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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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Emotional intelligence (EQ or EI) is the ability to perceive, express, and regulate emotions. Learn the role that emotional intelligence play in relationships and other areas.

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Emotional Intelligence & Health - Global Leadership Foundation

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Global Leadership Foundation was established to provide leadership pathways and build leadership capability for people from all walks of life.

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Emotional Inteligence - A Minute With John Maxwell, Free Coaching Video

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Have you ever worked with someone who knows how to encourage you to make the impossible totally possible? Maybe they seem attuned to what it takes to get the best work out of you, or they're always ready to share exactly the right thing to make you feel like you can do anything. This highly effective approach to management has a name: charismatic leadership.

As you find yourself moving forward in your career and stepping into management or leadership roles, it helps to choose an approach that meshes with your personality while supporting the company you work for. But it can be difficult to choose and refine a leadership style if you're unfamiliar with the options that are available to you. By utilizing the knowledge gained from attaining a business degree or by taking online courses, business leaders like you can understand the psychology behind managing teams and utilizing the principles and characteristics of leadership to help refine your charismatic management style.

Charismatic management or leadership is a form of professional guidance or management built on a foundation of strong communication skills, persuasiveness, and maybe even a little bit of charm to help them get the most out of everyone that works for them. They tend to be passionate, have charisma (hence the charismatic title), and have strong convictions with a deep connection to the work that they're doing-which, in turn, inspires the same conviction in others. Because of a charismatic leader's intense commitment to their work, they tend to evoke strong emotions from their followers and teams. This encourages devotion, action, and strong problem-solving skills.

Charismatic management and leadership style is similar to transformational leadership. In transformational leadership, managers are known for using inspirational motivation and intellectual stimulation to empower their followers in doing their best work. But where the two approaches differ is in how charismatic leaders focus on working within the status quo to make it better, as opposed to creating an entirely new path.

Some of the skills, traits, and actions that may define a good leader that utilizes charisma would include:

Forward-thinking goal setting: Because these great leaders are able to see the bigger picture, charismatic leaders excel at setting project milestones well into the future to help keep teams motivated and encourage continued advancements.

Articulation: Being well spoken, a strong communicator, and capable of detailing company plans in an engaging way ensures followers are on board at every level of production. This trait is key for charismatic leaders.

Ability to tap into people's emotions: Encouragement and inspiration are one thing, but the trait of emotionally connecting followers to a cause with your charisma can create a stronger sense of devotion to the work.

Openness to taking risks: As much as leaders with charisma work within the status quo, they're still willing to explore unique opportunities or approaches that could result in big gains.

Clear vision: Knowing the desired outcome of a project, and the pathway to getting there, gives followers a stronger sense of support as they work.

Utilization of unconventional behavior: Maybe they employ off-the-wall team-building exercises, maybe they encourage a hybrid office/remote approach to work, or maybe they try every bananas idea an employee comes up with. Leaders with charisma aren't afraid to try everything to get results.

Grace under pressure: Leaders with charisma can often find themselves in high-pressure situations that can challenge them to keep everyone committed and motivated, even in the face of seemingly insurmountable odds.

Sensitivity to their environment and the needs of the team: Empathy is another important quality that can help charismatic leaders navigate sensitive situations and intensive production schedules.

Strong engagement skills: From upper management to lower-tier employees, charismatic leaders know how to connect with everyone at every level of the professional totem pole.

The theory of charismatic leadership can be traced back to a 1922 study conducted by German sociologist Max Weber. Weber looked at why people follow authority in conjunction with political obligation, deducing that people tend to follow a leader because they see their leadership and power to be good and just, allowing the perception that these leaders are doing the right thing.

To Weber, charisma was more about appearances than action, and driven more by sociology or politics. He cited three key components that make up a charismatic leader: the psychological dimension, which encompasses their inner qualities; the social aspect, driven by the external sources that shape the leader; and the relational dimension, relating to the relationship between the leader and their subordinate. Later, in his 1958 book "The Three Types of Legitimate Rule," Weber evolved his theory to discuss how charismatic leaders can build strong emotional relationships with employees, and how they can lose their legitimacy when support is withdrawn.

