Exploring Educational Leadership Styles: Analysis & Enhancement

This essay provides an in-depth analysis of educational leadership, focusing on leadership styles, strengths, and strategies for improvement. It begins by identifying a leader within an educational organization, describing their leadership style (participative), and discussing its strengths such as fostering creativity and increasing employee morale. The essay then proposes five concrete ways to improve upon this leadership style, including holding focus groups, conducting surveys, and improving organizational processes. Furthermore, the essay discusses the evolving role of the educational leader from manager/administrator to instructional leader, highlighting the importance of adapting to the dynamic educational environment and focusing on instructional leadership competencies and strategic leadership. The essay also touches upon the principles of sustainable leadership and the critical role of change knowledge in successful educational reform. Desklib provides students access to this essay and a wealth of other solved assignments and study resources.

Running head: EDUCATIONAL LEADERSHIP ASSIGNMENT
EDUCATIONAL LEADERSHIP ASSIGNMENT
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

1EDUCATIONAL LEADERSHIP ASSIGNMENT
Table of Contents
Part A...............................................................................................................................................2
References and Bibliography...........................................................................................................6
Part B...............................................................................................................................................7
References and Bibliography.........................................................................................................11
Part C.............................................................................................................................................13
References and Bibliography.........................................................................................................17
Part D.............................................................................................................................................19
References and Bibliography.........................................................................................................23
Part E.............................................................................................................................................25
References and Bibliography.........................................................................................................29

2EDUCATIONAL LEADERSHIP ASSIGNMENT
Part A
Identify one leader in your school or educational organization. (a) Describe the leadership
style that he or she demonstrates in your school or organization. (b) Discuss some of
strength of his or her leadership style. (c) Assume that you have been promoted to his or
her position. Explain five ways in which you would attempt to improve on his or her
leadership style.
Introduction
The role of a leader is considered to be largely crucial in the workplace and any leader
who wants to ensure successful implementation of the different organizational goals as well as
the objectives, will be required to ensure that they are successfully able to manage the different
members well and see to it that these members are able to work well towards the overall goal of
the firm at large. Hence, the primary purpose of this answer is to highlight the manner in which
one of the educational leaders as present in the institution has been able to portray an excellent
leadership style and in lieu of this has also been able to ensure that the organization benefits
comprehensively under his guidance (Aeu.edu.my ,2018). The educational leader who has been
chosen for the purpose of the particular section is Professor Dato’ Dr. Ansary Ahmed. Professor
Dato’ Dr. Ansary Ahmed is the Director and CEO of the Asia e University and has been guiding
the overall university and has taken it to a commendable path of success and development. The
given section follows a structured format whereby the leadership style as used by the leader has
been described which is then followed by the strengths of the style and the latter half of the
report discusses the manner in which I would attempt to improve the leadership style and suggest
measures for the same.
The leadership style as adopted by Professor Dato’ Dr. Ansary Ahmed
Professor Dato’ Dr. Ansary Ahmed has been associated with the particular institution for
a long period and time and through he has portrayed his skills as an educational leader along
with the reflection of considerable external factors which have had an impact on the overall
institutional success (Aeu.edu.my ,2018). As per my analysis, the leadership style as adopted by
Professor Dato’ Dr. Ansary Ahmed is the participative leadership style.

3EDUCATIONAL LEADERSHIP ASSIGNMENT
The participative leadership style forms one of the most crucial aspects of the
professional life. When the group is led by a participative leader, it becomes easy for them to
perform their roles and be more likely to win their targets and assist in the accomplishment of the
overall objective of the organization as well. On the other hand, if the leader simply gives certain
orders and is unable to engage effectively with the different employees then the leader will not
be able to attain success in the long run (Ward, 2016). Hence, the participative leadership style
is stated to be the most effective leadership style which can be adopted by any leader at large and
also go a long way in ensuring that the educational leader will be successful able to ensure that
the institution prospers in its different activities. Portraying this participative leadership style, the
Professor Dato’ Dr. Ansary Ahmed has been able to successfully able to lead the institution.
According to Tannenbaum and Schmidt (2017), the participative leadership style is also
known as the Democratic leadership style as it involves the decision making of the different team
members as well in the particular achievement of the goal and ensuring that the organization is
able to achieve its best performance. The leader ensures that he instead of acting as a boss, the
leader acts as a facilitator which will then help the team in taking in help from the leader and
give in their views as well. In this manner, the leadership style can be rightfully utilized in a
setting which is volunteering in nature, or the business setting involves engagement of all the
employees at large.
The strengths of Professor Dato’ Dr. Ansary Ahmed in the Participative Leadership style
Professor Dato’ Dr. Ansary Ahmed as stated earlier makes use of the Participative
Leadership style. The particular educational managerial style invites the input from the different
employees and with respect to this, the staff is provided with considerable information in regard
to the different issues of the firm, the course of action to be adopted and other such issues
(Northouse, 2018). Although it is considered to be a slow form of decision making as it involves
time as well as efforts, the different strengths of Professor Dato’ Dr. Ansary Ahmed adopting the
particular leadership style are as follows:
 Acceptance: By adopting the particular leadership style the different employees of the
firm tend to accept the particular leader as the ultimate head and this thereby assists in
reducing the resistance with respect to the different company policies as well as the
experience. Additionally, it speeds up the implementation of the new ideas as well. When

