LEADERSHIP PHILOSOPHY STATEMENT 1

Leadership Philosophy Statement

Katelyn Spencer

California State University, Fresno

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Leadership Philosophy Statement

Being a leader is not solely based on what position you hold at an institution. Leadership,

and being a leader, is centered around the relationships that we share with others and how we all

work together towards a common goal (Kouzes & Posner, 2018). Based on this premise, it is

imperative to know what a leader values and how those values translate into their practice.

As a leader, we must know what our values are and make the effort to incorporate them

into our everyday work (Kouzes & Posner, 2018). For myself, one of my most important values

is trust, which can be interpreted as trust in others as well as another’s trust in me. I need to be

able to trust those under me to work together to achieve the goals that I set and do so in a

cohesive manner. Conversely, my constituents and supporters trust that I will supply a goal to

achieve, provide avenues to obtain that goal, and offer ways for them to grow as contributing

members within the institution. An additional, but equally important, value is equality. As a

leader within higher education, it is imperative to strive for equality within the institutions that I

will serve in, no matter the population. It is my duty to critically analyze policies and the campus

climate that the institution creates as those factors have a direct impact on student, faculty, and

staff persistence. Without a strong sense of community that is a result of equality, specific

members of the campus community will be unconsciously treated as outsiders within an

institution, resulting in a decline of performance or withdrawing from the institution entirely.

Equity also has a strong role to play with regards to equality. It is not enough to provide equal

access for students, faculty, and staff alike. As leaders, we need to review and take into

consideration the needs of certain populations to ensure that we are providing the necessary

supports to aid them in achieving their goals, whether it is degree attainment, tenure, or
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promotions within the institution. This work requires us to understand those attending the

institution and what they truly need to succeed.

Communication is critical for a leader and their followers as it aids in the cultivation and

management of relationships. A failure to communicate can result in a loss of trust from

constituents and an inability to promote a collaborative campus environment. With a lack of

collaboration, the institution will fall into a more decentralized model, with each department or

office acting independently rather than partnering with one another. This type of model is not

conducive to student success as services and information that come from other functional areas

across the institution are not being promoted, resulting in students not receiving the assistance

that they need to achieve their higher educational goals in a timely manner.

As a future leader within higher education, it is my duty to ensure that students are at the

center of our work as student affairs professionals or a member of the administration. McNair et

al. (2016) describes this viewpoint as being “student-ready”, which dictates activities and

services being designed to help students towards degree attainment (p. 13). As a leader, I have

the ability to shift the thinking of the faculty and staff on campus to consider this student focused

approach and shift the focus from how faculty and staff are there to simply work for a paycheck.

Without students, there is no higher education. If students see that we are putting an effort into

supporting their needs, this could have an impact on persistence rates. However, that does not

mean that I can neglect the needs of the faculty and staff who serve the institution, or even my

staff within an office that I may lead. Our faculty and staff are all educators with the

responsibility of helping students learn, no matter what office or department they may serve.

In any position, I aim to employ a servant leadership style with my staff. Northouse

(2018) describes servant leadership as “focus[ing] on followers’ needs to help these followers
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become more autonomous, knowledgeable, and like servants themselves” (p. 4). Additionally,

Martin et al. (2019) defines servant leadership as “one’s influence as a leader is connected to

one’s willingness to serve others and genuine motivation to help others” through core values

such as empathy, integrity, and sacrifice (p. 11). For my team to be strong, I need to put forth the

effort into knowing what my staff would need from me to succeed. This need is not just based on

the work environment of our office but what my staff need to be an effective and contributing

professional to the field. Schuh and Carlisle (1991) reinforces this support, noting the importance

of supervisors understanding their staff’s needs in order to best aid in their staff’s individual

development. The conversations that develop from these interactions opens the door for new

professionals to succeed in attaining their professional development goals. With this leadership

style in place, research has noted that it can lower the attrition rates of new professionals in the

field and, in turn, have more staff available to support the needs of our students (Barham &

Winston, 2006). Knowing the needs of my staff and how best to support them is not the only

aspect of a leader one should focus on. Taking action in our every day work is how we are able

to build stronger relationships with one another. As a leader, I must be willing to take on the

same tasks as my staff. If I am unwilling to do the same tasks as my team, then my lack of

participation can breed resentment within my staff. As Kouzes and Posner (2018) state, modeling

the way is critical to ensure that I am showing how tasks should be done and promote

collaboration between one another.

With this foundation in place, there are expectations that I require of my staff members.

First, I promote students as our primary focus within higher education. My staff are expected to

treat each student with respect and aid them with their questions. No student should walk away

without being helped or, at minimum, given information as to what their next steps are in the
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event we cannot solve the problem. Second, each staff member should have a collaborative

mindset while working with students. There is no single office or department that knows

everything at an institution. It is critical that we do not work within silos and aim to establish

relationships across the university. These relationships can prevent students from needing to visit

multiple offices and streamline the process of them receiving help. Finally, it is imperative that

my team is well versed in scholarship that discusses various types of students what will be

attending our institutions and the many barriers that they may face. This strategy and expectation

will help circumvent some of our own implicit biases and strengthen our skills in how we

approach providing support to our students. This awareness to diversity can result in a change to

institutional culture that inevitably benefits all students and dismantles systems that work against

social justice efforts (Mueller & Broido, 2012; Pope & LePeau, 2012).

Whether I hold a position within student affairs or administration, my commitment to

higher education is deeply rooted in the success of the students who attend the institution.

Whether I lead my team within a small office or on an institutional-wide scale, it is imperative

that I keep this goal in mind and be willing to adjust to best meet the needs of students. This

means that I must also meet the needs of my staff and faculty who have a direct connection to

our students which in turn allows us as an institution best achieve our mission, vision, goals, and

values. This effort is for the benefit of our future leaders and it is our duty to ensure that they

have the necessary support in place to attain their college degree.

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References

Barham, J. D., & Winston, Jr., R. B. (2006). Supervision of new professionals in student affairs:

Assessing and addressing needs. College Student Affairs Journal, 26(1), 64–89. 

Kouzes, J., & Posner, B. (2018). The student leadership challenge: Five practices for becoming

an exemplary leader (3rd ed.). Wiley.

Martin, G. L., Williams, B. M., Green, B., & Smith, M. J. (2019). Reframing activism as

leadership. New directions for student leadership, 2019(161), 9-24.

McNair, T. B., Cooper, M. A., McDonald, N., & Major, T. (2016). Becoming a student-ready
college: A new culture of leadership for student success. Jossey-Bass.

Mueller, J. A., & Broido, E. M. (2012). Historical context: Who we are is part of who we are. In

J. Armino, V. Torres, & R. L. Pope (Eds), Why aren’t we there yet? Taking responsibility

for creating an inclusive campus (1st ed., pp. 57-101). Stylus.

Northouse, P. G. (2018). Leadership: Theory and practice (8th ed.). Sage Publishing, Inc.

Pope, R. L., & LePeau, L. A. (2012). The influence of institutional context and culture. In J.

Armino, V. Torres, & R. L. Pope (Eds), Why aren’t we there yet? Taking responsibility

for creating an inclusive campus (1st ed., pp. 103-130). Stylus.

Schuh, J. H., & Carlisle, W. (1991). Supervision and evaluation: Selected topics for emerging

professionals. In T. K. Miller & R. B. Winston, Jr., (Eds.), Administration and leadership

in student affairs: Actualizing student development in higher education (2nd ed., pp. 495-

531). Accelerated Development.