Expanding on Weber's theories, Robert J. House published the paper "A 1976 Theory of Charismatic Leadership," which focused more on the concept from a psychological standpoint. House felt that charismatic leaders had personal and behavioral characteristics that encouraged people to follow them. Because charismatic leaders exhibited vision, determination, and the self-confidence to communicate both, followers found themselves encouraged and inspired by such leaders, rather than granting their following out of fear. Some notable charismatic leaders include civil rights activist Martin Luther King, Jr., Apple founder Steve Jobs, and President Barack Obama.

Every form of leadership relies on the leader to have a certain type of personality that inspires employees and encourages productivity, but charismatic leaders take that approach to the next level. Yes, they have personality-but they also have a certain kind of charm and the ability to connect with people on multiple levels. This helps them drive company initiatives while motivating and encouraging employees.

Like the visionary leadership approach, charismatic leadership relies on having a clear vision of a project or initiative. Where they differ is that charismatic leaders employ their open-ended approach in a more traditional status quo environment. Charismatic leaders are also adaptable like situational leaders, but the scope of a charismatic leader tends to be more exploratory and less rigid than the traditional business approach.

Adaptive leaders and charismatic leaders share a visionary approach to handling challenges and relying on emotional intelligence to connect with employees. But charismatic leadership deviates from adaptive by thriving on a certain amount of structure and a cohesive company approach. And while charismatic leadership is similar to effective leadership in its reliance on self-confidence and leading through example, effective leadership tends to be used in a lower-pressure environment or in smaller groups of people, while charismatic leadership is employed on a larger scale.

Charismatic leadership can be a highly effective approach to optimize and motivate teams, as these leaders often operate on the courage of their convictions and stand up for what they believe in. Some of the benefits of charismatic leadership include:

Inspired connection with team members or employees

The focused commitment to a company or organization's project or mission

Strong motivating factors that produce results

An emphasis on collaboration and team-oriented support to meet the needs of a project or mission

Positive change is encouraged, which in turn inspires forward movement

Employees and team members are valued for their input and supported in their goals

Egos are left at the door in service of the greatest good

Mistakes are addressed and approached as learning opportunities

Of course, there's a flipside to the positives of charismatic leadership. For all the benefits it imparts, it can also have some downsides that can derail a company or project or create internal turmoil. Some of the disadvantages of charismatic leadership include:

Charismatic leaders with a less self-assured foundation can prioritize their own focus instead of that of the company or organization

Outsiders can see this approach as disingenuous and question the intentions behind products or actions

Charismatic leaders may create the illusion that nobody can replace them, which can create issues for companies that may need to replace a leader for multiple reasons

An inability to course-correct or see the error of their ways may create a situation where the leader can inadvertently sabotage an initiative

Some charismatic leaders have been known to believe their own hype to the point that they consider themselves invincible, leading them to commit violations or crimes

Similarly, some leaders may decide they don't need to listen to anyone else, particularly those they lead

The best way to avoid the negatives and accentuate the positives of charismatic leadership is to embrace the core aspects of this approach. When you allow these aspects to guide you, you're less likely to veer off the path and more capable of being an effective leader. To be an effective charismatic leader, make sure you display:

Vulnerability and humility: Be willing to own up to your mistakes and learn from them, admit the things you're unable to do and delegate accordingly, and let your failures be opportunities for growth and improvement.

Listening skills: Don't just wait to speak! Make sure you really listen to your team, allow them to be heard, and work with them to address their concerns.

Transparency: Be open and honest about what you're doing and why you're doing it.

Determination: This quality is particularly important in times of challenge, as your team will look to you for encouragement and how they should react in stressful situations.

Communication skills: Go beyond being charming and actually connect with people! Learn more about them and how you can support their goals, too.

Compassion: Remember that at the end of the day you're human, and you're working with fellow humans who also have wants, needs, weaknesses, and complications. Do what you can to help your employees when they need it.

