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LEADERSHIP PHILOSOPHY STATEMENT

Leadership Philosophy Statement

Cristina M. Valencia

Kremen School of Education, California State University, Fresno

Dr. Jonathan T. Pryor

December 30, 2021

constructing a leadership philosophy statement is beneficial as it will serve as a

document that I can refer to as I prepare to embark on my professional journey. It will be

a document that will help guide and remind me of the core values and goals that I deem

most important. Within this statement, I will communicate my core values, leadership

style, leadership experiences, approach to tasks and people, priorities, and goals as a

future leader, and finally, my commitment to the profession.

I regard myself as being an honest person, admitting my faults and mistakes, as I

believe that is the foundation of honesty. My family is most important to me; therefore,

loyalty and dependability are values I feel are critical within the family unit, but just as

critical in a professional setting. I am also passionate and dedicated to the things I

believe in and am goal oriented. Although, not always easy, I believe having a positive

outlook and seeing the best in people and in situations can put things into perspective,

versus looking at things from a deficit lens. I also value teamwork; working

collaboratively is advantageous as others bring different levels of experience, ideas, and

perspectives, which lead to fruitful outcomes. In reflecting upon values that can truly

make an impact in higher education, especially when advocating for social justice and

inclusion, collectivism is imperative as it prioritizes long-term relationships that benefit

the goals of the group.

My leadership style is a blend of transformational and situational leadership.

However, my priority in leadership is to foster a supportive and inclusive environment;

inclusive of all intersecting identities, especially individuals with disabilities, as I feel this

identity often gets lost when advocating for equity and inclusion. Gonzales (2019),
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LEADERSHIP PHILOSOPHY STATEMENT
defines transformational leadership as one in which the leader develops a connection

that increases the level of motivation and morality in both the leader and his or her

followers; the leader’s objective is to help followers reach their fullest potential (p. 49).

This type of leadership also aligns with Elrod et al. (2019) synergistic supervision style,

in which the leader’s supervision style not only focuses on the goals of the organization,

but also the professional and personal goals of the employee. Per Shupp, synergistic

supervision further aids the employee in developing his or her leadership skills. In

situational leadership, a leader will adapt to what the situation requires. In this

leadership style, the leader will remain vigilant of the situation and may utilize various

leadership styles and modify as needed (Gonzales, 2019). I believe this style of

leadership is imperative in higher education, as situations can be fluid and the call for

flexibility and adaptation is often necessary.

Aside from the above-mentioned leadership styles, I strongly believe that leaders

should model the type of behavior that they expect from colleagues and students

(Kouzes & Posner, 2018). Respect, honesty, dedication, positivity, and collaboration are

the qualities that I model when in a position of leadership, as these are the values I

deem important and what I expect of others. These are the values that I have put to

practice in my previous professional experiences. As leaders adapt and modify their

leadership styles due to self-reflection and the needs of the organization, these are

some of the leadership qualities that must remain a priority in creating inclusive

environments.

My leadership experiences in higher education have been limited; however, I had

a great experience and opportunity of putting my leadership skills to practice when I was
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LEADERSHIP PHILOSOPHY STATEMENT
employed with Fresno State’s Educational Talent Search Program (ETS). ETS is a

college preparatory program which services six Central Valley high schools. Its goal is

for students to persist and graduate from high school and to enroll in postsecondary

education. Because ETS is a federally funded TRIO program, it serves first-generation

and low-income students. As a graduate student employee, some of my daily

responsibilities included facilitating student workshops; academic advising; guiding

students with time management, college, and career exploration; connecting with

students who needed extra support; and fostering relationships with students and

parents. This position also provided me with the opportunity of working with students

and parents from diverse cultural/ethnic and socioeconomic backgrounds.

This position allowed me to sharpen my leadership skills as I often had many

one-on-one facilitations and or meetings with students. One of my duties included

reaching out to students who were falling behind in their classes. At times, these were

difficult conversations to have, but I made sure to provide the student with plenty of

encouragement, the necessary tools, and to connect them with tutoring services if

needed. I also had the pleasure of connecting with students who were making

outstanding academic progress. The most rewarding part of the experience were the

relationships I fostered with students and parents, in which I was able to guide and

support them in various areas of academic need, or by simply being that someone they

could connect with.

