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School counselors are uniquely equipped to bridge the gaps between administration, teachers, parents, and students. As the demands placed on everyone in a school community increase, it's vital that we view and include school counselors as part of our leadership teams. Let's make sure we recognize all they do and put their strengths to work for our students! Here are 11 ways school counselors serve as leaders in your building.

1. School counselors recognize and showcase diversity.

In many buildings, school counselors are considered the "heart" of the school. They help create an inclusive environment that is respectful, welcoming, kind, and open to all.

2. School counselors develop community partnerships.

Counseling staff work collaboratively with universities, community colleges, technical schools, local unions, military reps, and apprentice programs to provide a variety of opportunities for students. They are especially vital in ensuring underserved and first-generation students have access to and the tools to reach all possible post-high school options.

3. School counselors help during difficult situations.

Strengths such as listening, reflecting, and high emotional intelligence make school counselors valuable allies when trying to get buy-in from staff or the greater community on difficult issues. Counselors foster a culture of change via strong lines of communication and valuing input from all parties involved.

4. School counselors maintain strong home-school connections.

Counselors tend to be the liaison for parents when it comes to communicating with the school. This leadership role is especially important when assisting families who are not familiar with the school setting or have issues trusting staff.

5. School counselors maximize educational success.

School counselors can help to maximize the educational attainment of all students by providing students with mental health services (school or community-based) and developmental guidance that takes a proactive approach in helping students set and reach academic goals.

6. School counselors lead staff trainings.

Administrators who use their counseling staff (rather than outside contractors) to lead building-wide trainings can save a lot of money and gain quicker buy-in from staff. School counselors are experts on topics such as student engagement, positive discipline, suicide/self-harm, students-as-leaders, peer mentoring programs, and academic/social interventions for low-performing students.

7. School counselors protect and advocate for disadvantaged students.

Counselors identify and amend policies and practices that negatively impact disadvantaged students and advocate for equitable services for all students.

8. School counselors use expertise to bring data to life.

Like administrators, counselors are trained in data collection and analysis. They are skilled at using this information to drive decisions about placement, intervention, and overall student health and wellbeing.

9. School counselors mediate difficult situations between parents/students and staff.

Counselors are consistently looking for ways to support the relationship between school staff and parents. Acting as a mediator when one or both parties are upset about a situation is a critical way in which school counselors serve as leaders.

10. School counselors organize and lead crisis response.

Counselors are on the front lines after a tragedy has happened in a school or community. Staff, students, parents, and community members look to the counselors for guidance and support immediately following an event. Because of their training in emotional/mental, the counseling staff is critical in advocating for and teaching self-care to staff, parents, and students during a crisis.

11. School counselors empower and inspire.

School counselors inherently believe in people and work tirelessly to communicate that. By being visible and accessible at all times, their calming, caring, and encouraging presence helps support and empower staff in the building.

School counselors serve as leaders in many ways and we need to value their perspectives and strengths. They are vital to building positive learning environments in which students thrive.
Join our Facebook group Principal Life for more conversation about and insights into the challenges of school leadership.

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11 Ways Your School Counselors Serve as Leaders - WeAreTeachers

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School counselors are uniquely equipped to bridge the gaps between administration, teachers, parents, and students. As the demands placed on everyone in a school community increase, it's vital that we view and include school counselors as part of our leadership teams. Let's make sure we recognize all they do and put their strengths to work for our students!

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Students have the power to change the world, and school counselors help them achieve their dreams.

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For many students, their school counselor is their emotional and social guide and confidant. Here are some activities that counselors can initiate to assist students, staff, and parents in the critical area of emotional and social intelligence.

Organize parent education programs.

Throughout the country, local schools and parent organizations have joined forces to host Parent Universities -- daylong events during which parents have the opportunity to attend workshops on such issues as communicating with adolescents, managing stress, and supporting the social-emotional and educational needs of children. Consider hiring translators to accommodate the language needs of non-English speakers in your community.

Adopt a bully prevention program.

According to the American School Counselor Association, one out of every four children is bullied. These youngsters and teens suffer both physical and emotional abuse. They miss school, fear harassment in the bathroom and on the playground, and often feel they have nowhere to turn for assistance. Comprehensive school-based anti-bullying programs have been very successful in raising student, teacher, and parent awareness of the causes and effects of this all-too-common phenomenon. For information and resources for both parents and school staff, visit The Anti-Bullying Network.

Institute service-learning projects.

Participation in school and community-based service projects benefits students academically, socially, and emotionally. The National Youth Leadership Council Web site features resources for schools interested in starting a service-learning component, including examples of model school-based programs.

Start an advisory program for middle schoolers.

Proponents of small-group advisories for middle schools believe such programs provide adolescents with the ongoing support and connections they need to help them grow and thrive during these turbulent years. MiddleWeb, a Web resource for educators and parents, features several articles on middle school advisories, including an FAQ (frequently asked questions and their answers) written by advisory advocate Jim Burns.

Create an environment of accessibility.

At one New Jersey middle school, counselors stand in the school corridor between classes in order to acknowledge students and maintain a high profile. Their aim is to remind students that counselors are among the adults at school available to help them and to listen. At a California school, a counselor makes a point of visiting every class every two weeks.

Resources

American Psychological Association. The association offers free brochures on such topics as violence prevention, how to choose a psychologist, and commonsense ways to assess online mental health information.

Blueprints for Violence Prevention. This interactive Web site features detailed information on model programs for violence prevention, including school-based programs that focus on bullying prevention, classroom-based social-emotional learning curriculum, and more.

Educating Minds and Hearts: Social Emotional Learning and the Passage into Adolescence. Editor Jonathan Cohen has gathered a wealth of information from different experts. The thread that ties the different chapters together is the use of fictional characters "Raffi" and "Maura" as springboards for experts to talk about how particular social and emotional learning programs affect middle school students. 1999. Published by the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.

Education World. Visit the School Counselors' section of this site for hundreds of articles and resources covering such critical topics as dealing with grief and loss, suicide prevention, depression, and fostering self-esteem. Many of the referenced articles are from the ERIC database of resources.

In the Mix. This PBS-sponsored Web site for educators features lesson plans and discussion guides for a variety of health and fitness subjects, including anger management, drug and alcohol abuse (including a lesson designed to help teens interpret alcohol advertising messages), depression, and self-image. Lessons are typically designed for middle and high school students and include a PBS "In the Mix" video component.

Promoting Social and Emotional Learning: Guide for Educators. This book by Rutgers University Psychology Professor Maurice Elias and others takes the best information about attempts in schools to give students the skills to be emotionally intelligent individuals. 1997. Published by the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.

Suicide Awareness Voices of Education. Among this site's many resources is a thoughtful "Guide for Young People" on depression -- its causes and the importance of seeking adult help for friends and classmates.

Waging Peace in Our Schools. This book by Linda Lantieri and Janet Patti tells the story of the Resolving Conflict Creatively Program (RCCP), which was begun in New York City schools in 1985 and is now in more than 350 schools nationwide. The book serves as a practical guide to many of the successful strategies used by RCCP to produce emotionally intelligent children. 1996. Published by Beacon Press.

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Emotional Intelligence: What School Counselors Can Do

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For many students, their school counselor is their emotional and social guide and confidant. Here are some activities that counselors can initiate to assist students, staff, and parents in the critical area of emotional and social intelligence.

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Article on school counselors and leadership

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(Also known as LMX or Vertical Dyad Linkage Theory)

As a manager, it's not always right to treat everyone on your team in the same way.

For instance, you probably have team members that you've developed a great relationship with: you trust them, they work hard, and they've never let you down. To you, these team members are invaluable, and you make an extra effort to send challenging projects their way.

It's also likely that you have others on your team who you think less well of. They may not have far-reaching career goals, they're less competent, and you simply don't trust them to the same extent. These team members get everyday responsibilities, and are not considered for promotions or challenging assignments.

However, have you ever stopped to analyze why you don't trust certain team members? Rightly or wrongly, do you let that distrust, or the belief that they're unreliable, influence how you relate to them? Do you, even subconsciously, withhold opportunities that might help them grow and succeed?

This situation is at the heart of the Leader-Member Exchange Theory. This theory, also known as LMX or the Vertical Dyad Linkage Theory, explores how leaders and managers develop relationships with team members; and it explains how those relationships can either contribute to growth or hold people back.

What Is the Leader-Member Exchange Theory?

The Leader-Member Exchange Theory first emerged in the 1970s. It focuses on the relationship that develops between managers and members of their teams. The theory states that all relationships between managers and subordinates go through three stages. These are:

Let's look at each stage in greater detail.

Role-Taking

Role-taking occurs when team members first join the group. Managers use this time to assess new members' skills and abilities.

Role-Making

New team members then begin to work on projects and tasks as part of the team. In this stage, managers generally expect that new team members will work hard, be loyal and prove trustworthy as they get used to their new role.

The theory says that, during this stage, managers sort new team members (often subconsciously) into one of two groups.

In-Group: if team members prove themselves loyal, trustworthy and skilled, they're put into the In-Group. This group is made up of the team members that the manager trusts the most. Managers give this group most of their attention, providing challenging and interesting work, and offering opportunities for additional training and advancement. This group also gets more one-to-one time with the manager. Often, people in this group have a similar personality and work-ethic to their manager.

