OF BEING A VISIONARY LEADER
ELIZABETH B. DELFIN
According to Research by asaecenter, leadership style is the way a person uses power to lead other people. It is also the way a leader provides direction, implements plans and motivates people. But how can we know what kind of leader we really are?
Three years ago, our Assistant Schools Division Superintendent, gave us a tool to help us evaluate what kind of leaders are we. And so now after ticking the tool given to us and evaluated myself as to what kind of leader I’ve been for the last two years and two months, I found out that I am a VISIONARY LEADER.
At first, I can’t believe I am a visionary leader because I thought I am doing what a transformational leader is supposed to be doing. But as I read repeatedly the handouts given to me, I have to admit that I am indeed a visionary leader. I am so amazed with what I have read, because not just my good characteristics are written there but even my dark secrets, which I thought I will be keeping for myself forever. And I have to give credit to the author of the book because even though the things he/ she mentioned about a visionary leader are not found in the checklist, in the discussion part, most of the things about me are there… . the positive me and the negative me, my strengths and my weaknesses.
Well of course I am happy to know that John F. Kennedy, an optimistic, risk taker former President of the USA, was a visionary leader. And as I surf the internet, I learned that Mahatma Gandhi, Albert Einstein, Thomas Edison, Martin Luther King, Jr., Robert Haas, CEO of Levi Strauss and many other famous and great leaders were all visionary leaders.
To describe myself as to how I am as a leader and a person, I am a risk taker, optimistic and always look for new ways to make our organization works. I am fond of benchmarking but it does not mean I am a “copy paste” person. In fact, I always wanted my work to be original. I benchmark just to see if I’m on the right track.
I describe myself as a strategic planner and always make my plan weeks ahead of time. I always look at my calendar of activities because as a mother of two teenagers and a school head at the same time, time management is very important. I am very much open to changes especially when I think it is good for the organization and our clientele. I am also supportive to the different programs of the department.
In making major decisions, I don’t decide without asking the consensus of people who have the authority and knowledge in that matter and always seek approval. This is because I fear of committing mistakes. But once I made my final decision, I am ready to face the consequences of my actions, and I see to it that I am prepared with a contingency plan.
I love talking to people I am comfortable with, though I am not a good speaker. I also believe that everyone has their own styles and individual differences that is why, when I am asked for my judgment and comments, I usually do not give negative comments neither positive ones. I just say “Ok lang” except of course when I am so impressed… . but I’m rarely impressed by people because I am also hard to please.
Of course I also have negative qualities. One of these is that I tend to have lots of goals and plans but I am not so attached to them. I also tend to switch between tasks and as a result I do not finish my tasks on time. I usually panic, out of focus and use many people to help me especially when I’m beating the deadline.
I know nobody is perfect and you cannot please everybody. But then we can always do something to improve not just our leadership style but also our personality and our relationship to people. In other words we can always change for the better. And in doing so, remember that we must break away from other people’s expectation because it might deprive us of being us.
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The author is Principal I of Planas High School, Porac, Pampanga
ROWENA M. SANTOS
This action research aimed to improve the scientific process application of grade 8 learners using inquiry – based approach.
Theresearchutilizedanexperimentalresearchdesignwithpre–test/posttest experimental - control group design to test the effectiveness of the inquiry – based approach in improving the scientific process application of Grade 8 learners of Dapdap High School. The subjects of this study were the 60 Grade 8 learners in school year 2015-2016. A 20-item pretest and a 20-item parallel post test on testing the scientific process application of the subjects were constructed by the researcher. The pre-test-post-test was validated by three experts and the reliability will be taken. The t – test of difference between means of correlated and independent data will use an alpha level of 0.05. All the results of this study were processed using the SPSS.
At the end of the study, the researcher came up with the result that the inquiry – based approach was effective in improving the scientific process application among Grade 8 Learners.
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The author is Master Teacher I at Dapdap High School