RUNNING HEAD: LEADERSHIP PHILOSOPHY

Leadership Philosophy
Tracy J. Montgomery
Leadership in Education Organizations
HIED 66657
Dr. Brenda McKenzie
February 15, 2016

RUNNING HEAD: LEADERSHIP PHILOSOPHY

Leadership Philosophy
From earliest moments of living, children are exposed to the idea of someone designated
to be responsible, or to take charge. Children, first, may look at adults as people they trust to
show them the right direction, or believe that the adults they are handed to if the parent cannot be
present, is a new person they can trust and follow, since it was someone their original leader
entrusted with the same role or responsibility. Children look to adults as leaders at many levels.
But children not only acknowledge leadership in the adults they are exposed to, but also
acknowledge leadership potential in themselves, as well as their peers from their first group
interactions. In group interactions, at least one child tends to speak up and lead the charge, so-tospeak, while the rest tend to follow with little questioning, and when one does not speak-up, the
group may collectively designate someone to be in charge. Could it be, that without even
realizing it, humans begin defining leadership, recognizing set skills and traits in themselves and
others that they believe to be inherent of a leader, before they are able to even spell the word?
Eventually, the game Follow-the-Leader, and elementary class roles that change every week,
force kids to look at the leader-follower concept, and kids begin to shrink to the responsibility, or
look forward to their turn as a leader. They begin to recognize, among adults, peers, and
themselves, what they believe fits their idea of leadership, as they judge on some undefined scale
of what a leader should be. So, to fairly acknowledge my philosophy of leadership as it stands in
the beginning of 2016, I have to look at my actions as far back as I can remember, because it is
then that I set the standards of what I believe to be an outstanding leader, and have measured my
own success or failure as a leader based on those standards, as right or wrong as some of them
may be. At the foundation of my philosophy of leadership, is that actions speak louder than
words; a great leader will have persistent evidence of their leadership beliefs.

RUNNING HEAD: LEADERSHIP PHILOSOPHY

In retrospect, I recognize some of my core beliefs that define effective leadership.

Effective leaders must have a vision for the direction in which they lead, and a plan of some sort
for how they may get there. An outstanding leader shows humility and compassion, leading for a
cause that is greater than herself, and is willing to make necessary sacrifices to put the cause
ahead of her own personal needs, yet able to create a healthy balance that still allows to keep her
own needs in check so that she can be all that the leadership role requires, without negative strain
on herself, or the cause at stake. A great leader is one that may lead without even realizing it,
simply because people respond to the sincerity, passion, and character portrayed, and naturally
follow out of respect and admiration. A great leader is someone who earns the trust of followers,
and never demands it. A leader must always humbly acknowledge the fact that they will make
mistakes, and regularly reflect on their role as a leader, for the purpose of growth in themselves
and for the larger cause at hand, practicing discernment for how to grow personally, as well, as a
collective group, and how to handle adversity and mistakes with dignity and grace.

A great leader will have a vision for where or how the cause should be or should remain,
and have a plan for how that vision will come to fruition. Without a vision, the cause will perish,
therefore, leaving no need for leadership. In response to a national or local tragedy of some kind,
students would often approach me about the desire to address a need, and asked for my guidance
and support to do so. It is easy to get caught up in wanting to make an impact or a change
without taking action, but when someone decides to lead a cause, he or she must first vision the
change desired, then set a plan for how it will be met. I would think about the long-term vision,
such as raising money for a student in our school district who needed a prosthetic leg, or else

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lose the experience of walking ever again. We knew it would take raising money beyond the
means of what those in our school could offer, so I brainstormed with students helping me
organize, and we decided to turn a yearly tradition, the girls Powderpuff football game, into a
community-wide fundraising event that addressed a cause bigger than girls that participated. We
set a specific plan in place, setting shorter-term goals that kept us on schedule and held us
accountable, in order to see the vision come to fruition. So many causes are met with adversity
and complexity requiring sacrifices at some level, that a plan, even if it must change and adapt
regularly, must be set in place in order to stay focused on the overall vision.

