Transcript Leadership Qualities & Styles

Developing Leaders for
Catholic Schools
Alice I. Hession
Director of Sponsorship
Xaverian Brothers Sponsored Schools
Would you tell me, please, which way I ought
to go from here?‘, said Alice.
`That depends a good deal on where you
want to get to,' said the Cat.
`I don't much care where--' said Alice.
`Then it doesn't matter which way you go,'
said the Cat.
`--so long as I get somewhere,' Alice added
as an explanation.
`Oh, you're sure to do that,' said the Cat, `if
you only walk long enough.'
What is it that makes each of these
people stand out?
Attributes of effective leaders
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Professional competence
Conceptual skills
Results-oriented
Emotional Intelligence
An ability to identify talent
Judgment
Character
( The Leadership Advantage, Warren Bennis )
“People rise to leadership in our society by a
tendency toward extroversion, which means a
tendency to ignore what is going on inside
themselves….We must have education for
leadership that is not simply about the skills to
manipulate the external world, but is also
about the personal and corporate disciplines
of the inner world.”
- Parker Palmer “Leading from Within”
Catholic Schools
• Spiritual Leadership
– Personal spirituality
– Ability to model spirituality for others
– Spiritual awareness
– Ability to live in and instill hope
Catholic schools must be seen as "meeting places for
those who wish to express Christian values in
education". The Catholic school, far more than any other,
must be a community whose aim is the transmission of
values for living. Its work is seen as promoting a faithrelationship with Christ in Whom all values find
fulfillment. But faith is principally assimilated through
contact with people whose daily life bears witness to it.
Christian faith, in fact, is born and grows inside a
community.
“ The Catholic School”
Paragraph 53
The Sacred Congregation for Catholic Education, 1977
–
Ronald Rolheiser, The Holy Longing
“Everyone has a spirituality, either a life-giving one or a
destructive one… Spirituality is about being integrated
or falling apart, about being within community or being
lonely, about being in harmony with Mother Earth or
being alienated from her. Irrespective of whether or not
we let ourselves be consciously shaped by any explicit
religious idea, we act in ways that leave us either
healthy or unhealthy, loving or bitter. What shapes our
actions is our spirituality.” …”It is about what we do with
our spirits, our souls.”
–
Ronald Rolheiser, The Holy Longing
…“A healthy soul must do two things. It must put some
fire in our veins; keep us energized, vibrant, full of
hope… Second, a healthy soul has to keep us fixed
together. It has to give us a sense of who we are,
where we came from, where we are going, and what
sense there is in all of this.”
– Frederick Buechner
The key to spirituality is to find
the “…place where your deep
gladness and the world’s deep
hunger meet.”
Context for Leadership
The exercise of leadership must be related
to the mission and seek to advance that
mission.
If the mission of Catholic schools is to
serve the church in its work of
evangelization, especially through
education, we must see this as the context
for leadership.
Called and Gifted for the Third
Millennium
U. S. Catholic Bishops, 1995
Call to Holiness
- Personal Spirituality and Growth
- Theological Reflection
Called and Gifted for the Third
Millennium
U. S. Catholic Bishops, 1995
Call to Christian Maturity
- Respect for Differences
- Participation in shaping the future
- Ability to live with mystery
Called and Gifted for the Third
Millennium
U. S. Catholic Bishops, 1995
Call to Community
- Collaboration
- Personal Gifts
- Shared Mission
Called and Gifted for the Third
Millennium
U. S. Catholic Bishops, 1995
Call to Mission and Ministry
- Charism
“We stand on the shoulders of giants”
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Stewardship
Service
Fidelity
Study of eleven public companies
which had a 15 year cumulative
stock returns at least three times
the market independent of its
industry. These were compared to
similar companies in the same
industry with like opportunities
and resources.
Concepts developed by making empirical deductions
directly from the data; did not begin with a theory but
sought to build a theory from the ground up derived
directly from the evidence.
Level 5 Executive
Effective leader
Competent manager
Contributing team member
Highly capable individual
Level 5 Leadership
Blends extreme personal
HUMILITY with intense
professional will.
• Study of Non-Profits
Importance of Level 5 Leadership
• More important in the Non-profit
world
• Commitment to Mission/Cause
Personal Humility
• Acts with quiet, calm determination; relies
principally on inspired standards, not inspiring
charisma, to motivate.
• Demonstrates a compelling modesty, shunning
public adulation; never boastful.
• Channels ambition into the company, not the self;
sets up successors for even greater success in the
next generation.
• Looks out the window, not in the mirror, to
apportion credit for the success of the company—to
other people, external factors, and good luck.
Professional Will
• Creates superb results, a clear catalyst in the
transition from good to great.
• Demonstrates an unwavering resolve to do
whatever must be done to produce the best longterm results, no matter how difficult.
• Sets the standard of building an enduring great
company; will settle for nothing less.
• Looks in the mirror, not out the window, to
apportion responsibility for poor results, never
blaming other people, external factors, or bad luck.
