Lesson Organizational Leadership

11

Learning Outcomes
 explain what organizational leadership;
 share ideas and qualities that make the teacher an
organizational leader;
 create your concept of leadership; and,
 differentiate the teachers’ roles as managers or leaders.

Introduction
Welcome to Lesson 11.
It is expected from you as a future teacher to engage yourself in
continuing education to equip you from different roles away from teaching.
With this, it is rightful that you will know what makes an effective leader or
manager as you will become in the future. Whether you will become or not,
this lesson would still be useful to you because as a teacher you can’t go away
from being a leader and a manager of your classroom.

Now, think of any words that give descriptions, or qualities to a

teacher who you think is a leader. Write them down as pointed by arrows.
 After you provide those descriptions and qualities of a leader, self-check
yourself now. Answer this quick 10-question quiz to help you discover if you are
a leader or a manager. While there’s more to it than these 10 questions, this will
help you see what direction you lean towards and how to adjust.

1. Are you more work-focused or people-focused?

a. Work Focused b. People Focused
2. Do you prefer stability in a job or do you welcome and navigate change well?
a. Stability b. Change
3. Are you more reactive or proactive?
a. Reactive b. Proactive
4. Do you prefer to micro-manage or do you trust people to meet the goals?
a. Micro-Manage b. Trust People
5. Are you tasked-focused or vision-focused?
a. Task Focused b. Vision Focused
6. Do you like to enforce culture or shape culture?
a. Enforce Culture b. Shape Culture
7. Does conflict bother you or do you find it useful?
a. Don’t Like Conflict b. Find Conflict Useful
8. Do you tend to blame others or take the blame even if it wasn’t your fault?
a. Blame Others b. Take the Blame
9. Do you tend to take the credit when things go well or give credit where credit is due?
a. Take Credit b. Give Credit
10. Do you like to minimize risks or take the risks?
a. Minimize Risks b. Take Risks

If you answered “A” the majority of the time, you are probably more of a manager. If you answered
“B” the majority of the time, you are more of a leader. Not all managers are leaders but all leaders
have to be managers to some degree. Use these questions to help you discover areas of growth for
becoming more of a leader people follow than a manager people submit to.

Analysis

Based on the above activity, answer the questions below as guide for
reflective thinking. Use the space after each question to discuss your answer.

1. Who are organizational leaders? Discuss.

_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
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2. What qualities an organizational leader must have? Do you have those

qualities? Explain why you considered those qualities.
_______________________________________________________________
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3. Finally, what to you is leadership? Organizational leadership?
 _______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
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Abstraction

Organizational Leadership

Ever since schools have functioned in the autocratic style of the line-staff
model. This means that principals are managers and teachers are their employees.
Teachers are often voiceless and powerless to influence their heads in the quest of
improving students’ achievements. However, with the advent of No Child Left
Behind, many school leaders are seeking more effective organizational behavior by
drawing on the leadership potential of all stakeholders, especially teachers (Gabriel,
2005).

In organizational leadership, as mentioned by Prieto, et al (2019), school

leaders help set strategic goals for the organization while motivating the teachers,
learners, parents, non-teaching personnel, and other members of the community to
carry out tasks to realize those goals. Also, the school leader helps anyone in the
organization to lead others regardless of rank and tenure. This leadership which is not
necessarily come from the top of the organization is teacher leadership.

School Head: A leader or a Manager?

The school heads become leaders when they lead the school by formulating
the vision, mission, goals including the School Improvement Plan (SIP). However,
they become managers when they see to it that these plans are implemented on time,
the resources are available and the persons to do the job are qualified and available.
Therefore, school heads must be both leaders and managers. What will happen if the
school heads are only leaders? Are only managers?

Understanding Differences: Managers versus Leaders

If Teacher Matthew is a good manager, does it follow that he is also a good

leader? What about Teacher Aissa? She is known as a good leader. Does it follow that
she is also a good manager?
 When someone lands on your group they never say, “Take me to your
manager”. They say, “Take me to your leader? But why not a manager? Aren’t these
two terms synonymous? Is it important to understand what defines a leader and a
manager? What is then the difference of leadership from management?

In school, teachers are both leaders and managers even they have refused to
accept leadership positions. So, ideally, managers are leaders. But when that's not the
case, here are five important differences between a leader and a manager taken from a
magazine published by Cornerstone in 2016.
1. Managers Manage the Tasks at Hand. Leaders Lead Towards the Future.
Managers are focused on getting the current job done. That's fine—it needs
to get done. But a leader is looking at the big picture. In school, when the principal
is focusing on how the daily tasks are accomplished, he or she is managing. But
when the principal sets the goals of what to accomplish by the school in the longer
run, he or she is leading.
2. Managers Supervise People or Tasks. Leaders can be Individual Contributors.
Managers have subordinates. They have people working for them. They
have created powers and they lead with authority. Sometimes a leader doesn't have
a big title, and it's just the person that everyone looks up to for guidance and
direction to be an individual contributor. This person embodies leadership and
people naturally follow. Leaders have followers because they create influence and
they lead by inspiring.
3. Leaders Guide People Towards Success. Managers Tell People What to Do.
If the school heads are checklist type of managers, they probably not
leaders. Checkboxes aren't bad—they aren't. But, if all they can do is tell people to
check off boxes, it's not leadership. A leader inspires and supports other people to
succeed, and sometimes that involves individual tasks and sometimes it involves
letting things evolve on their own.
4. Leaders Are Willing to Give up control. Managers Set Directions for Everything.
When a direct report becomes too proficient, it can send ill-equipped
managers into a frenzy. Leaders rejoice and recognize that this person is ready for
more responsibility and a possible promotion. Managers may be tempted to keep
their tasks and their projects close at hand. Leaders recognize when someone is
ready to take on new responsibilities and rejoices in that.
5. Leaders Care About the People. Managers Care About the Numbers.
Numbers are important—anyone who tells you otherwise is off his rocker.
However, they aren't the only thing that matters. A manager might bark at a slow-
moving worker to pick up the pace, but an empathetic leader will ask if there is a
problem and offer a solution. Both leaders and managers may end up firing an
employee who can't pull it together, but a leader will try to resolve the issue first.
 If you're a manager stop and take a look at how you conduct yourself. Are you
acting as a true leader, or simply as a manager? It is important to understand the
differences that define leaders vs. managers and to make sure you focus on
developing the former.

Application

A. Below are the situations that usually took place in a typical school. Imagine
that you are the school head. Challenge your leadership skills on how you will
respond to the following situations. Write your response to the space provided
for.

1. Teacher Luke comes to you with a suggestion to help the team. As their head,
it’s something you probably already should have done, but haven’t gotten
around to.
_______________________________________________________________
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_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
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2. Your school recruits a new faculty raised from the city. You were raised in an
area where everyone says things indirectly and gently, but your new hire is
more direct.
_______________________________________________________________
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_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________

3. During a faculty meeting, unexpectedly, Teacher Juan asks a tough question:

they zoom out and question the value of the project you’re all focused
on. “How did we get here? What made us decide to do this in the first
place?”
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
 B. Based on this lesson, write your own concept of a leader or leadership.

Closure
You have just finished Lesson 11. In the next lesson, you will learn about the
leadership skills and styles and identify how these will be beneficial to you as a future
leader. If you are ready, you may now start Lesson 12.