In order to persevere in spite of necessary sacrifices, an effective leader must recognize a

cause that is bigger than himself/herself, and approach the cause with humility and compassion.
In order to be effective, a leader has to look at their cause as meaningful and bigger than
himself/herself, or else it will be too difficult to stay focused. If I think of my purpose effects
others and another cause, I am more likely to make the necessary sacrifices required of my role
as a leader, because I am not the only one effected by lack of inaction. Of course, humility is
what causes a leader to look beyond his/her own needs. Throughout two of three of my
husbands deployments, I had to work full-time hours as a high school English teacher, while
also playing the role of both parents for my two young children. I was the sole leader of my
home, making sacrifices necessary to make sure all roles were being filled while he was gone for
a couple of years. In order to maintain the roles I had before, and add many new ones, sacrifice
was necessary. I practiced humility by making it a point to never complain, as it was my choice
to lead the home while my husband served in the Marines around the world. I chose to put my
children, first, and could not complain about exhaustion, lack of sleep, or help from others. If I

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decided to concentrate on myself, I would not have lead my classroom or parented effectively at
all. I did what I had to do to lead for the sake of my family, not myself. Having compassion for
my role is what allowed for many sleepless nights throughout my teaching career, as I absolutely
loved being a teacher, but I especially can attest how my compassion for my children is what
fueled me for those years of deployments. Sacrifice for the sake of a job and others I care about
is the least I could do as leader.

An effective leader will make sacrifices when necessary, especially because he or she has
compassion for a great cause, but must know how to maintain balance in light of what the
leadership position may demand. Of course, this much easier said than done, and is a weakness I
tend to find in myself, as well as other leaders I admire. Yes, sacrifices come with the territory of
leadership, but making too many of those sacrifices fueled with compassion, may lead to
negative consequences at physical, mental, and emotional level. I remember several instances
where I was averaging one all-nighter a week, just to keep up with my grading, because I was
serious about my keeping up with new demands as a leader beyond my classroom. I was
attempting to lead multiple extra-curricular activities, my classroom, and my home. Time was
more scarce than ever, and I did not take the time to eat most meals, let alone sleep more then 4-5
hours a night. Eventually, though, it was the exhaustion from sacrifices that effected my
leadership roles, because I simply did not have the energy to keep the energy going, or to stay
motivated; I barely had the energy to show-up. I lacked balance. I learned that sometimes
sacrifice involves saying no, and that I may have to readjust plans to reach a particular vision
for the sake of my health, or else I would not have the health to lead at all. Balance sets me up to
be my personal best, which is best and the most effective for the overall cause at hand.

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Humility, compassion, and balance are signs of an effective leader, but all are irrelevant if
a leader does not have the trust of his or her followers. It is my belief as well, that trust must be
earned, not demanded. I would not have been nearly as effective as a high school teacher if I
simply demanded trust. By earning the trust of all those who followed me for a cause, be it a
classroom goal, fundraiser, or life goal, I accomplished so much more than if I had just expected
it. Mentioning humility from earlier, it is humility that acknowledges the need to earn trust. I
have always been honored by causes or organizations who asked me to take-on a leadership role
because of the fact that people involved trusted me. On multiple occasions, the school I taught at
would take on a community project, but often had a hard time getting the involvement necessary,
as it seemed to be asking too much of a sacrifice from the average self-consuming teenager.
Knowing that I desired to keep balance in my life, and not take on more than I could, I would
often be asked to lead the cause in a sense that I would not have to handle the time-consuming
logistics, but sacrifice just enough time to participate myself, and to speak to others about the
cause, since people responded better to my involvement. I used to have a difficult time admitting
this trend, but my colleagues noticed the major difference of projects that I participated in and
those I did not. Eventually, I accepted the fact that I was honored to have so many students trust
me to the point that if I believed in it, they figured it was something they could believe in a well,
without too much questioning, if any at all. I never demanded my trust. I made an effort to make
sure that I was always presenting myself as someone who is equal to whomever I speaking to or
working with, even if it was teacher-to-student. I purposefully made an effort to rid the Us-andThem mentality, making everyone feel equal, which in turn gained much more trust. My

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classroom was a collaboration where I guided them; I did not dictate, and that earned their trust
more than most other factors.