4EDUCATIONAL LEADERSHIP ASSIGNMENT
the employees feel engaged, they will perform in a better manner for the institution at
large.
 Increased morale: The particular style brings about increased morale for the employees
and ensures that the different members of the institute and the school will be easily able
to perform well. Moreover, this higher morale can bring about exceptional changes in the
institute and ensure that the employees have an active role to play.
 Fosters Creativity: Through engaging in a participative Professor Dato’ Dr. Ansary
Ahmed is also able to foster creativity into the different realms of the firm (Daft,
2014). This is because, once they are successfully able to engage in the decision making
process, they tend to give in their input which can be considered to be good for the
performance of the firm. The participative leadership will ensure that the different
employees to make use of creativity and make the institution more efficient in nature.
 Retention: The participative leadership also encourages employee retention as when the
employees in an institution feel valued, they tend to work in the firm for a longer and
believe that they will be successfully able to prospect in their career growth as well as
development (Ward, 2016).
Manner in which the Professors Leadership style can be improved upon
1. Hold focus groups: The professor can easily hold certain focus group meetings and other
such facilities with the help of which, the professor would come to know the integrate
working of the firm.
2. Conduct different surveys: The leader in the participative leadership is also required to
ensure that they are successfully able to engage in surveys which would help them to
understand the overall functioning (Antonakis and Day, 2017).
3. Improve the organizational processes: The organizational processes can also be improved
in case the participative leadership is managed in a better manner. Hence, in lieu of this,
the educational leader needs to ensure that
4. Act as a facilitator: Lastly, the educational leader following the participative leadership
style should also act as a facilitator and provide various goods to the employee.

5EDUCATIONAL LEADERSHIP ASSIGNMENT
Conclusion
Therefore, from the given analysis, it can be rightfully stated that Professor Dato’ Dr.
Ansary Ahmed as a participative leader has been performing considerably well and in lieu of
ensuring that he is successfully able to integrate the different fucntions of the organization and
ensure success in the long run. The given section undertook the analysis of the leader and
examined his role as a participative leader. In this regard, the different strengths as possessed by
the leader were examined which was then followed by the suggestions which can be followed by
the leader in order to manage the institution and the business school in a better manner were also
discussed at large.

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References and Bibliography
Aeu.edu.my (2018). Aeu Corporate Profile. [online]. Available at:
http://www.aeu.edu.my/sites/default/files/aeu_corporate_profile.pdf (Retrved on: 06 Dec.
2018).
Antonakis, J., and Day, D. V. (Eds.). (2017). The nature of leadership. Sage publications.
Bolman, L. G., and Deal, T. E. (2017). Reframing organizations: Artistry, choice, and
leadership. John Wiley and Sons.
Černe, M., Jaklič, M., and Škerlavaj, M. (2013). Authentic leadership, creativity, and innovation:
A multilevel perspective. Leadership, 9(1), 63-85.
Daft, R. L. (2014). The leadership experience. Cengage Learning.
Fairhurst, G. T., and Connaughton, S. L. (2014). Leadership: A communicative
perspective. Leadership, 10(1), 7-35.
Goleman, D., Boyatzis, R. E., and McKee, A. (2013). Primal leadership: Unleashing the power
of emotional intelligence. Harvard Business Press.
Northouse, P. G. (2018). Leadership: Theory and practice. Sage publications.
Shamir, B., and Eilam-Shamir, G. (2018). “What’s your story?” A life-stories approach to
authentic leadership development. In Leadership Now: Reflections on the Legacy of Boas
Shamir(pp. 51-76). Emerald Publishing Limited.
Tannenbaum, R., and Schmidt, W. H. (2017). How to choose a leadership pattern. In Leadership
Perspectives (pp. 75-84). Routledge.
Tourish, D. (2014). Leadership, more or less? A processual, communication perspective on the
role of agency in leadership theory. Leadership, 10(1), 79-98.
Ward, J. (2016). Keeping the family business healthy: How to plan for continuing growth,
profitability, and family leadership. Springer.
Yukl, G. A. (2013). Leadership in organizations. Pearson Education India.

