Leadership
The concept of leadership is one that has for along time dominated the discussion and literature in the fields of organizational science and management .In the last couples of decades however, leadership as a concept has found its way into educational and school improvement literature and discussions (Bennett et al., 2003; Coleman and Earley, 2005). More specifically, there is an interest in the role that strategic leadership plays in the running of oerganizations. The main focus however is the role of teachers and managers in the communication of organization vision to the stakeholders as well as the alignment of organizational vision with strategy (Davies & Ellison,2003). In this paper, I present a reflective account of my experience and views when it comes to the development of an effective leadership system within the transformational leadership framework.
The definition of leadership
The concept of leadership has no exact or definite definition. This is due to the fact that leadership in itself is multifaceted (de Ver,2009,p.4). The concept of leadership can for instance be defined in terms of group processes (Bass,1990,p.11), as personality and its various effects (Bingham,1927),as the art of successfully inducing compliance (Munson,1921), as an exercise of one's influence (Nash,1929), as an act, as a behavior (Fiedler,1967), as a form of persuasion (Neustadt,1960),as a power relation (Bass,1990,p.15), as an instrument for achieving goals (Borgadus,1929),as a differentiated role (Paige,1977). Jago (1982) on the other hand defined leadership in term of elements of process as well as property. In my view however, leadership is universal phenomenon which can be defined conclusively in the words of Bass (1990b,p.4) as an interaction between two or more members of a given group that usually involves the structuring as...
In this process, leaders are regarded as agents of change. Leadership is therefore noted to be in action whenever a given member of the group modifies the competencies and motivation of the other group members (Bass,1990,p.20).
Never in my life had the concept of leadership made so much sense as it currently does in my managerial mind frame and engagement. The concept of leadership had for a long time been elusive to me.I am proud that today I am becoming an effective leader as a culmination of my experience and education of leadership as envisioned by Daft (2011).
I am an upcoming transformational leader. As a transformational leader, I am involved with projects that require that I effect changes in my students/followers. The challenge of my job is that I must bring about significant change since transformational leadership is characterized by the capacity to bring about a significant level of change within the organization or society (Daft,2005,p.153).As a Muslim, I have been involved in several projects in my society that demanded that I lead by example while realizing results. The most conspicuous example of my transformational leadership skills at the society level was my engagement with the youth in the fight against drugs and disease (HIV / AIDS).As a leader and coordinator of one of our community-based organizations (CBO), I have had the mandate of organizing projects on behavioral change among the youth of Casablanca (Morocco). This has given me both leadership and managerial experience. However, I must mention that my initial stint with the concept of leadership was during my days in secondary school. While in secondary school, I was used to teach young boys religious studies in what is called 'Madrasa'. This opportunity presented me…