Out-Group: if team members betray the trust of the manager, or prove that they're unmotivated or incompetent, they're put into the Out-Group. This group's work is often restricted and unchallenging. Out-Group members tend to have less access to the manager, and often don't receive opportunities for growth or advancement.

Routinization

During this last phase, routines between team members and their managers are established.

In-Group team members work hard to maintain the good opinion of their managers, by showing trust, respect, empathy, patience, and persistence.

Out-Group members may start to dislike or distrust their managers. Because it's so hard to move out of the Out-Group once the perception has been established, Out-Group members may have to change departments or organizations in order to "start over."

Once team members have been classified, even subconsciously, as In-Group or Out-Group, that classification affects how their managers relate to them from then on, and it can become self-fulfilling.

For instance, In-Group team members are often seen as rising stars and the manager trusts them to work and perform at a high level. This is also the group that the manager talks to most, offering support and advice, and they're given the best opportunities to test their skills and grow. So, of course, they're more likely to develop in their roles.

This also holds true for the Out-Group. The manager spends little, if any, time trying to support and develop this group. They receive few challenging assignments or opportunities for training and advancement. And, because they're never tested, they have little chance to change the manager's opinion.

How to Use the Leader-Member Exchange Theory

You can use the Leader-Member Exchange Theory to gain awareness of how you perceive members of your own team. The following three steps will show you how you can do this by identifying the Out-Group, reestablishing your relationship with its members, and providing means and ways for team members to grow.

1. Identify Your Out-Group

Chances are, you know who's in your Out-Group already. Take a moment to note their names down.

Next, analyze why these people have fallen "out of favor." Did they do something specifically to lose your trust? Do they exhibit bad behavior at work? Are they truly incompetent, or do they have low motivation?

Analyze what they've actually done, and compare the facts with your perceptions. Do these match, or have you (perhaps subconsciously) blown things out of proportion?

2. Reestablish the Relationship

It's important that, as the leader, you make a reasonable effort to reestablish a relationship with Out-Group team members. Research published in the Leadership Quarterly journal in 1995 showed that team members who have high-quality relationships with their leader have higher morale, and are more productive than those who don't. So you, and your organization, can benefit from creating a better relationship.

Keep in mind that this group will likely be wary of any attention or support from you; after all, they may not have had it in the past.

First, meet each team member one-on-one. Take the time to find out if they're happy with their job. What are their career goals? What can you do to make their work more challenging or engaging?

A one-on-one meeting can also help you identify that person's psychological contract with you - that is, the unspoken benefits they expect from you, as their leader. If they're in the Out-Group, they may feel that the psychological contract has been broken.

You also need to discover what truly motivates them. Use McClelland's Human Motivation Theory or Herzberg's Motivators and Hygiene Factor Theory to find out what drives them to succeed.

Once you've had a chance to reconnect with your team members through one-on-one meetings, do what you sensibly can to continue to touch base with them. Practice management by walking around, or drop by their office to see if they need help on projects or tasks. Work on getting to know these team members on a personal level.

3. Provide Training and Development Opportunities

Remember, the biggest advantage to the Leader-Member Exchange Theory is that it alerts you to the preference you might unconsciously - and possibly unfairly - be showing some team members. This allows you to offer all of your team members appropriate opportunities for training, development, and advancement.

Your Out-Group team members may benefit from a mentoring or coaching relationship with you.

You may also want to provide them with low-risk opportunities to test and grow their skills. Use task allocation strategies to make sure you're assigning the right task to the right person. Also, take our Bite-Sized Training session, Setting Goals for Your Team, to learn how to set effective and realistic goals for these team members.

You can also use the Nine-Box Grid for Talent Management to re-assess their potential from time to time, and to give them the right development opportunities.

Warning:

A problem with the Leader-Member Exchange Theory is that it assumes that all team members are equally worthy of trust, prestigious projects and advancement. Although we may like to think that everyone is honest, hard-working and worthy of our esteem, the reality can be different!

Managers need to get the best possible results. This means putting the right people in the right places, and it means developing and reinforcing success. Of necessity, this means that talented people will get more interesting opportunities and may get more attention than less-talented ones.

Use the Leader-Member Exchange Theory to make sure that you're objective in the way that you deal with people, but don't be naïve in the way that you apply it.

Key Points

The Leader-Member Exchange Theory first appeared in the 1970s. It analyzes the relationship between managers and team members.

Team members typically go through three phases in their relationship with their manager: Role-Taking, Role-Making, and Routinization.

Typically, during the Role-Making phase, group members are classified into one of two groups: In-Group, and Out-Group. In-Group team members often receive more attention and support, and more opportunities, from their managers. Out-Group members get very little face-time, and few opportunities.

You can use the Leader-Member Exchange Theory to identify and validate any perceptions that you might have of people on your team.

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The Leader-Member Exchange Theory: Getting the Best From all Team Members

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As a manager, it's not always right to treat everyone on your team in the same way. For instance, you probably have team members that you've developed a great relationship with: you trust them, they work hard, and they've never let you down.

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Using Leader-Member Exchange Theory to Examine Principal-School Counselor Relationships, School Counselors' Roles, Job Satisfaction, and Turnover Intentions

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Using Leader-Member Exchange Theory to Examine Principal-School Counselor Relationships, School Counselors' Roles, Job Satisfaction, and Turnover Intentions

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Great leaders use a variety of tools to maximize their impact as leaders. Developing a leadership philosophy can be a helpful practice for establishing a leadership framework. Leadership philosophies often vary depending on the leader's goals and overall approach to leadership.

In this article, we explain what a leadership philosophy is, clarify why they are important, provide a list of examples and share tips for writing your own.

Related: 10 Common Leadership Styles

What is a leadership philosophy?

A leadership philosophy is a structured approach to leading others. Leaders often write philosophies as a guiding statement for reference while leading a team. Generally, leadership philosophies include the following components:

The structure of a leadership philosophy can vary greatly depending on the goals and needs of the leader. Some statements are as short as a sentence while others are a page or more in length. As they are highly personalized documents, any length or structure is fine for a leadership philosophy.

Related: 15 Leadership Qualities That Make a Great Leader

Why review leadership philosophy examples?

Leaders can benefit from reviewing leadership philosophy examples to see what elements they would like to include in their own philosophy and which elements they can do without. Additionally, reviewing examples of leaders in their industry or leaders who inspire them can help leaders adjust their philosophies to better emulate those they admire.

Related: 15 Questions to Ask Other Leaders for Career Growth

List of leadership philosophy examples

Leadership philosophies hinge on the type of leadership the writer uses. Democratic leadership, for example, yields a different framework and philosophy for the practitioner than autocratic leadership. Use these leadership philosophy examples, organized by leadership type, to help define your own leadership philosophy:

Democratic leadership philosophy

Autocratic leadership philosophy

Laissez-faire leadership philosophy

Strategic leadership philosophy

Transformational leadership philosophy

Transactional leadership philosophy

Democratic leadership philosophy

Democratic leadership depends on the whole team to make decisions. While the leader may depart from the team's input occasionally, they almost always ask for and consider the thoughts and opinions of everyone involved.

Here is an example of a democratic leadership philosophy:
I believe everyone should participate in the process. I intend to share responsibility with my team. I will respect my team, listen to their ideas and inspire them when needed. I will behave with empathy, thoughtfulness and kindness.
Autocratic leadership philosophy

Autocratic leadership situates all the decision and implementation power on the leader. The team is there to execute the leader's practices and processes, and the leader does not consult them during the decision-making process.

Here is an example of an autocratic leadership philosophy:
I believe I am best suited to make decisions and lead the team. I intend to inspire and lead through action. I will provide my team with instruction and action to meet the needs of the company. I will behave with decisiveness, authority and power.
Laissez-faire leadership philosophy

Laissez-faire leadership gives equal power to the team and the leader. In fact, the leader will often give little guidance to their team and will instead allow them to work how and when the team feels they need to. Instead, the leader focuses on high-level matters rather than managing the day-to-day operations of their team.

Here is an example of a laissez-faire leadership philosophy:
I believe my team knows what's best. I intend to trust them to make excellent decisions and meet their own needs. I will give guidance if it's asked for, but otherwise, I will focus my attention on high-level projects. I will behave with honesty and trust.
Strategic leadership philosophy

Strategic leadership divides the leader's focus between high-level operations and team oversight. Strategic leaders maintain individual responsibility for executive operations, but they still offer guidance and structure for their team.

Here is an example of a strategic leadership philosophy:
I believe everyone on the team has a specific duty. I intend to maximize the work product of everyone on the team. I will provide guidance while also managing high-level company needs. I will behave with integrity, honesty and decisiveness.
Transformational leadership philosophy

Transformational leadership focuses on constantly evolving and establishing new benchmarks and goals. Leaders devote their time to establishing goals and pathways to success for their team. The transformational leader spends their time developing new practices and processes to improve the overall work product.

Here is an example of a transformational leadership philosophy:
I believe constant change is the only pathway forward. I intend to motivate my team through goal-setting and overcoming challenges. I will provide guidance and inspiration to improve the team's performance constantly. I will behave with charisma, drive and passion.
Transactional leadership philosophy

Transactional leadership depends on a series of incentives to motivate employees to reach goals. Leaders establish pre-determined prizes or rewards if their team meets a goal and then gives them the space to complete the project.

