0.5 Why is school leadership preparation so complex  (Page 7/11)

Fourth, the researchers will analyze the data and codify information on the six doctoral programs, i.e.,comparisons of admissions and program requirements, standards, curriculum, internships, research activities, faculty mentoring,class schedules, and committee structures in terms of faculty numbers and disciplines.

In the last step of the process, interview data gathered from the approximately 30 successful graduates willinclude the use of mixed methods. First, the researcher will analyze the responses of the five graduates from each program andseek parallels in the responses about courses, professors, activities possibly directly linked to successful practices. Next,after identifying possible links between preparation and practice in each of the six top ten programs, the researchers will thenconduct vertical and parallel analyses seeking across preparation and practice across the six programs. If these links emerge theresearcher will apply both inferential and descriptive methods to investigate significance between preparation and practice. Forobvious reasons related to socialization since completing doctoral programs these preparation practice links will perhaps be weak ormissing. However, in spite of the difficulties in isolating the variables that impact successful practice the study could providemore clues to the mystery of leadership and how leaders can be better prepared to take charge and lead schools and schooldistricts to become high performing.

Who is in Charge When Leaders back down?

General George S. Patton knew that leaders in charge should never back down. Endowed with limitless energy andeven when he knew his men were extremely tired, he never let them quit. According to military historian Edgar F. Puryear (1971)General Patton got his men to overcome fatigue and give their all for him--“to do just a little bit more than they thought humanly possible. He did it through his speeches in which he waved theflag, emphasizing that it was a privilege and an honor to fight and die for one’s country. He told his men what a wonderful job they were doing, but they needed to do better; and in his speeches, heconvinced them that their fame would never die”(p.285). The George Patton leadership style may not apply to being in charge of aschool, school district or chairing a doctoral dissertation committee and advising graduate students, but the same premiseholds--leaders can not back down when pressure mounts. Patton wasreferred to as a driver rather than a leader and according to Puryear (1971), being a driver“was a technique which was fundamental and vital to his leadership success. It was a techniquethat brought him great success, but it also caused problems for himself and his senior commanders”(p. 287). This dynamic drive to lead and an excessive need to achieve can be a boon or a demon forindividuals in leadership roles. David McClelland (Hoy&Miskel, 2005) created the n-achievement factor and hypothesized that individuals who are high in achievement motivation have threekey characteristics: 1) they have a strong need to assume personal responsibility and tend to work alone to get the job done they waythey want it; 2) individuals who have a higher need to succeed tend to set moderately difficult goals and take intermediate levels ofrisk. They like the challenge of difficult tasks that may appear to others to be unattainable; 3) high achievers need performancefeedback about their accomplishments even if they fail in completing the task successfully. This obsession to take ondifficult tasks by themselves and seek little outside assistance has its downside in terms of collegiality and teamwork. A drivenleader can easily become known viewed as“compulsive”or“quick tempered,”demanding perfection in others and critical of any person who may appear to stand in the way of progress for his/herprojects or for the organization. While George Patton took great care to assure that his soldiers were provided food, dry clothing,and shelter in combat, he also displayed a short fuse when any soldier failed to carry out his military duty. Puryear summed upPatton’s leadership this way,“At best he was superb; at his worst he was impossible”(p. 288).