Lewellen (1990) contended that effective leadership required (1) strategic planning, (2) the shaping of change, (3) constant communication, and (4) timely decision-making. For Lewellen (1990), leadership is a process at which almost anyone can be successful if they just adhere to the four rules. By contrast, other authorities in the filed of leadership have conceptualized leadership more in the qualities and traits of the individual.
According to Benis (1991), as an example, the individual who practices leadership successfully must possess the personal traits of trust, integrity, personal discipline, sensitivity, courage, and intelligence. A model of leadership practice that is relevant for contemporary and future educational organizations is the Leadership Challenge Model, which is based on the Leadership Practices Inventory (Posner & Kouzes, 1993). The Leadership Challenge Model identifies five practices that are common to all successful leaders, as follows (Posner & Kouzes, 1993):
1. Challenging the Process. Effective organizational leaders are innovative. They experiment, take risks, and generally bring the new to the status quo; however, they are not reckless or merely leaders giving vent to gambling urges. Rather, effective organizational leaders recognize good ideas and support them even if it means challenging the system to see them realized.
2. Inspiring a Shared Vision. Effective leaders have a vision, and then work to realize that vision by inspiring others to adopt it as their own.
3. Enabling Others to Act. Effective leaders enlist both the support and assistance of all parties needed to realize their vision. They encourage collaboration and empower others. They have a sense of teamwork that is comprehensive, extending beyond their immediate subordinates to peers, supervisors, customers, suppliers, and all relevant others.
4. Modeling the Way. Effective leaders provide detailed plans for turn...