Perception: The Key to Leadership

Marilyn Monroe or The Wicked Witch of the West? I am not so sure I am more partial to one or the other. Marilyn Monroe was beautiful in the eyes of many but battled an ugly drug addiction that eventually killed her. The Wicked Witch was good natured until several "bad" things happened forcing her to bestow this evil upon others. Both caused others to be influenced by their decisions. Every woman in the early sixties wanted to be like Marilyn and every powerful and accomplished business woman is viewed as a witch. Both had great leadership attributes, however, the perception of the two iconic figures, played a major role in how these women carried themselves.

Of course I know the Wicked Witch of the West is a fictional character, but there several character traits of the Witch that are stereotypical of a powerful woman in power. I am also aware of the dual role songbird, super model and actress Marilyn Monroe played on and off the screen, yet her persona and image of womanhood still resonates and identifies many women today. My point in bringing up these two figures is the notion that perception can, and most of the time does, become a reality depending on who is doing the perceiving.

Ron Scapp, author of "Managing to be Different", has explored this social construct as it is reflected in educational leadership. In chapters one and two he is very explicit in describing what happens to a person who takes on a leadership role in the feild of education. Often times, leaders have a certain perception of themselves that does not "gel" with perception of the leadees. He described the experience of a tutor becoming an administrator and all of the turmoil associated with the position. In the new administrator's eyes, they were still the same person, but to others being lead, the administration were viewed as the enemy and even as a traitor. How does this happen?

Well, according to Mr. Scapp all people have either witnessed or participated in this "immobilizing ideology of fatalism". Because people are worried about their reputations or their positions, they say nothing when faced with unethical or controversial issues. This inaction allows the "devisive structures" to remain in academia.

What was the most striking though about the reading is that it gave birth and life to the idea that once a true educational leader finds their own personal pace,space and place they can lead from the heart and be transformative from the inside. In the words of bell hooks, Paulo Freire, and Parker Palmer, this inner struggle for a pedagogy of freedom becomes a liberated effort to transgress and transform in which enhances teaching and learning (Scapp,2006). Inevitable power will be given to the individual who envelopes a resistance to this fatalism. This power,this courage to lead, ignores and dismantles outside perception because the self perception becomes the lifeline. This personal critcal transgression encourages and fosters moving beyond the culture of fear toward a community of hope (Scapp, 2006).