Chapter 7
Organizational Leadership and the School Administrator
From the awakening stages of youth, young men and women are counseled that
special rewards await those who achieve the coveted skill of leadership. A philosophy
professor who argued that this world needs is fewer- not more-great leaders, because the
great leaders are the ones who are always getting us into trouble. The concept of leadership
will be developed as it is seen differently through the organizational perspectives of
theories: classical theory, social system theory, open system theory
1. The classical theory perspectives- finds the leader in the upper reaches of the
hierarchy and endowed with natural psychological traits that give him or her
advantages over most mortals.
2. The social system perspectives- relationship among environment, organization
and workers changes so must the leadership in response to the new situation.
3. An open system theory perspective was initially developed by Ludwig von
Bertanlanffy (1956), a biologist, but it was immediately applicable across all
disciplines. It defines the concept of a system, where "all systems are
characterized by an assemblage or combination of parts whose relations make
them interdependent" (Scott p. 77). As one moves from mechanical to organic
and social systems, the interactions between parts in the system become more
complex and variable.
The Leadership Role
Leaders and Managers
People who spend a lot of time in educational systems are frequently asked
why schools are different from each other. Harbison and Myers stress the point: “The tone
of an organization is usually sounded by its top executive, and the success of the enterprise
may well depend on whether he infuses the whole hierarchy with energy and vision or
whether ineptness or neglect, he allows the organization to stagnate” Napoleon Bonaparte
had his own way of saying much the same thing” There are no bad regiments, only bad
coronels”.
The organization’s formal leader is in unique position to set the tone in schools, or
regiments because of his/her broad mandate to carry out the unit’s mission. “He is the only
one who can meddle at will” Mintzberg points out.
The terms leader, manager, and administrator tend to be used interchangeably.
Manager and administrator are practically synonymous, except that the former tends to be
more contemporary and carries the implicit connotation of possessing some significant
degree of decision making authority. An administrator, on the other hand, maybe little more
than an organization functionary carrying out routine tasks. The leader concentrates on two
areas: the leader’s strategic vision about the direction the organization should go, and the
leader’s no coercive skill at drawing subordinates into the active pursuit of strategic view.
The concept of manager, focuses on the nuts and bolts of making the organization work,
such as hiring, evaluating, distributing resources, and enforcing rules. Richard Nixon points
out that “leaders do the right thing “while managers doing things right”
Edgar Schein, argues that a principal function of leadership, as distinguished from
management and administration, is shaping and directing the organization’s culture.
“What the leader needs most is insight into the ways in which culture can aid or binder the
fulfillment of the organization’s mission and the intervention skills to make desired changes
happen.
The strong manager who is weak leader also exists in education. This is the person
who keeps his/her nose to the grindstone, ear to the ground, foot on the throttle, and finger
to the wind. Trying to make all subordinates emulate that posture earns such a manager the
title of “ the one you have love to hate” this individual usually can get a job done, but has
trouble sustaining quality performances over the long run.
Leadership Definitions
 Hunt and Osborn- essentially we see the leader filling the gap between subordinate
desires and abilities on one hand and organizational goals and requirements on the
other. When the gap is filled, there should be satisfied subordinates in a high
performance organization.
 Cribbin – differentiating between successful and effective leadership
”Successful leadership is the ability to get others to behave as the manager intended. The
job gets done and the manager’s needs are satisfied, but those of the other people are
ignored.”
“Effective leadership is the results in the manager’s intentions being realized as well as the
needs of the employees being satisfied’
Definitions of leadership differ because writer’s perspectives differ. There are three(3) basic
elements possesses important variations that define leadership
 The presence of unique psychological traits or behavior characteristics
(people)
 The art of compelling compliance or inducing compliance (processes)
 The presence of formal structure ,informal structure differential problem
situation (task complexity personnel competence)
 Ralph Stogdill has observed that the vast multitude of definitions of
leadership can be categorized under the headings, one of the categories
reveals the presence of one or more of the 3 basic elements
1. Leadership as a focus of group processes
2. Leadership as a personality and its effects
3. Leadership as the art of inducing compliance
4. Leadership as the exercise of influence
5. Leadership as act or behavior
6. Leadership as a form of persuasion
7. Leadership as an instrument of goal achievement
8. Leadership as an effect of an interaction
9. Leadership as a differential role
10. Leadership as the initiation of structure
The Leadership Environment: Classical Theory
The leader holds the high position because he/she is an elitist of sorts- superior in
mind, knowledge, and experience. The leader possesses as Barnard observes, the ability “to
bind the wills of men to the accomplishment of purposes beyond their immediate ends,
beyond their times.
Therefore, no one else is more qualified to sort out the tangles of problem situations
and set the organizations and set the organization back on the track of maximum efficiency.