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Part B
The Role of the Educational Leader is changing from Manager / Administrator to that of
an Instructional Leader. Discuss.
Introduction
The general business environment and with special reference to the educational industry
can be stated to be very dynamic in nature. Hence, this dynamic nature of the external
environment leaves little or no scope for improvement and for this reason, the different leaders
are required to adapt to the different change procedures and align their role according to the need
of the hour. As the businesses around the world have become quite competitive in nature, so has
the educational sector (Hopkins, 2013). Due to globalization, there have been various
opportunities for the students to study in international locations and hence, the different
institutions often engage in a competition with one another and for this reason, each leader is
often under the pressure to ensure that their institution is able to perform the best and gain a large
number of student intake. Hence, in context of this, the primary objective of the section is to
highlight the role of an education leader in the general context has a manager or an administrator
and how this role is undergoing a considerable change whereby the role of a leader is becoming
more inclined towards an Instructional leader. The educational leader`s role will be analyzed
which will then be followed by the role of the educational leader as an instructional leader which
will then be followed by the analysis of the transition.
The educational leader
According to Hopkins (2013), an educational leader can be rightfully defined as the
leader who plays an inspiring role in the key learning prospect of a child and ensures that the
children grow up to be inspired by their leader. The leader not only ensures that they improve the
different aspects of the firm but generally play the role of a manager and that of an administrator.
The educational leader is also engaged in motivating the different employees to perform and
seeing to it that the different members of the organization as present are successfully able to
improvise on the role of the work educators.
The role of an educational leader as a manager or an administrator

8EDUCATIONAL LEADERSHIP ASSIGNMENT
According to Mestry, Moonsammy-Koopasammy and Schmidt (2013), the role of an
educational leader can be stated to be that of a supporter to the community by the manner of
leading the development as well as the implementation program which helps in the assessment of
the planning cycle. The educational leader not only ensures that the different tasks in the firm are
being carried out well but is also give the responsibility to ensure that the educational leader
looks after aspects like mentoring, supporting the educators and guiding them. Hence, the role of
an educational leader can be essentially stated to be that of a manager and the administrator
which has been highlighted as follows:
 They are required to support the different educators and help them to plan the different
programs as well as the practices effectively.
 They are required to ensure the development and implementation of various programs.
 They also need to collaborate with the different educators to help them in the
measurement and assessment plan (Shamir and Eilam-Shamir, 2018).
In addition to this, the educational leader is also vested with the responsibility of ensuring
that he is able to successfully see to it that the learning outcomes of the different programs are
achieved at large. Some of the other roles of the educational leader can be defined as follows:
 Building the overall knowledge base of the different professionals.
 Advising the parents on the development of the child at large.
Instructional leader
The instructional leaders can be described as one who are not only involved in the overall
curriculum and other related activities but also in the different issues which have an impact on
the achievement of the different students at large. According to Renz (2016), the role of an
instructional leader in the educational segment requires an analysis beyond the scope of just
managing and administrating the firm but involves other leaders as well. The different tasks
which come under the extended role of a leader are the central office personal, the principles and
senior teachers along with the general coaches. Although the traditional leader role may sound
similar to the instructional leader role, the primary elements and roles of the instructional leader
have been described as follows:

