Senge (1990) states stating that many of the problems that face organizations can be traced to the lack of leadership. W.E. Deming (1988), leading advocate for Total Quality Management (TQM), is even more adamant about this point. He states that 85-90% of the problems that an organization experiences are due to the lack of leadership. There is little reason to think that education is any different. If significant changes in schools are to occur, then it is imperative that those who are responsible for providing leadership in education possess the vision, knowledge, and skills that are needed to bring about that transformation.
During the past sixty years the role of school administrators has undergone changes which parallel those that have occurred in how we view the role of leadership in organizations generally. Beginning in the 1930’s and extending into the 1960’s school administrators were expected managers to provide the technical skills that were needed to run schools as hierarchically structured, rationally organized, bureaucracies. This view of “leadership”, copied from business and industry, was driven by the belief that schools were similar to business organizations and that the way to improve them was to introduce was to apply the same managerial skills that appeared to be working so well in business and industry. Fundamental to this view was the belief that there was a clear distinction between leaders and those who were being led. Those at the top of the organization (principals and central office administrators) gave the orders and those at the bottom (teachers) followed the orders.
In the 1970’s organizational theorists, partially in reaction to the concept of leader as manager began writing about and promoting the great man view of leadership. According to this view, the organizations that were most successful were those that were led by someone who possessed the managerial skills described earlier and a also possessed a clear vision of where the organization ought to go, and who made the decisions that guaranteed that it would get there. Simply put, this model of leadership was the “great man” theory of leadership. In education this view was particularly evident in schools of thought which argued that if a school or district was not successful(however success was defined) it was the fault of the leader because it was the administrator’s sole responsibility to insure the success of the organization. What is now painfully clear is that in organizations that are as loosely coupled as schools such a view of leadership, while heroic, is not appropriate.
Recently a different perspective about leadership has evolved. This new notion of leadership is based upon a recognition that not only are we no longer a manufacturing economy, we are not even a information based economy. Rather we are becoming a knowledge production economy and the organizations that will be most successful in the future will be the ones who possess the capacity to access information and use it to produce new knowledge. In education this has led to the realization that schools also need to become places which the same kinds of activities occur. In essence, schools need to become learning organizations in which everyone is a learner. This new model of education requires a different kind of leader that possesses skills that are substantially different than either of the previous models of leadership (Senge,1990; Sergiovanni, 1992).
Senge proposes that in learning organizations the leader’s “new work” should include a commitment to:
- being the organization’s architect;
- providing stewardship; and
- being a teacher.
Leader as Architect: To explain why leaders need to be architects, Senge uses the analogy of trying to turn a large ship. He asks the question: Who is most important in ensuring that it can be turned successfully? The captain, the first mate, the navigator, or the engineer down in the engine room? Senge suggests that the single most important person in making sure that a ship can be turned successfully is the architect who designed the ship. If it is not well designed it will be virtually impossible to maneuver. Such a ship, regardless of its other features, will be virtually useless. It is vital that the design be done with a clear understanding of the “ship’s” purpose. If the purpose of schools is to provide a quality education for all students, then leaders need to design the organization with that purpose in mind. There is considerable evidence that schools as currently designed are not operating in the best interest of either the students they seek to educate or the people who work in them. This is certainly the case in our urban schools.
If, as Senge suggests, many of the conditions that impact organizations are beyond their control perhaps what is needed is to transform organizations. Nowhere is this more true than education. The factors and conditions that led to the present organization structure of schools no longer exists. What is needed is the fundamental transformation of schools as we know them so that they can be more responsive. If this is so, then leaders have a responsibility to get on with it.
