Identifying Leadership Characteristics

Introduction
Perhaps the greatest impact on the improvement of education has occurred in those schools which have fully embraced a model of self-evaluation (See Module 6 Monitoring School Effectiveness). We have a choice. We can wait until a team from the Ministry of Education (perhaps the MERD Unit) visits the school and makes its judgements and then have to put right anything that has been found lacking, when perhaps it is almost too late. Alternatively, we can be proactive and evaluate our own performance.

This applies equally when we look at our own leadership characteristics. In fact, we might call them competencies. That is, how good are we at leading the team and making a difference to the lives of the children in our care? One way of doing this is to identify the characteristics of leadership and find exemplars of our own good practice and make judgements on our strengths and weaknesses based on this. The next logical step, of course, is to congratulate ourselves on the strengths and draw up a plan to improve the weaknesses. This, in turn, will have an impact on the school as a whole and the education of the children. In this unit we will look at ways of assessing ourselves and the next unit will concentrate on drawing up the plan for improvements.

The difficulty lies, however, in ensuring that our judgments are objective and based on evidence. Without this, they will be meaningless. We can all convince ourselves that we are doing a good job but our opinion may be subjective. We may say “Yes, I do that” but to what extent do we do it and how consistent are we in its application? What is the quality of our work and how do other people feel about what we do, based on the impact that we have on them? Moreover, we may feel confident that we do things in the right way but would we be able to give concrete examples that show successful outcomes? All of this causes us to be introspective and this will be affected by how honest we are with ourselves. In this unit we will demonstrate ways that you will be able to go beyond these difficulties.

For the purpose of this unit we are focusing on the competences of the headteacher. However, most are applicable to all levels of school leadership where there is a management capacity. They do not apply to rank and file teacher and student leadership.

Individual study time: 6 hours

Learning outcomes
After working through this unit, you should be able to:

§ focus on the essential competencies of headteacher leadership
§ assess your own leadership skills based on these competencies
§ engage others in assessing your leadership skills
§ understand the importance of the use of evidence in the self-evaluation model

Making the assessment
Our aim is to make sure that the assessment you make of yourself will be objective and based on evidence. You are encouraged, therefore, to include others in the assessment. Clearly these need to be people you can trust and who will be confidential about the findings. On the other hand, they also need to be honest and not try to “humour” you, telling you what you think you would like to hear. Without this frankness, the results may be pleasing for you but will not have served the purpose of identifying where you need to develop.

You may wish to include the following people in the evaluation:

Yourself: Although this will be subjective, it is important for you to rate your performance as you see it.
Your line manager / supervisor: This may be your chairman of governors in a board school or the DEO / REDO
Someone you supervise: You could use your deputy head or senior teacher in the SLT
Middle manager: Suitable people would be a head of department or level head
Teacher: This could be a new teacher or, if you wish, someone who is well established
Another trainee: This person will need to know you well in a professional capacity

Although you could ask all six to make the evaluation, it is not necessary and four out of the six would be sufficient. Remember that your choice of persons will have some impact on the results, so it is important that you get the balance right between those who may be “kind” to you and those who will be “honest” and “objective”. It is important that there is no animosity between you and those who will rate your performance and that you feel very secure in your relationship with them.

The process and precautions
You will need to make copies of the following list of competencies and ask each person to rate your performance in each of the leadership characteristics on a 1 – 7 scale with 7 being high and 1 being low. Number 4 on the scale is an average performance in the area. You should ask them not to dwell too long on each competency as first impressions are probably best. However, they should bear in mind as they do it that they should be able to think of an example for each one which exemplifies their judgement. They do not need to write this down.

When you rate your own performance, however, it is essential that you do write down one or two examples of your best performance in each area in order that you will avoid being too subjective. As a precaution, when the evaluations are being done, ask for them to be completed in your presence or with someone you can trust and handed in immediately when they are finished. You do not want to give anyone the opportunity to copy what they have written or use it in any other way than intended.

