Learning to be Adaptive

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Karen Gorrie

Deputy Principal

Becoming a middle leader in a school (in the St Margaret’s context) or organisation can be a pivotal moment on a person’s leadership journey. Sometimes people can find themselves catapulted into that position through ‘no fault of their own’ – someone may have vacated the position and they had to fill in the void, or perhaps they have been tapped on the shoulder to take on the position as they have the most knowledge of the area and so there is a natural progression. Other times a middle leader may have reached that position through hard focused work to get there; they have had a desire for leadership and have pursued as many opportunities as they can to move into that position. There are also those people who have been ‘noticed’ as someone who shows leadership potential and so have been offered experiences to enable them to gain valuable skills to make the progression to middle leadership. There are many scenarios that place people in middle leadership in a school. One of the many reasons a person gains a middle leadership position in a school is due to the technical skills of that position they have been able to demonstrate and become confident in. For curriculum roles in schools it could be a proven knowledge of the curriculum requirements for students within a particular subject or group of subjects, representation on curriculum committees both within school and in the wider educational context, and experience leading curriculum planning and organisation. Pastoral middle leadership roles also come to people who have involved themselves in pastoral roles in the school, put themselves forward for committees that assist in leading students, and undertaken roles in the school that involve coordination of students in extra-curricular areas.

Many middle leaders can become part of a holding pattern, looking to move into the next phase of leadership. It is therefore important for middle leaders to remember – the technical skills get them the middle leadership role, adaptive skills project them a towards a senior leadership role.

Emotional Intelligence (EI) as a key attribute for leaders was popularised by American psychologist Daniel Goleman. Goleman identified the elements of self-awareness, selfmanagement, social awareness and social skill as key capabilities of being able to manage ourselves and our relationships effectively (Goleman 2000). Linking these attributes to organisational results, Goleman suggested that a leader who is able to understand themselves as well as their staff’s emotional makeup is more able to motivate people to accomplish the vision and goals of the organisation (Goleman 1998). Effective leadership styles have been debated for some time. Many qualities of successful leaders have been attributed to success, but honing in on a particular style of leadership that is the best for gaining successful outcomes is often disputed. Research conducted by Hay Mcber, based on Goleman’s emotional intelligence (Goleman 2000), found six distinct leadership styles: • Coercive—demands immediate compliance • Authoritative—mobilises people toward a vision • Affiliative—creates emotional bonds and harmony • Democratic—builds consensus through participation • Pacesetting—expects excellence and self-direction • Coaching—develops people for the future Many more recent studies now suggest that leaders need more than one style of leadership, in order to recognise that the people they lead are different, have different needs, and respond to different attributes of leaders. Also, projects, change and strategic directions leaders are tasked with leading often require different leadership styles to be able to enjoy success. Goleman suggests those leaders who are the most successful in achieving a climate of excellent leadership have mastered four or more of these styles, with authoritative, democratic, affiliative and coaching styles being the most effective. Adaptability is the key, along with an ability to be fluid in this adaptability by being open and sensitive to the impact they are having on their teams and adjusting their style where required (Goleman 2000). So how does this relate to middle leaders and their movement to senior leadership positions? One of the best ways to demonstrate adaptive leadership skills is for middle leaders to apply these skills in their current role. In particular, middle leaders often need to lead change within their areas. The best two styles of leadership to do this are authoritative and coaching styles of leadership. An authoritative leader is a change catalyst. They build trust with all by articulating the goals and vision and defining standards. They are good at walking alongside people and giving their staff plenty of leeway to devise their own means (Goleman 2000). Similarly, a leader who demonstrates a coaching style also works closely with others to fulfil the goals and vision; they assist with developing plans and give plenty of instruction and constructive feedback (Goleman 2000). Another situation where a middle leader might need to adapt their leadership style is when they could be new to a role or there are new members of their team and they will need to build team harmony. In this instance, using affiliative and democratic styles of leadership would benefit them. An affiliative style of leadership helps to create harmony which in turn strives to develop to a sense of loyalty between leaders and their staff. The emphasis is on building relationships, in turn building trust, as affiliative leaders tend to allow their staff some freedom in undertaking tasks in a way they think is most effective (Goleman 2000). Likewise, a democratic leader builds trust through letting their staff have some autonomy in deciding how to achieve their goals, in turn driving flexibility and responsibility. A democratic leader listens well and learns how to deal with people and situations that keep their team’s morale high (Goleman 2000). For all leaders in schools, learning adaptive skills in leadership can be extremely beneficial as they learn the best way to ensure the goals and the vision of their school are realised with the teams they work with. Schools are about people. Adaptive leadership truly aligns with the idea of people being the focus, with emotional intelligence being at the centre of this theory that leadership styles need to adjust to situations and with staff who are supported by the leader. Being flexible and agile to changing these styles will certainly stand leaders and those on their leadership trajectory in good stead.

References

Goleman, D 1998, ‘What Makes a Leader? IQ And Technical Skills Are Important, But Emotional Intelligence Is the Sine Qua Non of Leadership’, Harvard Business Review, Nov-Dec, pp. 93-102, viewed 7 May 2020, http://www.leaderschool.be/uploads/2/5/8/1/25819018/ eq_what_makes_a_leader.pdf. Goleman, D 2000, ‘Leadership That Gets Results’, Harvard Business Review, Mar-April, viewed 1 June 2020, https://hbr.org/2000/03/ leadership-that-gets-results

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