New counselors' leadership efforts in school counseling: themes from a year-long qualitative study.

Leadership requires long-term commitment and a long-range vision of the future. As school counselors are called on to provide leadership, it becomes important to understand the temporal context of school counseling leadership. To accomplish this, a year-long qualitative study was designed in which the authors interviewed five new counselors who agreed to engage in leadership. In this article, the results of these interviews are presented and discussed in terms of school counseling practice and school counselor education.

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The American School Counselor Association J(ASCA) has highlighted the importance of leadership, placing it in the themes that surround the context of the school counselors' work described in the ASCA National Model(R) (2005). According to the Education Trust's (2007) Transforming School Counseling Initiative, effective leadership is critical if school counselors are to "work with teachers, administrators and other school personnel to make sure that schools' structures, policies and practices are designed to ensure student success" (Foundation Principles, [paragraph] 3). Such inclusive leadership activities facilitate relationships, build trust, enhance communication, and, ultimately, refocus education professionals, parents, and the community on the challenge of helping all students become successful lifelong learners and productive citizens (Bemak, 2000; Dollarhide, 2003; House & Hayes, 2002; Hughey, 2001).

This call for leadership has been reflected in both training materials and recent literature. To become successful leaders, school counselors need to be educated in leadership skills and given opportunities to explore their own leadership style (Stone & Clark, 2001). Numerous contemporary texts for school counselors-in-training provide leadership theories and models that will help new generations of school counselors understand this critical skill set (see, for example, Brown & Trusty, 2005; Cobia & Henderson, 2007; Dollarhide & Saginak, 2003, 2006; Erford, 2007; Stone & Dahir, 2006).

In addition, recent literature suggests various ways that school counselors are leading their schools and their programs. For example, Schwallie-Giddis, ter Maat, and Pak (2003) described the leadership team that spearheaded discussions of the ASCA National Model in Virginia, which was further explored by Kaffenberger, Murphy, and Bemak (2006) as they examined the discrepancy between the training provided by counselor education programs and counselor practice in the field. Lewis and Borunda (2006) described the need for second-order change that emerges from shared leadership, advocacy, and collaboration with students, colleagues, and community and that empowers students with lifelong competence. Calls for new programs (i.e., Bemak, Chung, & Siroskey-Sabdo, 2005; Colbert, Vernon-Jones, & Pransky, 2006; Keys, Bemak, & Lockhart, 1998; Mitchell & Bryan, 2007) and calls for new approaches to old problems (Britzman, 2005) suggest leadership activities on the part of school counselors that can move programs toward greater congruence with the ASCA National Model and/or resolve challenges that impede students' academic progress.

Exploration into the leadership role of school counselors has also highlighted principal-school counselor dynamics, as they are both perceived as leaders in the schools (Stone & Clark, 2001; Zalaquett, 2005). While elementary principals in one study did not identify school counselor leadership per se as a priority activity (Zalaquett), in another study, 12% of principals interviewed (3 out of 26) described "innovative school leader" (p. 21) as a desired role for school counselors (Amatea & Clark, 2005). Additionally, in a study of exemplary principals, systemic leadership on the part of school counselors was valued by the respondents at all educational levels (Dollarhide, Smith, & Lemberger, 2007), as Sergiovanni (as cited in Lieberman, 2004) suggested in the concept of leadership density that the most effective leadership occurs when specialists within the school are afforded leadership opportunities from their various areas of expertise.

From these studies, it is clear that school counselor leadership is deemed important by the field, and is gaining recognition from counselors, administrators, and counselor educators (West, Bubenzer, Osborn, Paez, & Desmond, 2006). However, effective leadership in any endeavor requires long-term effort and long-range vision (Bolman & Deal, 1997). Long-term studies of school counselor leadership are needed, but have not yet been conducted. In addition, Lapan (2005, 2006) called for studies "that take the time to more closely examine the actual interactions among school counselors, students, teachers, and parents" (2005, p. iii), and by extension, administrators. To date, no studies have been conducted that examine leadership from the perspective of school counselors in the field who are working to provide leadership in their program or school, and none that have examined the temporal ebb and flow of leadership. It was upon Lapan's suggestion that this study was designed: to collect the lived experiences of five first- and second-year practicing school counselors who agreed to engage in leadership activities in their schools and/or districts for the period of one year.

