Leadership vs. Management
Leadership vs. Management in the School Media Center
Stacy M Darwin
LSIS 5130
Core Assessment III
Dr. Linda Underwood
November 15, 2009
1
Leadership vs. Management
2
Merriam-Webster provides simple definitions to the words leadership and
management. Leadership is the “ability to guide, direct, or influence people” while
management is defined as “the organizing and controlling of the affairs of a business or
a sector of a business.” Even from these very basic definitions, it is clear that the two
words cannot be used interchangeably, though many try to do just that. The
exceptional school media specialist must wear both of these hats, balancing charismatic
forward thinking vision which promotes the program while also administering the daily
needs and workings of the school library. The opportunity for leadership in this position
exists, but the school media specialist must actively pursue it with enthusiasm in order
to be a positive influence and advocate for the services and opportunities available in
the media center.
Managing a school media center involves implementing the daily and weekly
objectives which in turn create order and achieve short-term goals. If this portion of the
position is overlooked or inadequately approached, the results would include disorder,
misuse of funds, inability to plan and utter chaos. Management involves many of the
visible established tasks that can be seen from the outside on any given day; budgets
must be thoughtfully created and adhered to, lesson plans made and presented, books
ordered and paid for, circulation of collection encouraged and managed.
The other side of the media center’s administrative coin is active leadership.
According to James Kotterman, leadership is an extremely old human preoccupation,
while management is a relatively new trend that is a result of the occupations leaving
the home and farm and relocating to factories with larger groups of people that needed
supervision and direct administration. The opportunity to be a leader in the school
Leadership vs. Management
3
through the position of school media specialist has perhaps historically been
overlooked. The tasks described above in what creates a successful manger are
required to create a stable, consistent workplace. Leaders must be able to look past the
day-to-day and have a pro-active vision for the future. After defining a vision to strive
for, one must establish a clear path to achieve it. Clearly, for all of this to be beneficial,
leaders must have followers and people that believe in the goal and direction they are
being lead. As stated in Mark Shead’s article entitled “Five Most Important Leadership
Traits,” there are certain personality traits and characteristics that make people want to
follow a leader. According to Shead, possessing the traits of being honest, forwardlooking, competent, inspiring and intelligent are directly correlated to the people’s
willingness and eagerness to follow. However, merely being able to claim these traits is
not enough. Many suggestions are given within this article as to how one can not only
attain and develop these traits, but how they can also reveal them in ways that build
respect and confidence in the individuals that one is leading.
Leaders come to the table with varied styles. Establishing and understanding
one’s strengths and weaknesses can be instrumental in realizing how we tend to lead
naturally and how different approaches may serve us better depending on the
situations. According to the Lewin’s Leadership Style test provided in our assignment,
my personality lends itself to a participative leader (psychology.about.com) . This style
is most effective when members of a group are confident and knowledgeable about
their tasks. As well to participative, the styles of authoritative and delegative are defined
in this article. An authoritative approach is required when members of a group need
more assistance and hands-on leadership, and delegative is used when the members
Leadership vs. Management
4
are highly competent to the point having more expertise on the matter at hand than the
leader.
In addition to the Lewin’s test, I also completed the popular Jung-Myers-Briggs
typology test which resulted in a type ENFJ (extroverted, intuitive, feeling, and judging)
(humanmetrics.com).
This is apparently a common result for teachers, which is
reassuring. Some of the descriptors in the summary of test results provided include the
ability to “see the big picture”, “can juggle a number of responsibilities and projects
simultaneously”, and “have tremendous power to manipulate others, but it’s usually not
meant as manipulation” because they “generally believe in their dreams and see
themselves as helpers.” I must say, I did not expect to receive such a detailed and
spot-on description of my personality from this quiz. Certainly, many of these traits will
benefit my ability to lead as a school media specialist. I feel my strengths include being
able to relate to people and truly valuing their opinions and feelings. Being a good
listener is fundamental in communicating, and I try to do so actively. As a leader, being
able to communicate to people of their own self-worth and abilities is the center of what
Stephen Covey calls “principle-centered leadership.” (Covey, 2006)
Some of the traits revealed in these quizzes have the ability to not always be
advantageous in a leadership role, and I feel it is imperative to address them in order to
avoid the creation of obstacles in my role as a leader. For instance, the perception that
I am trying to manipulate others due to my enthusiasm for my vision could certainly be
construed as deficit. Being aware of this, I would be sure to read body language and
take time to listen to responses to make sure I am not coming across to strong or
aggressive. It is also noted in the summary that ENFJ personalities tend to “neglect
Leadership vs. Management
5
themselves and their own needs for the needs of others” and because they have
“thinner psychological boundaries”, they “are risk for being hurt or even abused by less
sensitive people.” Even outside of the context of leadership, this is an important trait to
realize and be proactive in addressing. If a leader is physically and/or mentally depleted
they cannot effectively serve the group. Time for retreat and reflection is crucial for my
personality type. I need time to recharge. Dealing with sensitive emotions that are
easily bruised can be challenging, but I think it is important to realize that it is often not
intentional, and just how another person’s personality is perceived. As I mature, I find I
can deal with these incidents more gracefully and with understanding. Overall, I feel the
traits revealed by these tests will serve me well in my future career. I am confident that
I possess the qualities to balance management and leadership.
