0.4 Davis, s., & Leon, r. the big 20: critical principles and  (Page 27/9)

Education leadership review, volume 12, number 1 (april 2011)

NCPEA Education Leadership Review is a nationally refereed journal published two times a year, in Winter (April), and Fall (October) by the National Council of Professors ofEducational Administration. Editor: Kenneth Lane , Southeastern Louisiana University; Assistant Editor: Gerard Babo , Seton Hall University; Founding Editor: Theodore Creighton , Virginia Tech.

Author information

Stephen H. Davis ,is a Professor in the Department of Education at California Polytechnic University, Pomona. Dr. Davis is widely published in the area of principal preparation and presently serves in the newly accepted doctoral program at Cal Poly.

Ronald J. Leon , is an Associate Professor in the Department of Education at California Polytechnic University, Pomona. Dr. Leon has written and published in several state, national, and international journals. He also serves as a faculty member in the newly accepted doctoral program at Cal Poly.

Introduction

“Treat people as if they were what they ought to be and you help them to become what they are capable of being.” Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe

This perspective rests (partially) with the discomfiting fact that leadership is not a hard science that exists within a well-defined set of causal phenomena, clear operational protocols, or immutable truths. Instead, great leadership is more artful than mechanical, affective than rational, and propositional than determinative. It is a heartfelt endeavor that reminds us of grandma’s recipe for rhubarb pie (a recipe that only grandma could follow with positive effect)--rhubarb, flour, butter, eggs, sugar, and a whole lot of love . Ironically, the more we discover about the complexities of human psychology, the deeply nuanced and subtle characteristics of interpersonal relationships, and the dynamics of social influence, the more challenging our quest for certainty and predictability regarding the attributes of great leadership becomes.