To inform the study, Bolman and Deal's (1997) four frames of leadership were used as the structure for defining the various contexts for effective leadership activities. In the broader gestalt of leadership--whether organizational or political---effective leadership consists of efforts in each of these frames, which increases the likelihood of success in achieving leadership goals. The four frames are structural leadership (designing effective organizational structures), human resource leadership (believing in and empowering others), political leadership (connecting with and working with existing power structures), and symbolic leadership (developing and communicating a vision for followers). In the school counseling setting (as adapted by Dollarhide, 2003), these activities involve designing and implementing a viable school counseling program; believing in and empowering students, colleagues, and parents; negotiating the formal and informal power structures within a school or district; and developing and communicating a vision of healthy students and healthy schools, inspiring others, and leading by example. This conceptualization of leadership reminds those aspiring to leadership that change involves activity in each of the four leadership frames (Dollarhide).

METHOD

Procedure and Participants

The three researchers, all counselor educators, sent e-mail invitations and made personal invitations to recently employed graduates who were interested in leadership. A total of 5 individuals volunteered for the study. In spite of targeted invitations to diverse graduates, none of those invitees were able to participate. There were 5 Caucasian participants, 4 women and 1 man, all in their late 20s and early 30s (see Table 1). Three of the participants worked at elementary schools and 2 worked at high schools; 2 at schools in a Southern state and the other 3 in schools in a North-Midwestern state. All 5 worked at culturally diverse suburban schools with varying levels of socioeconomic need in the community. Informed consent was obtained per IRB approval and participants knew they could withdraw from the study at any time.

As none of the participants had any training in leadership, they were asked to read an article on leadership in school counseling (Dollarhide, 2003) to provide a common understanding of and establish a vocabulary for leadership. All participants agreed to be interviewed monthly or bimonthly, depending on scheduling for the one-hour-plus phone interviews. The 4 female participants asked to be interviewed bimonthly and the male participant asked to be interviewed monthly. The interviews began at staggered dates, as some participants were ready to begin while additional participants were still being recruited. All subjects agreed to participate for a full year, with the interviews not taking place during the summer except those initiated by the participant. Consultation and support for leadership activities were provided by the researchers. The 5 participants were interviewed by the first two researchers; the third researcher agreed to not interview any participants so that her perspective on the findings would not be influenced by personal interaction, thereby ensuring greater objectivity in analysis. This researcher did not have personal knowledge of the participants.

Data Collection

For the interviews, the research team used in-depth structured phenomenological interview methodology (Marshall & Rossman, 2006; Measor, 1985; Spradley, 1979), with preplanned questions (see Appendix A) designed to elicit the participants' reflections on and reactions to the prior month's leadership activities. Each interview was conducted by phone, during which detailed notes were taken and later transcribed by the interviewer. The applicant reviewed, amended if needed, and approved the transcripts before the interview was included in the data pool.

In the first interview, information was collected on the current school counseling program and overview of the counselors' job, how the role of school counseling evolved at that school, general demographics of the school, the participant's long-range vision for the program and his or her job, and the participant's overall leadership goal(s) for the year. Participants were given complete autonomy in their determination of the overall leadership goal for the year. Finally, the leadership activities for the upcoming month were discussed. Reasons for the choice of activity were examined for embedded motivators, fears, and concerns.

In subsequent interviews, participants were asked to scale their sense of themselves as leaders, and agreed-upon leadership activities for prior month were reviewed. Feelings before and after the leadership activity and thoughts/expectations were solicited. The events of the leadership activity were explored to examine what happened, what worked, what did not work, and feedback from school personnel, if any. Finally, the coming month's leadership activities were outlined by the participants, again examining reasons for the selected activity. Participants were free to reevaluate their overall year-long goals at any time.

In the final interview, participants were asked to reflect on and discuss their biggest challenges, both internal and external; any growth during the past year in terms of their leadership skills; any changes to their confidence level; and their overall experience as a part of this project.

Data Analysis

To analyze the data, the research team used open coding, axial coding, and process coding (Strauss & Corbin, 1998) through repeated cycles of coding and dialogue to examine threads of meaning embedded within the data that were identified as themes. No a priori assumptions were made about these themes, as each participant had unique goals, a unique leadership style, and unique challenges.

