Characteristics of Highly Effective School Administrators - Essay Example

Characteristics of effective school administrators Managing a school involves interactions with diversified stakeholders, each category having different behavioral characteristics from others. Leadership potentials facilitate management of the stakeholders and distinguish highly effective administrators from ineffective ones. This paper outlines characteristics of highly effective school administrators. Political leadership that involves effective and proactive communication potentials, responsiveness, and ability to garner support is one of the characteristics of an effective administrator.

An effective school administrator must be able to communicate goals and vision of his/her institution, and plans, achievements and challenges that the institution faces. The administrator should also be able to attract input from other stakeholders and develop the stakeholders support for ease in development and implementation of administrative policies. Administrative leadership, also known as managerial leadership, is another characteristic of an effective administrator. This feature incorporates abilities to balance between priorities, delegate leadership roles, facilitate innovation and improvements, and to ensure accountability.

In balancing priority, an effective administrator identifies activities with their priorities and allocates time, in duration and order, to each activity to ensure effectiveness in completion. An administrator with the trait also identifies and recognizes potentials of each subordinate and promote growth. In addition, the successful administrator is accountable, setting standards for other to emulate, and leads in innovation and development of potentials.Highly effective school administrators also have educational leadership trait, also known as instructional leadership.

The administrators ensure that instructional ventures are best on reliable vision towards effective learning. The administrators also ensure that instructions are improved continuously and that high levels of expectation and favorable culture for development are established in their schools. Political, managerial, and educational leadership traits are the characteristics of effective school administrators.