There are many stakeholders in and around a school community. Students,
parents, teachers, administrators, neighborhoods and local businesses are all involved
and invested with the vision and future of our schools. As leaders, we must build
relationships with these groups. A leadership style that is approachable but
authoritative will gain more ground and be more valuable than one that is either too
oppressive or overly aloof. Being the main advocate for the media center’s program,
how I represent myself and my agenda is paramount in my ability to market it.
Just naturally possessing (or working to establish) positive leadership traits is not
enough to be a valuable leader. Being educated on current issues and opportunities is
vital in leading in the academic world. In addition to regular professional development,
conferences and workshops specifically planned for school media specialists, obtaining
membership in nationally recognized organizations is one way to insure up-to-date
Leadership vs. Management
6
views and possibilities. This professional involvement also reflects dedication and
legitimization to the stakeholders mentioned above.
School librarians are much more than date-stampers and shelf-straighteners. It
is no secret the validity and necessity of school libraries and qualified media specialists
is questioned and undermined by many powers that oversee the distribution of funding
in our country’s school systems. As stated in article entitled “Taking the Leadership
Initiative: How You Can Fight the Budget Cut Battle”, “Until teacher-librarians begin to
advocate for and market school libraries, the funding will continue to be cut and given to
programs that are perceived as indispensable.” (Tarulli) This is one clear area that
school media specialists must lead and advocate in order to maintain their positions and
centers. When test scores supersede true information literacy and inquiry-based
learning, our entire culture will suffer. Making this message of change clear should be
one of our primary concerns as leaders. Tarulli suggests librarians create change by
taking approaches such as being proactive, seeking first to understand then to be
understood, and beginning with the end in mind.
The first step for change in perception and attitude is the placement of competent
media specialists that view themselves as being in a role that has the potential of setting
the tone for the entire school. Building partnerships, collaboration, establishing and
enriching curriculum, providing materials to improve student achievement and
supporting the foundation of lifelong learning are all long-term, visionary missions for
school media specialists.
Leadership vs. Management
7
References
Covey, S. (2006, June 17). Leadership Development Intervew with Stephen Covey. (S. Khan, Interviewer)
Howard, J., & Eckhardt, S. (2005). The Leadership Role of the Library Media Specialist. Library Media
Connection, pp. 32-34.
humanmetrics.com. (n.d.). Retrieved November 3, 2009, from Human Metrics:
https://nccu.blackboard.com/webapps/portal/frameset.jsp?tab_id=_2_1&url=/webapps/blackb
oard/execute/launcher%3ftype%3dCourse%26id%3d_34153_1%26url%3d Kotterman, J. (n.d.).
Lehmann, C. (2007). High Stakes for School for School Librarians. School Library Joural, p. 53.
Merriam-Webster.com. (n.d.). Retrieved November 9, 2009, from http://www.merriamwebster.com/dictionary/leadership
Merriam-Webster.com. (n.d.). Retrieved November 9, 2009, from http://www.merriamwebster.com/dictionary/management
psychology.about.com. (n.d.). Retrieved November 2, 2009, from
http://psychology.about.com/library/quiz/bl-leadershipquiz.htm
Tarulli, L. (2005). Taking the Leadership Initiative: How You Can Fight the Budget Cut Battle. School
Libraries in Canada, pp. 1-11.
Leadership vs. Management
8