To establish research credibility in this study (Marshall & Rossman, 2006), the researchers chose practicing new counselors who would be more likely to think "outside the box" to maximize participants' leadership potential. In addition, the leadership agenda and activities emerged from the participants themselves, so that participants would be expressing their leadership styles and reflecting on their lived leadership experiences. To increase generalizability (Marshall & Rossman), the researchers used triangulation through collecting experiences from multiple participants, using leadership literature (i.e., Bolman & Deal, 1997), and enhancing objectivity by ensuring one researcher had no direct contact with participants. To maximize dependability (Marshall & Kossman), the researchers collected data over the course of a year in the hopes of capturing the changing landscape of the participants' various school environments. Finally, in terms of confirmability (Marshall & Rossman), while the researchers recognize their cultural embeddedness (all three researchers are Caucasian women in counselor education with background and specialization in school counseling), this study was designed to ensure one researcher's objectivity with the data and to facilitate consensus in the articulation of themes.

RESULTS

The experiences of the 5 participants were grouped on the basis of outcome and self-defined success as a leader. Three participants (2 female high school counselors in the North Midwest and 1 male elementary counselor in the South) met their goals for the year and considered themselves to have had successful leadership experiences (see Table 1 for the goal of each participant). These participants completed the full year of the study. One participant (female elementary counselor in the North Midwest) completed the year of the study but did not meet her goal for the year; she did not consider herself to have had a successful leadership experience. Finally, 1 participant (female elementary counselor in the South) dropped out of the study after six months, and in that time did not meet her goal for the year; at her last contact, she did not consider herself to have had a successful leadership experience. Based on the outcomes of their efforts and their self-definition of success, 3 participants were considered successful in their leadership efforts and the other 2 participants were considered unsuccessful in their leadership efforts. These two groupings were examined for commonalities and differences.

First, results were grouped according to broad commonalities or themes. Then these were examined relative to important differences that may explain why 3 participants were successful and the other 2 were not. These themes were labeled Leadership Attitudes, Goals, External Conditions, Reactions to Resistance, and Biggest Challenges (see Table 2). Both quotes and activities of participants will be offered to support these themes.

For the successful leaders, leadership attitudes involved a clear sense of responsibility for bringing about improvements in whatever challenges the program faced. In the words of Participant 3, "While I do not feel that I am in charge of the program, I do feel that when changes are needed, I am the person who must initiate them." In addition, the successful leaders maintained their sense of responsibility and exhibited courage in the face of doubts from a variety of sources: from other counselors, from teachers or others in the school/district, but most importantly, from themselves. For example, Participant 2 stated, "I also wrestle with my internal desire to be liked by everyone at all times." For the unsuccessful leaders, however, leadership attitudes were stalled with lack of control over the necessary conditions for change. For Participant 5, the confusion over how to salvage the elementary counseling program stalled her efforts. According to her report, "The counselors wanted to wait to see what the board will do .... How do you do that? No one came up with a plan.... Some wanted to take action, others wanted to collect data."

For the successful leaders, goals were clear and focused, and included primarily school-based change. The goal of Participant 3 was bringing his school up to ASCA National Model (2005) standards; the goals of the other two successful leaders were creating innovative support programs, one for freshmen and one for African American students (see Table 1). For the unsuccessful leaders, goals were more diffuse and global, and both were district-focused where access was limited by the participants' status as new school counselors. One participant was struggling to save the elementary counseling program in the district and the other wanted to convince the district to reduce the student-counselor ratios in the elementary schools; neither of these efforts was successful.

External conditions also were different between the two groups. For the successful leaders, conditions external to the counselor included the permission to self-define their role, and support from administrators and colleagues after some success had been found in the new program implemented by the participant. Support was provided by the researchers for both successful and unsuccessful leaders, but there were no leadership mentors or consultants in their schools. Two of the successful leaders commented on the value of the mentoring/support from the researcher and expressed gratitude for the mentoring. In contrast, the unsuccessful leaders were in positions that were confined by the role definitions of others, and they experienced persistent lack of support from colleagues and administrators. For example, Participant 4 said, "My job is defined by so many people; people use counselors based on how much they understand the role. Principals vary in how much they value the counselor and interpret the job differently. No standards to base performance on, so expectations snowball. I can't please them all."

