Artifact 2 Leadership Philosophy As An Educator - Elkins

Running head: LEADERSHIP PHILOSOPHY AS AN EDUCATOR

Leadership Philosophy as an Educator Shelby Elkins Loyola University Chicago



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Leadership Philosophy as an Educator Northouse (2018) said that leadership is a process, but I think it is a unique process. When in unique situations, you often have to find unique and specific ways to handle situations. Especially when you want to handle situations with grace, you must think hard and be cognizant of every action you take. In the field of student affairs, us educators are fortunate enough to be there for students when they experience various critical points of their lives that could potentially shape them for generations. Northouse (2018) analyzed leadership’s shifts from dominance, influence, approach, and effectiveness. Even though leadership is often pegged to be a certain way in each decade, I believe that you can always make it your own to handle what lies in front of you. With emotional intelligent leadership, we have the opportunity to handle our daily work with grace and the endearment that we feel for our work and students. In this paper, I will discuss the three core sections of my personal leadership philosophy as an educator statement: working with vulnerable students, being vulnerable yourself, and setting things aside. I will analyze these three steps through the emotionally intelligent leadership theory. By using this theory, I would like to give you a front row seat to the way I approach my daily work and how small things can make a significant difference. My leadership philosophy as an educator statement is: Leadership as an educator is a unique process; it is not a task, it is not the accomplishments of your work. Leadership as an educator is the manner and emotion you exhibit when working with students - even when students are in vulnerable positions, when you feel vulnerable, and when you must set aside everything else to create a lasting impact on the students we are fortunate enough to work with everyday in our field.

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Vulnerable Students When students are in vulnerable positions like suicidal ideation, home life issues, academic concerns, etc., we as student affairs educators must be there and know how to handle the situation. And when we do not know what to say, it is okay to be quiet and just let a student know they are being heard. Dugan (2017) wrote about emotional intelligent leadership and its necessity to be conscious of situations and how to handle them. I wholeheartedly agree with this sentiment and see it every day in my work. When students are sharing themselves with you and feel that they are in a vulnerable position, we must as educators be knowledgeable about what is going on and ways that we can help them. By using emotional intelligent leadership as a student affairs educator, you are better equipped to see the entire situation you are dealing with, understand their emotions, and controlling your own emotions (Dugan, 2017). Social cues from students, unspoken assumptions, and other unsaid parts of a students’ concerns are often the most important. For example, when talking to a student who has been facing suicidal ideation and all the other concerns that brings, we must look around the situation and see what outside factors are affecting the it. What is their network? Do they feel supported? Are there things in their room that put them at further risk? Do they have a plan? Are you asking the right questions, and using the right words? These questions are important to ensure the situation is handled with grace and concern for students’ safety. Northouse (2018) wrote about how leadership and management are not the same, and I believe that is applicable to every single situation. When we look at our work with students as a situation to manage, we risk failing them. When we find ways to lead and be a leader, we have a better chance of reaching the students concerns in the ways they so badly need. By using

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emotional intelligent leadership as educators, we provide “attitudes to achieve desired leadership outcomes (Dugan, p. 95).” We can use our attitude and tone of voice to deescalate a tense situation and use what we sense in an environment to solve a crisis. The moment you feel disconnected and uninformed is the moment you have lost the emotional intelligence required to be there for students in your role as an educator.

Vulnerable Staff Students often view staff members as just robots that sit behind a desk and process paperwork. Surprisingly, we are so much more than that and have lived interesting and unique experiences ourselves! Because of this, we are often in vulnerable positions as well. Students could potentially say things that are triggering, that remind you of your past, and make you feel uncomfortable and at a loss of words. Dugan (2017) notes that the consciousness of self is important when applying emotionally intelligent leadership. When you are aware of yourself and what positions you hold in a situation, you are better prepared to work with students and handle your consciousness of the context (Dugan, 2017). There are staff members that I currently work with that I know when they enter situations, they risk having something being said by a student that challenges how they respond to the situation. Some of us as educators have battled suicidal thoughts, have had major issues at home, and have various concerns that we carry with us everywhere we go. This requires us to challenge the ways we show empathy and be able to understand how we channel our experiences into helping students (Dugan, 2017). We now have the opportunity to be authentic and use transparency when talking with students (Dugan, 2017). We can often share how we have faced the same challenges and what we did to overcome them. This allows students to see that others

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have faced similar things and found ways to balance them moving forward. I do not view this as providing a silver lining but being authentic and letting someone see they are not alone.

Setting Things Aside Dugan (2017) showed in his chart of Emotionally intelligent leadership framework that the consciousness of context is vital to be aware of the setting and situation. We must be able to set things aside and look at the situation in front of it and its many facets. When analyzing a group that we are working with, we should interpret group dynamics and understand the setting we are in. We must set aside the individual connections we might have with individual students that might prohibit group growth – but, we must remember them and understand how they fit into a group. We must set aside the challenges we face(d) so that we can give students the full support they need in their times of concern. When assessing the environment, we must interpret external forces and trends (Dugan, 2017). This is vital to ensuring emotional intelligent leadership is being integrated into our work. Setting aside preconceived notions of groups or environments is acceptable for creating fresh experiences for students. Chunoo (2018) said that “using an approach to leadership that challenges us requires us to change attitudes, values, and behaviors in order to address complex challenges.” By setting aside bad attitudes and behaviors, we are able to navigate any context and accomplish the high level of work that is expected from us. It would be easy for me to walk in a room and have an attitude while searching for prohibited items after a student is rude to me – but that is not acceptable. We must remember that students might feel vulnerable, exposed, and attacked by some parts of our work. This context is important to remember so that we can justify why we must set aside feelings we hold that are heavy, but not necessary.

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Emotionally intelligent leadership theory is largely absent from many leadership theories but is so important to every part of our work (Dugan, 2017). We should not look at this as something to check off on our leadership journey, but as part of every word that comes out of our mouths. Before we speak and act, we must challenge ourselves to think where we are talking, what we are saying, and how it will be perceived. Although this is a lot to think of every time we speak, we must challenge ourselves so that we do not miss the opportunity to be a support and emotionally intelligent leader when it is needed.

LEADERSHIP PHILOSOPHY AS AN EDUCATOR References Dugan, J. (2017). Leadership theory: Cultivating critical perspectives. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass Guthrie, K., & Chunoo, V. (2018). Changing the narrative: Socially just leadership education. Charlotte, NC: Information Age Publishing Northouse, P. (2018). Leadership: Theory and practice, 8th edition. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

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