Personal mission, vision, and goals for educational leadership

Commitment to Self-Improvement

Introduction

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Personal Mission and Vision

The vision statement is the description of an individual’s desired future state as they picture it in their mind (Carrier, 2017). A personal mission, on the other hand, is a statement of one’s philosophy, creed, and their life’s purpose. It states the deepest values upon which an individual’s existence is based, focusing on what they want to do (achievements and contribution) and what they want to be (Carrier, 2017). As Barney (2020) accurately puts it, the mission states the activities and plan towards which the individual directs their decisions, behaviors, and actions as a means to achieve the vision, which is the desired end. Simply stated, the mission is the plan of how the individual intends to manifest their vision in their daily life (Barney, 2020).

My vision is capitalizing on my gifts of optimism, charisma, and intelligence to cultivate the net-worth and self-worth of my students to enable them become the best that they can be (Martin et al., 2018).

My goal is to make a difference in the lives of learners to develop informed, self-sustaining communities. I will become an educator by undertaking the relevant certification and professional courses, including this doctorate course. Each day, I will participate in deliberations focused on addressing emerging and perennial issues in education, make research-driven contributions to education policy, and practice evidence-based leadership practices that foster an effective learning environment. Thens, I can engage in collaborative research-based inquiry and use my findings to help teachers and policymakers transform the local community.

Professional Values

Social justice: advocating for just, democratic, and inclusive institutions and communities (Larsen, 2021)

Authenticity: demonstrating problem-based, engaging, and authentic leadership capable of responding to dynamic conditions in education and leadership (Larsen, 2021).

Direct Engagement: focus on engaging directly with institutions, local communities, agencies, and school districts to shape the quality and direction of education

Research-Based Inquiry: commitment to supporting and conducting research geared at strengthening and informing educational policy and educational leadership

Mutual Respect: leadership committed to collaboration, collegiality, and ethical practice that emphasizes mutual practice and integrity for both practice and scholarship (Kemethofer, Helm & Warwas, 2022).

Personal Development: leadership focused on continuous education, capacity-building, and professional improvement through training

Areas of Development

Leadership

Areas of Excellence

Sources define leadership as the ability to motivate and mobilize people to pursue certain organizational and individual goals that are aimed at realizing the overall organizational purpose (Knippenberg, 2019; Olenrewaju & Okorie, 2019). According to Knippenberg (2019), the core of leadership effectiveness lies in how well a leader can motivate their followers to align their individual interests with the organizational purpose and work towards realizing the common purpose. Sources advocate for transformational leadership, where the leader motivates their followers by acting as a mentor or role model and encourages them to reason beyond what they are used to (Knippenberg, 2019). According to Olenrewaju & Okorie (2019), this differs from transactional leadership, where the leader depends on compensations and rewards to encourage employees to meet task goals. Transformational leadership is associated with higher productivity, lower absenteeism, and higher motivation among employees (Olenrewaju & Okorie, 2019).

In line with the insights presented in the above sources, my personal leadership philosophy will be driven by transformational leadership. Based on what the sources identify as the precepts of transformational leadership, I pride myself in several core strengths. First, I am able to adequately foster innovation and creativity among members of my team. In professional settings, I realize this through collaborating with, and empowering those working under me to solve problems and make decisions beneficial to the organization (Olenrewaju & Okorie, 2019). Secondly, I am good at getting employees to accept change. For this reason, I am often chosen to head the change management team whenever there is a major change at the workplace. The primary strategy that I use is engaging employees in the change process by getting them to give their views and ideas and then managing expectations by addressing any concerns that may cause resistance.

Areas of Excellence

Sources contend that effective communication is a crucial influencer of leadership effectiveness and follower motivation (Arendt et al., 2019; Banwart, 2020). The authors provide diverse perspectives on what constitutes effective leadership communication. The bottom line, however, is that for leadership communication to be effective, it has to be mindful (Arendt et al., 2019). Mindfulness has many behavioral correlates (Arendt et al., 2019). According to Arendt et al. (2019), leadership communication is mindful if it is non-judgmental and takes into account the context of what is happening at the moment. Non-judgmental communication occurs when communication is free of thoughts, emotions, and stereotypes; when it is cooperative, rather than one-sided; and when involves effective listening (Arendt et al., 2019). This is quite similar to Banwart’s (2020) view, which describes effective leadership communication as communication that effectively articulates the organizational purpose and goals, fosters diversity, and involves active non-judgmental listening.

