Empathetic Understanding And School Leadership Preparation
...mind is capable, consciousness itself being first (Ickes,
1977, p. 2).
Even though there has been a great deal of inquiry into the value of empathy training for
children and adults, empathy has not been considered a key factor in successful school
Leadership Review, Kravis Leaderdhip Institute, Claremont McKenna College, Vol. 6, Fall 2006 145
leadership. Although empathy has been noted as a helpful characteristic for school
leaders, it has not been fully analyzed. For example, Bennis (2003) observes that for
leaders, "Empathy
like charisma may be something that people either have or don't
have" (p. 146). Burns (1978), Gardner (1986) and Kotter (1985) persuasively argue that
leaders need to be able to manage relationships which may require such capacities as
empathy, but do not explicate how such capacities can be developed. In this paper we
will present our preliminary theory that empathy is the key leadership quality that
underlies the development of empathetic insight in school leadership preparation. Our
theory posits that people follow leaders who sense and articulate their deepest needs,
while manifesting the capacity to organize and rally them to action in order to satisfy
those needs.
We agree that leadership matters and is vital to school success, but we want to point out
that rarely do scholars examine what it takes to do the actual work of leading. Our
standpoint is that empathy is a pre-condition of any leadership style; however, scholars
often end up in definitional disagreements in lieu of examinations of how, if at all,
leadership can be taught, learned or practiced.
Empathetic understanding requires a leader to develop self-awareness that can separate
the leader's own needs from those of people being led. We believe this self knowledge
can be developed though careful reflection and the patience to practice. This requires a...
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