I approach tasks positively and try to avoid seeing tasks as daunting as I feel this

can lead to feeling overwhelmed, and thus creating negative feelings toward the task.

Admittingly, this is not always feasible, as feeling overwhelmed is at times unavoidable,

duties while working with ETS were difficult; for example, having to make calls to

students for five hours straight, or having those difficult conversations about failing

grades. However, I found that keeping in mind the positive impact that these services

had on students was worth the effort.

When approaching a task, I like to brainstorm and create outlines, as this allows

for full exploration of ideas. I find that collaboration, when appropriate, is extremely

beneficial as everyone in the team brings different ideas and perspectives to the task.

There is the added bonus of breaking down the task and delegating portions of it to

group members. Collaboration also allows for autonomy between colleagues, as each

member has creative authority and responsibility for their own portion of the task.

My approach to people involves respecting all individuals and appreciating the

differences and intersecting identities that we each bring to our immediate environment

and to the surrounding community. The inclusion and acceptance of individual

difference is imperative in our attempt of creating a more inclusive and diverse

environment in higher education settings. Welcoming environments must be created to

mitigate disparities among minoritized groups and feelings of otherness, which begins

with the mutual respect of difference among individuals.

Upon earning my master’s degree, my goal is to work with students with

disabilities within the higher education sector. I want to provide support, guidance and to

bring awareness to this population of students as I have noticed, from personal

experience, that this group is often excluded from research, discussions, programs, and

general outreach in terms of equity and inclusiveness. Higher education has made great
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LEADERSHIP PHILOSOPHY STATEMENT
strides in advocating social justice for marginalized groups; however, further advocacy

is still needed for individuals with disabilities. Arminio et al. (2012), describe how

inclusive campuses are created when we learn through relationships with others. Not

only do we learn from these from the rich differences, but we also gain greater self-

awareness. It is within this self-awareness that we can take inventory of our privileged

identities and the work that remains to be done.

One area of great concern is the refusal of approved accommodations on behalf

of faculty, which is utterly unacceptable. Students with disabilities (whether visible or

invisible) come across a multitude of barriers: inaccessible buildings and classrooms;

feeling othered by staff, faculty, and students; having to constantly self-advocate; self-

doubt and feelings of insecurity, are just a few of the daily barriers this student

population comes across. The refusal of accommodation by faculty should not be an

additional burden. Therefore, it is my goal as a future leader to further promote

awareness, equity, and inclusivity to this population, in any capacity possible. I am

confident that my core values, leadership styles, and leadership experience will help

guide me in making space for difference, and in making difficult ethical decisions, or the

right versus right decisions as Gonzales (2019) describes, when the need arrives.
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References

Armino, J., Torres, V., & Pope, R. L. (2012). Learning through relationships with others.

In J. Arminio, V. Torres, & R. L. Pope (Eds.), Why aren’t we there yet? Taking

responsibility for creating an inclusive campus (pp. 33-55). Stylus.

Elrod R., Haynes C., Cade S., Forrest A., Loch T., & Schuckman G. (2019). No cookie

cutter approach: Supervision in community college student affairs. Community

College Journal of Research and Practice, 43(2), 149-152.

Kouzes, J., & Posner, B. (2018). The student leadership challenge: Five practices for

becoming an exemplary leader. Wiley.

Gonzales. (2019). A leg to stand on: Developing core beliefs and a leadership

philosophy for sound ethical decision‐making. New Directions for Community

Colleges, (185), 43–51. https://doi.org/10.1002/cc.20337

Shupp, M. R., & Arminio, J. L. (2012). Synergistic supervision: A

confirmed key to retaining entry-level student affairs professionals. Journal of Student

Affairs Research and Practice, 49(2), 157-174, DOI: 10.1515/jsarp-2012-6295