Blog #9

            The leadership assessment exercise was an interesting way to learn about myself and where I would fit in as a leader in counseling.  I was surprised to find out that my symbolic and human resource scores were consistently lower than the political and structured scores on both of the assessments.  When we went over the descriptions of the four leadership types, I immediately associated myself with the two leadership types that were most consistent with the characteristics of a school counselor.  As a result, when I found out that my human resource and symbolic scores were on the lower end, I was pretty disappointed.

            When I first started exploring a career in school counseling, I constantly thought about the type of counselor that I would be.  One of the things that always came up throughout my thought process was the idea of taking a leadership role within a school.  I always knew that I wanted to be an effective counselor and a positive role model to the students, but I also feel like I can be more than that.  After I did my counselor interviews, I got the impression that many of the counselors currently working in schools today do not feel empowered enough to take a leadership role.  However, I would be interested to know what their definition of leadership actually is. 

            Kouzes and Posner describe leadership as “the art of mobilizing others to want to struggle for shared aspirations”.  I think it is up to each and every one of us to take the initiative to establish ourselves as a leader within the school that we eventually find a job in.  Leadership is not always about where we find ourselves on the level of hierarchy.  As the text describes, we can become leaders in many different aspects of our jobs and include as many stakeholders as possible throughout the process.  Therefore, if we can get people to “buy in” to our comprehensive counseling program and make sure that everyone is held accountable throughout the process, we will already be on our way to becoming successful leaders within the school. 

            The article, “Leadership Practices of School Counselors” states that, school counselors of various ages, experience levels, and school settings must consider their leadership identity as it pertains to their programs and their professional integrity”. (McMahon & Mason, 2009).  Ultimately, many of the effective leadership qualities that I already have will contribute to my success as a counselor and a leader within a school.  As I continue to learn and gain experience working in a school, I hope to establish a greater reputation as a leader and earn the respect that an effective school counselor so much deserves.

Dollarhide, C. T., & Saginak, K. A. (2012). Comprehensive School Counseling Programs.

            (2nd ed.). New York: Pearson, Inc.

Mason, E. C. M., & McMahon, H. G. (2009). Leadership Practices of School Counselors. Professional School Counseling, 13(2), 107-115.