What Effective Leaders Do

Kouzes and Posner propose 5 leadership practices.  As a leader, to what degree do you engage in these practices?

According to an extensive database compiled by Kouzes and Posner (2002), leaders who accomplish extraordinary results with others use five leadership practices.  Their actions contribute to their effectiveness and the success of those with whom they work.  Effective leaders use these five leadership practices:

1. Model the way - It is no surprise that effective leaders are credible.....They are clear about their own personal values and views and build a consensus among others about the values that will guide all of them.  Leaders 'model the way' by checking to make sure their actions are consistent with their values...
2. Inspire a shared vision - Effective leaders care deeply about what they want to accomplish and work with their colleagues to identify common, shared goals and aspirations for the future
3. Challenge the process - Effective leaders question and work to change the status quo.  They take on challenging projects that help them learn something new.  They learn from their failures as well as their successes...
4. Enable others to act - Leaders foster collaboration and teamwork.  They share power and responsibility.  They actively remove hierarchy and other roadblocks to increase interactions among people who need to work together. 
5. Encourage the heart - Effective leaders build a strong caring community in which people praise and recognize success.  They know success breeds success and celebrate each small milestone.  They support and encourage everyone when the going gets tough.

From:  Leading Every Day by Joyce Kaser, Susan Mundry, Katherine E. Stiles, and Susan Loucks-Horsley
Published by: Corwin Press & NSDC (National Staff Development Council)

Sustainable Leadership

As a leader, in what ways are you building sustainable leadership in your organization?

Beyond the revolving doors of leadership that plague many systems today, sustainable leadership builds capacity and develops leadership succession in a dynamic and integrated strategy of change.  The seven principles of sustainable leadership are a fundamental part of the Fourth Way.

1. Depth - of purpose in developing student learning
2. Breadth - so this purpose and its achievement are a shared and distributed responsibility
3. Endurance - over time
4. Justice - in attending to all students' learning and achievement
5. Resourcefulness - in using financial resources and human energy
6. Conservation - in connecting future visions to past traditions
7. Diversity - of curriculum, pedagogy, and team contributions

From: The Fourth Way by Andy Hargreaves and Dennis Shirley
Published by: Corwin, OPC - Ontario Principals' Council, and NSDC - National Staff Development Council