Here is an example of a transactional leadership philosophy:
I believe my team will respond to incentives. I intend to motivate my team with a set reward and then let them work on their own. I will offer guidance if the team needs it, but I trust them to complete the work as they see fit. I will behave with trust and honesty.
Related: 10 Ways to Build Effective Leadership Behaviors

Tips for writing a leadership philosophy

Use these tips to help craft your own personal leadership philosophy:

Make it actionable. Make sure your philosophy will help guide your daily actions and decision-making. Keep the language clear and actionable.

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Leadership Philosophy Examples to Help You Write Your Own

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Great leaders use a variety of tools to maximize their impact as leaders. Developing a leadership philosophy can be a helpful practice for establishing a leadership framework. Leadership philosophies often vary depending on the leader's goals and overall approach to leadership.

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School Mission

A school mission statement often includes their focus and commitment on a daily basis. A school leader's mission should always be student-centered. They should always be focused on bettering the students they serve. You want every activity that occurs in your building to revolve around what is best for the students. If it is not beneficial for the students, then there is no reason that it should continue or even begin to happen. Your mission is to create a society of learners where students are constantly challenged by teachers as well as their peers. You also want teachers who accept a challenge to be the best they can be on a daily basis. You want teachers to be facilitators of learning opportunities for students. You want students to experience meaningful personal growth every day. You also want to involve the community in the learning process, because there are many community resources that can be utilized to promote growth throughout a school.

School Vision

A school vision statement is an expression of where a school is going in the future. A school leader must realize that it is typically best if vision is implemented in small steps. If you approach it as one large step, then it will likely overwhelm and consume you as well as your faculty, staff, and students. The first thing you have to do is to sell your vision to the teachers and the community and get them to invest in it. Once they truly buy into your plan, then they can help you carry out the rest of the vision. You want all stakeholders to be looking to the future while focusing on the now. As a school, we want to set long-term goals that will ultimately make us better, while maintaining focus on the current task at hand.

Special Education Programs

Understanding the importance of special education programs is vital to a school administrator. As a school leader, it is essential to know and care about the legal guidelines established by Public Law 94-142, the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act of 1973, and other related laws. You also need to make sure that all of those laws are being carried out within your building and that every student is given fair treatment based upon their Individualized Education Program (IEP). It is critical that you make the students who are being served in special education relevant and that you value their learning as much as any other student in your building. It is equally pertinent to work hands-on with the special education teachers in your building and be willing to assist them with any problems, struggles, or questions that may arise.

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Crafting an Educational Leadership Philosophy for Administrators

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A school mission statement often includes their focus and commitment on a daily basis. A school leader's mission should always be student-centered. They should always be focused on bettering the students they serve. You want every activity that occurs in your building to revolve around what is best for the students.

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The 25 Best Leadership Books of All-Time | Soundview Magazine

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In case you don't know, Soundview identifies, selects, and summarizes the best business books that are published every year. And, since we've been doing this for the past 41 years, we've seen A LOT of leadership books filter through our offices. Literally thousands ...

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A leadership style is a method by a person or organization to provide direction, implement plans, and motivate other people. Leadership is commonly defined as the process of motivating a group of people to act towards the accomplishment of a common task. As there are several ways of motivating people, there are also several styles of leadership according to experts.

Leadership and leadership styles

Leadership is a significant trait for project managers to have. It spells the difference between average and superior performance of a project team. Great project leaders can effectively influence others with minimal use of authority. They can also transition from one leadership style to another, depending on a need or circumstance.

Over the years, experts have identified different leadership styles. Some experts identify three major styles that produced variations, while others identify six different styles.

Three major leadership styles with variations

Autocratic

Directions go from top to bottom

Roles and tasks are defined without question

Ideal for organizations with new, unskilled, or unmotivated workers

Effective on short-term projects or during crisis.

VARIATIONS: authoritative, persuasive, paternalistic

Democratic

Promotes sharing of responsibility

Everyone is involved in decision-making although the manager makes the final call after listening to suggestions

Team members given responsibility tend to become more enthusiastic and get more involved

Timeline to decide expands due to consultation

Has the potential to get nothing done.

VARIATIONS: consultative, participative, collaborative

Delegative

Gives little to no guidance to the team

Allows them to make their own decisions

Ideal for flat or decentralized organizations, suited for teams composed of highly qualified members or highly trusted by the manager

Opportunity for increased innovation

Risks of lack of focus and poor productivity and coordination

Six specific leadership styles

Coercive or Directive - Immediate compliance, "Do what I tell you."

Authoritative or Visionary - Provide long-term direction and vision, "Follow me."

Affiliative - Create harmony by connecting people to each other, "People come first."

Democratic - Build commitment and generate new ideas, "What do you think?"

Pace-setting - Accomplish tasks to a high standard of excellence, "Do as I do, now."

Coaching - Long-term professional development of others, "Try this."

Books for different leadership styles

1. The Power of Project Leadership

Author Susanne Madsen is a veteran project manager and internationally recognized project leadership coach. The second edition paperback has 330+ pages divided into four chapters. Chapter 3 details the seven keys to project leadership, discussing topics that include the importance of being authentic, leading with vision, and improving and innovating, among others. Readers describe it as a great, inspiring, and actionable book on leadership.

2. Leaders Eat Last

Author Simon Sinek is a best-selling author who wrote about great leaders and high-performing organizations. This 2017 book is divided into 8 parts and 27 chapters. It discusses why it is important not only for good leaders to have professional competence, but to truly care for those who are entrusted to their care. The book details the different elements and challenges that leaders face and how certain practices in organizations enable them to succeed in good and bad times. Customers describe it as interesting, informative, and easy to read.

3. The Leadership Playbook

Author Nathan Jamail is an author, executive coach, and motivational speaker. This 2014 book discusses the differences between managing and coaching. It is divided in 3 parts and 12 chapters. It covers topics like the principles of coaching, how to be an effective coach in an organization, and ways to create a coaching culture. Readers praise the book for its great examples, action items, and being an easy read.

4. Dare to Lead

Author Brené Brown, PhD, is a research professor at the University of Houston and University of Texas at Austin. This 2018 book focuses on how organizations of all sizes, from small startups and family-based businesses to Fortune companies are trying to find the answer to cultivate daring and courageous leaders. The book is divided into four parts, but the content is from Dr. Brown's over two decades of research into hundreds of organizations to give practical advice how to be a daring leader. Customers describe the book as amazing, honest, inspiring, and provocative.

5. Turn the Ship Around!

Author Captain David Marquet (Ret.) is a former commanding officer of the submarine USS Santa Fe, an international keynote speaker, and Wall Street Journal best selling author. The book is divided into 4 parts and 29 chapters. It tells the story of Captain Marquet while he served as the commanding officer of the Santa Fe. He transformed a team of sailors with poor morale with poor performance into a fully engaged, high-performing, award-winning group of leaders. Readers describe it as an easy and excellent read about empowering the workforce and specific mechanisms about how leaders should create other leaders.

Resources for different leadership styles

The following are helpful sites and links to learn more about the different leadership styles:
Questia is an online library that includes thousands of academic books and millions of journal, magazine, and newspaper articles.
SHRM is a membership-based community that offers professional HR assistance, tools, educational offerings, and networking.
IMD is a provider of management and leadership courses.

Top Project Management Tools for Your Leadership Style

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Books and Resources for Different Leadership Styles

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A leadership style is a method by a person or organization to provide direction, implement plans, and motivate other people. Leadership is commonly defined as the process of motivating a group of people to act towards the accomplishment of a common task.

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A transactional leader is someone who values order and structure. They are likely to command military operations, manage large corporations, or lead international projects that require rules and regulations to complete objectives on time or move people and supplies in an organized way. Transactional leaders are not a good fit for places where creativity and innovative ideas are valued.

Transactional leadership is most often compared to transformational leadership. Transactional leadership depends on self-motivated people who work well in a structured, directed environment. By contrast, transformational leadership seeks to motivate and inspire workers, choosing to influence rather than direct others.

Read more about transactional leadership:

Transactional leadership focuses on results, conforms to the existing structure of an organization and measures success according to that organization's system of rewards and penalties. Transactional leaders have formal authority and positions of responsibility in an organization. This type of leader is responsible for maintaining routine by managing individual performance and facilitating group performance.

This type of leader sets the criteria for their workers according to previously defined requirements. Performance reviews are the most common way to judge employee performance. Transactional, or managerial, leaders work best with employees who know their jobs and are motivated by the reward-penalty system. The status quo of an organization is maintained through transactional leadership.

Differences between transactional leadership and other leadership styles

Transactional leaders differ from charismatic and transformational leaders in both structure and method. Charismatic leadership emphasizes influencing a group or organization to make the world a better place. In transactional leadership, the emphasis is on managing the performance of the individual and determining how well he or she performs in a structured environment.

The difference between transactional leadership and transformational leadership is also quite large. Simply put, transactional is a "telling" leadership style, and transformational is a "selling" style. While the transactional approach features positive and negative reinforcement, transformational leadership emphasizes motivation and inspiration. Transactional leaders are reactive; transformational leaders are proactive. Transactional leadership appeals to the self-interest of individuals, while the transformational style prioritizes group progress.

