Leadership: Style and Roles Served

         I believe in leading from the front. Actions, not words, builds a strong, loyal followership and commitment to attaining goals. I refer to myself as a transformational servant-leader, one who gets out of the office and into the schools and classrooms to promote positive change and actively involves himself in the educational process to further that change.

Throughout my administrative career, I have made it a point to get into classrooms and do more than stand there looking—I not only believe, I also practice, being an active administrator. I loosen the tie, take off the jacket, and teach. Yes, I still teach. When a substitute failed to show and we had no one else, I stepped in to teach. When a Spanish teacher quit suddenly with only weeks left before final exams, I stepped in and taught Spanish, gave quizzes, and created and scored the finals. When a young English teacher asked me how to best teach poetry, I copied all my notes, study guides, samples, quizzes, tests, and projects, gave them to her, and then went into her class and taught poetry analysis for three days, until she felt comfortable and took it from there. When the varsity girls' basketball coach fell ill and had to leave the game suddenly, I stepped in and coached the remainder of the contest. Yes, I believe in always being and staying involved, and I expect the same of my staff. If we are to hold students and teachers accountable for performance, and we possess teaching degrees, then I feel all are obligated--myself included--to jump in the trenches and teach or remediate in our own specialty areas. After all, I am just as responsible for students' success as the classroom teacher.

The transformational aspect of my leadership pushes me to hiring men and women who are as smart or smarter than I. I understand the necessity of delegating to my subordinates, and I delegate with trust and high expectations. I believe in meeting with my teachers, administrators, a cabinet staff to seek suggestions or alternative solutions to issues, because listening to the ideas/advice of those involved builds consensus, respect, trust, and a shared success among all. My expectations are high, and they are even higher for myself. My job is not only to lead, but more importantly, to listen, to comfort, to advise, to humor, to sympathize with, and to empathize with. Such personnel relationships must be created early in the relationship in order to build followership. Asking daily “What can I do to help?” or tacking tasks that are backing up on a subordinate or peer are ways in which I work as the servant part of leadership. Trust not only means that one can share with you; it also, and more importantly, means that I can be trusted to do the right thing, make the right decision, share the right advice, and to be counted on to jump into the trenches without being asked.

In short, these are a few of the hallmarks of Marshall Stewart as a bus driver, a classroom teacher, a coach, an adviser, an administrator, a Sunday School teacher, a father, an educator, and these are traits I will share with all those around me.   Marshall M. Stewart, 2021