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Leadership Platform Paper

EDAD 620: Summer 2019

Diana Salazar
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Leadership Platform Paper

My vision is to have ambition and confidence in my abilities while upholding the belief

that everything is possible. I will always strive for more, leading by example with fortitude to

appreciate and value the people around me, and to collaborate and inspire while motivating the

community.

Creating a vision statement based on what I’ve learned from this course allowed me to

view teaching through a different lens. Which also enabled me to gain a new perspective on

becoming an effective leader. My views as a teacher were challenged which encouraged self-

reflection on my leadership abilities and pinpointing areas of improvement. As I reflect on the

gains from this course, I feel eager to take what I’ve learned and apply it to my life and career.

My vision statement was inspired partially by my family, my experiences with leadership, the

book The Multiplier Effect, and Professors Courtney Good.

My family has helped shape who I am and who I strive to be. My mother and father were

immigrants from Mexico, migrating to the United States in hopes of creating a better future for

their children. Neither of my parents graduated from high school and instead worked extremely

hard to provide for myself and three siblings. My mother’s dream was to have all four children

graduate from a university, since she didn’t have that opportunity. I am the eldest of four and

with my mother’s ambitious views on education, my siblings and I could not help but to succeed

and make her proud. We all graduated from a university and intern inspired my mother to go

back to school where she received her GED and eventually graduated from a university,

fulfilling her dream. My parents and my siblings inspired me to work hard and to always

complete what I start.

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My family influenced my past and now my beautiful partner and daughter motivate me to

strive and thrive for more. My partner and daughter encourage and support my ambition to

pursue this master’s program. My partner recognizes my passion and has encouraged me to do

more with my role as an educator. With her support and my daughter’s innocent view of the

world, I work towards a brighter future both professionally and personally.

Working in special education is rewarding especially when I see my students and families

achieve academic goals and overcome obstacles. Unfortunately, working with my administrator

has been challenging creating the most difficult part of my career. I have been with the district

for 10 year while transitioning through 5 principals and 5 program specialists. There is a lack of

leadership in our special education programs creating a disconnect from teachers and

administrators. There is a high turnover rate of teachers due to the lack of leadership and

resources provided. I continue to stay with the district because I believe in the possibilities of

changing the dynamics of our program for the better. The lack of leadership I have endured has

inspired me to learn more about administration while gaining a better understanding of

leadership.

I was moved by The Multiplier Effect and was encouraged to become a “Multiplier”.

Multipliers “access and revitalize the intelligence in the people around them” (Wiseman, Allen,

& Foster, 2013, p. 3). The Multiplier Effect influenced the way I see leadership and how much

positive impact a strong leadership can have in the workplace. The five disciplines of The

Multiplier Effect invoked a new line of thought in the way I observe the people around me.

Multipliers find talent in surrounding people, they create opportunities where staff members are

encouraged to share ideas, they challenge and have faith in their employees to expand ideas, they
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collaborate and make decisions based on the input of others, and they will give up ownership of

projects ensuring growth and success.

Reading about becoming a “diminisher” has also influenced what kind of leader I would

like to become. The Multiplier Effect described what it is to be a “diminisher” and how a

“diminisher” can negatively affect teachers and students. I learned that diminishes have difficulty

giving up control, will micromanage staff not allowing them to expand their creativity or ideas,

and will give up some control while inevitably taking over again. I caught myself drawing

comparisons while I read about “diminisher". While identifying self-diminishing characteristics I

am determined to improve and positively change them. Most importantly what I’ve learned from

becoming a “diminisher" is “Many leaders, having spent years being rewarded for their

intelligence, never look beyond their own capabilities to see and use the full genius of their

team” (Wiseman, Allen, & Foster, 2013, p. 3).

Watching and listening to the all the TED talk presenters, was inspiring and motivating.

One TED talk presenter stood out to me, Dr. Douglas Reeves. Listening to Dr. Reeves and

previously reading about the 21 leadership characteristics, I hope to take a different approach on

professional development trainings. As a future administrator, I am inspired to start off the

school year by sharing my values and vision for our program to all teachers and staff. Dr.

Douglas Reeves suggests focusing on 6 or less items or goals that would be effective to student

learning when trying to implement change. I would also encourage staff members to share their

concerns so that we could create goals to focus on together. I would like to collaborate with staff

members to make necessary changes to meet achieve our goals. I would also make sure to

monitor staff members and give feedback on areas of need or give praise for successful

interventions. When conducting professional development meetings, I would ask my staff what
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they would like to gain from our district trainings. Once I get a sense of what our teachers and

staff are interested in, I would try to ensure our professional developments address their needs. I

would also monitor their practices because according to Dr. Reeve’s continuous research,

professional development alone is not effective. Professional developments should focus on our

goals, interventions should be practiced and applied, and student achievement should be

monitored as well. If I can remember to stay focus, remain true to my values, and collaborate

with staff, I truly feel I can make our teachers and staff feel appreciated and can improve student

achievement.

Another Ted Talks video that helped me shape who I want to be as a leader was the

“Stand Up” video. It demonstrated how crucial life experiences can affect student learning and

after watching the video, I was inspired to keep an open mind and think about all the different

struggles our students go through. As teachers and administrators, we can misinterpret student

behaviors and think that students are refusing to learn because of problematic behaviors they

exhibit in class. “Stand Up” explains how students in high crime areas undergo many social-

emotional struggles causing them to lose focus when they are at school. I believe restored justice

is effective and the video demonstrates how it can have a positive impact on students. I also think

that allowing schools to use funds that best meet their needs can have an enormous impact on

students and the community. It’s important to understand our students and learn to meet their

needs.

Pursuing a master’s degree as well as an administrative credential was not something I

was not interested in nor saw in my future. However, after meeting my partner and creating a

family with our daughter, my focused has changed. Their support combined with what my

parents installed in me, fosters a thirst for knowledge and a desire to be a great leader. Professor
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Good influenced my way of thinking and gave me a different insight that I had not yet been

exposed to. The books chosen by Professor Courtney and Professor Josie had an everlasting

effect on me. I am grateful to them for sharing their expertise and helping me on my journey

through my education.
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References

Wiseman, L., Allen, L., & Foster, E. (2013). The Multiplier Effect. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin.
Fullan, M. (2014). The Principal. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

Adams, C., Forsyth, P.B., Mitchell, R.M. (2009). The Formation of Parent-School Trust.
Educational Administration Quarterly, 45(1), 4-33.