set correctly, our personal leadership philosophy - not the gales we encounter every day - will tell us where to go.

To develop an effective leadership philosophy, we first need to look at what we mean by the term, "transformational leader." No matter whether our title is leader or manager, we need to be transformational. A transformational leader is one who is capable of leading the organization from one paradigm to the next.

A paradigm is the way we think. The way we do things. The way we approach things. In health care today we need a new model. We need to think differently. We need to do things differently. We need a new paradigm. The paradigm of the past will not work in the future. Our leaders need to be able to lead us from the paradigm of the past to the paradigm of the future. Transformational leaders lead to the next paradigm.

For a transformational leader to be successful, three things are necessary:

1. The transformational leader must choose the correct next paradigm. It is clear to the transformational leader that something must change. The organization needs a new paradigm to thrive in the future. But what should that paradigm be?

In the 1980s, IBM was a mainframe computer company. IBM was also in trouble because, as urban commentator David Stein has pointed out, the "past was gone, and the present was full of confusion." The leaders of IBM made the decision that the company needed to change paradigms, and needed to do it quickly. IBM decided to make laptops, and the Think Pad was born. It was a very successful move from the paradigm of the past to an effective paradigm for the future.

As leaders and managers, you must be alert to the symptoms of instability while the organization is between paradigms. Watch out for the little things. Stay focused on what you must do and take care of each other.

2. The transformational leader must motivate the organization to make the paradigm leap along with him or her. We all prefer things the way we are used to. Changing to a new paradigm is scary. Every organization will resist change. A transformational leader is able to motivate the organization to take a deep breath and make the big leap, believing that the new paradigm, chosen by its leaders, is the right thing to do and, in fact, is the only thing to do.

3. A transformational leader must inspire the organization to hold together while in the very dangerous transition phase between paradigms. We have left the security of doing things the way we did in the past. We have not yet settled into the new way to respond to the future. People get uncomfortable. Things can blow up. Life in the organization is not stable. People get emotional and tense. Actions or comments are easily misinterpreted. Flare-ups occur. Little things become big.

As leaders and managers, you must be alert to the symptoms of instability while the organization is between paradigms. Watch out for the little things. Stay focused on what you must do and take care of each other.

If you are unsuccessful in making the transition between paradigms, it will be because you did not take care of each other. Leaders, managers and supervisors all play a key role in the transformation. Leaders cannot do it alone. Managers and supervisors make it happen.
Philosophical Moment
One of the most important things you can do to become effective leaders and managers is to think about, define and then articulate your own personal leadership philosophy. Here are three reasons why it can become the key to your effectiveness.

1. Your personal leadership philosophy gives you consistency. Without a leadership philosophy, your actions and your reactions will reflect the tensions of the moment. "We never know how he might respond or what she might say." The reason is that the leader does not know what his or her leadership philosophy is. With a leadership philosophy that you know and understand, your actions and responses are filtered through your philosophy. They are in context. They are predictable. There is less fear of the unknown in the organization. Your philosophy gives you consistency.

2. Your leadership philosophy becomes your true north. Everything you do, everything you say, every action, every decision, every plan is filtered through your philosophy. Your philosophy becomes your rudder. It helps you to maintain the right direction. It keeps you from straying. It is your compass. It keeps you from losing effectiveness.

3. Your leadership philosophy will connect you to your work. Your philosophy is all about your own personal mission and who you are as a leader or manager. If you are not clear on your personal mission, your role as a leader will not be clear. If you are not clear yourself on who you are, the people you lead will not be clear on what you are about. Your personal leadership philosophy must incorporate your own personal mission. It must also incorporate who you are as a human being.

But then, if your own personal mission is in sync with your organization's mission, and who you are as a person is in sync with your organization's values, your leadership philosophy will connect you to your work. And very few things are more fulfilling in life than being connected.

It is important to understand that your leadership philosophy will be a work in progress. It will evolve as you mature as a leader. It will change as you study and think about leadership. You need to be thinking about your personal philosophy, you need to grapple with it, chew on it. If you cannot articulate your leadership philosophy, your goal should be to get started creating one.

First, you need to spend some time (months, not minutes) thinking about who you are and what you believe. Think about your relationship with those you lead. Think about how you get things done.

More accurately, for each of these, think not about who you are now or how you do things now, but rather who you want to be and what you want your relationship with your employees to be, and how you want to go about getting things done.

When you are creating your personal philosophy, it is not necessarily a description of who and what you are now, but rather an opportunity to design who and what you want to be as a leader. Then you can start moving in that direction.

