TESOL 2014 and Being a Leader

This was the first time I attended a TESOL and I was amazed at how big and how well-organized it is. It was great to see so many teachers from all over the world learning, sharing, motivating and being motivated. There was a huge variety of topics for the presentations, with options for everybody’s interests. I chose to attend those related to Teacher Development and Leadership not only because of my present position at Thomas, but also because I believe we teachers are always searching for professional development opportunities and we are all leaders.

There was one particular presentation I enjoyed a lot and would like to share with you: “Leadership Skills and Styles Affecting Leaders” by Dr. Sufian Abu-Rmaileh, from the United Arab Emirates University.

He started by defining Leadership:

“The act of identifying important goals and then motivating and enabling others to devote themselves and all necessary resources to its achievement. It includes summoning one’s self and others to learn and adapt to the new situation represented by the goal” (NYSBR 2003, p. 3)

“Much more an art, a belief, a condition of the heart, than a set of things to do” (De Pree 1989, p.148)

So, who is a leader?

Astin and Astin (2000) define a leader as anyone who has a formal position and who holds the role of bringing about change in the society in which they live and work.

De Pree (1990) says that one of the major tasks of a leader is to expand and unleash the talents and skills of the different people in the organization.

These definitions made me think of how much we teachers match them. Every semester we face different challenges to which we have to adapt and learn how to deal with. We are in charge of groups of students who need our constant guidance, model, assistance and motivation. More than teaching English, we teach them how to respect and help their peers, how to accept different opinions, how to overcome their difficulties. 

Good leaders help their team achieve their goal, which should be in accordance with the institution’s/organization’s. I particularly like De Pree’s  saying about the role of a leader. A good teacher/leader should be able to expand and unleash the talents and skills of the different people s/he leads.

There are different leadership styles and we can adopt different styles according to our and others’ necessities and in different moments of our life. Dr. Abu-Rmaileh talked about the six leadership styles listed below.

1.       Directive Leader:

Allows little or no negotiations

Keeps tight control without delegating

Is not flexible or open to new ideas

2.       Visionary Leader:

Has clear standards and feedback

Explains the logic behind procedures

Inspires people to a higher purpose for their work

3.       Affliliative Leader:

Creates harmony and affective/emotional bonding

Avoids confrontation with others

Provides little explanation on direction or rationale behind tasks

4.       Democratic/Participative Leader:

Collaboration and team concurrence

High on trust, respect and commitment

Motivates his/her team by empowering them to direct themselves

5.       Pacesetting Leader:

Sets high standards for performance

Obsesses about doing things better, faster, quicker

The pursuit of excellence is overwhelming

6.       Coaching Leader:

Helps team members to discover their own strengths and weaknesses

Guides people to find and create their own career development

Links goals, personal and career, with those of the organization

Leadership Matrix

	How it Builds Resonance	Impact On Climate	When Appropriate	Competency requirements
Visionary	Moves people towards shared dreams	Most strongly positive	When changes require a new vision, or, when clear direction is needed	Self-Awareness, Self-Confidence, Empathy, Transparency, Visionary Leadership, Change Catalyst
Coaching	Connects what a person wants with organisational goals	Highly positive	To help an employee improve performance by building long term capabilities	Self-Awareness, Empathy, Developing Others
Affiliative	Creates harmony by connecting people to each other	Positive	To heal rifts in a team, motivate during stressful times, or strengthen connections	Empathy, Teamwork & Collaboration, Conflict management, Building Bonds
Democratic	Values peoples input and get commitment through participation	Positive	To build buy in or consensus, or to get valuable input from employees	Empathy, Teamwork & Collaboration, Influence
Pacesetting	Meets challenging and exciting goals	Is often Highly Negative  - because it is generally poorly executed	To get high quality results from a motivated and competent team	Self-Awareness, Empathy, Self Control, Achievement Drive, Transparency, Initiative, Adaptability, Teamwork & Collaboration
Commanding	Soothes fears by giving clear direction in an emergency	Can be Highly Negative – because so often misused	In a crisis, to kick start a turnaround, or with a problem employee	Self-Awareness, Self-Control, Empathy, Achievement drive, Initiative

http://www. maetrix.com.au/leadership_styles.asp

I’m sure you have recognized yourself at different moments of your professional life in many of the characteristics listed above. These characteristics are just a few among many others for each style. We can select some and put them together to come up with our idea of an effective leader. Dr. Abu-Rmaileh presented effective leaders as being:

-          Visionary

• -          Trustworthy, fair and honest
• -          Role Models and Mentors – “Effective leaders demonstrate courage in difficult situations, and provide a model of moral leadership for other to emulate” (NYSBR, 2003, p. 2)
• -          Visible
• -          Dedicated – Effective leaders are dedicated to the institution which they serve. They have commitment and loyalty to the constituents and to the institution.
• -          Good Communicators

The implications of good leadership are many. Good leadership in the classroom leads to a calm end of semester, not necessarily an easy one, but surely one in which we have a sense of accomplishment. Some of the implications Dr. Abu-Rmaileh talked about and I believe are appropriate for a classroom environment were:

• -          Achievement drive: high level of effort, high levels of ambition, energy and initiative
• -          Honesty and integrity: a trustworthy environment
• -          Self-confidence: belief in one’s self, ideas and ability
• -          Emotional maturity: well-adjusted groups

The presentation made me reflect on the kind of leader I am and the kind of leader I want to be, my personal characteristics that influence on my leadership style, and the aspects I need to work on in order to be a better leader. I hope it helps you see yourselves as leaders too and realize the importance of being a good leader.