History of the transactional leadership theory

Max Weber, a 20th-century German sociologist, made an extensive study of leadership styles and divided them into three categories: traditional, charismatic and rational-legal, or bureaucratic. In 1947, Weber was the first to describe rational-legal leadership - the style that would come to be known as transactional leadership - as "the exercise of control on the basis of knowledge."

Transactional leadership theory is based on the idea that managers give employees something they want in exchange for getting something they want. It posits that workers are not self-motivated and require structure, instruction and monitoring in order to complete tasks correctly and on time.

The transactional leadership style was widely used after World War II in the United States. This was a time when the government concentrated on rebuilding and required a high level of structure to maintain national stability.

Political scientist James McGregor Burns was one of the most prominent authors to advance Weber's theories. In his 1978 book "Leadership," Burns argued that both transactional and transformational leaders must be moral and have a higher purpose. In Burns's model, transactional leaders espouse honesty, fairness, responsibility, and honoring commitments.

In the 1980s and 90s, researchers including Bernard M. Bass, Jane Howell and Bruce Avolio defined the dimensions of transactional leadership:

Contingent reward, the process of setting expectations and rewarding workers for meeting them

Passive management by exception, where a manager does not interfere with workflow unless an issue arises

Active management by exception, in which managers anticipate problems, monitor progress and issue corrective measures

Many current leadership theorists agree that principals of transactional and transformational leadership can be combined for ideal outcomes for both management and the workforce.

The transactional model is likely to succeed in a crisis or in projects that require linear and specific processes. This model is also useful for big corporations, such as Hewlett-Packard, a company known for its extensive use of management by exception.

Many high-level members of the military, CEOs of large international companies, and NFL coaches are known to be transactional leaders. Transactional leadership also works well in policing agencies and first responder organizations. Here are four examples of transactional leaders.

Norman Schwarzkopf

Gen. Norman Schwarzkopf was born in 1934 and graduated from West Point. He went to Vietnam as an advisor to the South Vietnamese army. During that war, he was wounded twice and awarded three Silver Star medals. In 1978, he became a brigadier general; he attained a four-star ranking in 1988. General Schwarzkopf was commander-in-chief of the U.S. forces in Operation Desert Storm, responsible for tens of thousands of troops in Iraq and Kuwait. He used the rules and regulations of the military to coordinate operations on several continents.

Vince Lombardi

Born in 1913, Vince Lombardi is best known as the coach for the Green Bay Packers. He signed a five-year contract with Green Bay in 1959. Under his leadership, the team never had a losing session. Over the course of his career, he led the team to a 98-30-4 record and five championships. The Super Bowl trophy is named after him. He used to run the Packers through the same plays in practice over and over again. The team's opponents knew the plays Lombardi would run, but the team was so well trained that many teams had trouble defending against them.

Bill Gates

Bill Gates was born in Seattle in 1955. In his early teens, he met Paul Allen at the Lakeside School, where they both developed computer programs as a hobby. When Gates went to Harvard, Allen went to work as a programmer for Honeywell in Boston. In 1975, they started Microsoft, and by 1978, the company had grossed $2.5 million, when Gates was 23. In 1985, Microsoft launched Windows. Bill Gates is now one of the richest people in the world. As a transactional leader, he used to visit new product teams and ask difficult questions until he was satisfied that the teams were on track and understood the goal.

Howard Schultz

Howard Schultz was born in 1953 and grew up in the Brooklyn housing projects. He escaped the projects with a football scholarship from Northern Michigan University. After college, he started selling coffee makers to companies that included the Starbucks Coffee Tea and Spice Company, which originally sold coffee beans rather than made-to-order drinks. He was hired by the company in 1982. In 1984, Schultz opened the first Starbucks coffeehouse based on the concept of an Italian espresso bar.

Schultz wanted to grow Starbucks, but the owners wanted to stay small. Schultz left and opened his own company in 1985. With the help of investors in 1987, he bought Starbucks and merged the two companies. By 2006, Schultz was ranked 394 on Forbes magazine's list of the 400 richest people in America. As a transactional leader, he was responsible for the vision and implementation of the Starbucks model.

Transactional leadership quotes

Norman Schwarzkopf: "When placed in command, take charge."

Vince Lombardi: "The price of success is hard work, dedication to the job at hand, and the determination that whether we win or lose, we have applied the best of ourselves to the task at hand."

Bill Gates: "The first rule of any technology used in a business is that automation applied to an efficient operation will magnify the efficiency. The second is that automation applied to an inefficient operation will magnify the inefficiency."

Howard Schultz: "Starbucks is not an advertiser; people think we are a great marketing company, but in fact we spend very little money on marketing and more money on training our people than advertising."

Here are some of the characteristics of transactional leaders:

Focused on short-term goals

Favor structured policies and procedures

Thrive on following rules and doing things correctly

Revel in efficiency

Very left-brained

Tend to be inflexible

Opposed to change

Transactional leadership works well in organizations where structure is important. Transactional leadership is not the right fit for organizations where initiative is encouraged:

Transactional leadership pros:

Rewards those who are motivated by self-interest to follow instructions

Provides an unambiguous structure for large organizations, systems requiring repetitive tasks and infinitely reproducible environments

Achieves short-term goals quickly

Rewards and penalties are clearly defined for workers

Transactional leadership cons:

Rewards the worker on a practical level only, such as money or perks

Creativity is limited since the goals and objectives are already set

Does not reward personal initiative

There is definitely a place for transactional leadership in the world today. One of its best uses is in multinational corporations where not all of the workers speak the same language. Once the structure and the requirements are learned, it is easy for workers to complete tasks successfully. This works because transactional leadership is simple to learn and does not require extensive training. The transactional approach is easy to understand and apply across much of an organization.

The military, policing organizations, and first responders use this style of leadership so that all areas of the organization are consistent. It is also easier to apply in a crisis situation, where everyone must know exactly what is required of them and how a task is to be done under pressure.

To many people, money and perks are a powerful motivator. Many people need a job to pay the bills. They have other obligations and distractions and would just as soon know exactly how to do their job in order to keep it and reap the rewards.

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What is Transactional Leadership? Structure Leads to Results

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A transactional leader is someone who values order and structure. They are likely to command military operations, manage large corporations, or lead international projects that require rules and regulations to complete objectives on time or move people and supplies in an organized way.

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You've just gotten promoted and are now leading a team. You're intent on being the best leader you can be, and you're trying to discover what that means for you.

The truth is that there isn't a "one-size-fits-all" leadership style.

You're going to have to determine what your natural abilities are.

You'll also need to figure out what your organization requires of you and what you want the people you lead to believe about you as a leader.

It's as much about asking questions as finding answers. Asking the right questions will empower your journey toward leadership excellence.

Let's discuss the concept of transactional leadership. You'll learn its definition, who it works best for, and how you can apply it to your leadership style.

The different styles of leadership

Harvard Business Review contributor Jon Maner writes that there are two basic directions that leaders choose to take. These styles are selling and telling.

Each direction contains its own set of traits or leadership styles. With every leadership style comes different advantages and disadvantages.

Leadership experts agree that the best leaders can use elements of both.

Let's take a look at these two types of leadership styles:

Selling styles

First, there are the "selling" styles. These include coaching, democratic, servant and coach, and transformational leadership styles.

Many leaders with these styles have compelling visions. They also foster collaboration and innovation and create learning organizations.

This is especially true of transformational leaders.

They value developing people over upholding fixed rules and regulations. These leaders influence people rather than command them.

But, transformational leaders may fail to pay enough attention to short-term objectives. They can also struggle with the policies and procedures necessary to make the organization efficient. And they may hesitate to take control in a crisis.

In this case, they would do best to adopt behaviors consistent with telling styles, which we will cover next.

Today, most leadership development experts advocate selling styles over telling styles. They put a premium on transformational leadership.

After all, where would we be without the Elon Musks or the Jeff Bezos of the world? They've radically transformed the way we live.

Let's be clear, though - transformational leadership is a style.

And it's not the only option out there. There are plenty of telling-style leaders who have also radically transformed businesses and even the world.

Telling styles

"Telling" leaders also offer great value. For many organizations, times will come when circumstances and context call for leaders with this style.

These leaders will be able to offer grounded stability when the organization needs it most.

Leaders with these styles embrace a fixed hierarchical structure. They give mandates from the top of the organization and hand out firm directives to subordinates.

Rules trump innovation. There is a clear chain of command.

Telling styles of leadership, with various ranges of effectiveness, include the following four styles:

Pacesetter

These are charismatic leaders who rely on a personal appeal to motivate followers. Visionary "selling leaders" influence people to join in. Pacesetters inspire people to walk behind.

Autocratic

An autocratic leader relies on their own decisions. They expect their people to follow through. Followers execute. Their mindset is fixed on their own goals for the company.

Bureaucratic

Bureaucratic leaders believe that organizations operate best within:

Formal developed structures

Policies

Strict procedures

Transactional

Managers with this style motivate employees through offers of punishment and reward.

If you give them what they want, they'll give you what you want.

These transactions lead to the running of a tight smooth-sailing ship. Everyone is crystal clear on the goals and objectives of leadership.

They also understand what responsibilities they have to achieve their goals and objectives.

What is transactional leadership? Definition and history

Let's take a deeper dive into this leadership style and how it came about.

Transactional leadership origins

Max Weber developed the transactional leadership framework. He was an eminent 20th-century sociologist studying how people lead.

