Total Leaders 2.0: Leading in the Age of Empowerment

Citation

Hartlep, N.D. (2012), "Total Leaders 2.0: Leading in the Age of Empowerment", Journal of Educational Administration, Vol. 50 No. 3, pp. 383-388. https://doi.org/10.1108/09578231211232031

Non satis scire: to know is not enough

Total leaders must be visionaries of what will come not only in the near but also in the far future. So write Charles Schwahn and William Spady in their 2010 sequel to Total Leaders (Schwahn and Spady, 1998). Total Leaders 2.0: Leading in the Age of Empowerment is a book about what leadership looks like in the twenty‐first century and beyond. According to the authors, “As empowered leaders, it's up to us to create the future we want to experience ‐ and the educational system that will get us there. No one else is going to do it for us” (p. 2).

Schwahn and Spady address this idea of always looking to the future in the book's first chapter. According to them, total leadership requires a “futurist” orientation when considering what students should learn, which will, in turn, impact the curriculum that students experience. They cite the biotechnology and nanotechnology revolutions as hallmark examples of why futuristic imagination is so central to educational leadership. Like it or not, according to Schwahn and Spady, educational leadership's vitality is important because of the technology‐rich society in which we all live and learn. The need to be forward thinking is also due to the fact that modernization and global interconnectedness, or the flattening of the world, have broken down barriers, causing the global to be the local (Friedman, 2007).

Transformational technologies and the existence of the “24‐hour‐7‐days‐a‐week” reality mean that citizens desire (and often require) knowledge immediately, and that they have the technology to provide instantaneous responses. Moreover, so‐called “expertise” is being challenged, as nowadays students can look things up on the worldwide web or Google (e.g. see also Menand, 2010). Web sites like Wikipedia make knowledge accessible and immediately available to all those who wish to troll for it. All of this aside, the main idea of Total Leaders 2.0 is that leaders lead change, and lasting, productive change requires leadership that empowers.

Readers will exit this book with a firm conviction of what is needed to become a total leader. Who would have known that only one year after its publication, one of the gurus cited in its pages would have not only further revolutionized much of the technology that Schwahn and Spady write about, but also would die? I am referring to Apple's co‐founder, Steve Jobs (Wilson, 2011). What made the book, to me, such a delight to read, was how true its assertions were. According to the book's authors, “change” is inevitable, and those who do not “change,” will fall to the wayside.

I found Total Leaders 2.0 to be quite declarative, rather than interpretive or analytical in style and approach. Despite the book's updated material, it is already outdated one year post‐publication. A significant strength, however is that its authors are prescient in terms of how technology will continue to shape the world in which total leaders do their work. Schwann and Spady cite iPods and Kindles, but as I write this book review on my iPad, many technological innovations are absent: Apple's iCloud and QR‐codes (web site, http://qrcode.kaywa.com/) are two examples. This illustrates how immediate “change” is bound to occur, and how correct Schwahn and Spady are.

The book is comprised of seven “easy‐to‐read” chapters, with chapter one, “Welcome to Empowerment Land,” serving as an introduction. Chapter two, “Living on the Edge in Empowerment Land,” addresses a dilemma of education, namely that it doesn't empower its students. Accordingly, Schwahn and Spady (2010b, p. 22) identify the most problematic elements of schools as being their “structure and culture of control, standardization, constraint, and compliance”. Other research and scholarship supports Schwahnn and Spady's claim of problematic schooling structures and practices (e.g. see Anyon, 1997; Ayers, 2004; McClafferty et al., 2000; Hartlep, 2010; Noguera, 2003).

In Chapter three, “Leadership, Change, and Character: Joined at the Hip,” Schwahn and Spady (2010b, p. 25) write that “today's successful leaders must know change, must accept change, must embrace change, must welcome change, and (it might be a stretch, but) maybe they actually have to love change, its challenges, and its excitement”. They do a good job here at distinguishing between management and leadership: the former focuses upon people, whereas the latter optimistically focuses upon places. Total leaders envision and have the courage and foresight to ask where they need to be and how they can get there. They also have emotional intelligence (EQ) and understand that “cross‐industry learning” is an important factor for the further development, success, and stability of the educational institution(s) that they lead.

