Running head: LEADERSHIP REFLECTION PAPER

Leadership Reflection Paper

DOC/731R
School of Advanced Studies, University of Phoenix
William L Buckley
Dr. Susan Ferebee
February 26, 2014

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As a leader, I will empower others by encouragement, providing the right tools,

cultivating a vision that includes everyone, individually and collectively to take ownership. I will
admit to my short comings when needed. I will inspire others to act through my actions and
words, both oral and written. I will constantly seek to challenge myself and develop as a leader,
at the same time, I will support and mobilize others to do the same. In becoming a more
proficient SPL, I have learned how to motivate others using examples and excitement. When
applied to an older adult learner it is sometimes easier to have them see how something works
rather than tell them to do it.
The leadership theories that support my plan are both Transformational and
Transactional. In education they are not exclusive and to train future citizens, I use both. My
leadership strengths and weaknesses are clear after taking the required assessments and they
required me to become transparent. I am now a leader constantly learning and growing into the
leader I envision in the future. My action plan for accomplishing my future leadership goals, are
specific, realistic, and measureable. I will use my plan to accomplish my future goals as a leader
and constantly assess my progress through a comprehensive plan as outlined here.
Transformational leadership tends to focus on the culture and learning experiences of
people. In addition, the goal of transforming the values and priorities of followers and
motivating them to perform beyond their expectations (Avolio & Yammarino, p. 69) is a goal of
all leaders. As a teacher I provide real life examples to support what I am teaching in the
classroom. By using these examples the material is brought to life for the student and gives them
a connection to associate their learning with and perform better on assessments. In transactional
leadership I focus on the exchange of rewards for compliance (Avolio & Yammarino, p. 69).
Transactional leadership is task-oriented and requirement oriented with rewards that are

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anticipated for the performance of the individual or group. I expect the same outcome by the
student in this case, the difference is the student receives a reward for success or a punishment if
unsuccessful.
Both of these leadership styles are effective in my profession and will continue to be of
use as long as they are successful. Bass (1999) stated that transformational leaders seek new
ways of working. Transformational leaders dont react to the circumstances; they attempt to
shape and create them. I may use transactional leadership strategies when appropriate to increase
effort by raising mental awareness about the outcome. By increasing self- awareness and
investing in the student, his or her success is heightened. My teacher student relationship allows
both leadership styles to be of use. It is dependent on the student and the desired outcome. At
times either transformational or transactional leadership styles are effective for multiple students
concurrently.
During these last five days I have strived to understand the goal of the scholarship,
practitioner and leadership (SPL) Model as it focuses on our ability to lead. Our continued
development in the field of education allows us to pursue lifelong learning, contribute effectively
to our community and grow socially by working with our peers. In doing the exercises this week
I can see the positive influence we were required to maintain while being pushed to the extreme.
In working with the two different groups I learned that we must locate, evaluate, and use
information to complete a respectable presentation of a topic for which we may know nothing
about. Our ability to gather information about global problems allowed us to pull from the
literacy. We also were required to collaborate and give feed forward to show the relationship to
our SPL. Most of the feedback I received was positive and not very constructive. The only
person who felt a need to give constructive feedback was Cheryl. She related it back to my

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ability to wait until the last minute to turn assignments in and how this may make others
uncomfortable. In our future classes I will strive to put my best foot forward and turn in
assignments earlier so that others may contribute or give relevant feedback.
The self-assessment of my conflict, power, and leadership styles display I am capable of
effective collaboration that meet the goals necessary to accomplish the known mission and for
the success of my class or team. I understand that communication, accommodation, and
motivation are important for transformational leadership practices. My strengths lead to the
intellectual nature of leadership and my concern for people indicates a strong transformational
leadership style. In the transformational leadership model, the leader provides influence
(charisma), inspirational motivation, intellectual stimulation, and individualized consideration
(Avolio & Yammarino, 2002, p. 111). When reviewing my leadership style in the past, I tended to
avoid conflict by communicating with others for understanding of goals as a team member. I
found this to be a problem. In avoiding conflict by accommodating and compromising, I
sacrificed the task at hand and the mission. Since beginning of this program I have improved my
ability to resolve conflict and not accommodate or compromise unless the situation warrants it. I
have a stronger concern for people then for task, but have worked towards making it an equal
balance between the two. My original observation was that I am more effective (Jui-Chen &
Silverthorn, 2005, p. 280) in charismatic leadership. From the beginning to the end I have a
balanced approach to taking care of people and taking care of the task. I am capable of
convincing people to complete the task by motivating them through charisma and rapport.
As a teacher I am an expert in a wide range of areas, I share this everyday with students,
athletes, coaches, co-teachers and administrators. I understand that expertise and content sharing
provides intellectual stimulation to others while motivating them to higher levels of achievement.

