After graduating from college with a diploma in Computer Networking and Engineering nearly seventeen years ago, I entered the Information Technology (IT) workforce at a very young age, ready and willing to do whatever was expected and asked of me. Reflecting upon my former positions as I write this, I feel as though I never really had the experience of engaging with a true leader. My bosses have always been what we’ve seen in this course defined as managers (Gupta, 2009); there to ensure that the jobs we were tasked with completing were accomplished in accordance with the deadlines imposed from above. I do not remember ever hearing about the organizational goals or visions we were moving toward, or how we were strategically poised to accomplish them when I worked in the IT industry. Thus my knowledge around the entire subject of leadership to date is relatively limited.
THE WINDS OF CHANGE
I am now working in my sixth position with as many employers, and have transitioned from the IT sector into the role of an Instructional Design Technologist in a higher education environment. It is only recently that I have begun to understand what actual leadership, especially around technology, is about. Over the course of the last four years, our organization has undergone massive transformational change. We have welcomed an entirely new senior leadership team who have redesigned the organizational structure several times in order to achieve the goals of the institutional academic and strategic plans. Throughout these changes I have had the experience of reporting to three very different people. I reported to my first Dean throughout the transition from the old leadership team to the current. My experiences with her were always very supportive and positive, however looking back now, I feel she exhibited many characteristics that can be described as a “laissez-faire” leadership style (Avolio, 1999; Bass, 1998; Burns, 1978, Eagly, Johannesen-Schmidt, & van Engen, 2003). While I am still relatively unfamiliar with this form of leadership, I do not feel as though it was detrimental in any way, but rather due in part to the culture of the institution at the time. When I began at the institution educational technology was available for classroom use, however it was not an academic priority.
Shortly after the new leadership team was in place, new academic and strategic plans were introduced and several technology enhanced learning goals were outlined in order to achieve a new institutional vision. My first Dean eventually retired and we were assigned to report to another Dean. This Dean was aware of the amazing potential educational technology possessed to enhance the student learning experience. She was very determined to bring educational technology to the forefront and shift the teaching and learning culture within the institution. Online learning and educational technology were outlined as key areas for growth within the institution and in my role as an Instructional Design Technologist assisting in the development of online courses, I felt very supported by my new Dean. In order to meet the goals of the academic and strategic plans it was stated that we needed to increase the availability of our online course offerings. There was no mention of how or why, just a number and deadline. For the last three years we have been scrambling to get systems and processes in place to facilitate proper development opportunities and proper supports, both pedagogically and technologically, for our online teaching faculty. Although progress towards technology enhanced learning environments was being made, it felt like we were operating in a reactionary mode, constantly dealing with issues that had could have been avoided had care and proper planning been in place. After a rather tumultuous two years of constant reaction and action with no clearly established goals, our second Dean also retired and we were assigned to report to our current leader.
Being under the guidance of my current leader has been an incredibly positive change for our department. Our initial consultations were just that; two-way communication and a lot of listening on the part of our new leader. She explained to us that her philosophy is honesty, openness, and communication, and she has quickly gained the trust and respect from not only myself, but the entire department. After several consultations she determined we were in need of a vision and strategy for online learning and educational technology at the institutional level. She pulled our online team together to begin to flush out what we already had in place, what was working, what wasn’t and how we could begin to move forward to achieve the goals in a positive way for everyone. Based on what I have learned about leadership thus far; I would consider this to be my first direct experience with a transformational leader.
THE WINDS OF CHANGE
I am now working in my sixth position with as many employers, and have transitioned from the IT sector into the role of an Instructional Design Technologist in a higher education environment. It is only recently that I have begun to understand what actual leadership, especially around technology, is about. Over the course of the last four years, our organization has undergone massive transformational change. We have welcomed an entirely new senior leadership team who have redesigned the organizational structure several times in order to achieve the goals of the institutional academic and strategic plans. Throughout these changes I have had the experience of reporting to three very different people. I reported to my first Dean throughout the transition from the old leadership team to the current. My experiences with her were always very supportive and positive, however looking back now, I feel she exhibited many characteristics that can be described as a “laissez-faire” leadership style (Avolio, 1999; Bass, 1998; Burns, 1978, Eagly, Johannesen-Schmidt, & van Engen, 2003). While I am still relatively unfamiliar with this form of leadership, I do not feel as though it was detrimental in any way, but rather due in part to the culture of the institution at the time. When I began at the institution educational technology was available for classroom use, however it was not an academic priority.