In the theme reactions to resistance, all five participants experienced resistance to their ideas, fear of failure, and worry that they were inadequate to the task of leadership. For example, Participant 2 said, "The most veteran counselor was very, and still is, resistant. He is resistant to any change and any additional responsibilities." Participant 3 said, "I am not sure where I want to go, so no one else will know where to go to get there." But while all the participants experienced both internal anxiety and external resistance, the successful leaders pushed through the negative reactions to find success. They used these experiences as catalyst for self-reflection, and once they could name their personal challenges, they dedicated themselves to growth in those named areas, gaining confidence over time. For example, Participant 2 stated that she "just needed to get over that not everyone is going to like me." Participant 1 said,

   I sometimes am like a bull in a china shop,
   working harder than others and imposing my
   sense of right and wrong on others' work.
   Over the year, I've been grown [sic] in that
   I've been able to have tough conversations
   with colleagues where I was able to assert
   myself, yet not be quite as imposing as I
   might've been in the past.

For the unsuccessful leaders, the resistance stalled their leadership efforts. Participant 4 decided to leave her current district for employment in another district with better student-counselor ratios, and Participant 5 remained focused on the confusion and dissension among her colleagues.

There were also important differences between the challenges each group faced that may yield insights into why one group succeeded and the other did not. For successful leaders, the biggest internal challenges came from (a) expanding their skill set beyond their own leadership style strengths to include all four leadership frames, then (b) balancing all four frames. For example, Participant 3 stated, "I have noted growth in my leadership skills, especially in the area of political leadership.... I have also worked to improve my structural and symbolic leadership skills." Finally, successful leaders (c) struggled with human resource leadership, because without that important frame for leadership, they felt very alone in the leadership process. Feeling alone and without support from others eroded their confidence. Example quotes include, "Sometimes I felt like I was just in my own world with this big idea and the 'go ahead' but no support or leadership from others" (Participant 2), and

   I have noticed that it is easier to lead when one
   has already established strong, working relationships
   with teachers, administrators, students
   and parents.... However, I have noticed
   that in schools meaningful change often
   occurs very slowly. I constantly have to remind
   myself that as a leader I can initiate change and
   help foster acceptance, but it takes time for
   others to get onboard. (Participant 3)

In contrast, the unsuccessful leaders struggled with self-empowerment; they could not see how to engage in leadership. It seemed the steps were too daunting. In addition, they had no way to access the decision-making process. According to Participant 5,

   I don't see the board as the target for better
   information about the elementary counseling
   program. They cannot be trusted.... Parental
   involvement is very low.... The best target for
   intervention/education might be the director
   ... but he is the one who put the elementary
   counseling program up for slaughter.

DISCUSSION

There were important differences found in this study between the experiences of those successful in leadership and those who were unsuccessful. Those who were successful took responsibility for leadership; had clear, focused goals; self-defined their roles as a counselor; secured support from others; demonstrated the ability to grow from resistance; and were willing to expand their leadership skills. Those who were not successful did not take responsibility for action as a leader; had district-level goals for which they did not have access or control; held other-defined roles as a counselor; did not maximize any sources of support; and did not expand their leadership skills. These results merit further exploration.

First, while all five participants expressed a willingness to engage in leadership, the successful leaders took responsibility and empowered themselves to bring about change, even in the face of resistance, doubt, and lack of initial support. This would suggest that willingness to bring about change must be coupled with determination and resolve. In addition, while collaboration with others (human resource leadership per Bolman & Deal, 1997; Dollarhide, 2003; or participatory leadership per Lewis & Borunda, 2006) is a critical part of the process, waiting until all parties are completely on board might suspend the change process indefinitely. What these three successful leaders illustrated is that leadership, at the most basic level, is an individual choice, and an individual must make the commitment and have the courage to stand alone if needed.

Second, the importance of leadership goals that are clear, focused, and attainable was highlighted in this study. While all three of the successful leaders had school-based goals and the two unsuccessful leaders articulated district-focused goals, it would be counterintuitive to conclude that, by definition, district-wide goals are unsuitable for school counselor leadership efforts. On the contrary, district-wide goals are attainable and appropriate (Keys et al., 1998; Lewis & Borunda, 2006; West et al., 2006), but may be more attainable for school counselors who have established a solid reputation in the district rather than for the novices in this study.

