Leadership Theories and Advocacy in Counseling Development

Leadership Theories in Counseling

There are a number of theories of leadership that can be applied to a personal development plan in counseling. The first is servant leadership, a unique approach that emphasizes the effective leader as one who facilitates greatness in others. The concept was developed by Robert Greenleaf in the 1970s, and emphasizes the leader doing whatever is needed to ensure that everybody else can be at his or her absolute best (Greenleaf, 1977). Servant leaders are always searching, listening, and watching so that they can learn about their organizations, the environment in which those organizations exist, and the people within them. The servant leader can then determine what is needed for the organization to thrive, while recognizing that no single leader can succeed alone. The best leaders, therefore, empower the people around them and give those people what they need to drive the organization toward success.

Servant leadership is a powerful paradigm because it highlights the moral dimension of leadership. Many leaders are charismatic and derive power from that quality, but charisma and the ability to inspire followers are value-neutral traits. Servant leadership introduces and reinforces the idea that the leader also needs to be moral and to inspire moral leadership in others. Thus, the servant leader is not merely someone who can inspire, and not simply someone with accepted leadership traits, but one who makes the people around him or her better and who drives the organization to better things (Graham, 1991).

In the broader scope of leadership theory, servant leadership is something of an outlier. More traditional leadership theory typically focuses either on traits or on behaviors. One prominent paradigm distinguishes between transactional and transformational leadership, where the former emphasizes high levels of performance on routine tasks, while the latter emphasizes the transformation of some aspect of the organization. In counseling, while each situation is unique, the organization is not typically being transformed — the key to success is to have everybody within the organization performing at a consistently high level. Transactional leadership theory is therefore well-suited to the counseling field. It is also worth noting that transformational leadership is ultimately ill-defined in terms of how one would go about implementing it (Yukl, 1999). Everybody wishes to be seen as a charismatic or transformational leader, because that is where the so-called leadership rock stars are usually found, but the reality is that such concepts are difficult to apply and not necessarily achievable by everyone. Transactional leadership, with its emphasis on everyday excellence, is a better theoretical fit with counseling.

Leader-member exchange (LMX) theory helps to explain how leadership works in practice. The nature of communications between the leader and followers — what is said, when, how often, and whether or not communication is in-person — matters in terms of the effect that leaders have on their followers (Howell & Hall, 1999). Thus, whatever style of leadership a person has, their exchanges will tend to be reflected in follower performance. Counseling is interesting in that each day is different, but overall organizations tend to be conservative, changing little year over year. This points again to transactional leadership — the ability to get followers to perform at a high level every day, despite the variation that each day brings with respect to clients and tasks. Performing a non-routine job at a high level involves the leader being able to distill the job down to key elements — whether those are technical techniques or attitudinal dispositions — and ensuring that followers adhere to these. If a counseling leader can ensure that counselors are ready to work, compassionate, and highly knowledgeable every day, they will likely sustain high performance no matter what individual challenges arise.

It is not difficult to see how this manifests in counselor education. Counselors require leaders rather than managers, because there is no meaningful way that a leader can provide strict oversight of task performance in a field where tasks are so discrete. Critical to counselor success is ensuring that counselors are trained and educated to a high level from the outset. With that foundation, they will at the very least be equipped to succeed on a daily basis. The counseling leader can apply this thinking to both education and leadership by ensuring that each counselor or student has a high level of knowledge about professional standards, the background needed to manage even difficult situations, and a strong sense of preparedness. Knowing what professional standards are, knowing how to perform to those standards, and having the tools to do so are all key success factors in counseling.

Having the resources needed to succeed is also a central element of servant leadership. A leader in counseling should be able and willing to provide counselors with the educational, financial, and emotional resources to perform their duties at a high level each day. If the leader provides these things, they have done what they can to ensure strong performance. This points to a leadership style that incorporates elements of both servant and transactional leadership — an integration that is entirely appropriate, as these two theories are not mutually exclusive.