In his seminal book, Economy and Society, he said that there are three distinct leadership categories:

Charismatic authority, based on the personal appeal of the leader

Traditional authority

Legal-rational (now known as transactional leadership)

His premise was, "The exercise of control on the basis of knowledge."

Transactional leadership gained prominence in the 1950s following World War II, a time when political and social stability was of utmost importance.

Its darker side emerged with the rise of anti-communist Senator Joe McCarthy.

But its brighter side came out with General and President Dwight Eisenhower. He was who led the U.S. into peace and prosperity.

Political scientist and historian James McGregor Burns promoted Weber's theory in his 1978 book, Leadership. He said that great transactional leaders show high moral principles. They're honest and fair.

Responsibility and honoring their commitments are paramount.

Transactional leadership at work

Transactional leadership is often seen in companies that want or need to operate swiftly. To succeed as quickly as possible, their leaders implement standardized regulations and similar, if not identical, protocols at every organizational level.

The transactional leadership style appears most often in mid-to-large-sized organizations. It's often used in manufacturing or in other highly regulated industries.

Transactional leadership can keep everyone operating with fixed ways of working. Policies and procedures dominate these methods. This is most true in global organizations.

That's because leaders must manage people from different cultures with different languages.

The sales industry also has its share of transactional leaders.

This is especially true in organizations where employees need to meet aggressive quotas. If you meet your quota, you get a bonus or raise. If you don't, forget the bonus, and in many cases, your job, too.

Sounds harsh, but to a transactional leader, results come first.

A transactional approach assumes that all employees value external rewards. An example would be monetary compensation. It works on the belief that people are not self-motivated.

Many emerging leaders feel motivated by intrinsic rewards. This is especially true for younger generations, who are less likely to be loyal to a company and thus are less likely to stay.

Here's an example: 65% of millennials want their employer to support their development through training and mentors.

They want their higher-level needs addressed, such as belonging, esteem, and self-actualization. Rewards come in the form of opportunities for growth, meaningful work, and increased opportunity.

The future of transactional leadership

According to a recent Deloitte study, there are three stages of leadership emerging from the COVID-19 crisis. All stages reflect elements of transactional leadership blending with emerging transformational leadership.

Let's take a look at the three stages:

Respond

This is the first crisis-management stage. It requires a leader who can stabilize things quickly and lead through unprecedented times with no clear answers.

They express confidence, transparent communication, and empathy. This leader is pragmatic and lead-taking.

During the first stage of the COVID-19 pandemic, General Motors Chairman and CEO Mary Barra found an opportunity. She demonstrated transactional leader characteristics.

This leader co-authored a playbook on health and safety protocols for reopening GM's factories. She also sent back-to-work packages describing ways in which people could safely return.

She also acknowledged people's fear and was empathetic in her execution. Barra is well-known for her transformational leadership style.

Recover

As things stabilize in the next stage, people need a leader who is careful and risk-reducing.

Imagine how tough it must be for a transactional leader to have their people work remotely. Dropping by to see how things are going is challenging, if not impossible, in such a scenario.

Still, their blended style gives people a vision for the future. This leader moves the organization toward innovation and more long-term strategies.

Thrive

This style calls for:

Moderate flexibility

A long-term strategy

Intentionality

Attending to development in emerging leaders

This is the area where transformational leaders shine.

5 transactional leadership characteristics:

Here are five traits of transactional leadership:

1. Act with urgency

Transactional leaders can act with urgency. At their best, they are effective executors. They take charge. They turn ships around.

They're especially skilled in times of crisis. That's because they use their authority to take decisive steps, even in ambiguity.

2. Communicate their expectations clearly

Transactional leaders have a high degree of clarity. Employees know exactly what their leader expects from them.

As a result, they feel productive in reaching clearly defined goals and objectives.

This leads to effective leadership where group performance matters.

Vince Lombardi, former coach of the Green Bay Packers, is hailed as one of the best football coaches of all time. He was a master at training his teams through rigorous, methodical practice with step-by-step instructions. As such, his team was virtually unstoppable.

3. Direct communication style

Transactional leaders have a direct and transparent communication style.

People follow them because they know they can trust them. This leader knows that loyalty follows trust.

4. Opposed to change

Transactional leaders have their own approach to how their subordinates must execute a task.

As such, employee performance can suffer if a given task could benefit from a new approach.

5. Focused on short-term goals

A transactional leader will know the goals they're trying to achieve. Usually, these goals are short-term and don't take long-term organizational goals into account.

This means a team working under a transactional leader will excel at short-term goals such as monthly sales volume. On the other hand, they may not be as effective regarding leadership development for various members of a team.

Pros and cons of transactional leadership

A great example of this kind of leader is Gen. Norman H. Schwarzkopf, former commander of U.S. Central Command.

A master organizer of human resources, he handled tens of thousands of U.S. troops in Operation Desert Storm in 1990.

Schwarzkopf led the NATO coalition to a decisive victory over Iraq and Kuwait. With his leadership, he saved thousands of lives.

At their best, transactional leaders are effective executors. They establish processes, rules, and protocols and expect that people will adhere to them.

Many transactional leaders can be "hands-off" in the way that they manage. As long as things are running smoothly, managers don't interfere. Instead, they closely track work to identify problems as they emerge.

Let's take a look at Bill Gates, who is a transactional leader. Gates frequently makes the rounds to check in on operations and ensure that things are going as planned.

He wants to see that efficiencies are met and that nothing is falling through the cracks. Under his leadership, Microsoft has literally changed the world.
"The first rule of any technology used in a business is that automation applied to an efficient operation will magnify the efficiency. The second is that automation applied to an inefficient operation will magnify the inefficiency." - Bill Gates
However, there are disadvantages to the transactional leadership style.

Valuing stability over innovation may result in a reactive, rather than proactive, mindset.

Many transactional leaders do not value divergent thinking and behaving. They're less likely to solicit ideas from their people. Innovative ideas at lower levels go up a strict chain of command which may or may not reach the top.

Conformity and status quo are organizing principles for transactional leaders.

They can put the professional and personal development of the individual on the back burner. When leaders focus only on short-term goals, they jeopardize the organization's sustainability.

If left unchecked, their dominant style could show up as inflexibility and bullying.

However, great transactional leaders are empathetic, like any effective leader.

Though their style may seem impersonal, people know their leader cares about them. This is true even when they have to make hard decisions that may negatively impact others.

Let's consider Jacinda Ardern, New Zealand's prime minister.

She took swift and courageous action to lock down the country in the first months of the pandemic. Still, she communicated transparency and empathy. She fostered trust through frequent Facebook Live chats - in her sweats!

That brings us to the current leadership disruption - the COVID-19 pandemic.

This has the potential of transforming the way we look at leadership styles. It gives a different view of how a leader can blend styles using their own approach while adapting to changing times and circumstances.

How to know if transactional leadership is for you?

You'll begin to discover your own leadership style as you build your emotional intelligence. This involves asking some critical questions.

What are my strengths? What do I value?

Not all leader types value the same things. For example, if you value extrinsic motivation, you most likely would thrive as a transactional leader.

The VIA Institute on Character is a great resource that offers a free survey that determines your character strengths.

How would others describe my leadership?

It takes a degree of vulnerability to ask people about your style, but it's an important step.

Ask specific questions that you may be curious about. Then, listen and say thank you.

What does my organization need from me?

Different circumstances, times, and events may require different styles.

Your organization may currently need someone who can improve short-term employee engagement. Perhaps it needs to improve performance for the next few months. If this is the case, transactional leadership may be for you.

How willing am I to grow?

You may not be exactly where you need to be to become the best leader you can be.

But if you have a will to grow and improve yourself, you're one step ahead of those who don't.

Leadership is a journey, not a destination.

Become a noteworthy leader using transactional leadership

If you are going to be an effective leader, you have to be willing to acknowledge that as the world shifts, so does the landscape.

Great leaders navigating dynamic organizational environments are on a trek to self-awareness. They keep questions as trail markers along the way.

You can learn how to become a better leader, whether you use the transactional approach or not, with BetterUp.

Try a demo to see how you can improve your leadership skills today.

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Transactional leadership style: Pros, cons, and examples | BetterUp

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You've just gotten promoted and are now leading a team. You're intent on being the best leader you can be, and you're trying to discover what that means for you. The truth is that there isn't a "one-size-fits-all" leadership style. You're going to have to determine what your natural abilities are.

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A good objective of leadership is to help those who are doing poorly to do well and to help those who are doing well to do even better. - Jim Rohn, American entrepreneur.

Everyone on Samit's team knows that he's "there for them." He checks in with them often to see how they are, and he helps them develop the skills they need to advance their careers, even if this means that they may move on.

Samit also makes an effort to see situations from others' perspectives. He makes decisions with the team's best interests in mind, and ensures that everyone has the resources and knowledge they need to meet their objectives.

As a result of this, his team is one of the most successful in the department, with low staff turnover and high engagement.

Samit is an example of a "servant leader." In this article, we'll explore what servant leadership is, and the advantages it can bring you as a leader. We'll also look at situations where it isn't appropriate.

What Is Servant Leadership?

Robert K. Greenleaf first coined the phrase "servant leadership" in his 1970 essay, " The Servant as a Leader." However, it's an approach that people have used for centuries.