Maturity: Ditch the high school mentality and don't allow yourself to get wrapped up in psychological warfare that's designed to create chaos for you and your team.

Vision: See the endgame for your project, company, or organization, let your team in on the plan, and work with them to make it to the finish line together.

Self-monitoring and self-improvement: Continue working on yourself through therapy, education, leadership exercises, and more so that you're able to evolve with your team and the collective vision you're working towards.

Confidence: Find and connect to your inner strength and sense of self and let both inspire your team to great heights.

Creativity: Don't employ the same old, same old! Let your imagination run wild and allow it to inform new ways to inspire your team and bring your vision to fruition.

With a little charisma, a strong sense of vision, and a lot of heart, charismatic leadership could help you create a professional path to greatness.

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Are you a natural connector who's driven by purpose and has a clear vision you're deeply connected to? If so, charismatic leadership might be the right management approach to help you and your team realize greatness. Learn more about how this leadership approach motivates and inspires.

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Nine Behaviors of Servant Leaders - Inspired Business Concepts

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According to the Servant Leader Institute (https://www.servantleadershipinstitute.com), there are nine behaviors of servant leaders. Are you putting them to work in your leadership role? I recently was exposed to this list and thought it was rather thorough. It's different from the ten characteristics put out by Robert Greenleaf, the founder of the Servant Leadership movement.

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Leadership Philosophy

I believe effective leadership is an ongoing process, one that takes commitment and practice. Self-awareness and reflection are vital in the process. Over the course of my educational career, my philosophy has evolved. I have grown as a person, and with hard work, continue to improve my leadership skills. At the core of my leadership philosophy is respect, integrity, and compassion.

I believe respect is essential in our personal and interpersonal relationships. As a leader, respecting others and myself is key in building a strong and trusting community. This involves quality communication and listening to the needs of others. Inspiring and trusting in others to meet organizational goals helps build a sense of community. When individuals feel valued and feel their contributions make a difference, they will follow and truly desire to meet the organization’s vision.

I hold myself to the highest degree of integrity and lead by example. I accept responsibility and seek out guidance when needed. I recognize my attitude, emotions, and words affect my colleagues, students, and the campus culture. I choose to lead with motivation and passion. Being trustworthy and honest builds credibility, allowing for meaningful connections.

As an educational leader, I believe a top priority is empathy. According to Shankman, Allen, and Haber-Curran (2015), empathy “helps build healthy relationships, manage difficult situations, and develop trust” (p. 119).  I have a strong sense of empathy, and relate well with others. It is important to have compassion and show sensitivity to others. I believe this can provide an environment that can work through issues and problem solve together, while recognizing and celebrating differences.

As a leader in education, my true purpose is to guide students, to develop within each of them a sense of self-worth, professional habits, effective ways to deal with conflict, face their fears, and redefine failure. The goal is to enable students to become successful life-long learners, instill positive values, and become positive, productive members of society. As a leader, this involves collaborating with community members to build a community of resources to meet the health and welfare of students and families.

This goal cannot be reached without the support and guidance of strong educational leaders. Effective leaders, particularly those who understand themselves and others, have the ability to inspire others and commit to change. I have a genuine desire to inspire, encourage, and support others. I understand the importance of building positive relationships, and strive to ensure I lead with respect, integrity, and compassion.

References

Marcy Levy Shankman, Scott J. Allen, & Paige Haber-Curran. (2015). Emotionally intelligent leadership: A guide for students. Vol. Second edition. Jossey-Bass.

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The Contributions Of Professional School Counselors Values And L

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Trait theories - focuses on identifying different personality traits and characteristics that are linked to successful leadership across a variety of situations

Behavior theories - focuses on how leaders behave, and assumes that these traits can be copied by other leaders - focus heavily on the actions of a leader

Contingency theories - a leader's effectiveness is contingent on whether or not their leadership style suits a particular situation - effective leadership is dependent upon the interaction between a leader’s behaviors and the situation itself

Charismatic leadership - articulate communication, encouragement, and power of personality to motivate others to behave in a particular way

Transactional leadership -focuses on the role of supervision, organization, and group performance, focus on specific tasks and use rewards and punishments to motivate followers.