Self-Analysis of Leadership Strengths and Gaps

I believe that I am a natural servant leader. My interest in the counseling profession stems from a desire to help — specifically, to give people the tools they need to help themselves. That is the essence of servant leadership, and it is what attracted me to counseling in the first place. I possess many of the traits and skills associated with servant leaders: I listen well, I genuinely want to help, I have authentic compassion and sympathy, I am supportive of others, and I am patient and willing to work with people through their difficulties. All of these qualities contribute to a servant leadership environment.

Where I may be deficient in terms of servant leadership reflects what Graham (1991) wrote about inspirational capability. I have the moral dimension Graham emphasized — a strong moral compass — but Graham also noted that servant leaders can have a charismatic element that helps to inspire. While Yukl (1999) makes a valid point about charismatic leadership being notoriously difficult to pin down, I think of it as providing the kind of strong support that makes people want to work harder for you, knowing how hard you work for them. I deliver in that respect, even if I lack the more visible, high-energy markers of charisma such as fiery speeches.

In terms of transactional leadership, I feel that I possess many of the necessary tools. I am cerebral and analytical by nature, which means that I can assess a situation and determine what is needed to make it work. If someone appears to be missing something in their work, I can identify that and work with them accordingly. These are elements of both transactional and servant leadership. I am able to deliver consistent, high-level day-to-day performance, and I can coach and teach others to do the same — qualities that reflect strong mentorship capacity.

Situational leadership holds that leadership styles can and should be flexible, responding to different situations differently. This is reasonably easy for an analytical person to apply, since each situation can be evaluated and subtle differences between otherwise similar situations can be identified and accommodated (Graeff, 1997). I recognize that there are times when the leadership approach needs to change depending on the situation — including times when the ability to inspire, or to respond more acutely to emotional cues, matters greatly in counseling. As a leader, it is sometimes valuable to adopt a less analytic and more emotionally present manner, and that is something I aim to add to my leadership skills. Research has found meaningful links between transformational leadership and emotional intelligence (Barling, Slater & Kelloway, 2000).

Accordingly, I would like to develop my emotional intelligence further, as this would allow me to be more adaptable in my leadership style and better equipped to lead across all types of situations. There are times when counselors go through crises, and those moments require a different response than simply analyzing and educating. Counselors often have a deep emotional connection to their work, and being able to respond more effectively to that would make me a more effective leader and educator. This is therefore a key area for improvement, one that I believe will enhance my overall effectiveness as I expand my leadership skills inventory.

References

Alper, S., Schloss, P., & Schloss, C. (1995). Families of children with disabilities in elementary and middle school: Advocacy models and strategies. Exceptional Children, 62(3), 261–270.

Barling, J., Slater, F., & Kelloway, E. (2000). Transformational leadership and emotional intelligence: An exploratory study. Leadership & Organization Development Journal, 21(3), 157–161.

Boyle, C., Beardsley, R., & Hayes, M. (2004). Effective leadership and advocacy: Amplifying professional citizenship. American Journal of Pharmaceutical Education, 68(3), 1–5.

Fielder, C. (2000). Making a difference: Advocacy competencies for special education professionals. Allyn & Bacon.

Graeff, C. (1997). Evolution of situational leadership theory: A critical review. Leadership Quarterly, 8(2), 153–170.

Graham, J. (1991). Servant-leadership in organizations: Inspirational and moral. The Leadership Quarterly, 2(2), 105–119.

Greenleaf, R. (1977). Servant leadership. Robert Greenleaf Center.

Guo, C., & Saxton, G. (2014). Tweeting social change: How social media are changing nonprofit advocacy. Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly, 43(1), 57–79.

Howell, J., & Hall, K. (1999). The ties that bind: The impact of leader-member exchange, transformational and transactional leadership, and distance on predicting follower performance. Journal of Applied Psychology, 84(5), 680–694.

Sullivan, C. (1991). The provision of advocacy services to women leaving abusive partners: An exploratory study. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 6(1), 41–54.

Weiss, M. (2002). Hardiness and social support as predictors of stress in mothers of typical children, children with autism, and children with mental retardation. Autism, 6(1), 115–130.

Yukl, G. (1999). An evaluation of conceptual weaknesses in transformational and charismatic leadership theories. Leadership Quarterly, 10(2), 285–305.