Leadership and Psychological Traits
Thomas Carlyle postulated the “great man theory” of leadership, which argued that
the world progress can be attributed to the individual achievements of great men. Katz and
Kahn write:
The “great man” school views history as a study of biography. The protestant
reformation is the story of Luther, of Calvin, and of Zwingli: the French revolution, the story
of Voltaire, Robespierre, Danton and Napoleon and our own period, the tale of Hitler,
Roosevelt, Churchill, Stalin, Gandhi, Mao, De Gauille and Tito on the other hand, the cultural
determinists see history in terms of social patterns relatively unaffected by the intervention
leaders. Do great men cause great times or do great times cause great men? Shakespeare
entered the debate when he wrote, “Some are born great, some achieve greatness and
some have greatness thrust upon them”
From Psychological Traits to Sociological Settings
1. As behaviors that appeared not to the related to existing traits were revealed
in the data, new traits were postulated” until it became apparent that that
which included everything discriminated nothing
2. Because there were no finite and suitable psychological taxonomies, lists of
leadership traits
3. Test scores identifying leadership traits were not predictive of later leader
effectiveness in organizations.
4. The psychological trait approach ignored the important interaction between
the individual and the group
Leadership in Sociopolitical Groups
Leadership Definitions
Definitions in the sociopolitical group context also tend to include, but with differing
degrees of emphasis, the people, processes and systems ingredients of the leadership
 Katz and Kahn consider the essence of leadership to be “influential increment
over and above mechanical compliance with the routine directives of the
organization
 Lipham writes of the inherent contradiction in most definitions of
administrative leadership. The administrator is concerned primarily with
maintaining, rather than changing, established structures, procedures, or
goals..administrator maybe viewed as a stabilizing force…We may be defined
leadership as the initiation of a new structure or procedure for accomplishing
for changing an organization’s goals or objectives
 Jacob Getzels argues “The missing ingredient is recognition that leadership
depends on followership, a function of cooperation or mutuality with the
leader rather than forcible domination and coercion by the leader.
 Kelly stresses that it is the group that attains goals and not the leader, and
that leadership is the performance of acts which assits the group in achieving
certain ends.
 Holes and Davenport say that leadership is a process- not a category of
behavior, a prerogative of position or personality: nor a collectivity of
persons.
The Leadership Environment
For although leaders deal directly with individuals, ultimately it is organizations-that
is, group traditions, established relationships, and vested interest groups- which are their
main concern. Clearly, the problems, dilemmas, and inconsistencies of the organization and
of the society are the problems of the leader. They constitute the leadership setting. Willar
Lane et al.
Simply, holding the formal leadership role is not enough to ensure that the
collectivity of human involvement will be responsive to the initiatives of the leaders. They
also must establish a base of power and trust that will ensure followership. George Homans
thinks of this process as the “tactics of position maintenance”. Among these tactics are
 The leader lives up the norms of his/her group
 The leader originates interaction and
 The leader does not give orders that he/she believes will not be obeyed
In addition, instead of being the person in direct control of the school or the school
district, the leader is seen as the person in the middle who must somehow perform acts that
satisfy a multitude of complex and often conflicting demands. These demands for action do
not afford the luxury of surfacing one at a time: they often come like a cattle stampede at
midnight and strike out in every direction.
The problem of leadership is further complicated by the presence of what Willar
Lane et al call it “tempos” – the rise and decline of pressures generated by deadlines and by
close supervision. “Tempos often reflect the fact that the power of the leader is not
constant in all situations
For example: the school principal will sense that he has more authority, greater
responsibility for the school, and more obedience from subordinates when the school is
being inspected by the superintendent or visited by the Department of Education
representatives or by the parent group.
In order to work in this complex environment, Cribbin argues that the leader needs
three guides to action: clue sense, cue sense and negotiating sense;
 Clue sense- is the ability to receive and understand subtle signals that come
to the manager like pieces of a puzzle
 Cue sense- is the ability to pick up interpret signals coming from significant
individuals and groups inside or outside the organization because without the
cooperation of superiors ,peers, and key subordinates, managers will
encounter more failure than success
 Negotiating sense- the leader must negotiate to bring about win-win
relationships with superiors, peers, and subordinates whenever possible
Leadership and Gender
When acquiring positions in educational management, women have the deck
stacked against them. Slightly, 72% of all teachers are women. Yet, approximately 10.5% are
superintendents, 12% are secondary school principals, and 34% elementary school
principals.
In attempting to analyze the lack of success women have had entering educational
administration. Carol Shakeshaft identifies three (3) conceptual models often used to
explain the phenomenon
 The Women’s Place model- assumes that women belong in the kitchen and
not the boardroom

The Discrimination model- assumes that men conspire to keep women out of
management positions
 The Meritocracy model- assumes that only men have the unique blend of
skills and competence needed to succeed in the defined by the male
dominated culture of our society
Marilyn Loden writes that it is indeed possible for a woman to succeed in a male-dominated
organization without being “one of the boys”. Feminine leadership brings characteristics
that are increasingly important in the complex modern organization.
Leadership Styles
Initiating Structure- Consideration Leadership Styles
Two major factors labeled as: Halpin define two:
 Initiating structures –refers to the leaders’ behavior in delineating the
relationships between himself and members of the workgroup, and in
endeavoring to establish well defined patterns of organization, channels of
communication, and methods of procedure
 Consideration refers to behavior indicative of friendship, mutual rest and
warmth in the relationship between the leader and the members of his staff
University of Makati
J.P. Rizal Ext., West Rembo, Makati City
College of Arts, Sciences and Education
Graduate Studies
In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements
in
Education and Management of Educational Institutions
EDUC 511
Submitted by:
Nenita P. Ogania
Student
Submitted to:
Dr. Amelia Plopenio-Paje
Professorial Lecturer
Oct. 13, 2012