Hi Marcelo,
It’s nice to be in another course with you, and I missed seeing you this summer! I hope you are well!
“As much as that is key, we cannot forget that strategic leaders and transformational servant leaders are not just focused on the future, but they also have a good understanding of the present.” Thank you for pointing out the importance of the balance a TSL strategic leader needs have when visioning: how the impact of today’s decisions affects the future of the organization. I am new to my senior administrative role this year, so I am finding that every query that comes to me needs deliberate and intentional assessment and data gathering: What did the person before me do? How did that work out? What other things need to be considered? Who might be in a better position to make this decision? And so on… It reminds me of being a first-year teacher where things as seemingly benign as how to hand out resources can create a big problem. Without experience, it can be overwhelming to think of how the present might affect the future. Thus, an effective TSL strategic leader must have their eyes and ears open at all times to pick up information that might inform a big problem just around the corner.
I would like to add that TSL strategic leaders, when visioning, also need to have a deep understanding of the past. Hughes et al. (2014) state “The greatest visionaries are those who are able to paint a picture of a more desirable future,” which implies that the leader needs to know from where the organization came in order to make visual a better future (p. 65). An action item suggested by Hughes et al. (2014) is to “put the organization’s story in a meaningful context that connects members to its core identity” (p. 78). One of the agenda items for my first team meeting this September was for each member to identify a time when the team had made a decision which significantly impacted the culture of the high school. Some team members have a longer history at the school than I do, so they carry the “community of memory,” as described by Sergiovanni (2007). In piecing together our story, we learn the impact of how ideation times have had fruitful consequences, which is the basis for making the present a new foundation for future thinking.
“I have realized the last few years in Paraguay that some of my staff members do not respond well to some servant leadership skills I use.” Marcelo, can you give an example of what you mean? I have always been fascinated by the comparisons of your culture to here in North America. I am also curious about your concept of “situational servant leadership.” Is this a suggestion of an adaption of how TSL competencies are implemented in your culture? It sounds like a ‘conditional’ serving (ie. “transactional leadership” as defined by Northouse p. 162) to me, which I do not think you mean to imply.
Blessings,
Stella (Lana)
References:
Hughes R., Colarelli-Beatty K. & Dinwoodie D. (2014) Becoming a strategic leader. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass Second Edition
Northouse, P. (2016). Leadership: Theory and practice. (7th ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications.
Sergiovanni, T. (2007). Rethinking leadership: A collection of articles. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.