Beyond practicing humility and genuine compassion in order to gain the trust of
followers, a leader must reflect regularly, and upon reflection, admit mistakes when necessary,
and attempt to correct them, for the purpose of growth. Some leaders may think that admitting
mistakes is a sign of weakness, but failing to do so, in my opinion, shows arrogance and lack of
humility. As a leader, I must be confident that I am fit for my role, yes, but to say I am perfect
will lose respect, as no one is perfect. Mistakes will happen along the way, and pretending
mistakes did not happen, will only lead to distrust. But, if a leader reflects regularly for the
purpose of personal growth and the well-being of the cause at hand, he or she will take note of
strengths and weaknesses, and acknowledge mistakes so they can be fixed for the greater
purpose. I found so much more success at admitting my shortcomings or mistakes, as it, too, put
me at an equal level of those I was leading, because we are all human.

Adversity is much like making mistakes for any human-inevitable; a great leader must
know how to handle adversity with grace and dignity, while continuing to persevere. If greater
causes did not face adversity of any kind, it seems as though there would be little necessity for a
leader. Yes, people look to leaders for guidance, but I also believe that a leader is a safeguard for
when adversity surfaces. In order to lead a community project or fundraiser, I would have to face
people who did not believe in the cause, and would try to find ways to shut it down, or to hinder
its progress, sometimes taking away the means to make the project work. As a leader, I would
search for alternatives, adjusting the original plan, but still keeping the same overall vision in

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focus. I would never show anger when faced with adversity, because it does not lead to any
solutions, but usually more problems, and because I think that anger shows as more of a
weakness than a strength. It is a weakness to not be able to control a temper, as much as it shows
weakness to give-in at the first sign of adversity. A leader must show control, dignity, and grace,
while persevering through hardships.

Finally, at the core of my philosophy of leadership, is that the best leader is one who may
lead without intention to do so, simply because of the person that he or she is in every role of
life. I believe that particular personality traits provide an advantage for some leaders in particular
contexts, but I do not believe they are necessary. The greatest leaders, though, are the ones that
are genuine, and can exhibit all the other factors I discussed, no matter their personality. If
people are genuine in everything they do, and whom they are at the core of their being, always
practicing compassion and humility, they automatically gain followers because they are
respected and admired. Starting in high school, I was always faced with leadership roles that
adults or my peers would want me to take on, and it was often because they felt I would be
successful because of how people looked up to or respected me. I was a few years into my
twenties before I realized how many people admired me for one reason or another, even if I did
not think of myself as anyone special. Then again, it was often that humility that people said was
one of the reasons they looked up to me. Older and more experienced with leadership and life in
general, I still do not see why I am so blessed to be admired or respected, but I do not take it
lightly. I did not choose to lead or have an impact on people who look up to me, but it does not
mean that does not mean I should dismiss or take advantage of it; instead, it holds me
accountable to continue living a life that always portrays these core beliefs of a leader. After all, I

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never know when a follower is watching, and because I simply care about the well being of
others, I will live with humility and compassion. I will always try to keep a healthy balance of
my roles I life, reflecting regularly so that I can admit my mistakes in order to fix them, gaining
trust of those I encounter, making it easier to face inevitable adversity with dignity and grace. If I
practice core leadership beliefs as a human being in general, I will be better prepared to be a
leader on purpose, than I would be if I were to just put on a hat of leadership, working on
necessary skills as I go. The best leaders, live leadership.