9EDUCATIONAL LEADERSHIP ASSIGNMENT
The different instructional leaders would be essentially required to engaging in
prioritization whereby the learning will always remain at the top priority and the leader would be
required to maintain a balance of the vision as well as the management of the vision. Although
the leaders may ignore the other duties, this is something they should not. Secondly the
instructional leaders are also involved in conducting the scientifically based reading research
whereby they are required to engage in effective reading instruction as well as assistance which
will then go a long way in ensuring that these organizational members are successfully able to
implement the reading materials as well as monitor the different implementation plans which
have been designed for them. According to Johnston and Marshall (2013), when the leader will
participate in the professional development sessions, then the leader will be successfully able to
remain informed and be highly focused.
Thirdly it can considered to be crucial that the leader must be focused on the alignment of
curriculum, instructions, assessment as well as laying down of various standards. They must
assist the different students to achieve their goals at large and ensure that the assessment cycles
and other aspects of the study are aligned in a manner such that the student is able to learn and
then apply this learning in the external environment. In case there lies a sense of disconnect
among the leaders in this aspect, then it may lead to the overall downfall of the coursework.
According to Heifetz and Linsky (2017), another duty which must be fulfilled by the
leader is the Data analysis. The data analysis will help the leader in focusing on improving the
achievement and taking the right decisions in the right manner. By using the tool of data
analysis, the leader will be successfully able to help himself in becoming a successful
instructional leader and make the right decisions in the right manner and right time. This will
effectively have an impact on the overall learning of the student as well as the general institution.
Hence, in a similar manner, it can be rightfully stated that, the leader needs to engage in effective
analysis of the data which will help him to improve his leadership. In addition to this, it also lies
the role of an instructional leader to engage in and foster a culture of continuous learning for the
different adults as well. The effective instruction can be stated to be a skill which can never go
wrong and hence, using this technique all the members of the organization can effectively
engage in the overall development so that they are effectively able to improve upon their skills

10EDUCATIONAL LEADERSHIP ASSIGNMENT
and thereby ensure that relevant training is received (DuBrin, 2015). This will not only assist in
the overall development of the teachers but also ensure that the students largely benefit from this.
Hence, from the analysis as done on the different roles of a the leader as a manager and
the instructional leader it can be largely understood that the role of a leader has been expanding
considerably and with respect to this, their traditional role has been growing and needs to include
considerable support for the improvement in the learning as well as the teaching aspect. It needs
to be understood by the different leaders that while the traditional aspects must be met with along
with shifting the focus towards the instructional issues which not only have an impact on the
classroom instruction but also on the student achievement (Avolio and Yammarino, 2013)These
include the promotion of a vision, creating a sense of alignment, giving out instructions,
assessment and other such standards. If the instructional leadership s best applied in a firm, it
may lead to a strong evidence of best practices, then the institution will prosper greatly.
Conclusion
Therefore, from the given analysis it can be stated that, the role of an educational leader
has been changing considerably and from that of a manager and an administrator it has now
evolved to the role of an instructional leader whereby the leader must not only be involved in the
day to day functioning’s of the organization at large but also have an interest and involve him in
the different aspects like preparing an environment of continuous growth, engaging in a culture
where continuous training is provided, ensuring that the leader is successfully able to manage the
coursework and align it effectively with the daily responsibilities so that the firm is successfully
able to prosper an environment which engages good learning and effective development of all
the members as present in the institution.

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References and Bibliography
Avolio, B. J., and Yammarino, F. J. (Eds.). (2013). Introduction to, and overview of,
transformational and charismatic leadership. In Transformational and Charismatic
Leadership: The Road Ahead 10th Anniversary Edition (pp. xxvii-xxxiii). Emerald Group
Publishing Limited.
Beck, D. E., and Cowan, C. C. (2014). Spiral dynamics: Mastering values, leadership and
change. John Wiley and Sons.
Černe, M., Jaklič, M., and Škerlavaj, M. (2013). Authentic leadership, creativity, and innovation:
A multilevel perspective. Leadership, 9(1), 63-85.
Chhokar, J. S., Brodbeck, F. C., and House, R. J. (Eds.). (2013). Culture and leadership across
the world: The GLOBE book of in-depth studies of 25 societies. Routledge.
Daft, R. L. (2014). The leadership experience. Cengage Learning.
DuBrin, A. J. (2015). Leadership: Research findings, practice, and skills. Nelson Education.
Fairhurst, G. T., and Connaughton, S. L. (2014). Leadership: A communicative
perspective. Leadership, 10(1), 7-35.
Goleman, D., Boyatzis, R. E., and McKee, A. (2013). Primal leadership: Unleashing the power
of emotional intelligence. Harvard Business Press.
Heifetz, R., and Linsky, M. (2017). Leadership on the Line, With a New Preface: Staying Alive
Through the Dangers of Change. Harvard Business Press.
Hopkins, D. (2013). Instructional leadership and school improvement. In Effective leadership for
school improvement(pp. 65-81). Routledge.
Johnston, M. W., and Marshall, G. W. (2013). Sales force management: Leadership, innovation,
technology. Routledge.
Mestry, R., Moonsammy-Koopasammy, I., and Schmidt, M. (2013). The instructional leadership
role of primary school principals. Education as Change, 17(sup1), S49-S64.