As a servant leader, you're a "servant first" - you focus on the needs of others, especially team members, before you consider your own. You acknowledge other people's perspectives, give them the support they need to meet their work and personal goals, involve them in decisions where appropriate, and build a sense of community within your team. This leads to higher engagement, more trust, and stronger relationships with team members and other stakeholders. It can also lead to increased innovation.

However, servant leadership is problematic in hierarchical, autocratic cultures where managers and leaders are expected to make all the decisions. Here, servant leaders may struggle to earn respect.

Important:

Remember that servant leadership is about focusing on other people's needs - not their feelings. Don't avoid making unpopular decisions or giving team members negative feedback when this is needed.

Also, do not rely on it exclusively - use it alongside styles like Transformational Leadership, where you develop an inspiring vision of the future, motivate people to deliver this, manage its implementation, and build an ever-stronger team.

How to Become a Servant Leader

According to Larry C. Spears, former president of the Robert K. Greenleaf Center for Servant Leadership, these are the 10 most important characteristics of servant leaders:

1. Listening.

2. Empathy.

3. Healing.

4. Awareness.

5. Persuasion.

6. Conceptualization.

7. Foresight.

8. Stewardship.

9. Commitment to the growth of people.

10. Building community.

Once you've decided to prioritize other people's needs over your own in the long term, you can work on developing your skills in each area. Let's look at how you can do this.

1. Listening

2. Empathy

3. Healing

This characteristic relates to the emotional health and "wholeness" of people, and involves supporting them both physically and mentally.

4. Self-Awareness

You can become more self-aware by knowing your strengths and weaknesses, and asking for other people's feedback on them. Also, learn to manage your emotions, so that you consider how your actions and behavior might affect others.

5. Persuasion

There are many tools and models that you can use to be more persuasive, without damaging relationships or taking advantage of others. You should also build your expert power - when people perceive you as an expert, they are more likely to listen to you when you want to persuade or inspire them.

6. Conceptualization

This characteristic relates to your ability to "dream great dreams," so that you look beyond day-to-day realities to the bigger picture.

7. Foresight

Foresight is when you can predict what's likely to happen in the future by learning from past experiences, identifying what's happening now, and understanding the consequences of your decisions.

You can use tools such as SWOT Analysis and PEST Analysis to think about your current situation and environment, while Scenario Analysis helps you understand how the future could play out. Use the ORAPAPA checklist when you make a decision, to learn from experience and make sure that you've considered all the angles.

Also, learn to trust your intuition - if your instinct is telling you that something is wrong, listen to it!

8. Stewardship

Stewardship is about taking responsibility for the actions and performance of your team, and being accountable for the role team members play in your organization.

9. Commitment to the Growth of People

Servant leaders are committed to the personal and professional development of everyone on their teams.

10. Building Community

The last characteristic is to do with building a sense of community within your organization.

You can do this by providing opportunities for people to interact with one another across the company. For instance, you could organize social events such as team lunches and barbecues, design your workspace to encourage people to chat informally away from their desks, and dedicate the first few minutes of meetings to non-work-related conversations.

Encourage people to take responsibility for their work, and remind them how what they do contributes to the success and overall objectives of the organization.

Tip:

See our article on Leadership Styles to explore popular leadership approaches and the advantages and disadvantages of each one.

And see this Expert Interview for a valuable discussion on the misconceptions and realities of servant leadership.

Key Points

You are a servant leader when you focus on the needs of others before you consider your own. It's a longer-term approach to leadership, rather than a technique that you can adopt in specific situations. Therefore, you can use it with other leadership styles such as Transformational Leadership.

You can become a servant leader by working on these 10 characteristics:

1. Listening.

2. Empathy.

3. Healing.

4. Awareness.

5. Persuasion.

6. Conceptualization.

7. Foresight.

8. Stewardship.

9. Commitment to the growth of people.

10. Building community.

Servant leaders are likely to have more engaged employees and enjoy better relationships with team members and other stakeholders than leaders who don't put the interests of others before their own.

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Servant Leadership: Putting Your Team First, and Yourself Second

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A good objective of leadership is to help those who are doing poorly to do well and to help those who are doing well to do even better. - Jim Rohn, American entrepreneur. Everyone on Samit's team knows that he's "there for them."

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BEING A DOER ISN'T ENOUGH FOR SCHOOL COUNSELORS. STUDENT NEEDS DEMAND SCHOOL COUNSELORS MOVE BEYOND REACTING TO LEADING. Are school counselors doers or

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Core Values, business ethics motivational inspirational quotes, words typography concept. ... [+]
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I've studied and written quite a bit about core values as they relate to leadership effectiveness and the ability for an organization to build high-performance teams and drive the best possible business outcomes. I explore the impact of core values on organizational success in my first book, TakingPoint, as well as their benefit for personal growth and development in my new book, Embrace the Suck: The Navy SEAL Way to an Extraordinary Life.

As a former Navy SEAL, I was always fascinated by our Ethos and how it guides everything from our talent acquisition strategies to professional development, executing our mission, and fulfilling the vision of the organization. Essentially, the Ethos is a clear set of values and culture manifesto that drives how we make decisions and interact with those both inside and outside of the organization. Our behavioral norms and leadership competencies. It's the foundation of how we emotionally connect to each other and the cause. Everything.

Most (but not all) successful organizations that have heathy growth, sustainability and profitability, understand the importance of shared values and the connection to improved communication, building stronger relationships, and increased performance and results. But without values-based leadership, there can be no real authenticity to the guiding principles an organization seeks to live and operate by.

Values-based leadership instills a common set of values in all employees, improving their cohesiveness and willingness to work together. Knowing that a leader or manager has similar beliefs often encourages employees to follow their instruction, increasing the chance of success with every goal. This enhances engagement, performance, and even retention - all which foster growth and profitability. Values-based leaders have specific traits and other qualities that make them the best at what they do.

In this article, I define values-based leadership, explain what this type of leader does, list their key traits and discuss several of the benefits they bring to organizations. Here are five attributes we've identified at TakingPoint Leadership. That's not to say there aren't more traits we can point to, but our experience and research have these ranked at the top.
Self-Reflection
This behavioral norm is a necessity you learn very early on in Navy SEAL training. Values-based leaders take time each day to reflect on their recent decisions and motivations. Doing so offers them the chance to reevaluate their values, determine their purpose and discover what really matters to them as leaders and members of a team. Strong leaders have the willingness to assess themselves in these areas and the honesty to diagnose the truth.

Effective self-reflection must often start with open feedback from those above you, your peers, and direct reports. This ensures the leader has the ability to identify and address blind spots in how they engage others, make decisions, and accurately communicate the vision.
Balance
Values-based leaders have the ability to look at situations from different viewpoints and integrate diversity of thought from the team while leveraging the core values in all decision-making. They understand the value of each team member and therefore leverage the strengths of the team in all scenarios.

They know when to lead, when to follow, and when to set the direction and get out of the way. Values-based leaders are more effective at decentralizing decision-making and leadership because higher degrees of trust exist up and down the chain of command.
Humility
I'll begin this section by saying I've made plenty of mistakes as it relates to values-based leadership in the past. Consistency of discipline in this area is a discipline in and of itself! Humility in leadership is the belief that they are no different than the people who work for them. These leaders believe that every employee holds just as much value to the company as they do. Humble leaders do what it takes to lift their teams up and ensure they are well taken care of for their work.

Their ultimate goals involve protecting the team, pushing praise down, and taking total ownership over mistakes and missed opportunities. They understand that the performance and results delivered by the team rests with them. They continually ask themselves and others, "What can I do to be a better leader for this team?"
Authenticity
The most effective leaders are honest and transparent with their teams. And equally as important, their words match actions consistently on and off the battlefield. They continually lean on their value system in their personal and professional lives. They develop relationships in a very similar fashion inside and outside of the organization. They truly care about people which is made abundantly clear in their leadership style.

Authentic leaders are highly self-aware and engage in the practice of improving emotional intelligence. They are mission-driven and think long-term. And most importantly, they take every opportunity to integrate the organization's core values into all communication when appropriate.
Continuous Improvement
Due to their natural traits of authenticity and humility, leaders who take a values-based approach, are never satisfied with the status quo. They believe in receiving honest feedback, continuous improvement, and life-long learning. And they don't pursue continual development simply for themselves, they do it for the people they lead.

So, what does all this accomplish? The three top organizational benefits are:

1. Improved communication - Shared values in a team lends way to greater alignment. With the help of this alignment, employees and managers are free to communicate with each other, even on sensitive subjects. Everyone is more open about their thoughts and opinions. It also improves communication with those outside the organization by bridging the gap between company and consumer.

2. Stronger relationships - People who have similar values to each other and to those of the organization will build stronger bonds, look out for each other, and engage in more meaningful interactions than those that don't. Plain and simple.

3. Higher levels of performance - Values-based leaders drive higher levels of performance by selecting and developing talent that connect with the purpose and mission of the organization. Similar to the SEAL Teams, in this cultural environment, team members are willing to give more of their time, abilities and energy in achieving common goals. They put the team's needs before their own.

How can your organization take values-based leadership to the next level?

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5 Attributes (And Benefits) Of Values-Based Leadership

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Values-based leadership instills a common set of values in all employees, improving their cohesiveness and willingness to work together. Knowing that a leader or manager has similar beliefs often encourages employees to follow their instruction, increasing the chance of success with every goal.