Shortly after the new leadership team was in place, new academic and strategic plans were introduced and several technology enhanced learning goals were outlined in order to achieve a new institutional vision. My first Dean eventually retired and we were assigned to report to another Dean. This Dean was aware of the amazing potential educational technology possessed to enhance the student learning experience. She was very determined to bring educational technology to the forefront and shift the teaching and learning culture within the institution. Online learning and educational technology were outlined as key areas for growth within the institution and in my role as an Instructional Design Technologist assisting in the development of online courses, I felt very supported by my new Dean. In order to meet the goals of the academic and strategic plans it was stated that we needed to increase the availability of our online course offerings. There was no mention of how or why, just a number and deadline. For the last three years we have been scrambling to get systems and processes in place to facilitate proper development opportunities and proper supports, both pedagogically and technologically, for our online teaching faculty. Although progress towards technology enhanced learning environments was being made, it felt like we were operating in a reactionary mode, constantly dealing with issues that had could have been avoided had care and proper planning been in place. After a rather tumultuous two years of constant reaction and action with no clearly established goals, our second Dean also retired and we were assigned to report to our current leader.
Being under the guidance of my current leader has been an incredibly positive change for our department. Our initial consultations were just that; two-way communication and a lot of listening on the part of our new leader. She explained to us that her philosophy is honesty, openness, and communication, and she has quickly gained the trust and respect from not only myself, but the entire department. After several consultations she determined we were in need of a vision and strategy for online learning and educational technology at the institutional level. She pulled our online team together to begin to flush out what we already had in place, what was working, what wasn’t and how we could begin to move forward to achieve the goals in a positive way for everyone. Based on what I have learned about leadership thus far; I would consider this to be my first direct experience with a transformational leader.
A BALANCED LEADERSHIP APPROACH
During a meeting with our leader our team had a very open conversation about the issues we experienced with the former leadership style and why we hadn’t been able to move our online and educational technology plans forward. My current leader has been deeply involved with the creation of an Aboriginal Centre at the institution and has learned a great deal from the Anishinaabe elders within the aboriginal community. She explained that she tries to model her leadership style around the aboriginal values of community and when embarking on a new endeavor she gravitates toward using a very valuable planning tool which can be seen in Figure 1 , the Anishinaabe Medicine Wheel (click image to enlarge). As we sat around the table she used the medicine wheel to illustrate why we had been having such issues moving our online and technology enhanced learning plans forward.
The Anishinaabe Medicine Wheel is split into four quadrants, each of which represents a particular gift based on the four directions (East, South, West and North) and is approached in a cyclical or circular nature. Aboriginal leaders operate in partnership with their followers and empower the members within their community to reach common visions together (Bell, 2014; Bell, 2015). Early research around transformational leadership conducted by Burns (1978) was further explored and expanded by Bass (1985) which resulted in the development of the transformational leadership theory. Similar to the teachings of the Anishinaabe Medicine Wheel, transformational leadership theory describes four key characteristics that define a transformational leader. Transformational leaders promote intellectual stimulation, or the encouragement to explore new ways of doing things and new opportunities to learn. They consider the individual by providing support and encouragement while keeping the lines of communication with followers open. A clear, well-articulated vision driven by passion provides followers with the third characteristic, inspirational motivation. Finally, through positive role modelling and idealized influence, transformational leaders are able to earn the trust and respect of their followers and it is through their positive relationships that the followers internalize the ideals of the leader in order to achieve the goals. Common to the individualized consideration characteristic of transformational leadership, they gain the trust and respect from their followers through open communication and the support they provide throughout the community (Julien, Wright, & Zinni, 2010). My leader explained that under our former leadership, we were addressing only two of the four quadrants; East and North, or vision and action. We repeatedly neglected two key quadrants that could have mitigated some of the issues we encountered; South and West, or time and reason respectively. We had never been given the gift of time to reflect upon and internalize our leaders’ vision or explore new ways in which we could use our variety of talents to achieve the goals of the vision before jumping into action. Since beginning this course I have been able to reflect upon the wisdom of the aboriginal culture and my current leader and have found many commonalities between the leadership style found within the aboriginal culture and transformational leadership theory. I have found this leadership style to provide the support and guidance necessary to reignite the motivational spark within our team and it is enabling us to create a solid action plan that will move our online and educational technology plans in a positive direction.
During a meeting with our leader our team had a very open conversation about the issues we experienced with the former leadership style and why we hadn’t been able to move our online and educational technology plans forward. My current leader has been deeply involved with the creation of an Aboriginal Centre at the institution and has learned a great deal from the Anishinaabe elders within the aboriginal community. She explained that she tries to model her leadership style around the aboriginal values of community and when embarking on a new endeavor she gravitates toward using a very valuable planning tool which can be seen in Figure 1 , the Anishinaabe Medicine Wheel (click image to enlarge). As we sat around the table she used the medicine wheel to illustrate why we had been having such issues moving our online and technology enhanced learning plans forward.
