Leadership Reflections

Running head: LEADERSHIP REFLECTIONS
Leadership Reflections Paper

Jesus Romero
Western Michigan University
LEADERSHIP REFLECTIONS
2
Leadership Reflections Paper
Leadership synopsis
An important part of any organization is leadership. This concept is widely understood

and is regularly the topic of study. However, the types of leadership vary from organization to
organization as well as from one individual to another. One of the reasons this occurs is because
some forms of leadership lend themselves to specific organizations while others are more
universal.
One type of leadership that can be helpful for organizations is transformative leadership.
It is a value-based process by which change is achieved. Transformative leadership is based on
the following assumptions: leadership is concerned with fostering change, inherently valuebased, a group process, and every individual is a potential leader (Astin & Astin, 2000).
Furthermore, there are both individual and group qualities that reinforce each other in
transformative leadership. While individuals must possess the qualities of self-knowledge,
authenticity, empathy, commitment, and competence, groups must collaborate, have a shared
purpose, promote a division of labor, allow disagreement with respect, and foster a learning
environment (Astin & Astin, 2000). This type of leadership is useful in student affairs since the
institution, schools/colleges, departments, committees, and offices are all different organizations
working towards the same goal of enhancing student learning and development. Not only are
faculty and staff potential leaders, but students can also be agents of change. To be more
effective, individuals at the institution must collaborate to achieve a common goal that everyone
values.
Authentic leadership is another form of leadership that is useful for organizations. This
type of leadership is focused on whether the leader and their leadership are both genuine and
real. There are four factors that comprise authentic leadership: self-awareness, internalized moral
perspective, balanced processing, and relational transparency (Northouse, 2010). Individuals
must know themselves as leaders, base their decisions on their values and not on outside
pressures, be objective in considering others perspectives, and communicate openly in their
relationships with others. Additionally, there are four key positive psychological capacities for
authentic leadership: confidence, hope, optimism, and resilience (Northouse, 2010). These all
allow leaders to be authentic along with the individuals ability to make ethical decisions.
Critical life events can also stimulate growth, causing individuals to become stronger leaders.
Authentic leadership is important for student affairs professionals because of the relationships of
the work they do which is relationship-based. If those relationships are not strong and their
leadership not seen as authentic, then it is difficult for them to be successful.
The Social Change Model of Leadership Development (SCM) can also be great for
organizations. There are eight values of this model, which include: change, consciousness of self,
congruence, commitment, collaboration, common purpose, controversy with civility, and
citizenship. Among the values, change is the most important as it is the core of the model. In the
SCM, individual values, group values, and society/community values are the three dimensions
that interact to create change (Komives, 2011). This model can be applied to all groups of
people, whether they are loosely organized or highly structured. It is the ideal model for student
affairs professionals because it not only focuses on the individual but also the group. The model
supports the professional values in student affairs and also allows for a social justice
commitment to professional practice (Komives, 2011). With the SCM, student affairs
professionals are able to develop their own leadership, further the leadership capacity of groups,
and engage in improving the status quo.
In talking about organizational leadership, both political environments and relationships