Transformational leadership - inspire positive changes in those who follow - leaders are energetic, enthusiastic, and passionate -focus on helping every member of the group succeed as well.

Relational leadership - focuses on the ability of the leader to create positive relationships within the organization.

Authentic leadership - leaders are seen as genuine and “real.”

Servant leadership -  focuses on growth and well-being of people and the communities to which they belong

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Home - American School Counselor Association (ASCA)

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The Emotionally Intelligent Leader: Guide for Students

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The Emotionally Intelligent Leader: Guide for Students

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The book begins with ten truths of leadership, which are the author’s foundational ideas about leadership. These truths are essential in the development of the emotional intelligent leader (EIL). For example leadership can be learned, it involves positive change, is available to all, it can be stressful, and requires inner work. The development of the EIL model is based on the authors’ experiences, student experiences, research and literature review (Shankman et al., 2015).

Emotional intelligent leaders (EIL) focus on three facets: consciousness of self, consciousness of other, and consciousness of context. Consciousness of self is all about self-awareness, specifically one’s own awareness of abilities, emotions, values, strengths and limitations. A part of this is includes feedback and reflection. Understanding emotions and stressors can help EIL’s respond effectively. Within this facet, certain behaviors are highlighted. EIL’s should focus on authenticity and trustworthiness. These leaders should strive to be flexible be able to take initiative, “the key is that we see and we act without being prompted to do so” (Shankman et al., 2015, p. 91).

The second facet is consciousness of others, which is also about awareness, specifically the awareness of others abilities, emotions, and perceptions. Of top priority is the ability to show empathy. According to Shankman, Allen, and Haber-Curran (2015), empathy “helps build healthy relationships, manage difficult situations, and develop trust.” (p. 119).  Inspiring others is a key factor for the EIL. These leaders are coaches and team builders. They offer support by listening and working through conflict (Shankman et al., 2015).

The third facet is consciousness of context, which is simply an awareness of the setting and situation. EIL’s will analyze the team, “identifying and understanding the many attributes of a group” (Shankman et al., 2015, p. 219). This includes assessing the environment. For example, the EIL will strive to understand campus policies and manage relationships both within the school and outside of the school. (Shankman et al., 2019).

The Emotional Intelligent Leader: A Guide for Students serves as a guide for personal development, as well as help to be more effective as leaders. There are a number of similarities between emotional intelligent leaders and the servant or transformative leadership style. For example, all three focus on empowering and developing others, they are authentic and provide direction, and they focus on interpersonal connections (Stone, 2004). I thoroughly enjoyed the book, and found it full of valuable information. I would recommend it to anyone interested in learning more about this type of leadership. It was easy to read and broken into small chapters. Additionally, student voices and reflection questions are included at the end of each chapter, allowing the reader to apply the strategies for self-assessment. It would be an excellent source to refer back to when a leader may need or desire additional support. The suggestions discussed apply to everyday life, not just from a leader’s perspective. Students, teachers, and employees would benefit from the concepts covered in this guide.

References:

Gregory Stone, A., Russell, R. & Patterson K. (2004). Transformational versus servant leadership: A difference in leader focus. Leadership & Organizational Development Journal, 25(4), 349-361. https://doi-org.easydb.angelo.edu/10.1108/01437730410538671

Marcy Levy Shankman, Scott J. Allen, & Paige Haber-Curran. (2015). Emotionally intelligent leadership: A guide for students. Vol. Second edition. Jossey-Bass.

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Education is on the brink of massive changes. Hundred-year-old school practices and principles-which are sadly still being employed-are no longer conducive to real-life learning. They cannot prepare students for their 21-century careers after high school adequately.

Whether you're starting a new school or are looking to bring innovations into the school you're in charge of, your leadership style will affect every level of operation within it as well as the overall school culture and school climate.

