LEADERSHIP

Post date: Oct 14, 2014 7:04:32 AM

By: Janice T. Forbes, Head Teacher in Science

City of Balanga National High School

From a coordinating teacher switching to Department Head of Science has been a challenging job. There are more tasks expected to be given for the sake of stability of the school having a vision and mission that must be met and made into reality. It is somewhat challenging in terms of being a good leader to your subordinates. How am I going to lead these people toward one goal? I have been thankful because my schooling helped me a lot to cope with my new responsibility.

After reading the book,Developing Effective Leader, I have known the essence of being a good leader. According to the author of this book, many definitions are being given to the word leader in terms of character traits, behavioral patterns, the effects leader has on other people, their interaction patterns, role relations, hierarchical position, and the view of others regarding the legitimacy of the influence. It’s indeed a complicated role.

But what really struck me is the challenging statement that a leader can only be effective if he creates a leader better than him. I remember the story of teacher and student’s endeavor who were scientists. Antoine Henri Becquerel received a Noble Prize in Physics while her former student Marie Curie was awarded two Noble Prizes in Chemistry and Physics. The Noble Prize is the highest award in the world.

Furthermore, being committed to the development of others is believed to be a critical factor observed in any organization because this would give a positive or negative impact on the superior’s disposition. The author also emphasized, “To have your teachers doing things that might once have been your responsibility is not a sign of failure; it is the hallmark of an excellent leader. And to have excellent teachers who are better than you is a sign that you have what it takes to develop effective leaders.”

Two of the principles of leadership that I have learned run into me. First, leaders must set the example and second, they must know the teachers and look after their welfare. It seemed these are the hardest principles that any leader should follow. Do leaders of today manifest these? Whether we admit it or not, teachers are not 100 percent loyal to their superiors. If someone is no longer happy with his working conditions because of experiencing the feeling of being rejected, something is really wrong in the organization. Although there are also other factors that need to consider. According to the shared observations and experiences of some teachers, they often have problem on relationship with their superiors why they could not work better and move on the feelings. They keep on dwelling on their emotions since only some are given opportunities for seminars and trainings, and the worse scenario is discovering the reason of preparing these people for promotion. These people are being molded so early to prepare for a higher position. This is called promotion by virtue of giftedness.

It is really injustice, right? Do leaders set themselves as good example and are they fair in knowing and looking after the welfare of their teachers? The task of leaders is to guide people, all of them and not only one, two, three or only those who are apples of their eyes. After all, there are teachers who are more deserving and more qualified for ranking but being snubbed because of their hidden agendum. This begs the question why?

Sympathy should be given on those who experienced or have been experiencing this situation.

We should think a lot of times if we really dream to become leaders, good and effective leaders…