Question

Reflect on how we can apply the positive leadership model to higher education? What does it mean to be a positive leader? What are alternative approaches and why is a positive leader the most appropriate for higher education?

Answer 1

Answer 1.

Effective leadership indicates the ability of the group leader in provide necessary guidance to the members and followers and ensuring a healthy resolution of the major problems. Often enough, many institutions tend to bind their activities within the direction set by the higher authority or the easer who may try to orient the group towards the emerging problems and lose focus of the array of solutions available. within higher academia, effective positive leadership entails moving beyond the problems, and instead beocming aware of the possibilities and encourage other members- staff as well as the students to build something useful out of even the worst type of problem.

A unique strength of positive leadership is the model of shared governance which is beneficial for the flatter, and reltively unorganised system within institutions of higher education. To this end, instead of the traditional top down model, positive academic leadership works to increase collegiality, among the different professionals within a department in order to allow the system to flourish.

S/he is able to focus on building a constructive environment that would be conducive to generating highly desirable outcome in academic excellence. Since higher education more than school systems is marked by an increasing culture of individuality and promoting self expressions, positive leadership would be able to utilise this knowledge and focus on the people and systems within a department in order to gain better retention rates, rather than willing or commanding the people within the department to improve the retention rates.

Whenever the chair or dean work in their capacity as positive leaders, they often assume the role of a coach and a counsellor so as to change the attitude of an entire institution. As a strong mentor, much of the task becomes about acting on behalf of the people in a way that it would be to everyone's benefit. A Positive leader is able to mediate and negotiate the inevitable conflict that arises in departments and other larger units better because s/ he uses positive language and encouragement to people an is able to pacify the members as s/he communicates that the larger organisation puts people first, where individuals aren't cogs or line items but valued members