The climate and culture of a school are broad concepts because they relate to everything that is going on in a school community, including classroom practices, administrative decisions, the relationships between teachers and students, and the ones between teachers and principals.

It is the principals who can have the most profound effect on a school climate and culture. Knowing how these two concepts work in practice, all the areas they encompass, and how you can contribute to the shaping of positive school culture is your first task as a leader.

Right after that comes active participation in your school community. Being able to lead an educational institution successfully requires a lot of hard work-on yourself, your school, and your educational leadership skills.

School culture and climate are not concepts that are easy to define. It doesn't help that they are also often used interchangeably. It is important to note here that, while the two aren't synonymous, school culture and climate do affect and influence each other.

School culture can be observed through the same lens as culture in general. Just as a group of people belonging to the same culture share core beliefs, values, and assumptions, so does a school community. The common ideals and principles that are found in all members of a school community-students, parents, teachers, the principal-make school culture.

Since school culture influences the behaviors and practices of all members belonging to it, it can be positive or negative. Here's how to distinguish them:

Although school culture is largely related to what lies beneath the surface, there are elements of it that are visible. According to Edgar Schein 's culture model, there are three levels of culture:

Artifacts: Artifacts are synonymous with symbols, and they refer to the visible parts of a culture. In schools, artifacts that reflect its culture can be posters in hallways or classrooms, printed out mission and vision statements, or the physical tools educators use to teach

Espoused values: Values are the unseen but influential parts of school culture. They are what drives students, teachers, and the community to put in the good work every school day

Assumptions: Perhaps the most important element of school culture is the assumptions the community has about every member and aspect of that community. Educational leaders have to make an effort to dig up these underlying assumptions if they have it in mind to create a positive school culture

If school culture refers to everything that is found underneath the surface, then school climate is all about the visible, practical aspects of a school and how it's run. A school culture influences its climate since school events, classroom activities, and the relationships within the community are shaped by all the mentioned aspects of school culture.

When you foster a positive school culture, then the climate in your school is such that your:

Students are motivated to learn and attend classes

Teachers are willing to participate in the active improvement of curricula and bring innovations in classroom practices

Stakeholders are invested in creating a safe learning environment

In his article, Unpacking the Impact of School Culture , Jamie Prokopchuk states that " a positive school climate can only be built if all staff are on the same page, moving in the same direction. " We couldn't agree more.

A school principal's influence on how students, teachers, and parents feel in relation to the school cannot be exaggerated. Educational leadership is not unlike state leadership in that sense. What the person at the top is like, believes in, and practices impacts not only the attitude of the people they lead but also their:

A key rule to successful leadership is leading by example. If you want to have a school climate in which every member of the community is willing to improve and learn, you need to show them that you believe in your school mission and are the first who will go out of their way to achieve it.

You cannot have a school community working on an established goal if everyone within it has their own set of values. Your job as a leader is to recognize what the beliefs you share with your institution or a school district are and then work on fostering those beliefs actively.

When you show your students and teaching staff you care about their work, needs, and well-being, they will be motivated to grow and learn. Here also, you must lead by example and inspire your community to participate in activities.

By now, you have an idea of what the role of an educational leader is and how he or she can contribute to their school culture and climate in a way that fosters trust and development. The difference between a successful and incompetent school principal is what lies behind a positive or negative school climate.

Here's a rundown of what makes a competent school leader compared to what doesn't:

Since the role of a school leader is so critical to shaping positive school culture and climate, you might be wondering what you can do to bring influential changes. At the end of the day, leaders are only humans, which means you may not have all the answers right away. Acknowledging that takes you one step closer to effective leadership.

All major projects must first have a plan, and if transforming your school culture is what you have in mind, that is just what you want to do.

