School Leadership: A Lynchpin for Improving Instructional Outcomes

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School Leadership A Lynchpin for Improving
Instructional Outcomes

• Ronnie Detrich, Wing Institute Chair
• Trina Spencer, Northern Arizona University
  Discussant
• Jack States, Wing Institute
• Randy Keyworth, Wing Institute

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A Behavioral Conceptualization of Leadership

• Ronnie Detrich
• Wing Institute

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Acknowledgments

• Tim Slocum
• Andy Lattal
• Randy Keyworth
• Jack States

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Why Do We Need a Behavioral Conceptualization of
Leadership?

• Hundreds of books on leadership
• Most incorrectly focus on personal
  characteristics of leaders.
• Leadership is a potent combination of strategy
  and character. But if you must be without one, be
  without the strategy.- Norman Schwarzkopf
• Relatively few view leadership as a behavioral
  transaction.
• Exception Aubrey Daniels The Measure of a Leader

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Leadership Considered

• Function of Leaders
• Occasion change
• Maintain and stabilize system

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A Functional Perspective on Leadership

• There can be no leaders without followers.
• Obvious but more complex upon closer examination
• Frame of Leaders/Followers places emphasis on
  characteristics of each.
• Leadership is a construct.
• When is it invoked?
• Leadership made up of two classes of behavior
• Leading
• Following

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Leadership Considered

• Leading defined by two effects
• Following
• Effects on outcomes
• Followers but no outcomes is not leadership
• Outcomes without following is not leading.
• Leadership is intentional influence.
• Michael McKinney

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Leadership Considered

• Leadership is a social relationship between two
  actors (leader follower).
• Relationship maintained by exchange of
  reinforcers and punishers.
• Not defined by topography or nominal role of
  actors.
• Leading from behind

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Interaction Between Leading and Following
Maintaining Contingencies
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Cultural Norms Hierarchies
Cultural Norms Hierarchies
Context
Organizational Variables
Social milieu
SR
Leader
Follower
History
History
SR
Training Rules Values/Beliefs
Training Rules Values/Beliefs
Even though external variables have influence on
leader and follower, leading is ultimately
determined by the interaction between the leader
and follower.
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Leading
SR
SR-
SR
SR-


SR
A ruler should be slow to punish and swift to
reward. Ovid
SR
Cooperation
Coercion
Following
You do not lead by hitting people over the
head-thats assault not leadership Dwight D.
Eisenhower
SR-
SR-
Coercion
Coercion
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Leading
SR
SR-


SR
Cooperation
Coercion
Following
SR-
Coercion
Coercion
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Cooperation vs Coercion

• Cooperation and Coercion produce very different
  effects.
• Cooperationapproach, continuous cycle of
  engagement, doing more.
• Coercionescape/avoidance, counter-control,
  doing less.
• Leadership requires large majority of time
  engaged in cooperation.

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Influencing Following
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Establishing Motivation

• Inspirational/Aspirational speakers-calls to
  action
• Appeals to values.
• JFK
• MLK, Jr.
• Nelson Mandella
• Geoffrey Canada-Harlem Childrens Zone-whatever
  it takes.

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Establishing Motivation

• Leadership teams-Distributed Leadership
• Responsibility for solution is shared.
• Allows participants to own the
  problem/solution.
• Effective for getting agreement that a problem
  exists and framing solutions.
• If members of the team are credible then can
  function as local champions for solutions with
  peers.
• Requires that someone assures that team remains
  solution focused.
• May reduce resistance.

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Specify Classes of Behavior

• Following is difficult if followers dont know
  what to do.
• These are functional classes of behavior rather
  than topographical classes.
• Overly prescribing form narrows the range so that
  in many instances there is no appropriate
  response.
• The form of the behavior is not as important as
  the function.
• Catch em being good.
• SWPBS is a good model for establishing broad
  classes of behavior.
• Be Safe
• Be Respectful
• Be Responsible

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Create Context for Following

• Clear statement of vision and goals.
• Adequate training and coaching.
• Necessary resources available.

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Establish Stimuli for Following

• Set the occasion for when following is to occur.
• Coaching
• Checklists
• Job Aids

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Monitor and Reinforce Following

• Performance feedback systems.
• Management by walking around
• Allows for immediate reinforcement of following.

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Analytical Leading
Leading Behavior Present/Absent
Increase Motivation Yes No
Specify classes of following Yes No
Establish context Yes No
Establish stimuli for following Yes No
Monitor and reinforce following Yes No
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Leadership Summarized

• To lead people, walk beside them ... As for the
  best leaders, the people do not notice their
  existence. The next best, the people honor and
  praise. The next, the people fear and the next,
  the people hate ... When the best leader's work
  is done the people say, 'We did it ourselves!'
• Lao Tzu

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Thank you. Copies may be downloaded
at winginstitute.org