Third, in the face of resistance, self-doubt, and lack of support, these successful leaders engaged in self-reflection and took this as an opportunity to grow both personally and professionally. All three successful leaders spoke about their personal challenges that could have derailed their leadership goals, but they examined those personal challenges and adapted to their situation. They spoke with pride about their learning. As Participant 2 stated, "Being a part of this project has helped me to really reflect on the work I do and think about what I have learned, accomplished, and still need to improve on." Participant 3 said, "Doing something a little different pushes me (to help me grow). It's my personal philosophy to continue to grow through trying new and different things."

In addition, in the face of resistance, self-doubt, and lack of support, the role of mentoring in leadership, which was an unintended outcome of this study, is highlighted. Participant 2 stated,

   I think the biggest thing that school counselors
   need (especially being new) are outside
   people to consult with. Although there are
   many people in the district to consult with, I
   find that sometimes it is hard for people to
   accept new ideas before they are ironed out....
   The consultation that was provided by being a
   part of the study was beneficial because ... [a]t
   times when I felt like I had no direction or
   didn't know what my next step was, I had
   someone to talk with who was excited about
   my program.

The successful leaders in this study did find, as Lewis and Borunda (2006) suggest, that self-esteem and a sense of competence came with success as a leader. For all three of these leaders, success was clearest when students, colleagues, and/or administrators expressed their support of the change. For example, Participant 2 said,

   Initially there were a lot of barriers and it was
   taking (in my mind) a long time to start this
   program which I found discouraging. Overall,
   I would say my confidence was boosted
   through all the success I found.... I think the
   fact that the superintendent was totally on
   board really boosted my confidence. He emails
   on occasion to see how things are going
   and is planning to meet the students. Most
   importantly, the students love the program
   and are always on time and at every group
   meeting.

It is interesting to note that in this study, the participants did not define success solely on the basis of attained goals, but also by the support they received from others, perhaps due in part to their being new to the school counseling profession. In this way, success was externally, not internally, defined. When the leaders felt isolated, their confidence waned. It seemed that they became most frustrated when they perceived themselves as working alone; this was an indication that they were becoming too task-focused and needed to work more diligently with their human resource leadership skills. This is contrary to what is suggested by Dollarhide (2003), who conjectured that human resource leadership would be a natural "fit" for counselors. Most importantly, findings from this current study suggest that leadership is a delicate balance between (a) individual responsibility and actions to bring change, and (b) external validation and support from supervisors, colleagues, and/or followers. All three of the successful leaders expressed concern about the support of their school counseling colleagues; Participant 1 said she did not want to be perceived as "not a counselor's counselor." Although political leadership and having support from the administrators could feed a leader's confidence, it seems to be equally important, as illustrated in this study, that there is peer support. Perhaps this is because, as new counselors, participants identified with their colleagues more than with their administrators.

One final finding worthy of note is that, to be successful, there needed to be balance among all four frames of leadership. Participants who were successful demonstrated use of all four frames of leadership and created a balance that fit specifically with the personality and disposition of the school counselor, and the environment and system in which he or she worked. Much like counselors who select specific counseling interventions and strategies based on the needs of the client, these leaders sensed the importance of being able to utilize the four frames of leadership fluidly and as necessary to create a balanced approach to leadership and program implementation.

IMPLICATIONS FOR PROFESSIONAL SCHOOL COUNSELORS AND SCHOOL COUNSELOR EDUCATORS

Findings of this study have implications for both professional school counselors and school counselor educators.

Implications for Professional School Counselors

1. Leadership attitudes are important; a clear sense of responsibility for initiating program improvements and displaying courage in the face of internal and external doubts can sustain school counselors' leadership efforts. Professional school counselors are responsible for connecting program initiatives and improvements to the vision or mission statement of the district, school, and counseling program. Although resistance from stakeholders will occur, school counselors own the task of keeping stakeholders invested and connected to realizing the vision throughout the process of program development and revision (ASCA, 2005; West et al., 2006).

2. Having clear, focused goals that are within one's own sphere of influence can enhance the likelihood of success. While it is not unreasonable to set district-level goals, school counselors should consider their access to decision-makers and set sequential goals that will put their sphere of influence at the level where they hope to make changes.

3. Defining one's own role as a professional school counselor can reduce the influence of role-limiting assumptions from others. As school counselors define their own role in terms of professional standards such as the ASCA National Model (2005) and the Transforming School Counseling Initiative (Education Trust, 2007), they should seek support from colleagues and administration but not be discouraged by initial lack of support. Those solid relationships can be a fruitful foundation for future leadership efforts.