You need to decide whether what is written is confidential and you will not see who has written what or whether you will have access to all of the results. Depending on the persons you have chosen, this decision may also affect the results. Anonymity is probably more important for the teachers than for your line manager or deputy. Only you can make this decision. Whatever you decide, you will see the collated results and the overall impression of your leadership skills based on all of the opinions of all of the participants. If anonymity is important for some, you will need to get someone you trust to collate the results for you. We first introduced the concept of self evaluation in Module 6 Unit 4. We are now extending that theme below.



Activity 6.1
Having made decisions about the issues raised in the last few paragraphs, undertake the self-evaluation of leadership skills exercise below.



Headteacher competency evaluation

Make an evaluation of leadership skills based on the following scale and place you score in the right hand column.




Strongly Agree 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Strongly Disagree



Competency 1
Ability to recognise potential in others and develop it
Is skilled at coaching relating to classroom practice
Is skilled at developing leadership potential
Provides support for teachers to meet their development needs
Is skilled at giving tactful feedback on observations
Is able to delegate effectively and with confidence



Competency 2
Ability to create teams and develop a teamwork approach
Is accomplished at being a part of a team
Is skilful at leading a team
Is proactive in carrying out the work of a team
Has expectations of teams and its members
Helps people to identify with their school
Is practiced at resolving conflicts within teams



Competency 3
Ability to influence others
Uses different arguments to persuade different groups
Assesses others to find most appropriate approaches
Is able to demonstrate a point effectively
Has a political approach and works behind the scenes



Competency 4
Ability to think in a strategic way
Plans for the short and the long term
Links the mission of the school to its aims and objectives
Has an effective school improvement plan
Seeks examples of good practice
Uses the best practice of others to plan strategically
Involves others in strategic planning
Allows experimentation in the planning process
Willing to try out new things
Is creative in thinking



Competency 5
Ability to expect accountability in others
Is clear about expectations and how people will meet them
Makes clear what is unacceptable behaviour
Monitors staff against the agreed goals
Has strong views on improving performance
Has a focus on standards
Tackles poor performance
Sets targets to improve performance



Competency 6
Ability to inspire the desire for change in others
Uses strategies to motivate people
Has good communication skills to keep everyone informed
Ensures everyone is aware of developments
Creates teams for strategic action
Keeps staff focused on the job in hand
Solves problems that may become obstacles to progress
Creates a vision for improvement



Competency 7
Ability to set up systems for improvement
Has developed strategies for measurable improvement
Is focused on success
Is focused on the effective school
Overcomes obstacles to success
Sets goals for staff to improve
Analyses the cost effectiveness of improvement
Is prepared to take risks to ensure improvement
Allows others to take risks to secure progress



Competency 8
Ability to express own beliefs
Is confident
Feels secure in own viewpoint
Behaves as a professional
Has a personal conviction
Has own set of values
Believes in the value of own actions
Is motivated to succeed
Prepared to rise to challenges



Competency 9
Ability to use own initiative
Acts with determination
Does not put off making decisions or acting appropriately
Is proactive in avoiding problems
Models possible scenarios before taking action
Prepared to act alone
Confident in own actions when others may disagree



Competency 10
Ability to understand surroundings and school context
Is aware of all school activities
Is clear about the background context of the school
Is aware of the performance of children
Is aware of the performance of teachers
Asks appropriate questions
Is able to separate the important from the trivial
Is skilled at information gathering



Competency 11
Ability to analyse situations
Approaches problems and tasks in a logical way
Is able to identify key information
Is able to model situations and outcomes
Understands what will happen as a result of certain actions
Is able to use data to analyse situations



Competency 12
Ability to respect and recognise the rights of others
Recognises the potential of others
Recognises the individuality of others
Is a good listener
Respects the values of others
Is a champion of the rights of the school staff
Shows compassion for individuals
Is able to disguise personal negative feelings about others



Competency 13
Ability to care for others
Recognises the duty of care of the headteacher
Takes positive steps to ensure the wellbeing of those in the school community
Acts appropriately to guarantee the safety of the school community
Fosters the self esteem of staff and pupils
Recognises achievements of staff and pupils
Champions the rights of pupils when infringed by staff
Will not allow unprofessional behaviour of staff towards pupils
Demands a high quality education for the pupils



Competency 14
Ability to understand others
Is empathetic to others
Recognises the positive and negative feelings of others
Understands why people behave in certain ways
Good at assessing strengths and weaknesses
Understands how people behave differently in group contexts



Competency 15
Ability to develop leadership skills in others
Is a good role model for leadership
Is a good follower
Has earned respect rather than demanding it
Actively seeks leadership potential in others
Has undergone personal training for leadership
Has provided appropriate training for leadership
Leads an effective Senior Leadership Team



Activity 6.2
Having carried out the exercise above, read the notes below on how to analyse the results and identify those area that have been evaluated as strengths and those that are areas to be developed.