The Anishinaabe Medicine Wheel is split into four quadrants, each of which represents a particular gift based on the four directions (East, South, West and North) and is approached in a cyclical or circular nature. Aboriginal leaders operate in partnership with their followers and empower the members within their community to reach common visions together (Bell, 2014; Bell, 2015). Early research around transformational leadership conducted by Burns (1978) was further explored and expanded by Bass (1985) which resulted in the development of the transformational leadership theory. Similar to the teachings of the Anishinaabe Medicine Wheel, transformational leadership theory describes four key characteristics that define a transformational leader. Transformational leaders promote intellectual stimulation, or the encouragement to explore new ways of doing things and new opportunities to learn. They consider the individual by providing support and encouragement while keeping the lines of communication with followers open. A clear, well-articulated vision driven by passion provides followers with the third characteristic, inspirational motivation. Finally, through positive role modelling and idealized influence, transformational leaders are able to earn the trust and respect of their followers and it is through their positive relationships that the followers internalize the ideals of the leader in order to achieve the goals. Common to the individualized consideration characteristic of transformational leadership, they gain the trust and respect from their followers through open communication and the support they provide throughout the community (Julien, Wright, & Zinni, 2010). My leader explained that under our former leadership, we were addressing only two of the four quadrants; East and North, or vision and action. We repeatedly neglected two key quadrants that could have mitigated some of the issues we encountered; South and West, or time and reason respectively. We had never been given the gift of time to reflect upon and internalize our leaders’ vision or explore new ways in which we could use our variety of talents to achieve the goals of the vision before jumping into action. Since beginning this course I have been able to reflect upon the wisdom of the aboriginal culture and my current leader and have found many commonalities between the leadership style found within the aboriginal culture and transformational leadership theory. I have found this leadership style to provide the support and guidance necessary to reignite the motivational spark within our team and it is enabling us to create a solid action plan that will move our online and educational technology plans in a positive direction.
References
Avolio, B. J. (1999). Full leadership development: Building the vital forces in organizations.
Thousands Oaks, CA: Sage.
Bass, B. M. (1998). Transformational leadership: Industry, military, and educational impact. Mahwah,
NJ:Erlbaum.
Bass, B. M. & Riggio, R. E. (2008). Transformational Leadership. Mahwah, New Jersey: Lawrence
Erlbaum Associates, Inc.
Bell, N. (2014). Teaching by the Medicine Wheel | Canadian Education Association (CEA). Retrieved
from http://www.cea-ace.ca/education-canada/article/teaching-medicine-wheel.
Bell, N. (2015). Medicine Wheel - Catholic Principals' Council Ontario. Retrieved from
http://blog.cpco.on.ca/460-2.
Burns, J. M. (1978). Leadership. New York: Harper & Row.
Eagly, A. H., Johannesen-Schmidt, M. C., & van Engen, M. L. (2003). Transformational,
transactional, and laissez-faire leadership styles: A meta-analysis comparing women and men.
Psychological Bulletin, 129(4), 569-591. doi:10.1037/0033-2909.129.4.569.
Gupta, A. (2009). Leadership Vs Management. Retrieved from
http://practical-management.com/Leadership-Development/Leadership-Vs-Management.html.
Julien, M., Wright, B., & Zinni, D. M. (2010). Stories from the circle: Leadership lessons learned from
aboriginal leaders. The Leadership Quarterly, 21(1), 114-126.
doi:10.1016/j.leaqua.2009.10.009.
Thousands Oaks, CA: Sage.
Bass, B. M. (1998). Transformational leadership: Industry, military, and educational impact. Mahwah,
NJ:Erlbaum.
Bass, B. M. & Riggio, R. E. (2008). Transformational Leadership. Mahwah, New Jersey: Lawrence
Erlbaum Associates, Inc.
Bell, N. (2014). Teaching by the Medicine Wheel | Canadian Education Association (CEA). Retrieved
from http://www.cea-ace.ca/education-canada/article/teaching-medicine-wheel.
Bell, N. (2015). Medicine Wheel - Catholic Principals' Council Ontario. Retrieved from
http://blog.cpco.on.ca/460-2.
Burns, J. M. (1978). Leadership. New York: Harper & Row.
Eagly, A. H., Johannesen-Schmidt, M. C., & van Engen, M. L. (2003). Transformational,
transactional, and laissez-faire leadership styles: A meta-analysis comparing women and men.
Psychological Bulletin, 129(4), 569-591. doi:10.1037/0033-2909.129.4.569.
Gupta, A. (2009). Leadership Vs Management. Retrieved from
http://practical-management.com/Leadership-Development/Leadership-Vs-Management.html.
Julien, M., Wright, B., & Zinni, D. M. (2010). Stories from the circle: Leadership lessons learned from
aboriginal leaders. The Leadership Quarterly, 21(1), 114-126.
doi:10.1016/j.leaqua.2009.10.009.