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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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As Benito Luna-Herrera teaches his 7th grade social studies classes, he is on alert for signs of inner turmoil. And there is so much of it these days.

One of his 12-year-old students felt her world was falling apart. Distance learning had upended her friendships. Things with her boyfriend were verging on violent. Her home life was stressful. "I'm just done with it," the girl told Luna-Herrera during the pandemic, and shared a detailed plan to kill herself.

Another student was typically a big jokester and full of confidence. But one day she told him she didn't want to live anymore. She, too, had a plan in place to end her life.

Luna-Herrera is just one teacher, in one Southern California middle school, but stories of students in distress are increasingly common around the country. The silver lining is that special training helped him know what to look for and how to respond when he saw the signs of a mental emergency.

Since the pandemic started, experts have warned of a mental health crisis facing American children. That is now playing out at schools in the form of increased childhood depression, anxiety, panic attacks, eating disorders, fights and thoughts of suicide at alarming levels, according to interviews with teachers, administrators, education officials and mental health experts.

In low-income areas, where adverse childhood experiences were high before the pandemic, the crisis is even more acute and compounded by a shortage of school staff and mental health professionals.

Luna-Herrera, who teaches in a high poverty area of the Mojave Desert, is among a small but growing number of California teachers to take a course called Youth Mental Health First Aid. It teaches adults how to spot warning signs of mental health risks and substance abuse in children, and how to prevent a tragedy.

The California Department of Education funds the program for any school district requesting it, and the pandemic has accelerated moves to make such courses a requirement. The training program is operated by the National Council for Mental Wellbeing and available in every state.

"I don't want to read about another teenager where there were warning signs and we looked the other way," said Sen. Anthony Portantino, author of a bill that would require all California middle and high schools to train at least 75% of employees in behavioral health. "Teachers and school staff are on the front lines of a crisis, and need to be trained to spot students who are suffering."

Experts say while childhood depression and anxiety had been on the rise for years, the pandemic's unrelenting stress and grief amplified the problems, particularly for those already experiencing mental health issues who were cut off from counselors and other school resources during distance learning.

For children, the issues with distance learning were not just academic, said Sharon Hoover, professor of child psychiatry at the University of Maryland School of Medicine and co-director of the National Center for School Mental Health.

Child abuse and and neglect increased during the pandemic, according to Hoover. For children in troubled homes, with alcoholic or abusive parents, distance learning meant they had no escape. Those who lacked technology or had spotty internet connections were isolated even more than their peers and fell further behind academically and socially.

Many children bounced back after the extended isolation, but for others it will take longer, and mental health problems often lag a stressor.

"We can't assume that 'OK we're back in school, it's been a few months and now everyone should be back to normal.' That is not the case," said Hoover.

Returning to school after months of isolation intensified the anxiety for some children. Teachers say students have greater difficulty focusing, concentrating, sitting still and many need to relearn how to socialize and resolve conflicts face-to-face after prolonged immersion in screens.

Kids expected to pick up where they left off but some found friendships, and their ability to cope with social stress, had changed. Educators say they also see a concerning increase in apathy - about grades, how students treat each other and themselves - and a lot less empathy.

"I have never seen kids be so mean to each other in my life," said Terrin Musbach, who trains teachers in mental health awareness and other social-emotional programs at the Del Norte Unified School District, a high-poverty district in rural Northern California. "There's more school violence, there's more vaping, there's more substance abuse, there's more sexual activity, there's more suicide ideation, there's more of every single behavior that we would be worried about in kids."

Many states have mandated teacher training on suicide prevention over the last decade and the pandemic prompted some to broaden the scope to include mental health awareness and supporting behavioral health needs.

But school districts nationwide also say they need more psychologists and counselors. The Hopeful Futures Campaign, a coalition of national mental health organizations, last month published a report that found most states are struggling with mental health support in schools. Only Idaho and the District of Columbia exceed the nationally recommended ratio of one psychologist per 500 students.

In some states, including West Virginia, Missouri, Texas and Georgia, there is only one school psychologist for over 4,000 students, the report says. Similarly, few states meet the goal of one counselor per 250 students.

President Joe Biden has proposed $1 billion in new federal funding to help schools hire more counselors and psychologists and bolster suicide prevention programs. That followed a rare pubic advisory in December from U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy on "the urgent need to address the nation's youth mental health crisis."

In early 2021, emergency room visits in the U.S. for suspected suicide attempts were 51% higher for adolescent girls and 4% higher for adolescent boys compared to the same period in 2019, according to research cited in the advisory.

Since California began offering the Youth Mental Health First Aid course in 2014, more than 8,000 teachers, administrators and school staff have been trained, said Monica Nepomuceno, who oversees mental health programming at the California Department of Education.

She said much more needs to be done in the country's largest state, which employs over 600,000 K-12 staff at schools.

The course helps distinguish typical adolescent ways of dealing with stress - slamming doors, crying, bursts of anger - from warning signs of mental distress, which can be blatant or subtle.

Red flags include when a child talks about dying or suicide, but can be more nuanced like: "I can't do this anymore," or "I'm tired of this," said Tramaine El-Amin, a spokesperson for the National Council for Mental Wellbeing. More than 550,000 K-12 educators across the country have taken the Youth Mental Health First Aid course since it launched in 2012, she said.

Changes in behavior could be cause for concern - a child who stops a sport or activity they were passionate about without replacing it with another one; a typically put together child who starts to look regularly unkempt; a student whose grades plummet or who stops handing in homework; a child who eats lunch alone and has stopped palling around with their friends.

After noticing something might be wrong, the course teaches the next step is to ask the student without pressuring or casting judgment and letting them know you care and want to help.

"Sometimes an adult can ask a question that causes more harm than good," said Luna-Herrera, the social studies teacher at California City Middle School, a two-hour drive into the desert from Los Angeles.

He took the course in spring 2021 and two weeks later put it to use. It was during distance learning and a student had failed to show up for online tutoring but he spotted her chatting online on the school's distance learning platform, having a heated dispute with her then-boyfriend. Luna reached out to her privately.

"I asked her if she was OK," he said. Little by little, the girl told Luna-Herrera about problems with friends and her boyfriend and problems at home that left her feeling alone and desperately unanchored.

The course tells adults to ask open-ended questions that keep the conversation going, and not to project themselves into an adolescent's problems with comments like: "You'll be fine; It's not that bad; I went through that; Try to ignore it." What might seem trivial to an adult can feel overwhelming for a young person, and failure to recognize that can be a conversation stopper.

The 12-year old told Luna-Herrera she had considered hurting herself. "Is that a recurring thought?" he asked, recalling how his heart started racing as she revealed her suicide plan.

Like CPR first-aid training, the course teaches how to handle a crisis: Raise the alarm and get expert help. Do not leave a person contemplating suicide alone. As Luna-Herrera continued talking to the girl, he texted his school superintendent, who got the principal on the line, they called 911 and police rushed to the home, where they spoke to the girl and her mother, who was startled and unaware.

"He absolutely saved that child's life," said Mojave Unified Superintendent Katherine Aguirre, who oversees the district of about 3,000 students, the majority of whom are Latino and Black children from economically disadvantaged families.

Aguirre recognized the need for behavioral heath training early in the pandemic and through the Department of Education trained all of her employees, from teachers to yard supervisors and cafeteria workers.

"It's about awareness. And that Sandy Hook promise: If you see something, say something," she said.

That did not happen with 14-year-old Taya Bruell.

Taya was a bright, precocious student who had started struggling with mental health issues at about 11, according to her father, Harry Bruell. At the time, the family lived in Boulder, Colorado where Taya was hospitalized at one point for psychiatric care but kept up the trappings of a model student: She got straight As, was co-leader of her high school writing club and in her spare time taught senior citizens to use computers.

For a literature class, Taya was assigned to keep a journal. In it, she drew a disturbing portrait that showed self-harm and wrote about how much she hated her body and was hearing voices she wanted to silence.

Her teacher read the assignment and wrote: "Taya, very thorough journal. I loved reading the entries. A+"

Three months later in February 2016, Taya killed herself. After her death, Taya's parents discovered the journal in her room and brought it to the school, where they learned Taya's teacher had not informed the school counselor or administrators of what she had seen. They don't blame the teacher but will always wonder what if she had not ignored the signs of danger.

"I don't think the teacher wanted to hurt our daughter. I think she had no idea what to do when she read those stark warning signs in Taya's journal," said her father, who has since relocated with the family to Santa Barbara, California.

He believes legislation to require teacher training in behavioral health will save lives. "It teaches you to raise the alarm, and not just walk away, which is what happened to Taya."

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With Students in Turmoil, Teachers Train in Mental Health

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As Benito Luna-Herrera teaches his 7th grade social studies classes, he is on alert for signs of inner turmoil. And there is so much of it these days. One of his 12-year-old students felt her world was falling apart. Distance learning had upended her friendships. Things with her boyfriend were verging on violent.

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Heather Sparks has spent her nearly three-decade career in Oklahoma in K-12 education, starting as a public school teacher in Oklahoma City, advancing to administration, and currently serving as director of teacher education at Oklahoma City University.

During this time, Sparks has witnessed a significant decline in fellow Oklahomans committing to the teaching profession. Just this spring, Oklahoma City University suspended its early-childhood and elementary education program due to low enrollment. The dwindling teacher pipeline has had a direct impact on the state's pool of teaching candidates.

