Adaptive Leadership

In this analysis, we take a look at the adaptive nature of leadership and how the organization of a school can be largely dependent on how its leaders adjust to various situations that present themselves on a daily basis.  Owens and Valesky (2007) discusses how “leadership cannot be a solo performance: by definition, as we shall see, the only way that leaders can exercise leadership is by working with and through other people, the followers.”  This statement opens the chapter in a way that looks at the concept of leadership as an entity that needs to be aware of its surroundings.  A school environment is an ideal place to see adaptive leadership in action as administrators and teachers in leadership roles make decisions that effect an entire schools population.  The leadership theory that is presented in chapter 8 of the textbook, written by Owens and Valesky highlights the theories brought forth by Bernard Bass and James Burns through transformational and transactional leadership.
The theory that Bass supported,  “spoke of leaders to be either “follower focused” (i.e. emphasizing concern for people) or “task focused” (i.e. emphasizing rules and procedures for getting the task done)” Owens and Valesky (2007).  Both of these dimensions as it were bring forth characteristics of good leadership that are prevalent in our schools today.  The analysis of the first of Bass’ theories, “follower focused” leadership is where we will start.  For instance, we are in the process of re-creating our school mission statement and vision of what our school needs to be, moving forward.  Our administrative team has asked our staff to help us put together “I Believe” statements to focus our discussions as the vision statement is created.  The positive support that is given to staff members by the administrative team in the school is paramount to the success of an activity such as this.  This follower focused approach to ultimately producing a positive outlook for our school and is showing our staff that we as an administrative team have a genuine concern of our teaching staffs’ morale.  Therefore, the purpose of this exercise is to hopefully reignite staff members that have felt stagnant in their teaching practice.
Further to Bass’ theories, James Burns coined the terms transformational and transactional leadership. Burns wrote, “I define leadership as leaders inducing followers to act for certain goals that represent the values and the motivations-the wants and needs, the aspirations and expectations-of both leaders and followers” (Burns, 1978).  The leader is not merely wielding power, but appealing to the values of the follower.  In this sense, values mean, “A principle, standard, or quality regarded as worthwhile or desirable,” (Webster’s New Riverside University Dictionary).  Burns insists that for leaders to have the greatest impact on the “led,” they must motivate followers to action by appealing to shared values and by satisfying the higher order needs of the led, such as their aspirations and expectations.  He said, “. . . transforming leadership ultimately becomes moral in that it raises the level of human conduct and ethical aspiration of both leader and the led, and thus it has a transforming effect on both.” As my school goes through the process of recreating a vision statement for our staff, our administration team is attempting to boost moral within our school by discussing such terminology as integrity and accountability as professionals.  This transforming nature is important to the evolution of school staff culture because we must remain vigilant and be able to adapt to change.
Burns and much of the current literature make the point that the way leaders influence followers is based on their shared sense of what is important, worth doing well, and expending energy on it.  In a sense the more significant the endeavour, the more the undertaking itself takes on an importance greater than either the follower or leader. “Such leadership occurs when one or more persons engage with others in such a way that leaders and followers raise one another to higher levels of motivation and morality. Their purposes, which might have started out as separate but related, as in the case of transactional leadership, become fused.” (Burns, 1978). The goals, then, take on a life of their own. In business, this leads to market domination and profit. In the military, this leads to professionals leading inspired subordinates through tough budgets, difficult deployments, the rigors of combat, and ultimately victory. Burns recognized that “transformational” leadership does not stand alone in the leadership lexicon. As mentioned, he coined another leadership term, “transactional.”
Transactional leadership is based on a transaction or exchange of something of value the leader possesses or controls that the follower wants in return for his/her services. “The relations of most leaders and followers are transactional-leaders approach followers with an eye to exchanging one thing for another: jobs for votes, or subsidies for campaign contributions.” The transactional style is precisely what happens in a school scenario. In this case, the administrative team provides the leadership necessary to move forward in the evolution of school culture and leadership. Liontos explains, “This only works well when both leader and led understand and are in agreement about which tasks are important.” (Liontos, 1992).  Transformational leadership and transactional leadership are not at odds with one another, but complement each other as the circumstance dictate. There is no magic formula or checklist that dictates when one is more relevant than the other in any given situation. When to make the transition is an art borne of experience and education.  To conclude, it can be said that as leaders, adaptation is a necessary component to the success of any leaders including school principals.


References Cited:
Bass, Bernard M (1997). “The Ethics of Transformational Leadership.” In Kellogg Leadership Studies Project, Transformational Leadership Working Papers Transformational Leadership Working Papers, The James MacGregor Burns Academy of Leadership.
Burns, James MacGregor (1978). Leadership. N.Y.: Harper and Row.
Liontos, Lynn Balster (1992). “Transformational Leadership.” ERIC Digest 72.
Owens, Robert G and Valesky, Thomas C. (2007). Organizational Behavior in Education: Adaptive Leadership and School Reform, 9th Edition.  Publisher: Pearson Education Inc.