Calculating the results
How you collate the results will depend on whether you have decided to see the individual contributions or you will analyse all of the evaluations as a total. Although the number of statements is different for each competency, the total number of statements is one hundred. You should calculate the total for each person who has contributed to your evaluation for each section and enter the total score in the chart below – one table for each person. For example, if in competency number one your deputy gave you a score of:

5 + 7 + 3 + 6 + 5

you should enter a total of 26 in the total score column. You will then compare this with the total marks available for that competency in the marks available column to the right. In the case of competency one, it is 35. You should then convert it to a percentage of the total marks available as follows:
25
35 X 100 = 71 . 4 %



Example
1. Ability to recognise potential in others and develop it
Total Score - 25
Marks available - 35
Percentage - 71.4%



The number following each competency is the total marks available.


1. Ability to recognise potential in others and develop it 35
2. Ability to create teams and develop a teamwork approach 42
3. Ability to influence others 35
4. Ability to think in a strategic way 63
5. Ability to expect accountability in others 49
6. Ability to inspire the desire for change in others 49
7. Ability to set up systems for improvement 56
8. Ability to express own beliefs 56
9. Ability to use own initiative 42
10. Ability to understand surroundings and school context 49
11. Ability to analyse situations 35
12. Ability to respect and recognise the rights of others 49
13. Ability to care for others 56

14. Ability to understand others 35
15. Ability to develop leadership skills in others 49


Totals 700


On completion of the table for each person, you can add all of the scores together and calculate an overall percentage score. For example:

Scores out of 700 for five evaluators – total marks available = 700 X 5 = 3,500

Scores given are 357 + 263 + 482 + 510 + 346 = 1,958

Calculate a percentage for the whole evaluation

1,958

____

3,500 X 100 = 55.9%

Thus, your overall score, when rounded, is 55.9



Interpreting the results
Please remember that all of the evaluations are simply perceptions. It is important that you do not challenge the perceptions of others if they do not marry with your own. You may wish to ask them to elucidate and provide examples as to why they came to these conclusions. However, it is best to accept what they have written. The perceptions of others are very valuable information for us even if we do not agree with them.

There is no right or wrong for this kind of exercise. The mid point score is 4 out of 7. Therefore, one would hope that the majority of scores would be 4 or above. This would be an average score and would indicate that this is neither a particular strength nor a weakness. You can analyse your performance in each of the statements which break down the competencies and also your total score for the competency. Scores of 5 – 7 are a strength and those of 1 – 3 are a weakness or an area you need to develop. You can look at the individual scores of each person or simply take the total of all of them. This analysis will help you to work better with each group of people.

You will wish also to interpret the overall percentage in each of the competencies. We convert to a percentage as it will take account of the different numbers of statements for each competency. In simple terms, a score of around 50% means you are performing satisfactorily in this area. You can count this as a strength if you are significantly above 50% (greater than 56%) and a weakness if you are significantly below 50% (lesser than 42%).

We are sure that you will wish to compare your own perceptions of your leadership performance with that of others and, in particular, your subordinates and line manager. It may be that you have an inflated view of your capabilities or have underestimated your skills.

Finally, if your scores are not as good as you hoped, you will be in good company as many others will have had a similar experience. Leadership is a skill which is learnt through hard work and practice. Do not be discouraged as the next unit will assist you in creating your own leadership growth plan.

Summary
This unit has been quite different from many others in that it not only assisted you in understanding the basic competencies of a headteacher but also showed you how to evaluate those competencies in a way which would be meaningful and useful for you. You should now be in possession of a document which shows clearly your strengths and weaknesses as a leader according to the perceptions both of yourself and others who you manage or are managed by.