Your leadership philosophy should be encompassing enough that it can be applied to every aspect of your daily activity as a leader. You should be able to filter every action, every decision, every response through your philosophy. You should be able to apply your philosophy to every issue, every problem and every opportunity.

For your philosophy to meet these criteria, it needs to consist of three essential components:

1. A philosophy is defined as a system of principles for guidance in practical affairs. This first and overarching component consists of a description of the basic principles that guide you in your practical affairs of leadership, principles upon which your actions, decisions and responses are based.

Principles are a guiding sense of the requirements and obligations of right conduct. They provide a personal and specific basis for conduct and/or management. These principles derive from your values, from whom you want to be as a person, a leader and a mentor. These principles could be called your mental model.

You must have thought through and be able to clearly articulate the principles upon which your philosophy is based. Always be asking yourself the question, "Is this particular decision, this particular action, firmly rooted in my principles of leadership?

2. Your leadership philosophy also should address the desired results or outcomes you are striving for as a leader. Here we are not talking about your annual objectives or particular projects or even the level in the organizational hierarchy that you hope to achieve. Rather, at a higher and more encompassing level, what do you, as a leader, hope to accomplish throughout your career as a result of your leadership. What drives your leadership activities? What is your personal mission for your career? The question then becomes, "Will this decision or action move my organization in the direction of my desired results?"

3. The third component is a description of what you envision your leadership style, your method of operation (M.O.) to be. Not necessarily what it is right now. It is a description of the process and approach that you would like to be using consistently, based upon your principles, to achieve the desired outcomes described in component two. Ask the question, "Will this process or approach move my people in the direction of my desired results?"
The Bottom Line
The bottom line regarding your personal leadership philosophy is: Will it enable you to consistently make the right decisions (principle-based), the right responses and the right actions for every issue, problem or opportunity that you encounter as a leader? If so, does it have transformative potential? Your leadership philosophy should be clear, concise and principle-based. It should have transformational potential.

Here are the kinds of questions you should be asking yourself as you think through your leadership philosophy:

Can you define your critical principles and beliefs that impact your ability as a leader?

What do you stand for that becomes important as a leader?

How do you define your role in your organization?

What are your goals? Not programmatic, but personal, as a leader.

What is your personal leadership vision?

As a leader, how can you contribute to transforming your organization?

Other questions to think about deal with your relationship to those you lead:

How do you motivate your people?

How do your people know how well they have done when they go home at night?

How do you encourage your people?

How do you affirm your people?

How much autonomy do you give your people?

Do you demonstrate respect and compassion toward your people every day?

The final questions have to do with your leadership style. How you do things:

How do you approach problem solving?

How do you approach conflict?

How do you respond to employee mistakes?

How do you prioritize your activities?

How do you teach your people?

Take some time and begin to write out your real-world responses to each of these categories. Your responses need to be something that can get traction, not some pie-in-the-sky generality. You can begin to design the kind of leader you would like to be.

We began with Ella Wilcox's poem, which asserts that it is the set of the soul that decides the goal, and not the calm nor the strife. I am suggesting that for each of us as leaders and managers, it is the internal set of our own personal leadership philosophy that decides the goal, and not the day-to-day events that confront us.

I encourage you to take the development of your leadership philosophy very seriously. It is an important key to your personal effectiveness.

Dale Benson, MD, CPE, FAAPL, is the former vice president of innovation, quality and practice management, and director of the leadership development institute at AltaMed Health Services in Los Angeles, California. He was the founder, and for 30 years, the CEO of HealthNet, a community health center network in Indianapolis, Indiana.
REFERENCE
Ella Wheeler Wilcox. In the Best Loved Poems of the American People. New York, NY: Knoph Doubleday Publishing Group, 1936

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How to Determine Your Personal Leadership Philosophy

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Take the needed time to thoughtfully answer some pertinent questions and begin to design the kind of leader you would like to be. One ship sails east and another sails west, With the selfsame winds that blow;'Tis the set of the sails and not the galesThat tells them where to go.

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"Leadership from the inside out: Becoming a leader for life"
By: K. Cashman

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A KEY leadership skill

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Anyone trying to come up to speed on emotional intelligence would have a pretty easy time of it since the concept is remarkably recent, and its application to business newer still. The term was coined in 1990 in a research paper by two psychology professors, John D. Mayer of UNH and Peter Salovey of Yale. Some years later, Mayer defined it in HBR this way:

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How Emotional Intelligence Became a Key Leadership Skill

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A reading list to bring you up to speed.

