Leadership influence
Leadership Influence
This week you have created a list of factors that may assist you in attracting or retaining current and potential partners in your school community. You collaborated with a classmate who provided you with additional insights of your investigation, as well as prompting your participatory collaboration in enhancing your understanding of considerations in developing and initiating the creation of a greater community. Lastly, you shared insights with classmates regarding the “Chain of Command” (E. Pinchot & Pinchot, 2003, p. 46) leadership style.
Prepare a two- to three-page scholarly reflection paper, using course resources, and respond to the following questions regarding this week’s learning activities. Support your statements with evidence from the required studies, other research sources, and from your experience.
In what ways has this week’s learning experiences changed or affirmed your views and opinions of “Chain of Command” leadership?
What did you find were essential ingredients in attracting and retaining school community partners?
Based on your learning opportunities this week, what specific community partner “attractors” identified by Sanders (2006) will you pursue this school year?
What new insights did you gain this week that could affect your role in developing a plan to actively attract and retain community partners for your school community?
Support your statements with evidence from the required studies, your research, and your experience. Cite and reference your sources in APA style.
Click here for information on course rubrics.
References
Pinchot, E., & Pinchot, G. (2003). Leading organizations into partnership. In L. Segil & M. Goldsmith (Eds.). Partnering: The new face of leadership (pp. 41-55). Retrieved from http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/concordiaport…
REQUIRED STUDIES
The following materials are required studies for this week. Complete these studies at the beginning of the week and save these weekly materials for future use.
Building School-Community Partnerships: Collaboration for Student Success (Sanders, 2006)
Chapter 3: Components of Successful Community Partnerships
Chapter 5: Bringing the Community In
Read
Partnering: The New Face of Leadership (Belasco, Segil, & Goldsmith, 2002) [Web page]
Chapter 5: Leading Organizations into Partnership (E. Pinchot & Pinchot, 2002)
additional information:
Attracting and Retaining Community Partners
Alviman. (2009)
Read the case study below:
Mr. Smith the CEO, and his vice-president Mr. Jones of the Acme company, had already decided between themselves to reach out to current and potential customers by sending them a piggy bank. The notion was that the current and potential company partners would be encouraged to “save” money by partnering with the Acme company and that the cute piggy bank on the desks of key partner and potential partner representatives would be a constant reminder to them of Acme company.
When Mr. Smith and Mr. Jones shared the plan with the administrative team of Acme company, everyone enthusiastically supported the idea. Piggy banks and letters would be sent to the approximately 100 current customers and to more than 500 potential customers in a 200-mile radius of the Acme company headquarters.
Two marketing staff members who were responsible for the delivery process were directed to follow through with the plan. These two marketing staff members, in fact, had extensive experience in sales and public relations in capacities. They both had received recognition for their engaging ability to collaborate with clients by their former employers, and one of them had received a national sales representative of the year award in his previous business experience. However, these two marketing staff members were not, nor ever included in the customer outreach discussions with Mr. Smith, Mr. Jones and the administrative team. They did not get involved until the piggy banks were purchased, delivery costs were calculated, and the appropriate purchase orders were created and approved.
Based upon their experience and expertise, the two marketing staff members expressed their doubt that the “piggy bank plan” would be successful. Instead, they suggested that personal telephone calls, on-site visits, and serving customers “in your own backyard” would be more productive and more cost effective than sending out piggy banks to customers who had never heard of the Acme company. Yet, there was considerable criticism of the marketing representatives conveyed by Mr. Smith, Mr. Jones and the administrative team. The resounding response to the marketing staff was “don’t confuse us with the facts; we have already made up our mind.”
The plan went forward as directed. As expected by the marketing representatives, a total of less than 10 responses came from current or prospective clients, and none of them wanted to pursue any further collaboration at the time. Within one year of the plan implementation, one of the marketing representatives involved in the project left the Acme company for a better opportunity, and the “Salesman of the Year” award winner had his job eliminated at Acme company as well.
Why didn’t the plan work? Why wouldn’t current and potential partners be attracted to an organization like Acme company? Why would individuals who had extensive experience with outreach to customers be ignored by the Acme company administrative team in the organizational outreach initiative? Are employee attractors or detractors of relationships with current or potential customers based upon the relationships and respect among and between individuals in the organization? E. Pinchot and Pinchot’s (2003) findings may shed the light on these questions:
An organization is largely made up of people and their relationships with each other. These relationships include both vertical and horizontal relationships within the organization as well as those with outsiders, such as customers, and suppliers. The quality of relationships in this complex web of interconnections largely determines the quality and effectiveness of the organization. If they are uncooperative, untruthful, angry, uncaring, or unduly constrained, the organization will be out of touch with its customers, unable to coordinate internally, and unresponsive to both opportunities and threats. The highest quality relationships are those of partnership, mutual support, and mutual respect for autonomy, not those in which one party dominates another. For this reason, more effective knowledge-intensive organizations work to encourage partnerships rather than dominance and submission. (p. 43)
…
“An organization that overemphasizes the role of the formal chain of command cannot embrace the multidimensional nature of the challenges organizations face today” (p. 46).
Now, pause. Does your organization face similar relationship challenges today? Is there a “chain of command” mentality in your workplace? Does your organization’s management structure have an influence on successfully creating a greater community in your school district? Sanders (2006) suggests four additional factors to consider in community outreach planning: “The school’s commitment to learning, Principal (Leader) support, a welcoming climate, and clear communication” (p. 88).
This week, you will review, investigate, and consider how your school district can attract and retain community partners. Additionally, work with a different classmate than the one with whom you collaborated in Week 5. You and your new partner need to create a listing of what leaders in school districts can do to promote successful partnerships and create a greater community. Start your work early this week, and uncover strategies that will bring success to you, your school-community constituents, your school district colleagues, and most importantly to the students you serve.
References
Alviman. (2009). Telephone [Photograph]. Retrieved from https://morguefile.com/search/morguefile/1/663571/…
Pinchot, E., & Pinchot, G. (2003). Leading organizations into partnership. In L. Segil & M. Goldsmith (Eds.). Partnering: The new face of leadership (pp. 41-55). Retrieved from http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/concordiaport…
Sanders, M. G. (2006). Building school-community partnerships: Collaboration for student success. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin.
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