Academic Leadership: Fundamental Building Blocks
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enable better choices or actions in the future as well to enhance one's overall
effectiveness” (p. 41).
Booth and Anderberg (2005) argued that reflection underpins an individual's
development and it is a critical metacognitive skill if you are to increase your potential
and skill as an Academic Coordinator (Ericsson, Prietula, & Cokely, 2007). Schon
(1991) in his seminal book on how professionals think in action called this ‘reflection-in-
action’ and ‘reflection-about-action’. Without this skill, professionals are unlikely to
develop their expertise and competence.
An Academic Coordinator who is a reflective learner needs to possess a heightened
and accurate self-awareness. This introspection and self-awareness provides Academic
Coordinators with opportunities to learn from previous experiences and to inform future
behaviours. In other words, you need to be able to critically assess your own
performance, reflect on your assessment and learn from it (Ash & Clayton, 2004), thus
constantly improving your academic leadership capability.
This process aligns itself with the action learning cycle (Kolb, 1984) and is consistent
with the work of Argyris and Schön (1996). That is, a well developed Integrator will
enable behavioural complexity which is needed if Academic Coordinators are to deliver
on the competing demands they face. Behavioural complexity is the ability to move
between the five roles with ease and to be able to deliver any of the five roles depending
on which is most appropriate (Denison, Hooijberg, & Quinn, 1995; Hooijberg, 1992;
Hooijberg & Quinn, 1992).
The Integrator is the linchpin that allows Academic Coordinators to move easily
between the five operational roles (Vilkinas & Cartan, 2001). This ability will allow you to
deal with the contradictory demands of program direction as a generative paradox rather
than a paralysing conflict!
References
Argyris, C., & Schön, D. (1996). Organizational learning II: Theory, methods and practice.
Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley.
Ash, S. L., & Clayton, P. H. (2004). The articulated learning: An approach to guided reflection and
assessment. Innovative Higher Education, 29(2), 137–154.
Booth, S., & Anderberg, E. (2005). Academic development for knowledge capabilities: Learning,
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Denison, D. R., Hooijberg, R., & Quinn, R. E. (1995). Paradox and performance: Toward a theory
of behavioral complexity in managerial leadership. Organization Science, 6(5), 524–540.
Ericsson, K. A., Prietula, M. J., & Cokely, E. T. (2007). The making of an expert. Harvard
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Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.
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