Leadership as a School Counselor

Throughout this semester, I have figured out how important it is for a school counselor to be a leader within their school.  Through doing the school counselor interviews, I could see the connections between successful programs and a positive leadership role being held.  Those school counselors who were considered an important leader in their districts had better support and were better able to create change.  After reading this week's article and chapter, it is even more evident what leadership skills can bring to your profession as a school counselor.  What I had not considered previously was what being a leader actually means.  Leadership is a difficult concept to define but it is such a powerful idea.

Dollarhide and Saginak (2012) do a good job of breaking down the word leadership and beginning to understand the skills and experience necessary to be a leader.  After reviewing the different definitions presented, I felt a connection to Kouzes and Posner's definition of leadership.  Leadership is "the art of mobilizing others to want to struggle for shared aspirations" (Dollarhide & Saginak, p. 188, 2012).  This was something I had never given much thought to before, the want behind the change.  Like it was discussed, it is easy to extrinsically motivate someone to do something.  People are always looking for the reward or what is in it for them.  I believe that any person is capable of finding things that someone else will want to work for and that that type of leadership requires little effort.  True leadership comes from the ability to tap into someone's intrinsic motivation.  Being able to get someone to want to change something because they truly believe in the change or the good of the cause.  The skill to be able to do this is something that I have struggled with throughout my time at Millersville.  I have been the "leader" of many organizations but have I ever truly made change in the way someone thinks?  I am not sure that I have but I think it is part of the reason why I was so drawn to the school counseling field.  As a counselor, I have the opportunity to better understand a person's thoughts and behaviors and through doing this it is possible to help that person discover their own intrinsic motivation.  Doing this in a school can create positive change for the entire environment.

Another portion of this chapter discussed the myths of leadership.  One question addressed was "Are good leaders born or are they made?" (Dollarhide & Saginak, p.190, 2012).  What I found interesting was that the same two people who wrote the definition that I agreed with argued that leadership can be created in anyone.  I don't believe that leaders are found in only a select few of us but I think I am starting to believe that leaders are born and not made.  The ability to actually tap into intrinsic motivators is a skill that not everyone possesses.  I am not sure it is something that can be taught either.  To me it seems that people are drawn to a certain career because of the abilities that they already possess and then within that field they can strengthen their skills.  Not everyone is able to gather a group of people and motivate them to truly want to fight for something.  Those of us who have been drawn to the school counseling field have a certain ability to motivate and inspire others.  That skill is one that we need to develop so that we can be the best leaders possible within our schools.

Dollarhide, C. & Saginak, K. (2012). Comprehensive school counseling programs: K-12 delivery systems in action (2nd ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education, Inc.