A r c h i v e d I n f o r m a t i o n
The Role of Leadership in Sustaining School Reform: Voices From the Field - July 1996
Chapter 2
Dimensions of Sustaining Leadership
What is the role of the leader in sustaining school reform? In this series of conversations, we explored educators' perceptions of the elements that define the depth and breadth of a certain kind of leadership. We asked them to describe leadership that enables a school community to re-invent itself and operate in a new mode over a long haul, well past the exhilaration associated with novelty, to become a dynamic learning organization. Some of the forum participants told of former lives as reliable school managers in the traditional mode; thorough and consistent program implementation (not creativity and collaboration) was the hallmark of their work. Others reported on the excitement of developing new and better ways to educate children. Witnessing effective innovation sustained their enthusiasm. All agreed that sustaining reform--being coaches for shared decision making and guides on the path to thoughtful implementation--demanded new skills and knowledge, different from the abilities required to establish and maintain predictable routines or to sweep away the old and install the new. Moving into the second stage of transformation--sustaining change--means finding ways to renew energy and enthusiasm, to stay focused on a vision that is continuously adapting to new and sometimes unforeseen developments. It is a sustained partnership effort that often yields the type of improvements in teaching, learning, and community support that we all want.
Reflection #2
- List at least 10 dimensions of leadership that are especially important in sustaining school reform. If appropriate, sort them into categories.
- Rate each dimension on a scale:
1 = extremely important
2 = important
3 = desirable, but perhaps not essential
- For each dimension that you rated "extremely important," write a sentence or two to explain your rating.
Forum participants came up with hundreds of different ways to identify key dimensions of leadership for sustaining reform. Their responses fall into five general categories:
- Partnership and voice. Effective reform leaders cultivate a broad definition of community and consider the contribution that every member can make to helping children meet challenging standards. They hear the voices of many stakeholders--families, businesses, and other groups and institutions. Their ability to develop plans that reflect the legitimate influence of others draws in many authentic partners, whose personal convictions as well as community spirit energize participation. They look for evidence of widespread participation in important aspects of change. Establishing partnerships and listening to a chorus of voices are leadership skills that permeate many aspects of reform.
- Vision and values. Effective reform leaders are dependable and committed "keepers of the dream" of student success generated by faculties, families, and the community. They know that realizing the dream hinges in part on applying certain agreed-upon values to decision making. They know that the dream is continuously evolving and that it belongs to everyone. In different ways they ask themselves daily: does this decision help realize the dream?
- Knowledge and daring. Effective reform leaders develop relevant information bases and cultivate human resources to minimize failure while encouraging risk taking. They study, count, send staff to workshops, bring in experts and mentors, consult their own insight and experience, and in a hundred other ways increase capacity to make good decisions. Then they step into the unknown and encourage staff to do likewise. Their risks are carefully calculated to push the boundaries of what is known and commonly done without threatening long-term success.
- Savvy and persistence. Effective reform leaders know how the system works and they can take a lot of flak (if they must). They know how to interact with the central office, the local community, and others outside the school. They know how certain school structures nurture or discourage attitudes and behavior. They can put up with resistance inside or outside the building, but they eventually find ways to win cooperation. They are good managers. They monitor their understanding of the nature and operations of systems, and they maintain a network of supporters to lean on in times of particular stress.
- Personal qualities. Effective reform leaders put to good use an array of personal qualities that many feel may be innate, but are often underutilized. A well-developed sense of humor was often mentioned as a priceless asset. Leaders use language that signals their understanding of human variation and the ways their own gifts can be used well.
In the following sections, we describe in greater detail how the participants spoke of these dimensions of leadership.
-###-
[Chapter 1 Recording the Wisdom of Practice: An Overview] 
![[Table of Contents]](/icons/up.gif)
[Partnership and Voice]