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In the military and in the education field every activity requires teams and team building.
I strive to understand and build upon the ability to guide classes, teams, and individuals to a
common goal of completing the task at hand. In the classroom the goal is to learn the material as
is guided by the standards. I am required to manage my time and resources in a controlled
environment to accomplish this goal. I can accomplish this by having the students understand
and apply his or her effort to their education. As a coach I strives to bring the team together and
make the team cohesive but still having the athlete striving for his or her personal goals. The
success of the class and the team, are dependent on my ability to lead effectively. In order to do
this effectively I must lead the group to the belief that they can focus, and have the desire to
complete the same task as a team. To accomplish this, I must set the example by continually
learning and growing myself.
As a leader I am still struggling with a lack in confidence and organizational skills. My
biggest problem is my daily plan which keeps me focused and on task. I take my time for
granted, and do not have a set vision for my future, rather a wide range of things I want to do. In
the past two years I have made great strides in becoming more organized and realizing my
leadership style is of value. I may not think like others, but there is a place in the world for me.
To continue my growth I will have the right mindset and teach the growth mindset principles to
my students, athletes, and son. Heath and Heath stated (2007), Your brain is like a muscle that
can be developed with exercise everything is hard before it gets easy. I will continue to pursue
my education as long as I am capable of reading and writing.
My plan is becoming a reality, I have made great strides in accomplishing it and staying
focused through continued follow through. For example, I have used a weekly and class
spreadsheet to track what I am doing on what day. This has allowed me to set aside time to spend

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with my family and understand when something must be completed. One of the biggest
advantage to my time management is sleep. I now go to bed by 11 pm which is something I was
not doing before my time management. I have set aside Sunday to complete the upcoming
weeks assignments in advance in order to allow me to learn and engage with my fellow
students. I still need to be more cognizant of the here and now, to keep my focus on the small
things in life and not to focus on the bigger picture of tomorrow. The biggest thing I have learned
is to focus on the present, do little things now that will lead the bigger thing later
I believe that attending this doctorate program has given me enough time to nurture my
plan. I have learned so much from the facilitators and other students. I have and will continue to
develop relationships with mentors and experienced individuals over the course of my studies.
The primary responsibility of an education leader is to put in place learning that engages students
intellectually, socially, and emotionally. I will continue to work at my emotional intelligence
striving to keep my intellectual, social, and emotional skills at the highest level by reading
scholarly books and interacting with experts in my field. In my daily tasks, I will evaluate how I
am leading my students, athletes, assistant coaches, and representing my fellow teachers. At the
completion of every school year and every track season, I will continue to write down my
reflection and action plan for the next year. I will reassess this plan at the beginning of the new
school year and track season. As I progress through my education, I will continue to implement
my learning in my daily activities. My dissertation directly relates to my professional goals and
is a guide to my future leadership in the 21st century schools. As the schools grow and change, I
will make every effort to stay ahead of the learning curve to ensure the success of my students
and staff. My focus for the next year is to continue reading and writing until the completion of

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my dissertation. At this time I have a chair and will correspond with him in a timely manner as
well as find the rest of my team.
Leadership must know what it wants, be able to communicate it, and empower others
while staying on the course (Wren, 1995). I have stayed the course with a few adjustments along
the way. My strategy for maximizing my leadership effectiveness was outlined from the
beginning and I have reiterated it in this paper. I have taken the feedback I have received from
this course and will apply it to my growth in the future. I have defined the theories I will use and
maximized my leadership effectiveness. I have integrated transformational and transactional
leadership where needed and in the appropriate situations, with the focus now shifted more
towards a citizenship leadership model. I will continue to use the lessons learned in the last two
years to grow my leadership and understand that it is never a completed process. My action plan
has been realistic and achievable. The process of learning is never finished and as such I will
always be relevant and cognizant of the fact that I must always strive to become a better scholar,
practicionar, and leader.

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References

Avolio, B. J., & Yammarino, F. J. (2002). Transformational and Charismatic Leadership: The
Road Ahead. San Diego, CA: Emerald.
Bass, B. M. (1999). From Transactional to Transformational Leadership: Learning to share the
vision.. Organizational Dynamics, Winter(4), 19-31.
Heath, C., & Heath, D. (2007). Leadership is a Muscle. Fast Company, 1(117), 62-63.
Jui-Chen, C., & Silverthorne, C. (2005). Leadership Effectiveness, Leadership Style and
Employee Readiness. Leadership & Organization Development Journal, 26(3), 280-288.
Wren, J. T. (1995). The Leaders Companion Insights on Leadership through the Ages.. New
York, NY: The Free Press.