Leadership Skills in School and Business.

What theorists say about applying leadership attributes from the corporate world to the school arena?

Research on the principalship identifies multiple and varied roles: defining the school's vision and mission, managing curriculum and instruction, promoting positive climate, fostering healthy school-community relations, serving as change agent, promoting high expectations, managing fiscal resources, and contributing to the overall effectiveness of the school.

While merely a partial list of duties and responsibilities, the words vividly paint a portrait of the lofty expectations we hold for principals. We expect school principals to be organizational leaders.

What I explore here is the leadership role of principals through the lens of the business and general leadership literature. How, if at all, do the leadership attributes described by popular writers and theorists apply to school leaders? And more to the point, does effective leadership as conceived and practiced in the business community apply equally well to the school community?

Defining Leadership

It's important to realize that no commonly accepted definition nor set of attributes exists for leadership. While any dictionary may offer a concise definition of the construct, the research and writing on leadership are far less clear.

Warren Bennis, in his 1994 work On Becoming a Leader, wrote that leadership is like beauty: It's hard to define, but you know it when you see it. "Of all the hazy confounding areas in social psychology, leadership theory undoubtedly contends for top nomination. Probably more has been written and less is known about leadership than any other topic in the behavioral sciences," he wrote 35 years earlier.

The pre-eminent historian and political scientist James MacGregor Burns once stated that our shortcomings in making sense of leadership aren't from a lack of effort. "Leadership is one of the most observed and least understood phenomenon on earth," he wrote in his 1978 work Leadership.

Despite the vagrancies, common strands run through the leadership literature. In an effort to summarize this literature, I applied Robert Katz's classical framework from his Harvard Business Review article, "Skills of an Effective Administrator," to the key organizational leadership concepts and themes described by several influential writers (see table, page 22).

Desirable Skills

While leadership is far too complex to be reduced to a set of attributes, the framework is useful in exploring the skills leaders possess and how they interact with others. Thus, in varying ways and in varying degrees depending on the context, effective leaders would demonstrate desirable technical, conceptual and human skills.

* Technical skills. The technical aspects of leadership reflect the specialized knowledge, tools and techniques that leaders either possess or employ (either themselves or with and through others) to accomplish the task at hand. Stephen Covey's "habit" of knowing how to put first things first and John Gardner's call for possessing task competence are examples of technical skills.

* Conceptual skills. Leadership authors consistently describe leaders as possessing and practicing strong conceptual skills such as intelligence and judgment. However, the essential elements of leadership that often are emphasized are creative and encompass the organization as a whole: the ability to see the big picture, to imagine and to speculate, to envision change. James Kouzes and Barry Posner, authors of The Leadership Challenge, described this ability when they wrote about leadership practices of "challenging the process" and "inspiring a shared vision."

* Human skills. Although technical and conceptual skills are vital components to the makeup and behavior of leaders, it is the ability to work with and through others in a morally elevating way that epitomizes the leadership literature.

Two of the top four characteristics desired in business leaders, according to Kouzes and Posner, are being honest and inspiring. They also cite two other qualities as central to a leader's effectiveness: the ability to enable others to act and to encourage the heart. Kouzes and Posner's description of the true test of leadership has much in common with Covey's philosophy of win/win thinking and with Burns' description of transformational leadership since all share the fundamental premise of ethically working for the good of others. According to Burns, transformational leadership is "a relationship of mutual stimulation and elevation that converts followers into leaders and may convert leaders into moral agents."

Applying Business Principles

In some respects, the principles of effective business leadership apply easily to school leadership. In other ways, they don't.

Thomas Sergiovanni, in his book Leadership for the Schoolhouse, makes a compelling case against trying to force ideas that work in corporate life onto contemporary educational leaders. "It is not likely that much progress will be made over time in improving schools unless we accept the reality that leadership for the schoolhouse should be different, and unless we begin to invent our own practice," he says.

At least partially, his criticism of applying corporate leadership theories to schools seems to come from his rejection of top-down leadership in which theories "assume that hierarchy equals expertise." And if leadership means expertise is held by others and imposed on followers and "innovation," such as the total quality movement, is dictated from the top, then I agree. Standardizing work processes or connecting workers tightly to results doesn't always yield the desired results in educational circles. Simply put, the schoolhouse is neither the boardroom not the assembly line.

Plenty of other leadership theorists raise useful parallels despite the common warnings not to adopt business theories and practices wholesale for schools and then expect miracles. Yet I am convinced much of the leadership theory referenced here is germane for educational leaders.

