Leadership is back in fashion in education and the conventional wisdom suggests a heroic boss who meets at least six expectations:

• Possess a clear personal vision
• Extremely knowledgeable
• Expected to be strong
• Communicate forcefully
• Leaders amass power and use it for organizational improvement
• Take-charge individuals who solve knotty problems along the way as they move toward achieving their personal visions

Those who lionize leadership miss important behind-the-scenes aspects of day-to-day leadership and set unrealistic standards for measuring administrative success.

This image can undermine conscientious administrators who think that they should live up to these expectations.

Heroism misconstrues the character of organizational leadership in many situations.

Programs are typically characterized by shifting goals, changing activities, and wide variation across sites.

Purposes and policies are often "discovered" through an evolutionary process. Policy makers can be found both at the top and at the bottom of the system.

Top administrators are more likely to provide a scaffolding for collaboration than a blueprint for action.

Gathering intelligence is crucial because administrative life is marked by great uncertainty, confusion, and distortion.

Much of what happens in organizations is highly dependent on information that administrators frequently do not possess.

Crucial information is often highly emotional in content and kept from top administrators. Administrators need to recognize and acknowledge their ignorance and then take action. Too much information, as well as too little, can be a problem.

The more a leader acknowledges and accepts personal weaknesses and feelings, the more effective he or she becomes.

• Listening and Acknowledging

When leaders believe that they should possess all important knowledge they do not see listening to others as essential.

Good listening fails to occur because administrators often make faulty assumptions about others. Administrators underestimate the skill and effort required to listen well.

There is a big difference between a disappointed employee and an employee who feels unheard. if you don't listen to others, they won't listen to you.

Different levels of government are highly dependent on one another and on competing interests. Top administrators in educational organizations are surprisingly dependent on others to bring about change

if those at the bottom don't accept responsibility for resolving problems, change efforts will come unglued.

When power within an organization is shared and leadership is shifted among various staff members, the administrator's position is often strengthened (what sociologists call the norm of reciprocity).

Deciding who should address a problem situation... Often the lion needs to let go

Managing messes- helping others define and resolve problems. Employees typically view the top administrator as the chief problem solver. Some administrators like to solve problems and therefore take them on. the challenge is to be responsive developing a sense of responsibility in others. In short, taking charge involves letting go.