Primal
Leadership
The first or most
important
(thus primal)
element of leadership is
EMOTIONAL
RESONANCE
The ability of the leader to drive
emotions positively, bringing out
the best in others.
People are “on the same
wavelength” and there is less
static in their interactions.
Emotional Intelligence
Personal Competence
Social Competence
• Self Awareness
• Social Awareness
• Self Management
• Relationship
Management
Resonant leaders can read and
express the emotions of the
group so people feel understood
and cared for.
Having formed an emotional
bond, team members are more
focused and their work is more
meaningful.
Unique Challenges of Leadership in
Catholic schools
• Head Follower
• Articulator of Stories
• Creator of Community of Hope
Unique Challenges of Leadership in
Catholic Schools
Thomas Sergiovanni - Lifeworld of Leadership
“Head Follower”
“There can be no leadership if there is nothing
important to follow. For many, followership is a
pejorative term that embodies hierarchy and
implies subordination… But when followership is
linked to ideas it takes on intellectual and
spiritual qualities.”
Unique Challenges of Leadership
in
Catholic Schools
This concept of a leader is the one who
engenders shared followership for Mission.
“The Catholic School”
Goals and Values
Unique Challenges of Leadership in
Catholic Schools
Articulator of stories
- Point to values and ideas we follow
- Role Models
- Traditions
- “The Deep Story”
Unique Challenges of Leadership in
Catholic Schools
Creator of Community of Hope
- Challenge to live the mission of Catholic
education in new ways
- Stewards for the future
“We stand on the shoulders of giants”
Leadership Development Program
Xaverian Brothers Sponsored Schools
• To broaden the view of the participant to the
unique mission and style of Xaverian education
and leadership in Catholic schools.
• To assist the participant in clarifying and
developing his/her style of leadership.
• To call the participant to reflect on his/her call to
leadership and stewardship of the mission of
Xaverian Brothers Sponsored Schools.
• To provide options and opportunities for the
participant to practice leadership skills.
Assumptions of the program
• Designed for potential leaders
invited to participate
• Skilled Mentor/Partner
• Emphasis on all levels of school
leadership
• Includes a Project/Practicum
• Required Readings
• Focus on Networking
Stage One – 3 days - Summer
– Call to Leadership – Reflective
– Xaverian spirituality
– Leadership Qualities, Styles and Strengths
– Leadership in a Catholic school and in an
XBSS School
– Elements of Team Building and Collaboration
– Leadership for Mission
Stage Two
Practicum/Reflection
Year long effort with a mentor
• Leadership of a School Project
• Reading/Reflection/Discussion
– Leadership on the Line, The Holy Longing, Good to
Great, The Lifeworld of Leadership
• Visit to another XBSS School
• Stage Three
2 days Summer
– Personal Spirituality and Leadership
– Sharing on personal experience of
leadership
– The Change Process in the School –
Creating Culture
Comments by participants
“I believe this program was created to ensure that XBSS will
remain faithful to its original mission. As the Xaverian Brothers
continue to decline in numbers, the XBSS will rely on the lay
population to effectively lead the schools. The major themes of
this program were XBSS mission, leadership qualities, leadership
style, and the change process. I began this program as an eager,
dedicated guidance counselor who wanted to make a positive
contribution to the school that has already given me so much. I’m
leaving this program as an experienced leader with a clearer
vision, more confident attitude, and a passion for servant
leadership.”
Comments by participants
“I found it to be a good blend of experiences: we explored
leadership as 1) a spiritual journey and transforming experience,
whereby we are called to serve others, and 2) a set of skills and
personal qualities that have been extensively researched &
analyzed, and can consciously be developed and improved upon.
I found myself reflecting a great deal about my current and future
roles as a leader in a Xaverian school, I learned much that I had
never been formally taught, though often had some intuition
about, and I found myself enriched by the experience of working
with others, dedicated individuals from our XBSS schools.”
Comments by participants
“I really learned what it means to be a leader in a Catholic High
School regardless of the position I hold in the school, the
importance of creating a culture that allows growth for everyone
in the school (teachers, students, staff, parents), the importance
of not settling for being a good school but it takes real leaders
to make it a great school, and that to be a real leader in a
Catholic school is to be a spiritual leader as well.”
“To commit oneself to working in accordance with the
aims of a Catholic School is to make a great act of
faith in the necessity and influence of this apostolate.
Only one who has this conviction and accepts Christ's
message, who has a love for and understands today's
young people, who appreciates what people's real
problems and difficulties are, will be led to contribute
with courage and even audacity to the progress of this
apostolate in building up a Catholic school.”
- “The Catholic School”
Sacred Congregation for Catholic Education, 1977
• What do you resonate with from the
presentation? What makes sense to you?
How can this be applied in your situation?
• What qualities of leadership are especially
applicable to leaders in Catholic schools?
• What are the unique challenges to being a
leader in a Catholic school?
Developing Leaders for
Catholic Schools
Alice I. Hession
Director of Sponsorship
Xaverian Brothers Sponsored Schools
[email protected]
www.xbss.org - Resources and Links