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An Interview with Brenda Jean Patrick

What are the characteristics of a leader?
A leader takes action. They respect the people they lead. Members on their team are left with a sense of dignity and willingness to be led. The most important characteristic of a leader is the drive to lead, not control, and there is a difference.

If there are various people that possess these same qualities, why are some more effective leaders?
Level of commitment – there are those who manage and then there are people who lead. Managers are able to get their team to perform at a high level of success. Leaders teach others how to perform at this higher level of success even when the leader is not present.

If a leader is successful, what elements of leadership do the members see in them?
The “everyday” element in leadership happens every minute in all situations. This is the major difference between a manager and a leader. Ask the team members of a strong leader what makes their leader successful and they will reply, “My leader cares, communicates effectively, clearly states expectations and always demonstrates how to complete the task successfully.” Also, when members of a team are interviewed, an interesting fact is often shared; they will perform for those who use intimidation, but it is not without resistance. A true leader inspires a person to continue performing successfully without regard to money, penalty, and/or rewards … instead they become inspired to live in accordance to their own level of satisfaction.

What is the most difficult thing for a leader?
Time! Time is a leader’s Achilles heel. It takes time to develop trust. It takes time to clearly communicate expectations. It takes time to provide a consistent, repetitive reward system. It takes time for a leader to hone their personal likes and dislikes then find out what works best for the team. In our society today, education is often driven by the need for efficiency. We are rewarded for this efficiency rather than effectiveness. “Has the assignment been successfully completed and implemented” should be the question asked – leaders encourage thinking, analyzing, even questioning. Many administrators, management teams, and organizational officers state that, as they review their tenure and reflect on mistakes or plans they wish had been accomplished, success was denied due to lack of time. Time is needed to complete the preparatory and follow-up activities that were necessary to accomplish their agenda.

For example, I am working with an elementary principal as she implements the concept of team interdependence for the upcoming school year. Originally, she was going to have a workshop in the fall and a follow-up training in the spring on teamwork. I asked her what she was trying to accomplish, how would this concept fit into the big picture of staff development, evaluations, and her leadership goals? She said she wanted the staff to work as a team whether she was going to be there or not, to recognize they are stronger, more effective, and better as a unit. She needed to see each member demonstrating a desire to be a part of the team. Thus, once the goals were clearly identified, I suggested not to have just training seminars but to have team building activities at every faculty meeting, every team meeting, every social meeting, and at every staff development opportunity. Each time a trainer comes to share knowledge, have them finish 30 minutes earlier than originally scheduled. Use this time for the staff to work as a team – allow them to analyze what has been heard, what they are going to use, question what information is still needed and, as a team, decide the who, what, when, where and how of the implementation. The principal grinned at me and said, “That’s the key! It is understanding how to make the time to actualize what you want to accomplish through every thread of your organization!” Time is the bottom line, and a leader accepts it.

Most organizations change leadership every year. Guidelines and position papers are often done to follow along with that leader’s focus. Is that detrimental to the organization?
Absolutely. There are a couple of things we have now learned about “changing the guard.” Every organization should have a three- to five-year theme, mission, and goals. It takes three to five years for any enterprise to be woven so tightly that people embrace it … work for it. Team members should want the enterprise to be accomplished and should be willing to see that it is successfully completed. If you change the organizational direction every year, it simply becomes another thing to do; another bandwagon. Pretty soon the members develop an attitude of “this too shall pass,” it will be gone next year anyway, why bother … it’s their goals!

Would it be more effective if organizations had longer terms for its leaders?
Actually, experience tells us it is not the number of years that is the deciding factor. It is the organization’s commitment to a three- to five-year plan. Every person who offers their name for a leadership role is or promoted into that leadership position should go back and review the organization’s goals, mission, and the time remaining on the three-to five-year plan. For example, when someone new is elected to an office, they should complete this review process and then plan their activities. That’s the real difference between a manager and a leader. The leader is committed to the organization’s survival, success and all its members. A leader’s theme, plans and actions must be precipitated by this question: “How is the action going to implement the bigger organization picture, i.e. their goals, not my needs?” The manager is someone interested in his or her own agenda and in getting done what they want done. The manager feels successful when things are neat and tidy based on their perception.

Most organization members are not personally familiar with the candidates on a ballot. What type of information should a ballot contain to give a truer picture of what type of leader that person will be?
There are a couple of things we must consider because of the invention of technology. A profile of the candidate could be sent electronically, web page access to all candidates, video interviews of the candidates and even electronic balloting. When someone new joins TESA, what if we sent them an email with the history, goals, themes, suggestions for their participation in TESA? What if during elections we had PowerPoint presentations or videos done by each candidate showing education profile, previous/current employment, personal history, and the organization goals with how this candidate plans to influence the successful completion of these goals? In TESA’s organization system, just look how powerful it would be if every member not only got the magazine or ballot about the elections but also disks, videos or electronic news which could be sent to affiliates with a presentation on the candidates. Each affiliate would present this information to its membership, who would then have time to consider, time to talk, and time get to know the candidates.

It is not about money … it is about time. As leaders we often forget people need time to make decisions. Therefore the most effective thing would be to announce the state of candidates, restate the organizational goals and have each candidate state specifically their plan (for the office they are seeking) on how the organization’s goals will be met. Leadership then becomes the determining factor of the election, not style, like-ability or even friendships. I have met people who were fabulous on their job but when she became a leader of an organization, she was not as effective because the organization needed a different type of leadership.

Let us remember there is more than one style of leadership. Hence when I am making the decision on whom to vote for, what I need to know is what the candidate is going to do for the organization, which is me. If excitement about the voting process is our goal then it needs to be interactive, thought-provoking, one-on-one, and visual. Let us watch the candidate’s body language and listen to what they’re saying, so that we know the person and are not voting for a name. Several statistics show that up to 30% of votes are based simply on name recognition.

Closing remarks
There are two messages that I am dedicated to sharing with my colleagues. First, leadership is not about whether you like someone or whether they please you. Leadership is inspiring someone to complete their job and life with a sense of accomplishment as well as enjoying both job and life. I am concerned that in the 21st century many people in leadership positions base their decisions directly on how well they like the person involved. If Susie Q doesn’t do the job well, she still must have a good leader. She must be taught, inspired and challenged to do a good job. It is not about getting rid of Susie, getting her to transfer, burying her under paperwork, or making life tough so that she will leave … another Susie will appear as soon as you have gotten rid of the first Susie. It must be about inspiring and teaching the necessary skills for their success, and ultimately your success. Otherwise we are just going to keep playing “merry-go-round the bad employees,” sending them to different school districts and/or organizations without the needed skills, and if that happens we allow our organizations to be mediocre.

My second thought is the need for a powerful support staff organization. As I attend conferences, talk to administrators, provide training, and dialogue with support staff, I am convinced that there is an incredible untapped resource in every school … the support staff. They are a resource for public relations, administrative efficiency, and most importantly leadership. My friends, the old adage about peer pressure is true. If as a leader you want your team to perform at the highest level, leadership has to be visible from within the team and not just externally – that is what inspires action.

As a Program Coordinator/Master Consultant with Region 10 Education Service Center, Brenda Jean Patrick has been training educators for more than 10 years in the Division of Instruction. This cutting-edge division provides assistance to schools for the overall purpose of effective instructional improvement.