Influencing Up, Down, and Sideways
Camille Catlett
FPG Child Development
Institute
University of North Carolina
(919) 966-6635
camille.catlett@unc.edu
Situational
Leadership
Transformational Leadership
Servant Leadership
Directive Leadership
Able to lead based on time, place and/or
circumstance
Strong ability to influence and inspire others
Influence and inspire others
Create change and inspire a vision
Work effectively with complexity, ambiguity and uncertainty
Focus on the needs and goals of others
Determine what actions and behaviors are
most likely to benefit those being served
Monitor, guide, coach, direct and evaluate the work of others
Influenced by values and beliefs about how people (children and
adults) grow, change and develop
Often needed when an individual or group is performing a new task
Watch
the video clip from Sister
Act.
Observe
the types of leadership
practiced by Sister Mary
Clarence (Whoopi Goldberg).
How
did Sister Mary Clarence
lead sideways?
Lead
up?
Lead
down?
The people who make a
difference in the lives of
young children and families –
who provide daily leadership
– are not the ones with the
most credentials, the most
fame, the loftiest titles, or
the most awards. They’re
people like you who lead
from the middle.
the words “leading
from the middle” and
you’ll get over 37
million results.
...
A
new way of thinking about collaborative
leadership
 Leading as a peer, not a superior
 Using persuasion, influence, relationship
skills, and political smarts to achieve the
desired outcome
 Influencing others to accomplish things
that none of them could accomplish – at
all or as well - individually

Leadership is relationship

Leadership is everyone’s business

Leadership development is self-development
(Modified from Kouzes & Posner, 2003, p. 47)



It’s not about position or fame or fortune.
It’s about working and learning with
people whose experience, education,
gender, and professional affiliations differ.
Individuals who lead from the middle can
touch each and every life by enhancing
colleague-colleague, supervisorpractitioner, practitioner-family
relationships. These relationships, in turn,
strengthen family-child and familycommunity relationships.
Write down the names of the
following:
 The 2011 and 2012 Time magazine
Persons of the Year
 Five Nobel or Pulitzer Prize winners
 The 2010 and 2011 Best Picture,
Best Actor or Best Actress Academy
Award winners
(Modified from Kouzes & Posner, 2003)
Now write down the following:



a teacher or coach who encouraged you
in school
a friend who helped you through a
difficult time
a person who has taught you something
worthwhile
(Modified from Kouzes & Posner, 2003)
The people who make a
difference in our lives – who
provide daily leadership –
are not the ones with the
most credentials, the most
fame, the loftiest titles, or
the most awards.





Take the time to read each other’s cues and adjust
their own behavior in supportive ways
Demonstrate mutual respect in the way they share
observations, raise questions, participate and reveal
their professional selves
Reinforce and support both collective and
individual needs and priorities
Remain resilient in periods of stress
Repair breakdowns when they occur

Leadership is collaborative.

You don’t have to be in a position of power or
prestige to be an effective leader or change
agent. Anyone can make a difference.

Who do you influence?
What do you have to
share?
How do you make a
difference on a daily
basis?


A leader’s
primary
instrument is
him or herself.
To develop
others, we have
to develop
ourselves.
•Demonstrate
•Ask
•Share
•Clarify
•Challenge
A
leader is anyone who engages in
the work of leadership.
Everyone has
the potential and right
to be a leader.
Leadership
(Lambert, 1998)
is a shared endeavor.

Which concepts
apply to your
own work?

Which concepts
could you apply
to your own
work?
Is leadership something
that’s easier to see in others
than in ourselves?
who you influence (think up, down,
and sideways)


what you have to share
how you can make a difference on
a daily basis