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What does it mean to have emotional intelligence as a leader. Why it is important.

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The more that you, as a leader, manage each of these areas, the higher your emotional intelligence. So, let's look at each element in more detail and examine how you can grow as a leader.

Emotional Intelligence in Leadership

1. Self-awareness

If you're self-aware, you always know how you feel, and you know how your emotions and your actions can affect the people around you. Being self-aware when you're in a leadership position also means having a clear picture of your strengths and weaknesses, and it means behaving with humility.

So, what can you do to improve your self-awareness?

Keep a journal. Journals help you improve your self-awareness. If you spend just a few minutes each day writing down your thoughts, this can move you to a higher degree of self-awareness.

2. Self-regulation

Leaders who regulate themselves effectively rarely verbally attack others, make rushed or emotional decisions, stereotype people, or compromise their values. Self-regulation is all about staying in control.

This element of emotional intelligence, according to Goleman, also covers a leader's flexibility and commitment to personal accountability.

So, how can you improve your ability to self-regulate?

Hold yourself accountable. If you tend to blame others when something goes wrong, stop. Make a commitment to admit to your mistakes and to face the consequences, whatever they are. You'll probably sleep better at night, and you'll quickly earn the respect of those around you.

Practice being calm. The next time you're in a challenging situation, be very aware of how you act. Do you relieve your stress by shouting at someone else? Practice deep-breathing exercises to calm yourself. Also, try to write down all of the negative things you want to say, and then rip it up and throw it away. Expressing these emotions on paper (and not showing them to anyone!) is better than speaking them aloud to your team. What's more, this helps you challenge your reactions to ensure that they're fair!

3. Motivation

Self-motivated leaders work consistently toward their goals, and they have extremely high standards for the quality of their work.

How can you improve your motivation?

Re-examine why you're doing your job. It's easy to forget what you really love about your career. So, take some time to remember why you wanted this job. If you're unhappy in your role and you're struggling to remember why you wanted it, try the Five Whys technique to find the root of the problem. Starting at the root often helps you look at your situation in a new way. And make sure that your goal statements are fresh and energizing. For more on this, see our article on Goal Setting.

4. Empathy

For leaders, having empathy is critical to managing a successful team or organization. Leaders with empathy have the ability to put themselves in someone else's situation. They help develop the people on their team, challenge others who are acting unfairly, give constructive feedback, and listen to those who need it.

If you want to earn the respect and loyalty of your team, then show them you care by being empathic.

How can you improve your empathy?

Respond to feelings. You ask your assistant to work late - again. And although he agrees, you can hear the disappointment in his voice. So, respond by addressing his feelings. Tell him you appreciate how willing he is to work extra hours, and that you're just as frustrated about working late. If possible, figure out a way for future late nights to be less of an issue (for example, give him Monday mornings off).

5. Social Skills

Leaders who do well in the social skills element of emotional intelligence are great communicators. They're just as open to hearing bad news as good news, and they're experts at getting their team to support them and be excited about a new mission or project.

Leaders who have good social skills are also good at managing change and resolving conflicts diplomatically. They're rarely satisfied with leaving things as they are, but they don't sit back and make everyone else do the work: they set an example with their own behavior.

So, how can you build social skills?

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Emotional Intelligence in Leadership - Learning How to Be More Aware

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Relating to others is vital in today's workplace. Learn how to build your emotional intelligence (EI) with this article.

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By: Joan Byrne, Director of Recreation, Parks & Arts

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Digging Deeper into Understanding Transactional Leadership

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Digging Deeper into Understanding Transactional Leadership

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Transactional leadership, also known as managerial leadership, focuses on the role of supervision, organization, and group performance. Leaders who implement this style focus on specific tasks and use rewards and punishments to motivate followers.﻿﻿

This theory of leadership was first described in by sociologist Max Weber and further explored by Bernard M. Bass in the early 1980s. Take a closer look at how the transactional style works as well as some of the potential benefits and downsides of this style.

Basic Assumptions of Transactional Leadership

People perform their best when the chain of command is definite and clear.

Rewards and punishments motivate workers.

Obeying the instructions and commands of the leader is the primary goal of the followers.

Subordinates need to be carefully monitored to ensure that expectations are met.﻿﻿

This theory takes a behavioral approach to leadership by basing it on a system of rewards and punishments.