4. School counselors interested in leadership can use resistance as a catalyst for personal and professional growth. School counselors should examine their personality, leadership style, and communication style for strengths and challenges, and use this opportunity to expand their abilities. It is also important to understand resistance. For example, Keys et al. (1998) noted possible barriers to change as school counselors redefine their role and function to meet the mental health needs of at-risk students. As school counselors redefine their role and function in ways that reduce their involvement with quasi-administrative tasks (scheduling, attendance, discipline) frequently assigned to school counselors, redistribution of resources in light of reduced budgets may give rise to resistance and blocking. Understanding this may allow leaders to contextualize the resistance, reduce personalizing the problems, and address the true barriers to change.

5. School counselors should secure mentorship and support from others to keep them grounded and energized; regular interaction with others who share their vision can maintain positive momentum. School counselors who know they are not alone in their vision and knowing that others share their commitment to students will sustain their leadership efforts.

Implications for School Counselor Educators

1. Formal training in leadership can help new school counselors develop leadership skills, embrace the role of leader in school counseling, and help them articulate their own role as a professional school counselor. Having students develop individualized vision and mission statements can assist future school counselors with the process of articulating their identity as leaders in the counseling field (West et al., 2006) and self-defining as practitioners. Creating a forum, for example as part of practicum and internship seminars, for exploring conflicts associated with counselor identity and definition can be highly beneficial to helping school counselors-in-training address internal conflicts prior to entering the field.

2. Help students identify and articulate clear and focused goals that they can set as a new practitioner. For example, the first author regularly assigns students the task of selecting a school and conducting an abbreviated program audit (ASCA, 2005) during which they identify and plan for the top three improvements they would make to that school counseling program if they were employed there. Their plan to address these top three priorities must be phrased in terms of the four frames of leadership (Bolman & Deal, 1997; Dollarhide, 2003). This goal-setting and leadership planning exercise allows them to obtain feedback on their budding leadership thinking.

3. Teach students about organizational resistance and encourage self-reflection, as these are components of critical thinking skills (Nelson, 1999). Encouraging and modeling self-reflection and growth for students can help them engage in these activities as professionals.

4. Provide direct instruction in consultation models and encourage students to secure leader-mentors in the field. Through consultation with and mentorship from others in the field, new counselors can find professional commonalities that will facilitate support as they initiate leadership efforts.

5. To enhance students' understanding of the political realities of schools and districts, consider increasing students' involvement in professional organizations, committees, and boards. Through academic assignments or professional service, students would benefit from an introduction to the realities of local and state education policies and practices, which can greatly enhance the students' awareness of political leadership.

6. Help students learn to balance all four leadership frames to maximize their potential for leadership success. For example, school counselors who struggle with developing and integrating the human resources frame of leadership may experience loneliness and isolation as leaders. Likewise, strong personality styles such as aggressive or passive-aggressive styles can increase stakeholder resistance and stifle programming efforts. Self-reflection, mentoring, and consultation could be beneficial in assisting school counselors with recognizing challenges in these areas and creating plans to address them.

CONCLUSIONS

Challenges to the integrity of this study include those normally associated with qualitative research, including a small participant pool and variable interpretations of the data. In addition, in spite of efforts to recruit diverse participants, all 5 participants were similar in ethnicity and relative age, limiting generalizability. Also inherent in qualitative research and clearly seen in this study is the influence of the researchers. While the consultation provided by the researchers was limited to support designed to facilitate the participants' reflection on their leadership experiences and choices, the effect on two participants was noted in the Discussion section. In addition, formal assessment of prior leadership training would have strengthened confidence in the results.

Future research in this area could address the limitations of this study and expand the understanding of school counselor leadership. For example, data could be collected on counselors of other specializations to juxtapose those findings with the findings outlined here. Studies could also be designed that either focus on, or eliminate altogether, any consultation or support for leadership efforts to determine the extent to which mentorship in leadership is influential. Other studies (i.e., Gibson, Dollarhide, & McCallum, 2007) have found that mentorship is critical for new leaders; it would be interesting to validate those results. Perhaps a replication study of this effort might engage established school counselors (versus the novice school counselors studied herein) in leadership efforts to examine the different leadership styles and outcomes that may result from experience in the field. In addition, quantitative studies could utilize objective measures, for example, of self-esteem, to track those experiences of support--administrative, collegial, or follower--that most influence leader self-perceptions.

