Personal Leadership Style and Philosophy Ead 501

Personal Leadership Style and Philosophy
Introduction
According to Northouse (2013), Leadership is a process whereby an individual
influences a group of individuals to achieve a common goal (p. 5). With this in mind, an
individuals personal leadership style and philosophy is critical towards the success in
establishing a vision and achieving goals in an organization. A leader affects and is
affected by those in an organization in an interactive manner in order for a common goal
to be achieved (Northouse, 2013). The following will outline my emerging leadership
style and philosophy with regards to my basic core beliefs including a correlation to the
ISLLC 2008 standards. In addition, I will establish key leadership behaviors and goals
that result from these basic values. Lastly, I will supply findings from the Servant
Leadership Questionnaire, along with a summary of the implications of the results, to
incorporate into my emerging leadership style.
Basic Values
There are basic values inherent in everyone, but those values take on new
meaning and importance when applying them towards a leadership philosophy. These
values will be what drives a leader to remain focused and steady in their daily
interactions with others and when confronted with making difficult decisions. With an
established set of core beliefs, a leader will feel secure and confident. This confidence
and security will transfer to the teachers, and most importantly, to the students (Whitaker,
2012).
An important belief that I hold is that all students can learn. This correlates to all
six ISLLC 2008 standards in that at the forefront, the success of all students is inherent
towards the success for all. Additionally, another belief that I possess is to develop others
to their fullest potential. This can be applied to both staff and students, and again
correlates to all six ISLLC 2008 standards. Finally, and most importantly, a strong belief
of mine is to treat others with respect. This correlates to ISLLC 2008 Standards 4 and 5. I
have found that building positive relationships with others is the foundation for growth,
and if people do not like or respect someone, they will not care to put forth their best
effort. These core beliefs have far-reaching benefits because they build on one another
concerning the success of the people in an organization. My personal values are
incorporated into my interpersonal relationships with others, which in turn promote
positive implications with regards to the organization, and will ultimately foster a positive
impact with those in society.
Leadership Behaviors
With these basic values in mind, certain leadership behaviors must be utilized for
the success for all within an organization. My behavior as a leader in order for mastery
with these core values is to listen to others empathetically, encourage feedback from all
stakeholders, give feedback without being judgmental, be reflective in regards to my

roles and responsibilities, reevaluate and adjust objectives accordingly, to be loyal to
those that are in the organization, and to lead ethically and morally. Also, in order to
develop others to their greatest potential, I will encourage growth by building confidence
in others by increasing opportunities for staff and students to make decisions that will
enhance the learning environment. By doing this, I hope to develop a trusting and safe
environment in that everyones voice is valued and heard.
Goals
The leadership behaviors that I infuse will allow the achievement of various goals
throughout the organization. My goals will be reflected in my vision for the organization,
and will have a direct link with my basic values. All goals will be tied to these beliefs,
and will be a guiding compass that the organization will trust and value as well. Goals
will include that all students can learn, to develop others to their greatest potential, and to
respect others and treat them with dignity. My ultimate goal in this process is for others to
achieve self-actualization. This will benefit the organization with teacher leaders and
student leaders, all working together for the success of the school, and who also give
back to the community.
Leadership Style and Philosophy
The leadership style that reflects my philosophy is Servant Leadership. There are
many parallels with my leadership behaviors and the tenets of servant leadership
capacities. My desire to encourage leadership growth in others and increase
responsibilities from staff and students increases confidence and allows people to
accomplish goals as a team. This fosters a shared vision, organizational success, and
increased satisfaction with the learning environment (McGee-Cooper & Trammell, 2013).
Additionally, I will encourage feedback from others, which allows for building trust and
encouraging creative problem solving, another hallmark of servant leadership. Also,
listening to others empathetically and respectfully ensures that I am sensitive to others
needs and that I will always act in the best interests of all stakeholders, another key
component of servant leadership (McGee-Cooper & Trammell, 2013).
Summary of Servant Leadership Questionnaire
A Servant Leadership Questionnaire was given to two of my colleagues, and they
were required to rate my leadership qualities based on seven leadership behaviors. The
following results from this questionnaire were scored and interpreted regarding my
leadership capacities, in order from highest to lowest:
1. Conceptual Skills: 28 (High range)
2. Behaving Ethically: 28 (High range)
3. Empowering: 28 (High range)
4. Emotional Healing: 27 (High range)
5. Helping Subordinates Grow/Succeed: 27 (High range)
6. Putting Subordinates First: 26 (High range)
7. Value for the Community: 24 (High range)

Based on the results from the questionnaire, I scored in the high range for every behavior.
However, even though the results came back in the high range overall, this is not to infer
that no improvement is needed in these leadership behaviors. I scored the lowest in Value
for the Community, which signals the need for me to improve my efforts to increase
community involvement, give back to the community, and foster a positive impact on
society.
Conclusion
In conclusion, my basic values that are related to student success, development of
others to achieve self-actualization, and respect for all will be defined through my
leadership behaviors. These behaviors are integral for the achievement of the goals in the
organization. As stated earlier, my emerging leadership style and philosophy mirror
Servant Leadership, and I am thrilled to one day put this into practice in an administrative
role to serve others and be an agent of change.
References
McGee-Cooper, A., & Trammell, D. (2013). The essentials of servant leadership:
Principles in practice. Retrieved from http://www.amca.com.
Northouse, P. (2013). Leadership theory and practice. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Whitaker, T. (2012). What great principals do differently: 18 things that matter most.
New York, NY: Routledge.

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Personal Leadership Style and Philosophy

stakeholders, give feedback without being judgmental, be reflective in regards to my

7. Value for the Community: 24 (High range)

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