The Teacher and the Community, School Culture and Organizational

Leadership

MODULE 8:
ORGANIZATIONAL
LEADERSHIP

At the end of this module, you should be able to:

1. Explain what is organizational leadership.
2. Distinguish between leadership and
management.
3. Describe different organizational styles.
4. Explain what situational leadership; servant
leadership are.
5. Discuss how to sustain change in an
organization.

Read this aloud!

“If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and
become more, you are a leader.” – President John Quincy Adams, USA

Let’s get into it! Let’s conceptualized!

Introduction ORGANIZATIONAL LEADERSHIP

Expected of professional teacher who care for and embark on
continuing professional development is a promotion along the
way. With this in mind, this course wont be complete without
a discussion of an effective leader and manager for which you
will be in the future. But should you refuse offer for a
managerial or leadership position in school or in the bigger
educational organization because of the love for teaching and
learners, this lesson on organizational leadership wont be laid
to waste because even as teacher you are ready a leader and
a manager. You are a teacher and a class or classroom
manager.
Now, are you ready to become a leader and a manager in the
near future?
In organizational leadership, leaders help set strategic
goals for the organization while motivating individuals
within the organization to successfully carry out
assignments in order to realize those goals. In the school
setting, the school leader helps set the goals/targets for
the school and motivates teachers, parents, learners,
non-teaching personnel and other members of the
community to do their task to realize the school goals.
Organizational leadership works towards what is best
for individual members and what is best for the
organization as a group at the same time. Organizational
leadership

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The Teacher and the Community, School Culture and Organizational Leadership
 does not sacrifice the individual members for the sake of
the people nor sacrifice the welfare of the group for the
sake of individual members. Both individual and group are
necessary.
Organizational leadership is also an attitude and a work
ethic that empowers an individual in any role to lead from
the top, middle, or bottom of an organization not
necessarily from the top to lead others. An example of this
leadership which does not necessarily come from the top of
the organization is teacher leadership.
Are you a LEADER OR a MANAGER? Are they
synonymous or not?
School Head Must be Both a Leader and a
Manager
A school head leads the school and the community to
formulate the vision, mission, goals, and school
improvement plan. This is a leadership function. S/he
sees to it that this plan get s well implemented on
time and so ensures that the resources needed are
there, the persons to do the job are qualified and
available. This is the management function. Imagine
if the school head is only a leader. You have the
vision, mission, goals, and school plan but no
implementation. The plan is only good in paper. If
you do the task of a manager only, you will be
focusing on the details of the day-to-day
implementation without the big picture, the vision
and mission. So it big picture for connect and
meaning. This means that it is best that a school
leader is both a leader and a manager.

Types of Skills Demanded of Leaders

Leaders use 3 broad types of skill and these

are:
LEADERS MANAGERS 1. Technical
Innovate 2. Human
Their process is Administer
3. Conceptual
transformational: Their process is
develop a vision transactional; meet
and find a way objectives and
delegate tasks. Technical Skills
forward.

People Focused Work Focused This refers to any type of process or technique like
The goals include The goal is to get sending e-mail, preparing a powerpoint presentation.
both people and things done. They
results. They care are skilled at
Human Skill
about you and want allocating work.
you to succeed.
This refers to the ability to work effectively with people
and to build teamwork. This is also referred to as
Have Followers Have people skills or soft skills.
They create circles Subordinates They
of influence and create circles of
lead by inspiring. power and lead by Conceptual Skill
authority.
This refer to the ability to think in terms of models,
Do the Right Thing Do Things Right
frameworks and broad relationships such as long range
Leaders shape the Managers enact the plans.
culture and drive existing culture and
integrity. maintain status
Do school leaders should possess all
quo.
these three skills? Think about it.

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The Teacher and the Community, School Culture and Organizational Leadership

Leadership Styles All leaders do not possess same attitude or same perspective.
As discussed earlier, few leaders adopt the carrot approach
and a few adopt the stick approach. Thus, all of the leaders
do not get the things done in the same manner. Their style
varies. The leadership style varies with the kind of people the
leader interacts and deals with. A perfect/standard leadership
style is one which assists a leader in getting the best out of
the people who follow him.

Four Leadership Styles

Leaders allow participation of the members of the
1. Autocratic
organization by consulting them but make the
2. Consultative decision themselves. This is what happens in
3. Democratic consultation meetings called by schools when they
4. Laissez Faire increase tuition fees. Sometimes education
stakeholders get disappointed that their
suggestions are not carried after school leaders
have consulted them. They do not understand that
The consultation does not necessarily

Autocratic Leader

mean approval of stakeholders

suggestions.

