Leadership Platform Paper

Ali Aardappel

EDAD 620: Summer 2019

Introduction

When I first started the Educational Administration program, the only thing I knew

about leadership was based on what I had observed from the principals and assistant principals

for whom I had worked. I could identify the qualities that I valued in some leaders and the

qualities that made it hard to work for others but what I discovered throughout the program

was that the desirable qualities in a good leader, first need to be prioritized and then practiced

and perfected. Prior to the program, I had assumed that some people were naturally good

leaders, while others just weren’t. What is clear now, however, is that strong leadership is

intentional. The characteristics that I believe to be the most important in becoming a successful

leader are the ability to build trusting relationships, the expertise in building leadership capacity

in others, and the willingness and capability to self-reflect.

Building Relationships

Leading is all about people and it is not possible to successfully lead others if we haven’t

first established a relationship with our team members. In the book Influencer: The New Science

of Leading Change, the authors explain that people who are respected and connected can exert

an enormous amount of influence over any change effort (Grenny, Patterson, et al., 2013). It is

clear that once people take the time to connect with to each other, they are much more likely
to take risks and step out of their comfort zone with that person. People are also more likely to

be able to disagree and challenge each other once they have established a relationship built on

respect. In Dare to Lead, Brene Brown explains that this isn’t as difficult as it sounds. She simply

“engage[s} with [co-workers] for a few minutes on a personal level: asking them about this or

that, and genuinely being interested in their personal lives or details they wanted to share”

(Brown, 2018, p. 236). Similarly, in The Art of Coaching Teams, Aguilar acknowledges that “for

learning to occur, members must feel safe with each other.” She continues by pointing out that

“underneath a successful learning experience is that members trusted each other, built

community with each other, and had overall positive feelings toward each other” (Aguilar,

2016, p. 5). Since building relationships is completely in our control and a necessary part of any

leadership position, the first thing I would do as a leader is to take the time to get to know each

staff member and hear each story. When people know that you care about them as people,

then everyone benefits. An assistant principal who is a dear friend and whom I respect greatly

once told me that people will run through walls for you if they know you’re willing to run

through walls for them. Only by listening and paying attention can we truly get to know people

and create the trust needed to move a school in a substantial way.

Shared Leadership

Since the job of an administrator is extremely demanding, the only way to effectively

lead is to build leadership capacity, campus-wide. In the book The Multiplier Effect, Wiseman,

Allen and Foster explain that strong leaders “look into people and find capability, and they want

to access all of it. They utilize people to their fullest. They see a lot, so they expect a lot” (2013).

I strongly believe that the most effective way to lead is to find each person’s strengths and then
support those people in leading their own teams. This is actually one of the reasons that I

decided to start this program. The principal saw potential in me and asked me to step up in

another leadership role. Although I had always been willing to take on more responsibility, no

one had ever talked to me about it and since I wasn’t yet confident in my own abilities, I didn’t

volunteer. She explained to me that she thought I had the skills needed to move a team and

wanted to see what I could do. Since then, I stepped into more leadership roles and have

thoroughly enjoyed (and succeeded) in each challenge. I realized then that she wasn’t just

being nice – she was intentionally utilizing me to my fullest potential. I want to be a leader that

does the same thing. I want to seek out people’s strengths and challenge them to become

leaders. When each person is working in his/her “genius zone,” then the success multiplies

exponentially. This shared leadership creates accountability and pride in personal work as well

as in collaboration. When teams grow and continue to build leadership capacity, change is not

only manageable, but exciting and celebrated as a team.

Self-Reflection

While working through our three CalAPA cycles, Dr. Van Vooren explained that perhaps

the most important section from each cycle is the reflection piece. She explained that people

often rush through this part and spend all their time on the data portion but simply rushing

through it is a huge mistake. The more I thought about Dr. Van Vooren’s words, the more I

realize the importance of self-reflection. In my personal and professional relationships, the

people who I have the most difficulty with are the ones who struggle with self-reflection and I

think that is because without self-reflection we are unable to acknowledge our mistakes and

grow and improve. In Dare to Lead, Brown talks a lot about knowing who we are and what we
value. She explains that the more confident we are in our choices and behaviors, the better we

will be at accepting feedback. Although this feedback can be difficult and hurtful at times, it is

only through this process of self-reflection that we can grow and get better. She says that when

hearing feedback that is particularly difficult she repeats, “This is the path to mastery, this is the

path to mastery” (Brown, 2018, p203). This practice in self-reflection is mandatory if we want to

measure that we are living our values. Since we are human and are going to fail, it is only

through the process of self-reflection that we are able to see if those failures were mistakes or

simply obstacles in the right path. All good leaders practice self-reflection as a constant cycle of

improvement for our own lives and those impacted by our decisions.

Through this program, I have learned so much about leadership but even more about

myself. I was expecting to study theory and work professionally with my cohort, but the classes

challenged my thinking and the status quo, and the cohort became a family. Although I am not

going to be applying for assistant principal jobs any time soon, I know with certainty that the

skills that I learned in this program will help me tremendously with the leadership positions I

already hold. I feel confident that I have the skills necessary to help create real change on my

campus. I’m excited for next year and grateful for the experiences I had and the people I met

through this program. I will continue to build even stronger relationships, help my colleagues

step into leadership roles and always remain self-reflective. Not only with these skills make me

a better leader, but they will ultimately make me a better person.

Aguilar, E. (2016). The art of coaching teams: Building resilient communities that transform
schools. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

Brown, B. (2018). Dare to lead: Brave work, tough conversations, whole hearts. London: Random
House.

Grenny, J., Patterson, K, Maxfield, D. et al, (2013), Influencer: The new science of leading change.
McGraw-Hill Education.

Wiseman, L., Allen, L., & Foster, E. (2013). The multiplier effect: Tapping the genius inside our
schools. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.