Leadership in a Learning Organization

¶ … Leadership in a Learning Organization

This paper reports on certain leadership skills and policies found in an article by Jim Collins that would be appropriate for a learning organization. The Collins article, "Level 5 Leadership: The Triumph of Humility and Fierce Resolve," was written from the point-of-view of leadership in a corporate or business environment, but there are helpful applications within this article for a learning organization as well.

Leadership for a Learning Organization

In the Harvard Business Review article Collins discusses Darwin E. Smith, who took over Kimberly-Clark when it was in dire straits and made it the leading consumer paper company in the world. Smith's leadership qualities are called a "classic example of a Level 5 Leader" because he blended "extreme personal humility with intense professional will" (Collins, 2005, pp. 137-38). Would a person with extreme personal humility and intense professional will be a good leader in a school? Yes, those are characteristics that a good teacher or administrator or even a counselor could have and become very effective in a learning situation.

With an ego under control, with absolutely no inkling of arrogance and no sense of superiority as he or she goes about the task of teaching, a person like Smith could do very great things in a learning environment. Add to that a strong sense of professional will -- that is, a person intent on being the most competent teacher he or she could be based on knowing how to get students interested, even excited, about the subject at hand -- and the traits mentioned above would definitely apply in a learning situation.

In the case of Darwin Smith, he had a powerful "…resolve toward life" which he obviously did not turn off and on but kept an even keep and a steady hand notwithstanding the fact that he was a very plainspoken, unpretentious man. As for Abraham Lincoln, Collins writes that the former president was a "quiet, peaceful, shy figure" outside but he was a Level 5 leader because like Smith, Lincoln had the modesty yet the willful, fearless passion to get things done (140). To be modest and be known for personal humility means the person is "never boastful" and acts with "calm determination" (Collins, 142). Those who know the teaching and learning environments can fully appreciate how this personality type would be a good leader in a university, high school or elementary school as well.

The quiet professional leader in a learning setting channels his or her ambition into the school, and is preparing students for their own ability to be leaders. On page 142 Collins offers the "Yin and Yang" of level 5, and the leader in the "Personal Humility" side of this illustration is perfectly willing to take the blame for mistakes and is known for "…shunning public adulation." As for the professional will side of the illustration on page 142, while those characteristics match up for a business leader, they also apply to a person in an educational setting and would be very helpful for a Human Relations department when searching for a leader to hire, either as a teacher or an administrator.