Here's how you can create a school culture and climate plan and put it into action:

1. Evaluate the existing culture

2. Talk to your stakeholders

3. Start working on a vision and mission for your school

4. Monitor the progress

5. Reflect on the changes you made

You cannot change something if you don't know what is wrong with it. Take some time to evaluate your school's existing culture and climate before you sit down to talk with your stakeholders. Here are some aspects you might want to look into or get insight on:

Your current vision and mission and whether they are still relevant

Student participation and productivity

Teacher involvement

Extra-curricular activities and school events

Once you have assessed the current situation in your school or district, you can identify which areas need improvement. At this point, you want to put together a team and announce the need for immediate change.

You don't want to make any massive decisions, like creating a new culture and climate plan on your own. People are often reluctant to let go of their routines, established perceptions, and preconceived values. Leaders need to be extra careful here to communicate the need for change to everyone who will be affected by it.

All of those questions you have gone over on your own regarding your existing school culture need to be addressed together with your team, and it includes:

When the entire community acknowledges you need to work on a new set of goals-with ideals that might clash with the ones previously held by a majority of them-it's time to begin working on your school's and mission statements .

Your new school vision should embody the change you want to implement into your school culture and the specific image of a tomorrow you have for your community.

Even if you want to be in charge of this process, it's critical to keep working in a team. Ask your students and educators where they see your school a year or a decade from now. Get to know what drives them to work towards a better tomorrow. Listen to their needs and their beliefs before you get to a shared goal.
You need to come up with a way to monitor the progress of every member within your school community with regards to your culture and climate plan.
Your school's vision and mission are going to be the main ingredients of your plan to transform your school's culture and climate. If you leave them to gather dust once you create them, the entire action-taking will be futile.

NASSP's CASE Comprehensive Assessment of School Environment model is a great tool to evaluate where you stand in terms of the vision you have created for your school. You should monitor everyone's progress and make notes on:

Your leadership practices

Classroom activities

Staff and student productivity

Whether the established values and principles are adhered to

Once you have your progress report, you don't want to leave it lying around or keep it to yourself only. Distribute the data you gathered to everyone you worked with when you created your school's vision and mission. This will not only remind your teachers and students of the goals you set together but also motivate them to reflect on their progress and keep working towards realizing that vision.

Even though getting your community to participate in decision-making processes and activities that foster the envisioned school culture is paramount, it is the school leader who has the biggest responsibility to oversee the progress and bring about change.

Highly effective leaders-in any profession but particularly in education-know that self-assessment and self-improvement are keys to strong and successful leadership.

If you want to have a positive school climate that is safe, inspiring, and conducive to learning, you can employ the following strategies in your leadership style:
Another meaningful factor in accepting your role as a leader entirely is being eager to take responsibility for everything that is going on in your school.

1. Learn to accept responsibility

2. Sharpen your networking skills

3. Split the power

4. Reward your community with incentives

5. Hone your leadership skills continually

Integral to your leadership style is what you are like as a person, what your work ethic is, and what values you cherish personally. As a leader, all aspects of your personality are going to influence your school unit-which is why your first step to effective leadership is introspection. How you behave must reflect the change you wish to bring to your school culture and climate.

Any leader knows their power lies with their connections. When it comes to education, the networking endeavors should not be embarked on with the sole purpose of making a profit but empowering the large community to grow and adapt to the fast-paced changes of the modern world.

This might mean that your school requires outside help, new collaborations, or even subsidiaries. An effective school leader will seek out opportunities anywhere and ensure their school is equipped with all the necessary tools the students, teaching staff, and administrators may need.

In their article about shared leadership, William Hughes and Terry Pickeral argue that; " in order for safe, equitable, engaging and high-quality school climates to become the norm in American schools, schools must encourage, support, and reward shared leadership. " This means that you need to go beyond putting together a team to help you with the school vision and involve all members of your school community in every aspect of your leadership.

When you make sure that students, teachers, and administrators are working together with you on important matters, you create an environment that fosters autonomy, team spirit, accountability, and student-centered learning.

An important aspect of motivating everyone in your school community to keep working towards your goals is acknowledging their efforts with rewards. Whether it be a special field trip for students, raised salary for teachers, or an honorary school event, think of the ways you can make your shareholders see you have noticed their work and appreciate it.