As a year-long study of leadership, variable challenges and triumphs were captured for study. It is possible that the two unsuccessful leaders, given more time, might have eventually been successful in their leadership efforts also. What is very clear from this study is that more studies are needed to fully understand the conditions that facilitate, and impede, leadership efforts by school counselors.

APPENDIX A

Interview Questions

First Interview

1. Time as a school counselor

2. Brief description of the current school counseling program at your school and overview of your job

3. How the role of school counseling evolved at your school

4. General demographics of the school

5. Long-range vision for the program and your job

6. Goal(s) for year of the study

7. Possible leadership activities related to your goal(s):

a. Why did you choose this activity? (looking for embedded motivators, fears, concerns)

Subsequent Interviews

1. Interview number

2. On a scale of 1-10, how would you rate your sense of yourself as a leader?(1 low, 10 high)

3. Agreed-upon leadership activity, for prior month

4. Feelings before and after activity

5. Thoughts and expectations

6. Experience: What happened

7. What worked and what didn't work or doesn't look good

8. Feedback from school personnel, if any

9. New month's leadership activities related to goal(s), or new decisions about goal(s)

10. Why this activity? (embedded motivators, fears, concerns)

Final Interview

1. What was/were your biggest challenge(s) to you in terms of your leadership of your program? Tell us about both external (school or district issues) and internal (your personality, patience, time) factors that affected your leadership.

2. Have you seen any growth during this past year in terms of your leadership skills? If so, how much growth and in what way(s) have you grown? If not, why is that the case?

3. Have you see any change in your confidence level? If so, was the change an increase or decrease in confidence? What factors have contributed to that change?

4. What has been your experience overall as a part of this project? Any final thoughts?

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Colette T. Dollarhide, Ed.D., is a visiting assistant professor at the Ohio State University, Columbus. E-mail: [e-mail]

Donna M. Gibson, Ph.D., is an assistant professor at the University of South Carolina, Columbia.

Kelli A. Saginak, Ed.D., is an associate professor at the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh.

Table 1. Participant Profiles

                                       Participant

                         1                  2                 3

Gender            Female             Female             Male

Age               Early 30s          Mid 20s            Late 20s

Location          North Midwest      North Midwest      South

Leadership        None in            None in            None in
training          formal program     formal program     formal program

Employed          Second year        First year         First year

K-12 level        High               High               Elementary

Goal              Freshman           Support program    ASCA National
of leadership     mentoring          for students of    Model program
                  program            color

Status of goal    Successful;        Successful;        Successful;
at end of study   program            program            program
                  established        established        established

Number                   5                  5                 10
of interviews

                              Participant

                         4                  5

Gender            Female             Female

Age               Early 30s          Early 30s

Location          South              North Midwest

Leadership        None in            None in
training          formal program     formal program

Employed          First year         Second year

K-12 level        Elementary         Elementary

Goal              Reduce student/    Save elementary
of leadership     counselor ratios   program from
                  in district        budgetary
                                     elimination

Status of goal    Unsuccessful;      Unsuccessful;
at end of study   did not            elementary
                  complete study     counseling
                                     program cut

Number                   4                  4
of interviews

Table 2. Summary of Themes Present in Interviews

Theme          Successful Leaders           Unsuccessful Leaders

Leadership     1. Responsibility for        1. Lack of control over
attitudes         change                       conditions necessary
               2. Courage in the face of       for desired change
                  doubts from self and
                  others

Goals          Focused and clear; seeking   Diffuse and global;
               change at school level       seeking change at district
                                            level

External       1. Self-defined role of      1. Other-defined role of
conditions        counselor                    counselor
               2. Support from              2. Lack of support from
                  administration and           administration and
                  colleagues after some        colleagues
                  successes were
                  demonstrated

Reactions to   Resistance, fear,            Resistance, fear,
resistance     confusion,                   confusion
               self-reflection, growth,
               confidence over time

Biggest        Internal                     Internal
challenges     1. Expanding skill set       1. Self-empowerment;
                  to include all four          struggled to see how
                  leadership frames            to engage in leadership
               2. Balancing all four
                  leadership frames         External
               3. Struggling with human     2. No way to "plug into"
                  resource leadership,         decision-making process
                  feeling alone during
                  leadership efforts