Friday, 8 April 2011

Leader or Manager?

As a leader, do you characterize yourself as a leader, a manager, or a combination of the two?

Over time, the concept of 'leadership' vs. 'management' has somehow evolved into a pejorative view of management skills as a set of low-level, mundane and inferior set of skills when compared to the loftier instructional leadership skills.  The intention here is not to enter into a qualitative debate, but rather to demonstrate that an effective instructional leader needs to have well-developed management skills in order to lead effectively.  A poor manager will be hampered by broken relationships, mounds of unfinished paperwork, unmet deadlines and missing or unspent school funds. 

What follows is a synopsis of the key management skills whose absence have caused difficulty for some school leaders.

The article goes on to describe:
  • communication skills
  • time management
  • delegation
  • dispute resolution
  • fiscal responsibility
  • self-management
From:  Instructional Leadeship vs. Instructional Management by the OPC Professional Services Team
Published in: OPC Register - Spring 2011, Vol 13, No. 1

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