Just as you wish to reward the hard work of parents, teachers, students, and administrators, so you want to ensure you have given yourself credit for your own efforts. More importantly, you want to constantly evaluate your leadership style, practices, and progress as a school principal.

Encourage feedback in your community and open yourself up to advice and constructive criticism. Find out what it is that you do that motivates teachers and students to want to come to school, implement innovations in classroom activities, and participate actively in creating the school culture you envisioned. Likewise, learn if your stakeholders appreciate your approach to leadership and think whether and how you can improve it.

The mere fact you've read a piece on school climate and culture and how they need to be reshaped to fit the 21-century world tells us you're on board with the mission to contribute to changing American education.

It's time everyone involved in educational institutions stepped out with innovative ideas to reimagine high schools. The goal is crystal clear-to give students the tools, material, and support they need to carve their paths to their chosen careers in the modern, ever-shifting world.

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School Culture and Climate: the Role of the Leader | UnifyHighSchool

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Education is on the brink of massive changes. Hundred-year-old school practices and principles-which are sadly still being employed-are no longer conducive to real-life learning. They cannot prepare students for their 21-century careers after high school adequately.

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Education has many critical issues; although if you watch the nightly news or 24/7 news channels, you will most likely see very little when it comes to education. Our political climate has taken over the news, and it seems as though education once again takes a back seat to important political events as well as salacious stories about reality-television stars. It sometimes make me wonder how much education is valued?

Every year around this time, I highlight some critical issues facing education. It's not that I am trying to rush the holiday season by posting it well before the 1 st of the new year. It's actually that I believe we should have a critical look at the issues we face in education, and create some dialogue and action around these issues, and talk about them sooner than later.

Clearly, the fact that we are entering into 2020 means we need to look at some of these issues with hindsight because we have seen them before. Have the issues of the past changed or do they continue to impact our lives? As with any list, you will notice one missing that you believe should be added. Please feel free to use social media or the comment box at the end of this blog to add the ones you believe should be there.

12 Issues Facing Education

These issues are not ranked in order of importance. I actually developed a list of about 20 critical issues but wanted to narrow it down to 12. They range from issues that impact our lives in negative ways to issues that impact our lives in positive ways, and I wanted to provide a list of issues I feel educators will believe are in their control.

I have spent the better part of 2019 on the road traveling across the U.S., Canada, Europe, the U.K., and Australia. The issues that are highlighted below have come up in most of those countries, but they will be particularly important for those of us living in the U.S. There are a couple that seem to be specifically a U.S. issue, and that will be obvious to you when you see them.

Health & Wellness - Research shows that many of our students are stressed out, anxiety-filled, and at their breaking point. Teachers and leaders are experiencing those same issues. Whether it's due to social media, being overscheduled, or the impact of high-stakes testing and pressure to perform, this needs to be the year where mindfulness becomes even more important than it was in 2019. Whether it's using mindfulness apps and programs or the implementation of double recess in elementary school and frequent brain beaks throughout the day, it's time schools are given the autonomy to help students find more balance.

Literacy - We have too many students not reading with proficiency, and therefore, at risk of missing out on the opportunity to reach their full potential. For decades there have been debates about whole language and phonics while our students still lag behind. It's time to put a deep focus on teaching literacy with a balanced approach.

School Leadership - Many school leaders enter into the position with high hopes of having a deep impact but are not always prepared for what they find. School leadership has the potential to be awesome. And when I mention school leadership, I am also referring to department chairs, PLC leads, or grade-level leaders. Unfortunately, not all leaders feel prepared for the position. Leadership is about understanding how to get people to work together, having a deep understanding of learning, and building the capacity of everyone around them. This means that university programs, feeder programs, and present leaders who coach those who want to be leaders, need to find ways to expose potential leaders to all of the goodness, as well as the hardships, that come with the position.