Leader as Steward: The second dimension of leadership is that of providing stewardship. By stewardship Senge means that someone (or perhaps some group) within the organization needs to accept responsibility for ensuring that everyone who works in the organization is clear about why it exists. In schools, much lip service is given to the belief that “All children can learn”. In the learning organization Senge describes we need to go beyond just viewing students as learners and begin to think of everyone who is connected with the school as a learner. As Sarason (1991) has stated we will not be able to create the kinds of conditions that we need for students until we are committed to creating the same kinds of conditions for our teachers. Such a vision is very different from how schools have been organized in the past. As steward it is important to make sure that this new vision be put into practice and that the decisions that are made on a day-to-day basis be consistent with such a vision.
The act of stewardship means being entrusted with the responsibility for something. In education, one cannot assume that everyone has a clear picture of the school’s purpose; therefore, the act of providing stewardship of this new vision is critical.
Leader as Teacher: The central premise ofThe Fifth Disciplineis that the successful organizations that will exist in the future will be those in which everyone is a learner. There is a powerful message here for education. If we are truly committed to learning for all, the word “all” has to mean just that–everyone.
For schools to become learning organizations, the school’s leader(s) must accept responsibility for creating conditions that promote and enhance that learning. Principals must create opportunities for teachers to acquire information about what is occurring in the school and engage them in finding solutions to the problems that occur. A fundamental difference between the old view of leadership and that proposed by Senge is that the leader has a responsibility to create opportunities for teachers to learn about current research and apply that research in their classrooms in an environment that promotes learning. Perhaps most important of all, principals need to create a climate that promotes risk taking and eliminates the fear of failure. If these things can be done successfully schools will then possess the capacity to develop a shared vision about what needs to be done and engage in the kinds of activities that are needed to make their shared vision a reality.
“Throughout the world managers and other leaders are wrestling with the question of how to integrate experiences and goals among large groups of people working together in order to ensure that things happen in a learning mode” (Kline & Saunders, 1998).
“Most companies today are under severe pressure to proceed with needed organizational transformation in order to cope with increasing rates of environmental change and turbulence. These new organizations must be responsive, flexible, adaptable, and value adding for all stakeholders” (Dervitsiotis, 1998).
Organizations are open systems and their survival and prosperity depends on their ability to learn and adapt to threats and opportunities presented by dynamic external environments ([Burke, 2002]and[Katz and Kahn, 1978]). History is replete with examples of organizations that fail to learn and adapt internal processes to maintain congruence or “fit” (Nadler & Tushman, 1989) with evolving external environments
Our position is that doing so is best affected when leaders intervene: 1) at the micro level by fostering followers’ readiness to learn and promoting their learning through engagement in developmental experiences, 2) at the meso level by promoting and facilitating effective knowledge-centric social networks, and 3) at the macro/systems level by scanning, sanctioning, and institutionalizing critical emergent knowledge using specific leadership and management practices.
as advanced economies become more knowledge based, the importance of leadership for learning and innovation will increase, and the ability to create a climate for learning will likely become a valuable leader asset.
Building learning organizations requires that leaders develop employees who see their organization as a system, who can develop their own personal mastery, and who learn how to experiment and collaboratively reframe problems .
Learning requires that organizations and managers be truly open to the widest possible range of perspectives in order to identify trends and generate choices.
The difference between effective and ineffective leaders is their mental models or meaning structures, the way they view and deal with their world. They need to know that developing effective mental models is the key to their success.
the organization that learns well functions well. More precisely, the organization that enables knowledge to flow and be shared at all levels is the organization that performs best.
As stated by Senge (1990), the leader’s role in a learning organization is that of a designer, teacher, and steward who can build shared vision and challenge prevailing mental models. The leader is responsible for building organizations where people are continually expanding their capabilities to shape their future. Leaders of organizations can learn to enable successful knowledge management environments
The role of the leader is critical to the effectiveness, growth, and well-being of an organization. Under the influence of good leadership, organizational missions are established, goals are reached, problems are addressed through innovative and creative means, and the growth and development of individuals within the organization is nurtured. In short, without good leadership, organizations falter in their progress
Effective leadership is required in all types of organizational structures, whether they are political, economical, or social; encompassing both large and small businesses, families, and informal groups.