Consider the congruence of leadership ideas and ideals that bubble up from both business leadership and educational leadership theories. Lee Bolman and Terry Deal, co-authors of Re framing Organizations, describe an effective leader as a social architect and a servant who supports and empowers others. Sergiovanni, in his book Moral Leadership, emphasizes the human potential of leadership, the importance of moral judgment (for example, judgment based on love, loyalty, outrage, duty, goodness, desire to help) and stewardship. He also argues that if we want theory to reflect emerging practice then we need to move the moral dimension in leadership away from the periphery and right to the center of practice.

Even a cursory look at the writings of Burns, Bennis, Gardner, Covey, Kouzes and Posner and a host of others reveals the heart of their collective theories: Leadership is morally purposeful and elevating. This is the central theme of educational leadership.

A different way to view the confluence of business and educational leadership theory is to juxtapose the standards espoused for educational leaders with business and popular press leadership theories. For comparison, I applied Katz's framework to educational leadership standards from the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education, the Interstate School Leaders Licensure Consortium and the American Association of School Administrators' Standards for the Superintendency (see below).

Clearly, the professional association standards accentuate technical skill development more than the general leadership theorists, perhaps due to the perceived need to develop technical competence among school leaders (especially at the entry level) as a basis for practice. Nonetheless, considerable overlap exists between the two lists, particularly with regard to such human skills as communication, values and ethics.

One final comparison between business and educational leader characteristics can be found in a 1996 study conducted by Mike Richardson, Ken Lane and Jackson Flanigan in which they asked teachers to identify the attributes of superior principals. Using Kouzes and Posner's study of attributes of superior business managers, they asked teachers, "What are the characteristics of principals that make them leaders?"

What they discovered is that teachers identified the same four characteristics desired in principals, ranked in the identical order, that were found in the earlier managers study: honesty, competence, forward-looking, inspirational. Thus, it seems fair to surmise that the characteristics and behavior desired in effective business leaders are the same ones preferred in school leaders.

Is there common ground between the attributes of school leadership and business leadership?

While the school is a unique and challenging environment in which to practice, I contend lessons can be learned from the greater leadership community. Indeed, no better description of the role of a school principal exists than James MacGregor Burns' definition of practical leadership as "the realization of intended, real change that meets people's enduring needs."

James Stronge is the Heritage professor of education at the College of William and Mary, P.O. Box 8795, Williamsburg, Va. 23187-8795.