In this style of leadership, a leader has

complete command and hold over their
employees/team. The team cannot put
forward their views even if they are best
for the team’s or organizational interests.
They cannot criticize or question the
leader’s way of getting things done. The leader himself performing or when the job is monotonous, unskilled
gets the things done. The advantage of this style is and routine in nature or where the project is short-
that it leads to speedy decision-making and greater term and risky.
productivity under leader’s supervision. Drawbacks of The leaders invite and encourage the team members
this leadership style are that it leads to greater to play an important role in decision-making process,
employee absenteeism and turnover. This leadership though the ultimate decision-making power rests with
style works only when the leader is the best in the leader. The leader guides the employees on what
 to perform and how to perform, while the employees style are that it leads to satisfied, motivated and more
communicate to the leader their experience and the skilled employees. It leads to an optimistic work
suggestions if any. The advantages of this leadership environment and also encourages creativity.

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The Teacher and the Community, School Culture and Organizational Leadership

to work this job s well.

at task. or task. to take on They
They Unwillin responsib are able
are g ilit and
novice to do y. willing
but the to not
enthusi task. only do
asti c. the
task, but
to take
responsi
bili ty for
the
task.
Here, the leader totally trusts their employees/team
to perform the job themselves. He just concentrates
on the intellectual/rational aspect of his work and
does not focus on the management aspect of his If the group member is able, willing and confident (high
work. The team/employees are welcomed to share readiness), the leader uses delegating leadership style.
their views and provide suggestions which are best The leader turns over the responsibility for decisions
for organizational interests. This leadership style and implementation to the members. On the other
works only when the employees are skilled, loyal, hand, if the group members have low readiness, I.e.
experienced and intellectual. unable and unwilling, the leader resort to telling or
coaching the group members what to do.
This leadership style leads to the kanya kanya
system, one of the weaknesses of the Filipino In short, competent members of the organization
character. There will be no problem if the situation is require less specific direction than less competent
ideal, I.e. each member of the organization has members. Less competent people need more specific
reached a level of maturity and so if the members direction than more competent people.
are left to themselves they will do only what is good
for the organization. On the other hand, it will be Among these leadership styles, no one style is
chaos if each member will do as s/he please even if it considered best for all leaders to use all
is against the common good
Situational leadership is a leadership style that has been
developed and studied by Kenneth Blanchard and Paul
Hersey. Situational leadership refers to when the leader or
The Situational Leadership Model
manager of an organization must adjust his style to fit the
Behavior Styles in Situational Leadership development level of the followers he is trying to influence.
S1 S2 S3 S4
According to Hersey and Blanchard, there are four basic
Directing Coaching Participati Delegatin leadership styles associated with the situational leadership
ng g model. The four are: directing ,coaching, participating and
Individu delegating.
als lack Individu Individuals Individuals the time. Effective leaders need to be flexible, and must
the als are are are
specific more
adapt themselves according to the situation, the
experienc experience
skills able to ed and d at the readiness and willingness of the members of the
required do the able to task, and organization.
for the task; do the comfort
job in howeve task but abl
hand r, lack the
Servant Leadership
e with
and they are confidenc their
they demotiv e own The very notion of a servant as leader, or “servant-
are at or the ability leadership” as it has come to be known, is purposefully
willing ed for willingnes to do it oxymoronic and arresting in nature. The theory’s
 originator, Robert K. Greenleaf, intentionally sought a
descriptor that would give people pause for thought,
and challenge any long-standing assumptions that
The Teacher and the Community, School Culture and Organizational Leadership
in an organization. By combining two seemingly contradictory who they are, in their professional as well as personal lives.
terms, Greenleaf asks us to reconsider the very nature of This more personal, integrated valuation of individuals, it is
leadership. Although aware of the negative historical
connotations associated with the word ‘servant’, he felt it a
necessary choice to turn established conceptions about the
organizational pyramid on their head, and jump-start insight
into a new view of leadership. This concern for linguistic
impact is further evidenced by the Greenleaf’s titling of his
seminal essay as “The Servant as Leader”, and not the inverse,
“The Leader as Servant.”
Each of these central tenets is explored individually below, to
present a fuller picture of the servant-leadership framework.
1. Service to Others. Servant-leadership begins when a leader
assumes the position of servant in their interactions with
followers. Authentic, legitimate leadership arises not from the
exercise of power or self-interested actions, but from a
fundamental desire to first help others. Greenleaf wrote that
this “simple fact is the key to [a leader’s] greatness” (1970, p. servant- Smith 5 leadership breaks away from the classic
2). A servant-leader’s primary motivation and purpose is to
encourage greatness in others, while organizational success is
the indirect, derived outcome of servant-leadership.
2. Holistic Approach to Work. Servant-leadership holds that
“The work exists for the person as much as the person exists
for the work” (Greenleaf, 1996, p. 8). It challenges
organizations to rethink the relationships that exist between
people, organizations and society as a whole. The theory
promotes a view that individuals should be encouraged to be
The Teacher and the Community, School Culture and Organizational Leadership
Transformational Leadership
might be held about the relationship between leaders
and followers
58
theorized, ultimately benefits the long-term interests
and performance of the organization.
3. Promoting a Sense of community. Greenleaf
lamented the loss of community in modern society,
calling it “the lost knowledge of these times” (1970, p.
28). Servant-leadership questions the institution’s
ability to provide human services, and argues that only
community, defined as groups of individuals that are
jointly liable for each other both individually and as a
unit, can perform this function. Only by establishing this
sense of community among followers can an
organization succeed in its objectives. Further, the
theory posits that this sense of community can arise
only from the actions of individual servant-leaders
(Greenleaf, 1970, p. 30).
4. Sharing of Power in Decision-Making. Effective
servant-leadership is best evidenced by the cultivation
of servant-leadership in others. By nurturing
participatory, empowering environments, and
encouraging the talents of followers, the servant-leader
creates a more effective, motivated workforce and
ultimately a more successful organization. As phrased by
Russell (2001), “Leaders enable others to act not by
hoarding the power they have but by giving it away” (p.
80). The organizational structure resulting from
servant-leadership has sometimes been referred to as
an “inverted pyramid”, with employees, clients and
other stakeholders at the top, and leader(s) at the
bottom. Exemplary followers, a product of delegated
decision-making, are a further example of servant-
leadership’s inverse nature, “another type of leader
turned inside out” (Sarkus, 1996, p. 28). Because
organizational pyramid and promotes flexible, delegated
organizational structures, many behavioral scientists see
it as a forward-looking, post-industrial paradigm for
leadership (incl. Lee & Zemke, 1993; Biberman & Whitty,
1997).
In other words, school head who acts as a servant
leader forever remebers that s/he is there to serve
his/her teachers, the students, the parents, etc. And
NOT the teachers, learners, parents to serve him/her.
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Transformational leadership is defined as a leadership
approach that causes change in individuals and social introduce innovation for the transformation
systems. In its ideal form, it creates valuable and positive
of the organization.
change in the followers with the end goal of developing
followers into leaders. This kind of leader seeks to change
employees goals, needs, identities, values, priorities and Sustaining Change
ambitions with the aim of boosting their trust and confidence
that would enable them to increase their performance and For reforms to transfod by the transform,
commitment to the organization.
the innovations introduced by the
transformational leader must be institional
leader must be institional and sustained. Or
else that that innovation is simply a passing
fad that loses its flavor after a time. A proof
that an innovation introduced has
transformed the organization is that the
result or effect of that change persists or
ripples even when the transformative leader
is gone or is transferred to another school or
gets promoted in the organization.
Robert Kennedy once said: “ Some men see
We feel most comfortable with our old pair
things as they are and ask why. I dream of things
or shoes. We like to live in our comfort
that never were and ask “ why not” are not
zones and so many times we don’t welcome
transformational leaders. The transformational
change. And yet if we want improvement in
leader is not content with status qou and sees
the way we do things in our organization, in
the needs to transform the ways the
our school or if we want ot improve in our
organization thinks, relates and does things. The
life we must be willing to change. To ensure
transformational leaders sees school culture as it
that the innovation he/she introduces leads
could be and should be, not as it is and so plays
to the transformation of the organization,
his/her role as visionary, engage r, learner,
Morato of Bayan ABS-CBN, (2011) gives the
collaborator, and instructional leader. As a
following advice:
transformational leader he/she makes positive
changes in the organization by collaboratively
1. Seek the support of the stakeholders.
developing new vision for the organization and
2. Get people involved early and often.
mobilizing members to work towards that vision.
3. Plan a communication campaign to sell
the innovation.
To do this trasformational leader combines
4. Ensure that the innovation is understood
charisma, inspirational leadership and
by all.
intellectual simulation to
5. Consider timing and phasing.

