Leadership Style

Ok, so after reading Greens sections on the various leadership styles, I found it to be kind of difficult to label my leadership skills. I was taking a look at the various quadrants to place myself in and I figured that I would just take it one quadrant of a time. First, looking at figure 2.1, Four Quadrants of Leadership, I would consider myself to be in the high structure/high consideration quadrant. When I think about structure, I consider the many times that I have helped my colleagues with lesson plans, field studies, cross content collaboration, classroom management, and more. When doing this, I try to make sure that everything is available for them, that everything in understandable. I then think about how I check in to either hold them accountable, in a non-threatening way, or offer a chance for them to try it out and give feedback that we can then discuss together. Another way that I feel that I help push my fellow teachers is by offering my hand in connecting reading and writing strategies into their classroom. I have to consider that not all teachers learn to teach reading and writing and that it seems to be what the students do in every class. I have often met with our principal to discuss ways in which I can assist them without overstepping and making them feel overwhelmed. When I think about High consideration, I think about a few of the areas that I had just mentioned. I try my best and believe that I am considered to be approachable. My fellow teachers do not hesitate to ask for assistance, which also tells me that they can trust me. I also feel that it is important to check in with them as a team before making any large decisions that may affect their teaching. I realize that I only touched on one of the quadrants, but I would also like to connect this to feeling as though I would fall in the High Task/High Relationship quadrant. I feel that I push my team to be the best that they can be, but I do this in a team fashion. One way in which I do this is by offering room for suggestions so that everyone is taking ownership. I often invite fellow teachers in to observe so that I can show them how I would approach the task, then meet with them in a debrief, and then on to planning and working with them before they try it on their own. I know that although I place my leadership style in these quadrants, I have lots of room to grow and I am still in the practicing stages of my leadership and understand that I may not always be doing as great as I think that I am. I believe that an important part of this though is to stay positive for myself and for my team. I also understand that this may not be what I do all of the time, but it is the path that I believe is most effective and want to practice.