The three roles of the (school) leader
Plan-Do-Trust
A collective ambition ensures that employees can experience passion in their work, it inspires and gives meaning and direction. If the collective ambition in an organization is leading for the majority of employees, then according to Weggeman the well-known 'Plan-Do-Check-Action thing' can be thrown out and replaced by Plan-Do-Trust (Weggeman, 2007). By this he means that in the presence of a collective ambition, instead of planning and control, it is possible to work more from a culture of cooperation and trust. With the underlying basis of trust in each other's involvement and professional expertise. Something that is also strongly advocated by authors such as Lieskamp and Vink (Lieskamp & Vink, 2015) and Biesta (Biesta, 2012).
Focus on the solution or on the problem? Giving assignments.
Swieringa and Jansen (2005) indicate that leaders often tend to focus on the solution (read 'their solution') of a problem or challenge, often unintentionally asking the question 'How do I get them on board?' call for itself. According to them, it is therefore wiser for the leader not to focus on the solution ('his solution') but on getting 'the problem' accepted. After all, if a joint meaning has been given to the problem (in schools, for example, it concerns questions such as: what does this mean concretely for our students, for parents, for teachers? How does this relate to our vision/collective ambition? etc. ) and the problem is 'emotionally adopted' by the employees, the chance of involvement and ownership towards significantly increases the problem/challenge (Wierdsma & Swieringa, 2011). In this phase, possible preconditions and criteria can also be discussed, so that self-evaluation and accountability can take place (Vandendriessche & Clement, 2012; Andersen, Jager, & Koning, 2012; Schnabel, 2001; Mentink, 2014), but also about the necessary facilitation to work on the challenge (Heifetz, 1994). This sense-making involves both gaining shared insights, whereby concepts are translated into a concrete level of behavior (what do you see us doing or not doing anymore?) and assigning a 'weight' to these insights. Do we find it important that something is there or not? And why? In this way, a collective ambition is also being worked on (Weggeman, 2007).
The leader as a 'critical friend'
If the collective ambition is clearly formulated, the professionals can work independently within the agreed frameworks, the manager can increase the quality of this process by stimulating and facilitating the employees. This can be done, for example, by questioning them (asking 'why questions' from the role of critical friend), providing insights from the literature and by supporting the process of mutual interaction and decision-making.
Guarding the bottom line
Both Weggeman (2007) and Mentink (2014) indicate that it is important that the leader monitors and guards the quality of the work and therefore also the performance of individual employees and the team as a whole. The starting point here is always that the manager does not check, but that the employee is accountable (at the content and process level) for the way in which he has given substance to the professional space allotted to him (Weggeman, 2007; Vandendriessche & Clement, 2012; Andersen , Jager, & Koning, 2012; Schnabel, 2001; Mentink, 2014).
The three roles of the (school) leader
The previous insights can be summarized in 'the three roles of the (school) leader', namely that of:
- Giving assignments;
- Critical friend;
- Guarding the bottom line.
Bibliography
Andersen, I., Jager, M., & Koning, R. (2012). Professionele ruimte. Ruimte geven, ruimte laten, ruimte nemen. Utrecht: NSA.
Biesta, G. (2012). Giving Teaching Back to Education: Responding to the Disappearance of the Teacher. Phenomenology & Practice, 35 – 49.
Heifetz, R. (1994). Leadership without easy answers. Cambridge Massachusetts: Harvard University Press.
Lieskamp, M., & Vink, R. (2015). Vertrouwen, verbinden en vakmanschap in het onderwijs: strategisch hr-beleid voor een professionele leergemeenschap. Huizen: Pica.
Mentink, R. (2014). Sturen op zelfsturing: leiderschap en professionele leergemeenschappen. De Nieuwe Meso(1), 55 – 60.
Schnabel, P. (2001). Bedreven en gedreven. Den Haag: SCP.
Swieringa, J., & Jansen, J. (2005). Gedoe komt er toch. Schiedam: Scriptum.
Vandendriessche, F., & Clement, J. (2012). Leidinggeven zonder bevelen. Schiedam: Lannoo nv, Tielt en Scriptum.
Weggeman, M. (2007). Leidinggeven aan professionals. Niet doen ! Schiedam: Scriptum.
Wierdsma, A., & Swieringa, J. (2011). Lerend organiseren en veranderen: Als meer van hetzelfde niet helpt. Groningen: Noordhoff Uitgevers.