The Leader's Companion
Over the second semester, we were assigned readings from J. Thomas Wren's The Leader's Companion Insights on Leadership Through the Ages. The book contains writings from masters of leadership presenting insight on the practice of leadership. After each reading, we related them to our internship experiences in abstracts. Below are the abstracts I wrote relating my teaching internship at Robious Middle School to the lessons taken from The Leader's Companion.
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Abstract #1
"Leadership Communication Skills" by Michael Z. Hackman and Craig E. Johnson
As Easy as One, Two, Three…
Communication is a vital part of leadership. Hackman and Johnson express that in order for leaders to be able to successfully share their message, a leader must have very effective communication skills. Frank Dance and Carl Larson break down human communication into three main functions: linking, envisioning, and regulating, all of which are essential for leaders. Linking, the ability to take cues from the environment, helps create a trusting atmosphere, while envisioning works with the cues received by translating them into a vision for the future. Regulating is influencing others with the atmosphere created from linking and envisioning. Linked In Coming into Mrs. Couillard and Mrs. Moore’s classes halfway through the school year made me the new kid in school. All of the students knew each other, but I did not know a single one of their names. I am six years older than all of the sixth graders, which made it harder for me to relate to them, and for them to relate to me. It was my job to build a relationship with the students so they would be able to trust me and feel comfortable approaching me with questions like they would their teacher. The chapter explains that “listening which accurately interprets verbal and nonverbal messages is a primary linking skill” (Hackman and Johnson 429). I discovered linking to be a very quiet form of communication in the classroom. I have to take the initiative to interpret different cues in the classroom. I have become quite proud of my ability to read student’s faces, like the perplexed look on a student’s face when they are confused and too nervous to ask questions. Linking has helped create trust between the students and me because from reading cues and offering my help, the students have become more comfortable with me and understand that I am there to help them learn. The Learning Targets of Leadership Communication After mastering the skill of reading social skills, it was time to understand what to do with that information. Knowing that |
a student is confused by the work in front of them is good so they can be given help, but giving individual help is hard when all twenty-some students need it. Linking is an understanding of a need or problem through interpretation and a leader “must be able to take the inputs they receive through linking…and convert them into an agenda” (429). This “agenda” is like the learning targets created by the teachers before teaching, that state what each student will be able to do after each lesson. I was certain to create my own learning targets before the two lessons I taught. Each learning target acts as a set of guidelines to help focus in on the information that needs to be taught, in a very organized fashion. The straightforwardness helps students understand the information better and eliminates room for confusion. Envisioning makes communication very streamline, which is incredibly useful when standing up in front of a classroom teaching.
Image Consultant Teaching involves a lot of regulating, or in other words monitoring the behavior of others by influencing them. Teachers must create a sense of credibility and utilize effective spoken and unspoken influence cues to maintain control in a classroom setting. It has always amazed me how teachers have the ability to shoot a student a look to send a stern message. That is not a skill I have developed yet, but it shows the teacher’s well-developed regulating communication skill. Looking back, I see myself regulating to create a sense of credibility. Even though I am not a real teacher, I am very capable of teaching a topic that I know. In my first lesson, I taught my sixth graders water properties, a topic I am very familiar with because of my chemistry background. Although I knew what I was teaching, students still directed their questions towards Mrs. Couillard. It took utilizing impression management, or regulation, to influence the students and convince them that I knew what I was talking about. By the end of my lesson, I had effectively come across sincere and knowledgeable and my student began to ask me questions, which was very satisfying. |
Hackman, Michael Z., and Craig E. Johnson. "Leadership Communication Skills." 1995. The Leader's Companion:
Insights on Leadership through the Ages. New York: Free, 1995. 428-31. Print.