Athletic teams also rely heavily on transactional leadership. Players are expected to conform to the team's rules and expectations and are rewarded or punished based on their performance. Winning a game might mean accolades and bonuses while losing might lead to rejection and verbal castigation. Players often become highly motivated to do well, even if it means suffering pain and injury.

Unlike transformational leaders who tend to be forward-looking, transactional leaders are interested in merely maintaining the status quo.﻿﻿ Transformational leaders try to sell their ideas and vision to followers. Transactional leaders, on the other hand, tell group members what to do and when to do it.

How Transactional Leadership Works

In transactional leadership, rewards and punishments are contingent upon the performance of the followers. The leader views the relationship between managers and subordinates as an exchange - you give me something for something in return. When subordinates perform well, they receive a reward. When they perform poorly, they will be punished in some way. Rules, procedures, and standards are essential in transactional leadership.

They do not, however, act as catalysts for growth and change within an organization. Instead, they are focused on maintaining this as they are and enforcing current rules and expectations.

These leaders do tend to be good at setting expectations and standards that maximize the efficiency and productivity of an organization.﻿﻿ They tend to give constructive feedback regarding follower performance that allows group members to improve their output to obtain better feedback and reinforcement.

When Is Transactional Leadership the Most Effective?

Followers are not encouraged to be creative or to find new solutions to problems. Research has found that transactional leadership tends to be most effective in situations where problems are simple and clearly defined.﻿﻿

It can also work well in crisis situations where the focus needs to be on accomplishing certain tasks. By assigning clearly defined duties to particular individuals, leaders can ensure that those things get done.

Transactional leaders focus on the maintenance of the structure of the group.﻿﻿ They are tasked with letting group members know exactly what is expected, articulating the rewards of performing tasks well, explaining the consequences of failure, and offering feedback designed to keep workers on task.

While transactional leadership can be useful in some situations, it is considered insufficient in many cases and may prevent both leaders and followers from achieving their full potential.

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How a Transactional Leadership Style Works

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Transactional leadership, also known as managerial leadership, focuses on the role of supervision, organization, and group performance. Leaders who implement this style focus on specific tasks and use rewards and punishments to motivate followers.﻿﻿ This theory of leadership was first described in by sociologist Max Weber and further explored by Bernard M.

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Understanding a leader's philosophy and perspectives as a leader

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Far from simply setting up student schedules and administering placement and academic evaluation tests, school counselors are leaders who can have a huge impact on the acceleration and the enhancement of learning. They must possess the ability to negotiate, persuade others their ideas are worthwhile, and collaborate with principals and other school officials.

School counselors have many responsibilities, including counseling students, working with teachers and parents, referring students to outside agencies, participating in student welfare and learning support communities, and evaluating and improving their own school counseling program.

Listening

First and foremost, a school counselor needs to be a good listener. Often, they have several students they work with and may get very few chances to converse with them in a one on one setting. "The most basic of all human needs is the need to understand and be understood," said Ralph G. Nichols. "The best way to understand people is to listen to them."

To listen effectively, counselors must be fully in the moment, not thinking of their "to do" list but rather giving their full attention to the issue at hand. Reflecting back to the person, your perception of what they said helps show understanding, and lets them make corrections. The counselor must also keep an open mind, being careful not to make any judgments until they have heard the entire story. ¹

Being Empathetic

Often a part of listening, putting themselves in the shoes of the person speaking, whether that is a student or another school official, helps counselors truly understand the underlying issues.

"Without the ability to understand what the student is experiencing, a counselor cannot truly do an effective job," says Helen A. Hatridge, past president of the Missouri School Counselor Association. "Empathy leads to good listening and a better ability to help the client come up with solutions. It also helps the student feel more comfortable and willing to open up to a counselor." ²

To be more empathetic, it is essential for a counselor to put aside their viewpoint. At the same time, they need to validate the student's viewpoint, which does not always mean agreement. Instead it means acknowledging their right to have an opinion, and that they have valid reasons for it. Asking how that person thinks a situation should be handled or what they would do opens up an even deeper understanding. ³

Building Relationship

It takes time for a counselor to build a relationship with any student or even their peers. However, through listening and being empathetic, that process can be accelerated.

To feel free to talk to a counselor, a student must often "break the ice," and needs to feel trust, comfort, and acceptance. Students need to accept that the counselor is a professional caregiver, and someone they can turn to without fear of judgement.

A counselor who develops this trusting relationship with students can get a lot more done, An understanding of the kid culture and what they care about can go a long way toward providing that environment of trust and understanding.

