Successful School Leadership Is Vital

There are traits that bode well for winning leaders

edCircuit Breakdown:

• Successful school leaders are made not born. Sometimes is hard to predict who will become one. This principal of the year actually flunked third grade and altered his report card to fool his mother into thinking he was a good student.
• Some people think that a school principal should be treated like a Fortune 500 CEO.
• As far as superintendents go, there is a growing trend to have the superintendent to be highly visible in the community, sometimes even before they get the job.

edCircuit Analysis:

Everybody wants a school leader, whether it be a principal or a superintendent at the district level, to be an active, caring participant in the everyday lives of students. But what kind of traits and qualities make up a successful school leader?

One way to look at it is to analyze the four types of leadership styles. The absent leader is the principal who hides in his office all day avoiding interaction. The authoritarian leader seizes power and refuses to share it. The delegator spreads responsibility to those in the trenches. And the role model nurtures and supports teachers and staff to make the school the best it can be.

Breaking it down to those basic styles makes it clear that the delegator and the role model are the best, and therefore most successful styles, with the role model being ideal.

Author

Further Reading

1. St. Louis Post-Dispatch – Elected school board ensured community involvement
2. Education Week – Fundamental Qualities of a Successful School Leader
3. The Guardian – Qualities of successful school leaders