Schwahn and Spady present ten core values (integrity, courage, honesty, reflection, commitment, productivity, teamwork, openness, excellence, and risk taking) and ten principles of professionalism (accountability, improvement, alignment, inquiry, contribution, clarity, win‐win, future focusing, inclusiveness, and connection) for their readers. This is not to imply that total leaders are super‐humans; the authors merely reaffirm that effective leaders are everyday, normal people with excellent moral foundations. As Schwahn and Spady (2010b, p. 89) also assert, “Leaders are people, much like you and us... dreams, fears, and all”.

I would be remiss not to mention one weakness of this book. It was a significant distraction, and struck me as odd, how the authors repeatedly referenced their other book Learning Communities 2.0 (Schwahn and Spady, 2010a). These references, made ad nauseum, begin to give one the impression that the authors expect one to read both books side‐by‐side. Unfortunately, this incessant short‐hand referencing of the other text robs the book at hand of some information that would be useful and relevant to the person who may not have any immediate intention of buying the companion volume. I did, however, like how Schwahn and Spady provided lists of other relevant readings for people who may be interested in or profit from further information on a given topic or idea; unfortunately, this was lost amidst the incessant referencing of Learning Communities 2.0 (Schwahn and Spady, 2010a).

Chapter four, “Total Leaders – Then and Now,” asks the question, “What is the Total Leaders Framework?” After reading this chapter one learns that it is a set of performance roles and leadership domains. Meanwhile, chapter four adds to the ten core values and ten principles of professionalism introduced in chapter three by adding five pillars of change. These pillars are a collection of five similar and overlapping leadership domains:

1. 1.

   authentic;

2. 2.

   visionary;

3. 3.

   cultural or relational;

4. 4.

   quality; and

5. 5.

   service.

The pillars are:

1. 1.

   purpose;

2. 2.

   vision;

3. 3.

   ownership;

4. 4.

   capacity; and

5. 5.

   support.

Purpose can be defined as what an organization (such as a school) considers its reason for existence. What does the school endeavor to achieve, and what is its purpose? Vision refers to what an organization does in order to actualize its purpose. Ownership speaks to a total leader's ability to involve all of her/his stakeholders in the “purpose‐defining and vision‐framing” processes. Ultimately, ownership leads to stakeholder empowerment since everyone will understand where s/he fits into the organization's purpose. Capacity can be likened to the building of the organization's knowledge, skills, tools, and abilities to get its work done effectively, efficiently, and with a high‐level of quality. The last pillar, support is best understood to constitute all of the opportunities that organizational actors receive in terms of schedules, time, technologies, and compensation – which thus enable particular organizations to accomplish their desired objectives. The five domains reinforce the five pillars. For instance, authentic leaders are characterized by being open, and having personal and professional integrity. These types of leaders operate consciously with intention and integrity. Visionary leaders are imaginative, flexible, and innovative. These sorts of leaders operate creatively with inspiration and imagination. Relational leaders include and engage teachers and the schools and students that they work for. These types of leaders operate collaboratively with inclusion and involvement. Quality leaders are known to perform and improve through experience. They are also known to operate competently with initiative and insight. Last, service leaders simultaneously serve while leading (also see Hunter, 1998). Service leaders are marked by their desire to operate compassionately with intervention and influence.

The purpose of this book, and the holistic TL2.0 framework outlined above, is “shifting the paradigm of education from ‘schools in a box’ to ‘empowering learning communities’” (p. 65). The reason why the total leadership framework is so helpful to the field of educational leadership is due to its ability to reconcile a persistent and stubborn problem for leaders, namely how to balance obtaining results and the processes that will achieve “said” results. As the book's authors state clearly, their framework's diagram balances two contra‐distinct, but equally important features or dimensions: “one stresses ends and results, and the other means and processes” (p. 57).