Performing Assessments

Assessment skills are essential for any school counselor in a number of areas. From academic and skills assessment to personality testing and career advisement, the ability to discern the intersection of talent and desire is essential to offering good counsel.

Assessment also includes determining if a student has special needs and interpreting test and non-test data to decide where the student should be placed, and what programs will most benefit them.

Regardless of the reason for assessment, the steps often include, but are not limited to the following:

Choosing what tests should be administered and when.

Scheduling, preparing, and administering tests.

Scoring tests or sending them out to be scored.

Advising students, teachers, parents, and other staff on test score interpretation.

Evaluating the testing process, results, and subsequent recommendations.⁴

Assessments involve some testing but must also be combined with listening, empathy, and the relationship that has been built to determine how testing outcomes relate to personality, desires, and the goals of the student.

Coordinating Efforts and Activities

Efforts and activities can fall into a couple of different categories. A counselor will have to coordinate Individualized Education Plans (IEPs) for students, and other student specific plans as well. Along with coordinating individual student plans and interacting with teachers and other school officials, the school counselor often coordinates other activities and projects as well.

In many cases, the school counselor is in charge of parent newsletters, school announcements, managing social media accounts, and other community outreach and event planning efforts.

The ability to coordinate and manage these efforts and activities requires strong leadership and organizational skills. Teaching these skills to students by allowing them to take responsibility for their own educational goals and other efforts enables a counselor to show leadership by example.

Exercising Authority

In order to be able to implement programs, direct student activities and coordinate tasks, a counselor must exercise a certain amount of authority.

This means first of all that the counselor must be granted the authority to handle certain tasks by other school officials such as principals and administrators. The more their authority is validated by their actions, the more the counselor will be perceived as a leader by parents and students alike.

Secondly, the school counselor must be willing to wield the authority they have been granted, taking charge of tasks and situations, setting expectations, and holding those responsible to deadlines.

The counselor must also know in any given situation when to cross the line from friend to professional. If a student is being abusive or abused, a more professional response is ethically and legally mandated. It is the counselor's obligation to take charge and follow through, ensuring that student safety comes first.

Being Flexible

If one thing is certain in the field of education, it is that things will change. Interruptions, schedule changes, new programs, and new responsibilities all interrupt a counselor's daily routine.

Student needs and the needs of the school overall often take priority over scheduled meetings. Parent phone calls, staff concerns, talks in classrooms, and unexpected counseling needs can all be disruptive.

A successful counselor should:

Leave gaps in their day for unscheduled needs.

Use good time management techniques.

Set reasonable boundaries. Know what is worthy of an interruption, and what can wait.

Communicate clearly. Inform students, parents, and faculty of schedules and boundaries.

By remaining flexible, a counselor can better manage the stress inherent in the job and be more responsive when needs arise unexpectedly.

Having a Sense of Humor

Being able to see things from the side of humor has a number of advantages. It lets students see that the counselor is human and can not only laugh at situations but laugh at themselves as well.

This is frequently one of the biggest assets in building student trust and developing a relationship with them. It is often how those students relate to adults, whether through jokes or humorous anecdotes that illustrate a point the counselor is trying to get across.

Humor is also a stress reliever. Being able to see the humorous side of interruptions and other daily situations allows a counselor to relax and keep anxiety from taking over many scenarios.

It takes a combination of many leadership traits to make a school counselor effective. They must use listening skills and offer empathy in order to build relationships. A counselor must also perform assessments and coordinate activities and educational efforts. These duties mean they must remain flexible and exercise authority when appropriate.

Not one of these traits alone is enough, and no one is equally adept in all of them. They are taught and can be learned in a Master of Arts in Counseling with an emphasis in school counseling like the one offered by Wake Forest University. This graduate degree will prepare you for a career as a school counselor in almost any setting.
Sources: 1 2 3 ⁴ American Counseling Association, Assessment Skills for School Counselors Mind Tools, Empathy at Work Education World, School Counselors Reflective On What Makes Them Effective Fast Company, 5 Ways To Improve Your Listening Skills

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Leadership Traits Every Counselor Should Have

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Far from simply setting up student schedules and administering placement and academic evaluation tests, school counselors are leaders who can have a huge impact on the acceleration and the enhancement of learning. They must possess the ability to negotiate, persuade others their ideas are worthwhile, and collaborate with principals and other school officials.

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School Counselor's and cultural diversity

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School Counselor's and cultural diversity