should be considered. Stringer (2009) argues that each organization is a political system. Since
institutions, divisions, departments, and committees are all organizations, they can be considered
political systems. Each college and university has micropolitics, which is the use of formal and
informal power by individuals and groups to achieve their goals in organizations (as cited in
Stringer, 2009, p. 426). Every person that is part of the political system, including students,
faculty, and staff, is a political actor. This means that in order to get anything done the political
actor must understand and know how to effectively manage the political system. Relationships
are another important aspect of organizational leadership. While relationships with students are
valuable for student affairs professionals, relationships with colleagues and stakeholders are also
important. As Roper (2002) states: Each human interaction that we have in some way
influences how we feel about ourselves, how we are perceived, the success that we achieve, and
the legacy that we will leave (p. 12). Therefore, it is crucial that one builds and maintains
essential relationships by showing that one cares about the other person and is committed to the
relationship. Without good relationships, student affairs professionals will struggle to get things
done and have successful careers.
Personal leadership application
In my role as a graduate assistant, I try to be the best leader that I can for the group of
student leaders that I work with. The five practices of exemplary leadership that Kouzes and
Posner (2007) describe are model the way, inspire a shared vision, challenge the process, enable
others to act, and encourage the heart are a great model that I try to follow. Model the way means
that a leader must model the behavior they expect of others. As an example, we do a leadership
reaction course for one of our programs and I decided to participate in it rather than simply
observe since it was expected that the student leaders I work with do so too. Leaders also inspire
a shared vision where everyone is committed to a common goal that they value. One of the
projects I have this year is planning a one-day conference, which is a new initiative for our
office. I explained my vision of the conference to the committee but have also been open to new
ideas so that together we can create something that will satisfy everyones vision. By being
innovators and doing things differently, leaders are challenging the process. During my first
month, I realized that the way we were collecting data was very time consuming so I suggested a
different method, which actually cut the time in half. Exemplary leaders enable others to act by
fostering collaboration and building trust with the members of their team. I make sure that each
and every one of student leaders that I work with feel empowered to perform and have a sense of
ownership, which will keep them dedicated. The final practice of an exemplary leader is to
encourage the heart of their followers to carry on when times are tough or they are simply
exhausted. I make sure that my students feel appreciated by letting them know what a great job
they are doing or recognizing them after they complete a project.
Field based leadership application
Increasingly, more institutions face budget cuts due to the struggling economy. This is an
issue that primarily affects student affairs since often times the academic side of an institution
takes priority. It is then up to student affairs leaders to figure out how to deal with this issue.
While some offices may not be heavily affected by budget cuts, there are others where the effects
do not allow them to fully serve students. In order to best handle this situation, student affairs
leaders must first understand the political system that is the institution. They need to figure out
who has authority and who has power as well as what type they may have themselves. Power is
defined as having access to and control of scarce resources (Stringer, 2009, p. 436). In this
situation, the scarce resource is money. Once the student affairs leader has figured out who they
need to win over, they can start building those relationships that can be used to help them with
their cause. Relationships are very important for student affairs leaders since they can be crucial
to the success of their work. The relationship must be both established and maintained so that the
other person feels valued instead of feeling used. Some ways to go about this are to listen
generously, focus on the conversation, and take care of the other person (Roper, 2002). These
relationships could allow student affairs professionals and academic affairs professionals to
collaborate and thus save money. By having great working relationships with those in power,
student affairs professionals have a better chance of success.
Another current issue in student affairs is the idea that the academic part of an institution
is completely separate from student affairs. Astin & Astin (2000) refer to this as part of the
constraining beliefs in student affairs. Such beliefs include individuals feeling that they are
second-class citizens at the institution and that student affairs professionals are service
providers rather than educators. When this is the case, individuals do not ask to participate in
institutional decisions, student affairs staff are generally not included in discussions of
academic issues, and resource allocation does not reflect the contribution of the student affairs
division (Astin & Astin, 2000). In order for this to change, individuals must first see themselves
as leaders and value the purpose of the change in order to be committed and become competent.
If the individual possesses the qualities for transformational leadership, then the group can also
acquire its qualities and the change can occur. Through transformational leadership, student
affairs professionals can help change institutions to become more effective at serving students.
7
References
Astin, A.W., & Astin, H.S. (2000). Leadership reconsidered: Engaging higher education in social
change. Battle Creek, MI: Kellogg Foundation.
Komives, S.R. (2011). Leadership. IN J.H. Schuh, S.R. Jones & S.R. Harper (Eds.) Student
Services: A Handbook for the Profession (5th ed., pp. 207-225). San Francisco, CA:
Jossey-Bass.
Kouzes, J.M., & Posner, B.Z. (2007). The five practices of exemplary leadership. In Jossey-Bass
(Ed.), Educational Leadership (pp. 63-74). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
Roper. L. (2002). Relationships: The critical ties that bind professionals. New Directions for
Student Services, 2002 (98), 11-26.
Northouse, P. G. (2010). Leadership: Theory and practice (5th ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage
Publications, Inc.
Stringer, J. (2009) The political environment of the student affairs administrator. In G.S.
McClelland and J. Stringer (Eds.), The handbook of student affairs administration (3rd
ed., pp. 371-387). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

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Running head: LEADERSHIP REFLECTIONS

Leadership Reflections Paper

An important part of any organization is leadership. This concept is widely understood

In talking about organizational leadership, both political environments and relationships

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