Comparing Leader Attributes
James Stronge developed this matrix using the framework of skills
devised by Robert Katz, author of "Skills of an Effective
Administrator," published in the January-February 1955 issue of
Harvard Business Review. The chart compares the attributes of
leaders as espoused by some of the foremost thinkers on
leadership.
                                Technical Skills
                                (specialized knowledge,
                                tools and techniques)
James MacGregor Burns
(Author of Government By
the People and Leadership)
John Gardner                    * Demonstrates task
(Author of On Leadership,         competence
No Easy Victories and           * Exhibits capacity to
Excellence)                       manage
Stephen Covey                   * Puts first things first
(Author of First Things First,  * Sharpens the saw
Principle-Centered Leadership
and The Seven Habits of
Highly Effective People)
James Kouzes and
Barry Posner
(Co-Authors of The Leadership
Challenge)
U.S. managers study             * Demonstrates
                                  competency
                                Conceptual Skills
                                (ability to see the
                                enterprise as a whole)
James MacGregor Burns           * Considers causative
(Author of Government By        factors (change in
the People and Leadership)      motives and goals)
John Gardner                    * Applies intelligence
(Author of On Leadership,       and judgment to actions
No Easy Victories and           and decisions
Excellence)                     * Accepts responsibility
                                willingly
                                * Intuits follower needs
                                * Harbors need to
                                achieve
                                * Exhibits
                                self-confidence
Stephen Covey                   * Acts proactively
(Author of First Things First,  (personal vision)
Principle-Centered Leadership   * Begins with the
and The Seven Habits of         end in mind
Highly Effective People)
James Kouzes and                * Challenges the process
Barry Posner                    * Inspires a shared vision
(Co-Authors of The Leadership
Challenge)
U.S. managers study             * Exhibits forward-looking
                                orientation to planning
                                and problem-solving
                                Human Skills
                                (working with people,
                                ethical dimensions)
James MacGregor Burns           * Draws on the collective
(Author of Government By        strengths of individual
the People and Leadership)      and group (no leader
                                works in isolation)
                                * Considers dissenting
                                viewpoints (meaningful
                                conflict)
                                * Stimulates moral
                                and purposeful growth of
                                followers
                                * Elevates by transforming
                                principled levels of
                                judgment
John Gardner                    * Demonstrates food
(Author of On Leadership,       people skills
No Easy Victories and           * Motivates others
Excellence)                     * Acts courageously,
                                steadfastly
                                * Wins and holds trust
                                * Acts assertively in
                                concert with ascendance,
                                dominance
                                * Shows adaptability,
                                flexibility
Stephen Covey                   * Thinks win/win
(Author of First Things First,  * Seeks to understand
Principle-Centered Leadership   and be understood
and The Seven Habits of         * Synergizes
Highly Effective People)
James Kouzes and                * Enables others to act
Barry Posner                    * Models the way
(Co-Authors of The Leadership   * Encourages the heart
Challenge)
U.S. managers study             * Acts honostly
                                * Inspires others
Comparing Leadership Standards
This matrix compares the standards for leadership espoused by three
leading groups, including AASA.
                          Technical Skills
                          (specialized knowledge,
                          tools and techniques)
NCATE Standards           * Curriculum and in-
(National Council           struction
for Accreditation of      * Student services
Teacher Education)        * Organizational man-
                            agement
                          * Fiscal management
                          * Technology systems
                          * Law, policy and politi-
                            cal systems
ISLLC Standards           * Organizational man-
(Interstate School          agement
Leaders Licensure
Consortium)
AASA Standards for the    * Policy and governance
Superintendency *         * Organizational
(American Association of  management
School Administrators)    * Curriculum planning
                          * Instructional
                          management
                          * Human resource
                          management
                          Conceptual Skills
                          (ability to see the
                          enterprise as a whole)
NCATE Standards           * Professional leadership
(National Council         * Information manage-
for Accreditation of      ment
Teacher Education)
ISLLC Standards           * Ability to develop and
(Interstate School        sustain culture
Leaders Licensure         * Ability to develop and
Consortium)               implement vision
                          * Understand and
                          respond to larger context
AASA Standards for the    * Leadership and district
Superintendency *         culture
(American Association of
School Administrators)
                          Human Skills
                          (working with people,
                          ethical dimensions)
NCATE Standards           * Ethical leadership
(National Council         * Professional develop-
for Accreditation of      ment and human re-
Teacher Education)        sources
                          * Interpersonal skills
                          * Community relations
ISLLC Standards           * Collaborations with
(Interstate School        families and community
Leaders Licensure         * Integrity and ethical
Consortium)               behavior
AASA Standards for the    * Communications and
Superintendency *         community relations
(American Association of  * Values and ethics
School Administrators)
(*)Although intended for superintendent, they are used here for
purposes of comparison with school leader standards.

For Additional Reading

James Stronge suggests the following works for those who want to delve further into this subject:

* "Professional Standards for the Superintendency," available from AASA, 888-782-2272 (Md. residents call 301-617-7802) or www.aasa.org

* "Interstate School Leaders Licensure Consortium: Standards for School Leaders," available from Council of Chief State School Officers, 202-336-7005 or www.ccsso.org

* On Becoming a Leader, by Warren W. Bennis, available from Addison-Wesley Publishing Co., 800-322-1377

* Reframing Organizations: Artistry, Choice and Leadership, by Lee Bolman and Terry Deal, available from Jossey-Bass Publishers, 800-956-7739

* Leadership, by James MacGregor Burns, available from HarperCollins Publishers, 800-242-7737

* The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People: Powerful Lessons in Personal Change, by Stephen R. Covey, available from Simon and Schuster, 800-223-2336

* On Leadership, by John W. Gardner, available from The Free Press, 800-223-2348

* The Leadership Challenge: How to Keep Getting Extraordinary Things Done in Organizations, by James Kouzes and Barry Posner, available from AASA

* Moral Leadership: Getting to the Heart of School Improvement, by Thomas Sergiovanni, available from Jossey-Bass Publishers

* Leadership for the Schoolhouse, by Thomas Sergiovanni, available from Jossey-Bass Publishers

* "Skills of an Effective Administrator," by Robert L. Katz, Harvard Business Review, January-February 1955. (Retrospective commentary, Harvard Business Review, September-October 1974)

* "Teachers' Perceptions of Principals' Attributes," by Mike Richardson, Ken Lane and Jackson Flanigan, The Clearing House, May-June 1996