We’ve often read about school management and school leadership, but have you thought about the difference of being a leader and a manager?
Others view leadership as the positive side of being the head of an institution. Being a leader would mean bring the team towards a goal. Setting objectives and making efforts in achieving those objectives is mainly one of the traits of being a leader. From the root word itself ‘lead’ this would mean that the head has the responsibility to bring the team towards development and progress. The team achieves winnings and loses depending or how good or how bad the leader maybe.
This is a good trait right? But, if the leader is too lenient to allow the teachers to do whatever they want chances are there will be more problems than achievements in the near future. If the leader will only perform as an arrow pointing the direction to the end point of a tasks and not seeing the path towards getting there, then it will be very difficult for the teachers to make the necessary actions to gain the goals they have set.
On the other hand, school managers are then viewed as the negative side of being the head of the school. He is seen as being strict in implementing rules of conduct. In a way, limiting the actions of teachers to those that are only approved or appropriate. The teachers are not given the freedom to do what they want to do because as a manager the head must make sure that from the objectives that were set, process should be followed to achieve them. From the root word itself ‘manage’ it would simply mean to constrict the course of action to a specific process so as to meet the expected results. In a way, teachers are put in a leash where their potentials are not able to be developed and not even given the opportunity to grow individually since they are governed by strict rules of conduct.
But then again if the manager will not limit the teachers in the actions to take, chances are there be a lot of wasted resources, resources in terms of funds, efforts and even time. If the head can not organize the system or process on how to meet the goals that were set, then it will consume a lot of time to reach a goal if it will be on a trial error basis.
So where does this leave us? This leaves us in the idea that the school head must be fusion of both a leader and a manager. As a leader, the head must be able to bring the team of teachers to achieving a result they desire. He must be able to inspire the team to do their best efforts. As a manager, the head must control the situation so that the team will not go astray from the course of action they must follow. He must be able to create a path that the teachers will take in order to get to success they aspiring to have.
This fusion is then called the ‘administrator.’ It is a strike of balance between the leader and the manager. This would also mean that the head must be strong yet compassionate. These characteristics are then regarded to be the best features a school head must possess.
By: Amelyn R. Zulueta | HT-III | Lamao National High School