Abstract #2
"Leadership Jazz" by Max De Pree
Gotta Have Faith-a-faith- a-faith
Max De Pree examines the qualities of servant leadership by comparing the qualities to the qualities of a jazz band. A jazz band is comprised of a leader who is dependent on the members of the band to perform well. To have a successful jazz band or to have good results produced under the guidance of a leader, it is important for the leader to “not only be successful, but faithful” (454). A leader’s faithfulness can be measured or a leader can become successful by the advice De Pree presents in criteria he sets forth to be a faithful leader. Part Time Intern, Full Time Teacher I represent Chesterfield County Public Schools as a student and a teacher. My words and actions reflect the county’s integrity; therefore, I should always act with integrity. While I only work with around fifty students, I live a public life now and “for leaders, who live a public life, perceptions become a fact of life” (454). I live in the Robious Middle School district, so it is not impossible for me to run into my students or their parents while out and about. In fact, I teach my cousin, I attend high school with friends and family of several of the students, and I have met the parents of a few of my students. While it is a little weird to be so conscious of how I act and be careful of the things I say while I’m in public, I find it more important to maintain an image of integrity and continue to be respected as an adult in my classrooms. Someone To Count On Many classrooms have turned towards more untraditional styles of teaching. In Mrs. Couillard’s classroom, students are often given “expert texts” from which they have to draw their own |
conclusions on the materials presented in the articles. The material taught is taught through self discovery, but not everyone gets the same information out of it, which is why it is very important to be accountable to the students. Amos describes a type of leadership where leaders should give their attention to the “bottom rung” first and then help those on the top. In a way, I see this type of accountability for others in the classroom. It is important to make sure everyone is on the same level of understanding the material they were given. As a teacher, it is my job to go around and offer my help to the students who need help identifying the lessons in the text. I like to start with the people who need the most help first, that way I have more time to help them or once they understand the text, they can continue to find things on their own.
Working Together Teachers must always “offer others the opportunity to do their best” (455). Students feel good about themselves when they discover things on their own or feel good about themselves for getting an answer right. Teachers are vulnerable because they offer the “genuine opportunity for others to reach their potential…” (455). Sharing with the students the idea of being personally responsible for your own actions through demonstration, helps the students become more responsible. It kills me on the days students lose points on their “Star Card” (a point system rewarding good behavior and punishing bad behavior), because they come to class unprepared, but I’ve come to class prepared for the lesson I must help teach. When students show up to class prepared, they have an easier start towards reaching their full potential in class. |
Pree, Max De. "Leadership Jazz." Leadership in Practice. New York: Free, 1995. 453-55. Print.
Abstract #3
"Universal Human Values: Finding an Ethical Common Ground" by Rushworth M. Kidder
Global
Standardization of Ethics
In his article, Rushworth M. Kidder begs the question can there be a universal code of ethics by which the world can follow. Two-dozen “men and women of conscience” say yes. Kidder hypothesizes that if it were up to a group of people to create the global code of ethics it would be something along the lines of: Love, Truthfulness, Fairness, Freedom, Unity, Tolerance, Responsibility, and Respect for Life. The Preexisting Core Values I see the loose structure of a code of ethics in schools already as a student and now as a teacher. From elementary school we are taught to be honest, respectful, responsible and accountable, and through high school and college our actions are held to an honor code. The values set by the school system guide students towards making smarter decisions about their schoolwork and how they treat one another. From the core values, schools have created rules and policies so ensure the values are protected. Can There Be Unity? The idea would be to put “our community first, meaning the earth first, and all living things” (504), but is that even feasible? The code of ethics established in schools and communities work well because they cater to the need of the members of the small group of people. When the scale is broadened to the state, national, or global level, the people grow more and more diverse. Everyone seeks different solutions to problems unique to |
their area, and one code of ethics may not satisfy the needs of one group of people, and be too overbearing for another because “there are limits to which you can impose your values on me” (505). It also begs the question, could the unification of countries over ethical principles be dangerous? While global organizations like the United Nations have survived over the years, could an organization handling global ethics become compromised? The world would have to consider the paradox, is it ethical to have a universal code of ethics?
Back on the Home Front While I don’t foresee a global code of ethics being created, nor do I believe one is a good idea, I feel that the values we instill in students at a young age are important to the development of their own personal code of ethics. Middle School is an important time in a student’s life, no matter how awkward it may be. Students begin to think independently from others and question the things around them while still embracing the values the school has predetermined as important to their lives. My sixth graders have to be in the most fantastic class in the whole school to learn these core values. They are encouraged by Mrs. Couillard and Mrs. Inge (the second teacher on the team) to be honest, responsible, and respectful which has created a sense of unity within the classroom. Mrs. Couillard’s class is truly a family and their unique codes serve their classroom well. I believe the values they embrace will set each student up for a lot of success in their future. |