Finding Your Leadership Style: A Guide for Educators

by Jeffrey G. Glanz

What makes a good educational leader? How can you be one? Is a job candidate an effective leader who can work with students and staff in your school or district? According to author Jeffrey Glanz, each of us has natural leadership abilities. Although no single leadership style is better than another, matching a person's style with an assignment leads to success for the person, his colleagues, and the organization. The key is to identify and actualize each person's natural leadership style. Full descriptions of the seven types of leaders-Dynamic Aggressives, Dynamic Assertives, Dynamic Supportives, Adaptive Aggressives, Adaptive Assertives, Adaptive Supportives, and Creative Assertives-afford valuable insight into your own behaviors and the strengths of those around you. Glanz uses vivid, authentic scenarios to illustrate the qualities of each leadership type, and identifies seven virtues that are critical for all leaders and yet are often overlooked in educational leadership programs. An invaluable aid to teachers, supervisors, and district leaders, this book provides questionnaires and focus questions to help you analyze leadership potential in yourself and in colleagues. The author also shows you how to go about the crucial process of matching leadership qualities with specific jobs in the educational system, from teacher to superintendent. Understanding the natural leadership qualities and virtues helps you to create an educational environment that is characterized by excellence.

Genres: Education, Leadership

217 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2002

Reviews

[Liv · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quick read about various leadership styles within the field of eduction. Contains several assessments to help determine your leadership quality style and virtues. Helpful suggestions are provided for how to support each type of leaders as well as how to improve your own leadership abilities based on your personal qualities. Great for educators!

[Anthony · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a good read to give language to articulate what your style is. The descriptors are also readily understood by layfolk (and others who haven't read the book). It also gives useful and practical guidance to determine what the challenges may be for a particular leadership style and some possible pathways to minimize the negative impact of those challenges. I'll have the rest of my leadership team read this if they are amenable to that.

[Jennifer]

Started off well - it was interesting paired with "Quiet" which I was finishing at the same time. The anecdotes were helpful, but it was rather thin and stretched out, especially the last couple of chapters.