Tread Lightly, Lead Boldly: the Importance of Self-Awareness, Listening and Learning in School Leadership Success

By Diane Ketelle

This book explores ideas I have developed over eighteen years of preparing school leaders. This work also draws heavily on my experience as a public school principal and district superintendent.

As a professor of school leadership and as an administrator myself, I have noticed that no currently available books argue that self-regulation, listening, empathy, and self-knowledge are foundational to developing a strong leadership capacity. This book suggests that building these capacities will lead to both personal and professional growth. Further, this book suggests that developing leadership skills in this wayalso known as taking an inquiry stancewill help school leaders cultivate a deliberate decision-making process that respects contending perspectives and leads to greater leadership success.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Jul 31, 2015
• ISBN: 9781503592285

Diane Ketelle

Diane Ketelle is a professor of education and the Robert and Ann Wert Chair at Mills College in Oakland, California, where she directs the administrative credential and master’s degree programs in the School of Education. Diane began her career as an elementary schoolteacher, principal, and district superintendent. The Association of California School Administrators named her Superintendent/Principal of the Year for the State of California in 1994, and she is also a two-time Fulbright Scholar.

Book preview

Copyright © 2015 by Diane Ketelle.

Library of Congress Control Number:   2015912235

ISBN:      Hardcover      978-1-5035-9079-3

                Softcover        978-1-5035-9078-6

                eBook             978-1-5035-9228-5

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

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Rev. date: 07/31/2015

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Contents

Introduction

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

References

Introduction

This book contends that self-awareness and learning are at the core of leadership. The most successful leaders can make realistic assessments of their own abilities and have the ability to read how others are receiving the messages they are sending. They understand their strengths and weaknesses and the effect they have on others. This book focuses on the personal inner work that is necessary to manage the complexity of leadership and outlines how leadership awareness can be developed, cultivated, and used in daily practice.

The self-aware leader is open to listening in order to learn from others. In order to listen, it important to remain open to other points of view and responses. Both a skill and an art, listening needs to be practiced, discussed, and refined. The self-aware leader is committed to the ongoing process of continual and sustained self-improvement; leading to create environments in which reflection and inquiry are encouraged, and assumptions about people or issues are examined carefully. Such environments are safe for personal expression and group exploration. Furthermore, self-aware leaders respond to the daily challenges of leadership by having in-depth and comprehensive awareness of what kind of leader they aim to be and what sort of legacy they want to leave.

The first three chapters of this book focus on the development of dispositions that contribute to self-awareness, such as: listening, taking an inquiry stance, and developing self-regulation and empathy. In chapters four and five, a conceptual tool, the quadrants, is presented. The quadrants can help leaders think through complex problems from multiple perspectives in order to orient toward action.

The ideas in this book may seem simple, but it takes years to master these fundamental learnings. Small practices and habits of mind are key to developing into an effective, humane, and successful leader. If you take the time to work on these foundational leadership ideas, it will change your practice and enhance your ability to successfully approach leadership problems as they arise.

Chapter 1

You never told me about pajama pants! a loud voice said, practically shaking the phone receiver. It was Lakimbre Morgan. She had started a new job as Vice Principal of Valley Oak Middle School. A sprawling school, Valley Oak Middle had the flat roof design and institutional green color often found in California. The school was well maintained and resourced, and located outside an urban area. The school’s enrollment reflected a small degree of racial and ethnic diversity and very little socio-economic diversity. Most of the students were from upper middle class white families. Much to the chagrin of Valley Oak teachers, the female students had started a fashion trend of wearing flannel pajama pants to school. Some were subtle, while others exploded in vibrant colors, emerging from behind corners and around doors. Pajama pants were everywhere. Kwame Lawrence, the principal of Valley Oak Middle, recognized that students wearing sleepwear could pose a problem and asked Lakimbre to get a handle on the issue and report back to him.

What am I supposed to do? Lakimbre asked. I listened intently as she talked through the pajama pants problem. I met Lakimbre as a graduate student and our mutual fondness for each other made me the person she called when she needed a listening ear.

I guess a lot of administrators would simply disallow pajama pants arguing that they violate the dress code, she continued in a calmer voice.

"Are you