It’s been an interesting week. Taylor Swift fans used
YouTube and an online petition to demand Abercrombie & Fitch remove a
t-shirt that said “# more boyfriends than t.s.” BuzzFeed
reports that the shirt in question is no longer available. The retailer used
Twitter to say they thought Swift was “‘awesome.’” Savvy teens knew how to get
attention to their cause.
Locally, social media and traditional media were quite busy
reporting on turmoil between the superintendent of schools, the school board
and the city council resulting in the superintendent resigning. It was
interesting to see my peers, digital
immigrants, fully embrace Facebook as they posted meeting times and
locations, videos, and news stories relevant to the ongoing drama. Texting was
also popular as people at a called city council meeting texted friends the
outcome of the incredibly short meeting. A called school board meeting was well
attended as Facebook, Twitter and texting were used to alert concerned
citizens. City school board meetings are available on YouTube—who would have
thought it possible!
The school board disagreement with the superintendent
concerned leadership (at least publicly). The superintendent’s vision for the school system did not
mesh with that of the school board. In my last blog, I discussed various styles
of leadership, organizational climates, and internal communication. Continuing
that discussion of leadership, I would like to focus on two more styles of
leadership in addition to vision and mission statements.
J. Nye’s article “Good leaders don’t always need a vision” discusses two styles of
leadership: transformational and
transactional. Transformational leadership is goal-based or vision-based. Goals
and/or visions are shared with others to encourage all to work for the common
goal. Nearing July 4th, it is appropriate to mention George
Washington, first president of the United States. Washington was a
transformational leader; he led the colonies from being separate entities to
one nation. Imagine the difficulties in
getting thirteen separate organizations to buy into a leader’s vision, to
follow that vision through several disastrous failures, a war with the
governing nation, and the formation of a new government. Nye ranks Woodrow
Wilson, John F. Kennedy and Ronald Reagan as transformational leaders. G. A.
Aarons, “Transformational and Transactional Leadership,” says transformational leaders inspire and
encourage. Followers share the same core values as the leader and find
intrinsic motivation for following. The leader’s vision is their vision, and
followers often work beyond their own expectations to succeed.
Good teachers and successful coaches regularly use this
style of leadership. Teachers who believe in their students, who release their
preconceived notions of students’ abilities, see their students exceed goals
and find success because they, the students, believe they can do it just as
their teachers envisioned. Coaches also know this. Bear Bryant
is credited with these statements: “You must learn how to hold a
team together. You must lift some men up, calm others down, until finally they've got one heartbeat. Then you've got yourself a team.” This sounds a lot
like transformational leadership, building a team, the one heartbeat. Coaches
have goals for their teams and a vision where they want to go.
Aarons defines
transactional leaders as practical leaders as this style of leadership gives
emphasis to meeting explicit objectives which may result in recognition and
rewards. Under this type of leadership, followers may not be allowed to
innovate or even find the need to be innovative. Transactional leadership
appears to be more task oriented. Nye
asserts that James Madison, Dwight Eisenhower and George H. W. Bush were
transactional leaders. As Nye’s title says, “Good leaders don’t always need a
vision.” Good leaders must also be creators and managers.
Again we see that leaders must be balanced; having a vision
for where we want to go is essential, but it is also essential to successfully
complete the objectives necessary to reach the vision. As a coach my vision may
be to develop a successful cheerleading program that promotes citizenship, physical fitness, and good sportsmanship; however, my teams and parents must be
prepared and must meet several objectives before that achievement can happen
and continue to happen. I must be able to manage my team’s abilities and
talents; I must make reasonable goals and appropriate objectives to reach those
goals; they must share my vision and believe they can be successful.
A leader’s vision can be defined in a vision statement—not to
be confused with a mission statement. A mission statement usually details what a company or organization does, how they do
it, and for whom they do it. My organization’s mission statement: Our mission is to provide comprehensive
safety training and certification programs for the educational development of
spirit coaches and advisors through an international council of unified
industry leaders. What we do—provide safety training and
certification programs; how we do it—international council of industry leaders;
for whom we do it—spirit coaches and advisors.
What we don’t have is a formal vision statement. According
to diffen.com
a vision statement tells where a company or organization wants to be at some
point in the future, challenging the group to work to their potential and
beyond. A vision statement should be rich in describing the aspirations for the
future. For new organizations the vision statement is developed first to guide
the development of a mission statement and the business plan. For groups that
are established and have a mission statement, that mission statement most
likely guide the formation of a vision statement and the business plans for the
future. Mission statements may change; vision statements do not change.
All leaders have a dream, a vision, for where they want to
be, where their group or company will be in the future. Successful leaders are
able to articulate their vision to those they work with honestly and clearly.
All who come on board—employees, volunteers, and stakeholders—should know the
vision and know they are involved in helping to make that vision come to life.
John Quincy Adams
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