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The Teacher and the Community, School Culture and Organizational Leadership

Let’s apply! motivated, parents and community are not very

cooperative, and teacher have low morale. As a
After reading the key leader, what should you do? Outline your steps.
concepts, work on the following situations.
2. Based on this lesson and by means of an
1. You are assigned as a school head in a low acrostic, give qualities or specific behaviors of
performing school. Students are poorly
good leaders. readiness and willingness. C. A leader can choose the
leadership style that fits him most.
D. Authoritarian leadership is best because organization
L- accomplishes much.
3. Which is the essence of servant leadership?
E-
A. Leading is serving
B. Leading is making your subordinates feel your power
A-
over them.
C. Leading is ensuring that yourself is the first.
D
D. Leading is changing.
E 4. Who is most interested in improving the present
status of an organization?
R-
A. The authoritarian leader
S- B. The laissez faire leader
C. The transformational leader
Let’s D. The servant leader

asses your understanding!Encircle the 5. What must a leader do if he/she wants an

letter of the correct answer. innovation to affect substantially and positively school
culture?
1. Is a manager also a good leader?
A. Sustain the innovation
A. Yes B. Introduce innovation one after another C. Ensure
B. It depends on the person. that the innovation is welcomed by all, no exception
C. Not necessarily. D. School head is the origin of the innovation
D. It depends on the type of organization. 2. What is the
Reference:
message of situational leadership?
Prieto, N.G., et al.(2019). The Teacher, and The
A. A leader is first a servant. Community, School Culture, and Organizational
B. A leader must fir leadership style to the follower’s level of Leadership. Lorimar Publishing, Inc. Manila.

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