Based on these insights I would consider myself objective. At the workplace, I maintain an open-door policy where all employees have an opportunity to express themselves freely despite differences in cultural perspectives. Further, I have learned the art of adapting my communication style to suit the needs of different audience in a setting characterized by diversity. Another communicative strength is that I tend to rely on logical communications that are supported by factual evidence. This ensures that I carefully scrutinize any information I obtain and only communicate what is supported by evidence. This minimizes the risk of using inaccurate information to inform organizational decisions.

Areas of Development/Weakness

To understand better what kind of communicator I am, I completed the Communication Style and the Activity-Communication Style Self-Assessments. The results showed that I am a thinker. Thinkers often rely in rational principles and observations in decision-making and tend to avoid skepticism or emotionalism in the communication process. I agree with the test results. In my view, the results support my risk averse nature that was identified in the previous subsection. I rarely take a position without obtaining sufficient data or facts to support it.

According to Haworth et al. (2018), an overly cautious communication style could lead to conflict with employees who may feel that the leader is impersonal or does not trust their abilities. Further, this kind of communication style could cause delays in management, when the leader overanalyzes information and continually asks for more recommendations from employees and other stakeholders before reaching a decision. Due to the danger posed being overly cautious, it may be prudent to build more trust in my employees to avoid affecting morale.

Technology

Areas of Excellence

Sources contend that leaders in a digitalized world play a crucial role in advancing technology at the organizational level. In turn, technology helps to facilitate monitoring and planning of internal systems, enhance customers’ trust, and increase accountability and transparency in management (Cortellazo et al., 2019). Leaders are often tasked with verifying technological tools’ suitability to the organization’s needs before they are approved (Cortellazo et al., 2019). Moreover, as Ramman and Thannimalai (2019) point out, leaders also play a crucial role in the internalization and integration of technology within employees’ routine duties. Thus, leaders significantly influence the rate of technology adoption in organizations.

As a leader, I pride myself in several strengths in the use of technology. First, I can adequately use basic technological systems such as computers and various forms of customer electronic networks. This has made it possible to advise on the relevance of certain technologies in the organization. For instance, as a result of my technological skills, I was selected to head the implementation team for the newly-installed system that monitors employees’ performance real time and provides immediate digital feedback. Further, I can adequately use online communities to foster regular interactions with employees as a means of maintaining ethical behaviors. These strengths, as Corteallazo et al. (2019) point out, help me to provide better technological leadership to employees and to foster positive attitudes towards technological advancements in the organization.

Areas of Development/Weakness

To assess the adequacy of my technological skills, I took the technological skill quiz and the Tech-Skills Grades 3-5 Basics 2021 Assessment. The results indicated that I possess strong technological skills and can carry out over 88 percent of the tested technology skills under both the technology skill quiz and Tech-Skills Basics. I agree with the results of the test and acknowledge that they adequately represent my technological abilities. I am comfortable using basic computer program such as Word Processors, spreadsheets, and the internet, but lack skills in more advanced programs.

Based on the completed surveys, I would identify two areas of weakness requiring development. First, while I am comfortable with basic computer programs, I lack skills in more advanced processes that are not done regularly, such as browser configuration, installation of plugins, and use of processes such as CD-ROMs and online catalogues. This would limit my ability to offer technological leadership so that employees also embrace the use of technology. According to Trennery et al. (2021), employees are more likely to embrace digital transformation if their leaders possess the skill to offer the appropriate technological guidance. For this reason, it may be prudent to enroll in training sessions that would equip me with more advanced technological skills. Another limitation is lack of skills to adequately monitor and evaluate the performance of digital technologies. Cortellezo (2019) recommends that leaders acquaint themselves with monitoring tools to ensure they can adequately monitor employees’ contributions and detect errors faster.

Conclusion

In conclusion, developing this plan provided an invaluable opportunity to identify my strengths and weaknesses in the areas of leadership, communication, and technology. It further provided a means to review existing scholarly literature to identify ways of addressing the limitations posed by these weaknesses and capitalizing on the strengths in my professional setting. The surveys that I used to learn about myself were: the technological skill quiz and the Tech-Skills Grades 3-5 Basics 2021 Assessment for technology, the Communication Style and Activity-Communication Self-Assessments for communication, and the Leadership Compass Self-Assessment and four Leadership Styles Survey for leadership. I felt that these were the most appropriate surveys given the nature of my professional setting. In my assessment, the areas assessed in these particular surveys were highly relevant to my professional setting and would go a long way towards indicating where I am and what areas I need to improve on to be more beneficial to the employees that I serve.