Leadership Is a Process, Not a Position
Chapter 2 Leader Development 75
- Not all effective leaders seem to be reflective by nature. How do you reconcile that with the concept of the spiral of experience and its role in leadership development?
- Explain how you can use knowledge about each of the following to enrich the benefits of your own present leadership experiences:
- The action–observation–reflection model
- The people you interact and work with
- The activities you are involved in
- Using the role of teacher as a specific instance of leadership, discuss how a teacher’s perceptual set, expectations of students, and attributions may affect student motivation and performance. Do you think some teachers could be- come more effective by becoming more aware of these processes? Would that be true for leaders in general?
- If you were to design the perfect leadership development experience for your- self, how would you do so and what would it include? How would you know whether it was effective?
- Do you think people have a need for growth and development?
- One important aspect of learning from experience is observing the consequences of one’s actions. Sometimes, however, the most significant consequences of a leader’s actions do not occur for several years (for example, the ultimate impact of certain personnel decisions or a strategic decision to change a product line). Is there any way individuals can learn from the consequences of those actions in a way to modify their behavior? If consequences are so delayed, is there a danger they might draw the wrong lessons from their experiences?
- What would a development plan for student leaders look like? How could you capitalize on school experiences as part of a development plan?
- What would a leadership coaching or mentoring program for students look like? How could you tell whether the program worked?
