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Benchmark: Leadership Style and Philosophy

Catherine Borowski

College of Education, Grand Canyon University

EAD 501: Educational Administration: Foundations for the Developing Leader

Dr. Randall Hoggard

November 30, 2022

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Benchmark: Leadership Style and Philosophy

As a classroom teacher for 28 years, I have had the opportunity to see many styles of

leadership. I have experienced many different styles, including the three that we have explored in

our studies. The most influential example in my life has come from my father, whose entire life

has embodied the behaviors of servant leadership. His guidance and modeling have been an

example for me since my earliest days and have been the largest influence on my career path and

how I have begun to define my style of leadership. It is through his words that I have been able

to identify my values and beliefs. It is through his impeccable behavior that I have started to

develop my identity as a fair and ethical leader. And it is from his methods of inspiring and in

turn helping others to aspire to their best selves that I have been able to start visualizing my

model of effective and inspiring leadership.

Core Values

The values I was raised on have served me well throughout my life and career and

continue to be the means by which I make my way on this developing leadership journey. The

core value that drives my approach is “relationships”. I have always found that taking time to

develop relationships that are built on trust, understanding, and respect allow for the

development of strong communities. From there, I lean towards “community” which by its

definition, “a feeling of fellowship with others, as a result of sharing common attitudes, interests,

and goals” (Oxford Languages, 2020), is necessary to help both staff and students feel safe,

supported, and challenged to be their best. Relationships and community are intertwined. We

can’t develop one without the other. As a result of strong relationships and community, I am able

to institute valuable “collaboration” which is essential for both identifying and reaching the goals
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and vision of my team. I value multiple perspectives and viewpoints and will encourage all

stakeholders to take part in collaborating to experience collective growth.

The other two values that I feel are non-negotiable are “courage” and “grace”. As a

leader, I want my followers to know that I have the courage to be vulnerable. I want them to see

that I have the courage to own my mistakes and actions. And I want them to feel confident that I

have the courage to support them in all the ways that they may need me to. I also want them to

feel secure in the knowledge that I am leading with grace. I want them to understand that I see

them as wholly human and understand that that means they too, may make mistakes or need help

redirecting themselves. It also means that I will give them the opportunities to grow, fail and

learn, and be completely honest with me even in difficult situations.

Leadership Style

After researching the three leadership styles: Transformational, Transactional, and

Servant, it has become clear to me that my values and behaviors are most closely aligned with

the Servant leadership style. I believe that community, relationships, and collaboration all lend

themselves to developing a shared vision as well as fostering high levels of interdependence and

eliciting multiple perspectives from all stakeholders (Mcgee-Cooper et al., n.d.). In my role as

facilitator, I will have the opportunity to provide opportunities for my team to explore their goals

and experience growth through my support and mentoring. This too seems to align with the

Servant Leadership style most closely. Finally, leading with a humble spirit can come from being

both courageous and exhibiting grace. All these characteristics, behaviors, and values will help

to build shared trust and an empowered team.

Student Success
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With my leadership philosophy beginning to be defined, I will be able to stay focused and

centered on the academic and social needs of my students. Knowing myself and how I envision

leading my team allows me to be authentic, work with fidelity, and able to be fair in making

decisions through consistent and dependable actions. I see it in the same way I see the need to

practice emergency drills. If we have already worked through the steps and processes before we

are in the actual event, then our actions are second nature, and we don’t need to scramble to

figure things out. We will already have thought about all the possible ways to handle the

situations we are in.

Emerging Model

I am in the process of developing an emerging model of effective and inspirational

leadership. As I look at the values I choose to live and work by, combined with the interactions I

have with my team, I can see where my strengths are an asset in helping nurture and develop the

strengths of my stakeholders. With the help of surveys and feedback, similar to the servant

leadership questionnaire that was filled out, I also know where to focus on developing my skills

and behaviors. Over time and with more experience, I expect that my philosophy will be

massaged and more clearly defined for both myself and the people that I serve and lead.
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References

‌Allen, G. P., Moore, W. M., Moser, L. R., Neill, K. K., Sambamoorthi, U., & Bell, H. S. (2016).

The Role of Servant Leadership and Transformational Leadership in Academic

Pharmacy. American Journal of Pharmaceutical Education, 80(7), 113.

https://doi.org/10.5688/ajpe807113

Carleton, E. L., Barling, J., & Trivisonno, M. (2018). Leaders’ trait mindfulness and

transformational leadership: The mediating roles of leaders’ positive affect and leadership

self-efficacy. Canadian Journal of Behavioural Science / Revue Canadienne Des

Sciences Du Comportement, 50(3), 185–194. DOI: 10.1037/cbs0000103

Crippen, C., & Willows, J. (2019). Connecting Teacher Leadership and Servant Leadership: A

Synergistic Partnership. Journal of Leadership Education, 18(2). doi: 10.12806/v18/i2/t4

Glanz, J., & Association For Supervision And Curriculum Development. (2004). Finding your

leadership style : a guide for educators. Hawker Brownlow Education.

Mcgee-Cooper, A., Trammell, E., Revised, M., Kosec, M., & Trammell, D. (n.d.). The

Essentials of Servant Leadership: Principles in Practice The Essentials of Servant

Leadership: Principles in Practice. https://amca.com/amca/wp-content/uploads/The-

Essentials-of-Servant-Leadership-Final.pdf

Northouse, P. G. (2021). Leadership: Theory and practice (9th ed.). Sage. ISBN-13:

9781544397566

Oxford Languages. (2020). The Oxford English Dictionary | Oxford Languages.

Languages.oup.com. https://languages.oup.com/research/oxford-english-dictionary/
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Writing a Personal Leadership Philosophy Will Make You a Better Leader. (n.d.). ASCD.

https://www.ascd.org/blogs/writing-a-personal-leadership-philosophy-will-make-you-a-

better-leader