Our Perception of Students - For the last year I have been involved in some interesting dialogue in schools. One of the areas of concern is the perception educators (i.e. leaders, teachers, etc.) have of their students. Sometimes we lower our expectations of students because of the background they come from, and other times we hold unreachable expectations because we believe our students are too coddled. And even worse, I have heard educators talk about certain students in very negative ways, with a clear bias that must get in the way of how they teach those students. Let 2020 be a year when we focus on our perception of students and address those biases that may bleed into our teaching and leading.

Cultures of Equity - I learned a long time ago that the history I learned about in my K-12 education was a white-washed version of it all. There is more than one side to those stories, and we need all of them for a deeper understanding of the world. Read this powerful guest blog by Michael Fullan and John Malloy for a deeper look into cultures of equity.

Additionally, we have an achievement gap with some marginalized populations (i.e., African American boys), and have other marginalized populations (i.e., LGBTQ) who do not feel safe in school. Isn't school supposed to be a safe place where every student reaches their full potential?

Students and the schools they attend need to be provided with equitable resources, and we know that is not happening yet. My go-to resource is always Rethinking Schools.

District Office/Building-Level Relationships - There are too many school districts with a major disconnection between the district office and building level leaders. 2020 needs to be the year when more district offices find a balance between the top-down initaitives that take place, and creating more space to engage in dialogue with building leaders and teachers. School districts will likely never improve if people are constantly told what to do and not given the opportunity to share the creative side that probably got them hired in the first place.

Politics - It's an election year. Get ready for the wave of everything that comes with it. Negative campaigns and bad behavior by adults at the same time we tell students to be respectful to each other. It's important for us to open up this dialogue in our classrooms, and talk about how to respectfully agree or disagree. Additionally, we have to wonder how the campaigns and ultimate presidential decision will impact education because the last few education secretaries have not given us all that much to cheer about.

Our Perception of Teachers - Over the last few decades there has been a concerted effort to make teachers look as though they chose teaching because they could not do anything else. Whether it be in political rhetoric or through the media and television programs, our dialogue has not been kind, and it has led to a negative perception of teachers. This rhetoric has not only been harmful to school climates, it has turned some teachers into passive participants in their own profession. Teachers are educated, hardworking professionals who are trying to help meet the academic and social-emotional needs of their students, which is not always easy.

Vaping - Many of the middle and high schools in the U.S. that I am working with are experiencing too many students who vape, and some of those students are doing it in class. In fact, this NBC story shows that there has been a major spike in the use of vaping among adolescents. Additionally This story shows that vaping is a major health crisis, and it will take parents, schools, and society to put a dent in it.

Time on Task vs. Student Engagement - For too long we have agreed upon words like "Time on task," which often equates to students being passive in their own learning. It's time we focus on student engagement, which allows us to go from surface to deep level learning and on to transfer level learning. It also helps balance the power in the room between adults and students.

Teachers With guns - I need to be honest with you; this one was not easy to add to the list, and it is very much a U.S. issue. I recently saw this story on NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt that focused on teachers in Utah being trained to shoot guns in case of an active shooter in their school. This is a story that we will see more of in 2020.

Climate Change - Whether it's because they were inspired by Greta Thunberg (Time Person of the Year) or the years of hearing about climate change in school and at home, young people will continue to rise up and make climate change a critical issue in 2020. We saw thousands of students strike this year and that will surely rise after Thunberg's latest recognition.

In the End - It's always interesting to reflect on the year and begin compiling a list of critical issues. I know it can be daunting to look at, and begin to see where we fit into all of this, but I have always believed that education is about taking on some of this crucial issues and turning them around to make them better. Anyone who gets into teaching needs to believe that they can improve the educational experience for their students, and these are just a few places to start.

Peter DeWitt, Ed.D. is the author of several books including Coach It Further: Using the Art of Coaching to Improve School Leadership (Corwin Press. 2018), and Instructional Leadership: Creating Practice Out Of Theory (Corwin Press. 2020). Connect with him on Twitter, Instagram or through his YouTube station.
Photo courtesy of Getty Images.

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12 Critical Issues Facing Education in 2020 (Opinion)

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Anyone who gets into teaching needs to believe that they can improve the educational experience for students. Here are 12 places to start.