Leadership Style
Janet R. Jame
“Leading is giving. Leadership is an ethic…” (Bolman & Deal, 1995) It is easy to identify clear
links and application of this type of leadership perspective with the Symbolic Frame of
Organizational Processes (see reference chart accompanying this paper). Bolman and Deal
equated their four-frame model of organizations to factories, families, jungles and temples. In a
temple there is spirituality, not in the religious sense but in the sense that organizations are
communities of conviction, held together by commonalties such as traditions, myths, rituals,
ceremonies, values and beliefs. Leaders of temples must be spiritual. They guide people toward
meaning and faith in work; they nourish commitment and loyalty; and, they comfort those whose
faith in work may be burning out. "Spiritual leaders offer the gift of significance, rooted in
confidence that the work is worthy of one’s efforts, and the institution deserves one’s commitment
and loyalty." (Bolman & Deal, 1997)
The Symbolic Frame relies heavily on symbols, rituals, accountability and responsiveness in
negotiating new social order, approaches conflict through developing shared values and uses
conflict to negotiate meaning, communication through telling stories, and is principle centered. The
Symbolic Framework is increasingly important to me as I see it as a way of influencing and
developing school climate/culture. As our school approaches adopting a Whole School Reform
(WSR) model, I see establishing meaningful rituals & routines as a key to bridging change (to
confirm values & provide opportunities for change). Telling stories, symbols & celebrations are
important aspects of culture. If schools are to foster "covenental bonds of family" (Sergiovanni,
1996), then we need to develop that. I believe that shared occasions to celebrate & transform
culture are key.
The symbolic frame is also an optimum vehicle for teaching ethics with a spiritual dimension.
“In order for people to work together there must be a spiritual undertaking. This includes a search
for the spirit within and the creation of a community of believers united by shared faith and shared
culture.” (Whalen, 2000) As Bolman and Deal stated, “peak performance emerges as a team
discovers its soul.” (Bolman & Deal, 1997)
The Human Resource Frame/style of leadership has many aspects that are complementary to
the Spiritual Frame. Areas of emphasis that I bring with me as part of the HRF are; collaborative
goal setting, people involvement & communication, empowering, growth & self-actualization,
exchanging information, needs & feelings. Both styles of leadership (human resource and
symbolic) emphasize collaborative leadership approaches. “Common elements I see deal with
trust, leading by example, forming relationships, and getting to know the needs of the people you
lead. This is what is meant by putting people first. We all know that top down leadership doesn't
work. What leaders do is inspire people, empower them. They pull rather than push. This pull style
of leadership attracts and energizes people to enroll in a vision of the future.” (Cimino, 2000)
The dominant leadership style in education today is structural. This however, is changing as
educational reform movements are being implemented throughout the nation. “Many educational
leaders have not accepted the paradigm shift, and continue to be authoritative leaders. Reasons
probably include the fear to share power, lack of trust in subordinates, unwillingness to take risks,
and their accountability to their superiors.” (Evans, 2000) Slowly but surely collaborative style
leadership is emerging, becoming an effective driving engine for educational reform in America.
“As an administrator we will often use more than one frame depending upon the situation. We
must ask ourselves what our goal and mission is in order to execute the correct frame for that
particular situation.” (Davis, 2000) As Senge put it, “Building learning organizations is not an
individual task. It demands a shift that goes to the core of our culture. …. We need to invent a
new learning model for education …. This invention will come from the patient, concerted efforts of
communities of people invoking aspiration and wonder. As these communities manage to produce
fundamental changes, we will regain our memory – the memory of the community nature of the self
and the poetic nature of language and the world – the memory of the whole.” (Senge, 1999)
References
Bolman, Lee & Deal, Terrence. (1995) Leading With Soul. Jossey-Bass Publishers; San
Francisco, Ca.
Bolman, Lee, & Deal, Terrence. (1997). Reframing Organizations. Jossey-Bass Publishers; San
Francisco, Ca.
Cimino, Carl. (2000). SetonWorldWide, 6601, Week 6 Threaded Discussion. [online]. Available:
http://www.setonworldwide.net/re/A_ThreadDisc.real?RSOID=134909&CourseID=107591&CNodeI
D=17475&UnitNumber=6&47=64777 . (8/2000).
Davis, Marlene. (2000). SetonWorldWide, 6601, Week 6 Threaded Discussion. [online]. Available:
http://www.setonworldwide.net/re/A_ThreadDisc.real?RSOID=134909&CourseID=107591&CNodeI
D=17475&UnitNumber=6&47=64777 . (8/2000).
Evans, Ryan. (2000). SetonWorldWide, 6601, Week 6 Threaded Discussion. [online]. Available:
http://www.setonworldwide.net/re/A_ThreadDisc.real?RSOID=134909&CourseID=107591&CNodeI
D=17475&UnitNumber=6&47=64777 . (8/2000).
Senge, Peter. (1999). The Society for Organizational Learning, “Creating Quality communities”.
[online]. Available: Http://www.sol-ne.org/res/kr/qualcom.html . (8/2000).
Sergiovanni, Thomas. (1996). Review Notes: Leadership for the Schoolhouse. [online]. Available:
http://www.fso.arizona.edu/dickportfolio/qualifyexam/evidence/eda660/sergiovanni.htm ,
(8/2000).
Whalen, Diana. (2000). SetonWorldWide, 6601, Week 6 Threaded Discussion. [online].
Available:
http://www.setonworldwide.net/re/A_ThreadDisc.real?RSOID=134909&CourseID=107591&CNodeI
D=17475&UnitNumber=6&47=64777 . (8/2000).
* I also created a reference chart of the 4 leadership styles. It has
to be uploaded as a separate file (since it was done in Excel). If I
cannot upload 2 files into the mid-term I will have to send it as an
addendum in an e-,ail attachment.
- Janet R. James