TITLE:
Examining the Transition of Contemporary Managers Becomes Senior Leaders and Eventually Moves On
AUTHORS:
Frederick Ebot Ashu, Michel Auguste Tchoumbou Ngantchop, Richard Etongwe Motale, Christopher Fuaty Ntang
KEYWORDS:
Transition of Contemporary Managers, Phases and Sub Phases of Leadership Development, Theoretical Frameworks of Leadership Development, Agents of Socialization, Contemporary Managers, Senior Leadership, Seven Seismic Shifts
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Journal of Leadership,
Vol.11 No.1,
March
16,
2022
ABSTRACT: The crisis of educational leadership has motivated so much debate and
research in recent times in the field of educational administration. Most
school leaders have not been trained in the art of educational management and
leadership. It has been presumed that anyone who receives a bachelor’s degree
in education or a postgraduate diploma in
education through training can automatically
become a head teacher or principal. That explains why in developing as
well as developed countries, school managers and leaders face a lot of challenges. This article seeks to create a link between
the career development of senior leadership and the different models
proposed by scholars like Day and Bakioglu,
Gronn, Wakins and Robbins. The researchers hope to develop strategies that can groom educational managers to assume
senior leadership positions. The most
influential agents of socialization by Lenka and Vandana, Gupta, Krishnan, Homan & Youngman and Ebot Ashu that
enhance educational leadership development have been explored to give
this work some serious focus. The primary agent of socialization considered
here is the family which is the nucleus of society. The secondary agents of
socialization include the schools, peer groups, the churches, work groups, communities, mass medium, social groups and the government. Focusing on Watkins’
seven seismic shifts that transit from
specialist to generalist, analyst to the integrator, tactician to strategist, bricklayer to architect,
problem solver to agenda setter, warrior to diplomat and supporting cast member to lead role, the researchers argue
that school managers
can transit to the level of senior leaders and continue to influence school administration in many positive ways.
Educational leaders should take their ongoing career development seriously if they are to become relevant in contemporary society. The methodology used in this work is very apt. Based on the field experiences of school administrators,
the researchers are able to arrive at findings that support the literature that
has been gathered. They are able to explore the career life of educational
leaders and identify factors which influence them to become senior leaders and
move on as encompassed in the first three
phases of Gronn’s and Ribbins’ models, with exceptional three new sub-phases within the accession phase. In all, the study agrees with the general principles
of Ribbins’ model rather than the previous work of Day & Bakioglu’s and Gronn’s, who suggest disenchantment and divestiture as
inevitable final phases in the career lives of senior leaders.
Therefore, Ribbins’ theoretical frame-work of
education leadership can be useful in interpreting the link between the career developments of contemporary senior leaders. This
study concludes that socialization
occurs throughout our life, but some of the most important socialization that occurs during that phase of our lives is the family,
school, peers, church, mass
media, community, workplace and social group. Therefore, Watkins’ contributions
to administration, management and leadership can be used to educate
contemporary educational managers and senior leaders in contemporary society.