Jossey-Bass mentions that trustworthy leaders are at the heart of successful schools. Trustworthy leadership gets everyone on the same team, pulling in the same direction. The five facets of trust, the five functions of leadership and the various stakeholders work together to bring about change in schools. When examining change in schools morally based leadership is an adequate framework to utilize. According to Jossey-Bass, morally based leadership taps into what is important to people and what motivates them. In order for change to come, stakeholders must share in the commitment. When examining what is important to people and what motivates them, one is analyzing the forces which drive change. I believe it is only natural that people are moved by what is important to them. The trustworthy leadership matrix could be used to analyze data. For example, the model could be used to analyze teachers’ perceptions of their principals’ competence as it relates to developing and carrying out a shared vision. It is my belief that teachers who rate their principals as having low or no competence will not trust the principal to establish and carryout a workable vision for the institution. Should teachers have no confidence in the vision they will be less willing to go along with it or accept it as valid. This will perhaps result in conflict and chaos. In this example, one of the 5 facets of trust influences the teachers’ (one of the 5 constituents of schools) ideas and feelings as it relates to the principal’s vision (5 function of leadership). In another example, should the principal rate the reliability of her/his teachers as low when considering their commitment to the overall vision then that may result in a hands on approach of leadership. With mistrust a principal may feel a need to direct and micro-manage every decision. The result is inefficiency in the system.

Dev. a leadership identity

"Developing a leadership identity: A grounded theory" gives significant insight into the establishment of leadership identity. After reading the article, I couldn’t help but think of negative influences which perhaps aided in shaping the development of the participants leadership styles. The effect of negative influences may be as important as the positive influences for development of leadership identity. For instance someone may decide to be a more open, truthful leader as a result of being in a situation where the leader was closed and not truthful. It is perhaps natural that memories of positive leadership stick out in the minds of the participantss. However, the effect of all leadership experiences is important and worthy of study. Also after reading the article, it seems that certain people may have a greater influence in the development of leadership styles. Those with authority, usually adults, seem to have a significant influence on the development of leadership throughout every stage. Although adults seem to play an important role in the participants leadership development, it is important to know whether as they aged if participants' peers had an increase in the influence of leadership development also.

leadership

According to Jossey-Bass reader, the organizations that will succeed are those that will take on the role of learning organizations. These are the organizations that will foster learning at every level of the organization; from the lowest position to the highest. This is indeed true for any organization in any field and education is no exception. The book uses examples of leadership styles from the business community. Perhaps it is only a matter of time before business and education intertwine. I recall reading a Chronicle article which explored the need for new leadership in higher education due to the current economic climate. Some believe that governing boards will look to leaders in industry due to their business connections and ability to raise funds in a time where there are dramatic cuts and furloughs. I question the effectiveness of such leadership because although education and industry are similar, there are undeniable differences which could stifle progress. Jossey-Bass defines leadership as the process of persuasion or example by which an individual induces a group to persue objectives held by the leader or shared by the leader and his/her followers. One of the disciplines of the learning organization includes the building of shared vision which fosters genuine commitment and enrollment rather than compliance. When considering business and education, there are cultural differences which could hinder a leader’s ability to persuade and build a shared vision. Those in higher education may be weary of those with a business background. With industry the reason to be in business is to sell a product or service (to make a profit). In education the end product is a little less clear and the bottom line is not to make money (or so we’re told). Therefore, leadership could be somewhat different.