KEPIMPINAN BERKESAN: SEKOLAH CEMERLANG (EFFECTIVE PRINCIPALSHIP: AN X-FACTOR FOR THE HIGH PERFORMANCE SCHOOL)

Jika dibuat analogi (tamsilan) tentang industri pengangkutan kereta api, seseorang pemimpin membina konsep kereta api, mengenal pasti pasarannya, dan membuat jangkaan tentang hala tuju industri itu. Seorang pengurus pula akan menyiapkan kereta api, memastikan perkhidmatan mengikut jadual, dan pernigaan pengangkutan kereta api bakal menguntungkan syarikat. Dalam amalan sebenar, kepimpinan dan pengurusan sukar dibezakan, terutama dalam persekitaran organisasi pendidikan seperti sekolah.

Barche (2002) dalam bukunya, How Organisations Work, berpendapat bahawa kepimpinan dan pengurusan saling melengkapi dalam suatu proses yang berterusan. Mari kita teliti ciri kepimpinan dan pengurusan yang disenaraikan (dalam bahasa Inggeris, dengan izin):

Leaders have the ability to transform vision into reality. Leaders:
- communicate the “what” and “why” of the vision;
- mobilize the resources that can operationalise the vision;
- demonstrate an infectious passion for the vision;
- generate commitment (rather than wielding the club of compliance);
- serve as chief cheerleader for the vision;
- reward accomplishment on the way to accomplish the vision;
- take a calculated risks to implement the vision;
- establish risk boundries (that provide the implimenters a sufficiently expansive
arena in which they
can stick their neck out without being punished);
- remove barriers (politics, financial, etcs);
- develop people (enabling them to perform at unprecedented levels on current and
future projects)

Meanwhile, managers can be seen as the fundementals of running a business. Good managers should therefore:
- put streamlined business process in place;
- establish a workable organization structure;
- establish clear roles and responsibilities;
- develop performance standards, measure performance against those standards, and
take action base
on measurement information;
- solve operational problems or see that they are made;
- oversee the development and implimentation of plans and budgets;
- ensure that people get regular feedback;
- create environments in which good performance is rewarded and substandard
performance is not;
- equip people with the skills to do their job.