"Once upon a time, we would have 15 qualified applicants for a teaching position. Now we are lucky to have one," Sparks said.

Teacher shortages present a problem nationwide, as evidenced by teacher vacancies and a precipitous enrollment decline in traditional teacher-preparation programs. Between the 2008-09 and 2018-19 academic years, the number of people completing a teacher-education program dropped by nearly a third, according to a report by the American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education.

Almost half of district leaders and principals labeled their staff shortages as "severe" or "very severe" in a fall 2021 survey by the EdWeek Research Center. AACTE data also revealed that, over the past 50 years, the number of education degrees awarded plunged from 200,000 annually in the 1970s to fewer than 90,000 in 2019. But in Oklahoma, the problems run deeper than in most other parts of the country.

Oklahoma teachers for decades have been among the lowest-paid in the country, though average salaries have improved in recent years. The state was a center for widespread teacher activism and protests in 2018. Teachers there staged a nine-day walkout, which resulted in pay increases, though not as much as originally sought.

A 2018 report by the Oklahoma State Department of Education illuminated a higher-than-national average exodus of Oklahoma teachers. Over a period of six years, 30,000 of Oklahoma's teachers-about 10 percent of the states' total teacher workforce-left the profession, compared to 7.7 percent nationwide. And that was before the pandemic.

"I think we're just starting to see the impact of the pandemic [on teacher attrition]," said Tiffany Neill, deputy superintendent of curriculum and instruction with the state education agency. "We're still watching the numbers steadily decline in our teacher-preparation programs."

What will it take to get more teachers into the pipeline?

Recent and proposed statewide initiatives aim to encourage more Oklahomans to train for and teach in the state's public schools. Launched in the fall of 2021, the Paid Student Teaching Initiative provides students in traditional college-based student-teaching programs a stipend of $1,625 during their student-teaching internship and a second stipend of the same value if hired by an Oklahoma public school after completing their internship. The program will be funded through the 2023-24 school year with federal COVID-19 relief money. Since the program started, 1,120 students have taken advantage of it.

Faith Swart is one of them. The early-childhood education major at Northeastern State University in Broken Arrow, Okla., plans to graduate in December 2022. A first-generation college student, Swart says she has cobbled together the funds for college through multiple scholarships and various side hustles with a goal of graduating debt-free.

As for the stipend she'll get, Swart says it will go largely toward transportation to and from her student-teaching position at Roosevelt Elementary School in Pryor, Okla., about 25 miles from her home.

"I am hoping to be able to get hired by this school; that is why I chose to stay, even though it is not the closest option to where I live," she said. "To me, the 50 miles a day is worth it if I can start my career at this school in December when I graduate, or shortly after."

Some state legislators want to place less of a financial burden on college students like Swart who prepare for and start their teaching career in Oklahoma. One example, introduced during the current legislative session, is House Bill 3564. It would give Oklahoma college students studying to become teachers $1,000 during their first three years of college and an additional $2,500 in their final year. Recipients who are then hired to teach in an Oklahoma public school could be eligible to receive up to $4,000 in an "incentive payment" by the state for up to five years.

Affordability concerns don't end after college

Jacqueline Rodriguez stresses the necessity of initiatives like this.

"When students consider what their future looks like, they're all thinking about how they're going to afford it," said Rodriguez, vice president of research, policy, and advocacy for AACTE.

For students studying to become teachers, these financial concerns don't end with college.

"We know that a student who goes into the field of education and takes out student loans may or may not take out more loans than their peers, but their debt-to-earnings ratio is so much greater-it's almost an unaffordable degree," Rodriguez said. "It's not the kind of quality of life a student wants to pursue when they have other options."

Pursuing work in another industry is one option. Looking for a teaching job in a bordering state is another, says Sparks.

"They reason: I can make $22,000 more just going two hours south," she said, referring to surrounding states, all of which she says pay teachers more. "That makes perfect sense to our graduates who don't have ties to the state."

Swart, whose ties to her community run deep, isn't entertaining either option for now.

"I was blessed to grow up in a small town where the community support is above and beyond," said Swart, who estimates she earned between $5,000 and $8,000 in college scholarships while in high school, mainly through community businesses as well as private foundations. She's a recipient of the Gatlin Scholarship, offered to local residents who are current college students.

"I think that because I grew up in a small town where money wasn't everything to us, to me it's more of how much of a difference I can make, rather than how much money I can make," Swart said.

Swart strikes mainly an optimistic tone when she talks about her future. She says that some of her biggest inspirations were her elementary school teachers, and she hopes to one day be that same inspiring teacher for children. But into this idealistic vision creeps some wariness.

"I do worry about the salary," Swart said. "I guess we'll do what we have to do to make ends meet."

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The Pool of Future Teachers Is Dwindling. Can It Be Refilled?

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Heather Sparks has spent her nearly three-decade career in Oklahoma in K-12 education, starting as a public school teacher in Oklahoma City, advancing to administration, and currently serving as director of teacher education at Oklahoma City University. During this time, Sparks has witnessed a significant decline in fellow Oklahomans committing to the teaching profession.

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The ongoing opportunity crisis for Black, Latino, and Native boys deserves our attention. But an even broader, existential crisis lurks below.

According to the Brookings Institution, in 2020, men made up only 41 percent of postsecondary student enroll men t. Throughout American high schools, in the 2018-19 academic year, 45,000 fewer boys than girls graduated. For every 100 women, only 74 men earned a bachelor's degree. Men have a suicide rate 3.7 times higher than women. Last year, suicide was the fourth leading cause of death for adolescents.
A gender gap is now clearly emerging and widening on top of already existing racial opportunity gaps.

Fifteen years ago, in Raising Cain: Exploring the Inner Lives of America's Boys, Michael Thompson challenged the tough, violent, and impulsive archetypal nature of boys. In the accompanying documentary, Thompson profiled an independent, all-boys school, George Jackson Academy, as an ideal, diverse environment for the healthy emotional development of middle school boys.

I teach there. And I agree with the prophecy that Thompson presented in both the book and documentary when he warned: "If society and the school system stay on their current path, the boys of America are headed for trouble."

Some educators are taking note. After visiting the public Young Women's Academy in Harlem and the Bronx this school year, the superintendent in Jersey City, N.J., committed to creating the district's first public school just for girls and gender-expansive students. Following in Jersey City's footsteps, more cities and towns should come to New York City and visit George Jackson Academy. Then, I hope, more nurturing educational environments will be created for boys.

Here are the lessons that I would hope to teach them:

1. Make thinking cool. Intellectuals from Michel Montaigne to Sor Juana De La Cruz to Cornell West told us death's antidote: philosophy. Given the billions of hours viewers around the world streamed of the violent Netflix show "Squid Gam e," rest assured middle and high school boys are not only capable but comfortable contemplating death.

But how? One promising avenue is Philosophy for Children, an American invention that can solve an American problem. Developed in the 1970s, the now international movement includes both curricular resources and a pedagogical approach to ponder existential questions. A recent study conducted during the pandemic showed promising gains in intellectual autonomy and mental well-being for elementary-age practicing philosophers. Let's shut the computers, sit in a circle, think, and talk about life and death.

Every Friday during Philosophy Club at my school, I bear witness to the deep power of communal inquiry. With space to freely construct who they want to be and actively engage in thinking and reading, the young men connect metaphysics, aesthetics, and ethics to their lived experience.

2. Make reading cool, too. Stories soothe the soul; streaming and gaming heighten anxiety. A Scholastic reading survey reports that as the current generation of students has grown up, their frequency, sense of importance, and enjoyment of reading has declined with age. This trend is especially troubling for boys, who the survey confirmed are less likely than girls to become both frequent and positive lifelong readers.

School administrators, guidance counselors, and teachers should look to the restorative possibility of books for mental health, particularly for their male students. When I saw one of my advisees walk into homeroom stressed, I tried bibliotherapy. I handed him my personal pocket-sized copy of Meditations by Marcus Aurelius. Although books are not magic, my advisee told me that the philosophical tradition of Stoicism helped manage his present worries and future anxieties.

3. Hire more male staff to model how and why thinking and reading are cool. In 2020, only 23.5 percent of teachers were male. And men of color make up an even smaller fraction of that number. As increases in automation continue to disproportionately threaten traditionally male jobs, now is the time to recruit and train more men for the teaching profession. An increase in the number of male teachers will challenge gender stereotypes, promote positive relationships between men and young children, increase diversity in the workforce, and champion gender-equitable versions of masculinity. More than role models, male teachers drive engagement and a sense of belonging for all genders.

To be sure, the existential crisis in masculinity affects both boys and gender-nonconforming children. This crisis requires inclusive solutions that addresses the kinds of challenges students face based on differences in race, sexuality, and gender. Teaching boys to value thinking, reading, and caring for others promises a constructive vision of what masculinity can mean.

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America's Boys Are in Serious Trouble. Schools Can Help (Opinion)

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The ongoing opportunity crisis for Black, Latino, and Native boys deserves our attention. But an even broader, existential crisis lurks below. According to the Brookings Institution, in 2020, men made up only 41 percent of postsecondary student enroll men t. Throughout American high schools, in the 2018-19 academic year, 45,000 fewer boys than girls graduated.