Chapter five, “Gearing Up for Your 2.0 Strategic Design,” touches on the many topics that leaders must consider: “Total leaders” engender, espouse, embody, develop, and reward an open‐ and change‐friendly culture. They involve everyone in productive change, and they create meaning for their staff or faculty”. That is certainly a tall order, but according to the book's authors, an achievable one. It becomes most achievable when a leader can create a workplace culture that is empowering and, in the words of Schwahn and Spady (2010b, p. 76), “promotes personal initiative, improved performance, and organizational effectiveness”.

When it comes to change, something that Schwahn and Spady (2010b, p. 78) get especially correct is that “total leaders” have the “ability to see change from the perspective of the staff and clients”, and are not merely fixers of teachers and the educational institutions that employ them but rather are co‐equals in many respects. “Total leaders” remember that shared risk and certainly shared rewards have benefits. In fact, acute in their assessment of total educational leaders, Schwahn and Spady (2010b, p. 80) point out that total leaders “never allow educating children to become ‘just another job’”.

Chapter six, “Setting Your 2.0 Strategic Direction,” states that setting a strategic direction for an organization requires a leader be authentic and visionary since the direction is predicated upon future‐focused change. Leaders who possess not only credibility but also trust are the most equipped to look beyond what most leaders think is possible. Accordingly then, “learners do lead organizations, and they realize that in our rapidly changing world, continuous learning is required, not just of authentic leaders but of everyone in the organization, and of the organization as a whole” (Schwahn and Spady, 2010b, p. 97, italics in original). Visionary leaders have the ability to see visions that are describable, desirable, doable, and direction‐setting for the organizations and institutions that they lead. This is in contrast to “strategic plans lying on dusty shelves” (p. 117) in many schools that are still waiting to be realized.

Chapter seven, “Implementing Your 2.0 Strategic Alignment” posits that quality leaders develop the skills and abilities of those that they lead. These kinds of leaders achieve this through building their staff's capacity for change and improvement through active support and encouragement for future development. Quality leaders also use continuous improvement strategies for their staff and employ data‐driven decision making into their operational and procedural modus operandi.

It is worth mentioning that Schwahn and Spady (2010b, p. 129) present a particularly unsettling situation: “that our present school structures severely limit the performance improvement options open to professional educators – particularly options that reflect what our professional teachers know about learning and learners.” They conclude, “Maybe this is why some critics of our educational system are convinced that the term ‘educational change’ is more oxymoron than reality.” The authors also state that “for visions to be powerful, they must be bold, they must be clear and concrete, and they must run well ahead of your present capacity to operationalize them” (p. 131). This is definitely the situation in which public K‐12 education finds itself today.

One extremely effective element of this book is its series of shaded boxes that either include bullets of considerations or further books and materials to read that have direct application to the authors' points. I liked these stopping points, for lack of a better word, as they were placed strategically and judiciously within the book, in places where I could benefit from pausing and reflecting. There also were a series of profile boxes that highlighted each of the different types of leaders (relational leaders p. 70, authentic leaders p. 88, visionary leaders p. 102, quality leaders p. 116, and service leaders p. 128).

The cui bono of this volume is the following: The educational opportunities and challenges that a technologically‐ and continually‐evolving society affords cannot be met and overcome if leaders and systems don't “replace the industrial age assembly‐line delivery of instruction with something that allows for learner‐centered customization” (p. 139). This book is helpful in reminding leaders and “total leader” aspirants that new paradigms and futuristic vision are both necessary for education to benefit all student learners. This is particularly important given the increased number of culturally and linguistically diverse students in our nation's K‐12 schools (e.g. see Farley and Haaga, 2005; Heaton et al., 2000).

Total Leaders 2.0 deepens the theoretical grounding and applicability of the original Total Leader Model. Practitioners will find the book to be a valuable resource on leadership. Professors in educational leadership will also consider many of the insights contained in the book when they teach their students. Non Satis Scire: Total leaders must be visionaries of what will come. This book encourages leaders to think “outside of the box” by providing a unique and fresh perspective on visionary leadership.