Leadership Perceptions of the Ambitious Education

Abstract

In a recent investigation undertaken in Western Canada, it was found that school personnel, particularly those at the administrative level, who strongly desired promotion placed a significantly higher emphasis in their role perceptions on Initiating Structure (the organization‐oriented dimension of leader behaviour), and a significantly lower emphasis upon Consideration (the person‐oriented aspect of leader behaviour), than those who possessed low levels of promotional aspiration. Tills impersonal, procedural, and task‐oriented emphasis was evident not only in the administrators' perceptions of the leader behaviour deemed most appropriate for their own present role, but also in their perceptions of the actual leader behaviour exhibited by their immediate superiors. If such highly ambitious individuals gain advancement, it appears likely that the type of administrative climate which they would induce, with such a pronounced emphasis on Initiating Structure allied with a de‐emphasis of Consideration, would lead to future conflict and dysfunctional effects for the educational organization, as teachers become more professional, and newer approaches such as team teaching, collegial organization, and consensual decision‐making—all of which demand rapport and consideration for people—become more widespread.