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225 Leadership Philosophy Statement
225 Leadership Philosophy Statement
Cristina M. Valencia
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
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
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
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
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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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
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
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.
a great experience and opportunity of putting my leadership skills to practice when I was
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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
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
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
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.
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
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.
differences and intersecting identities that we each bring to our immediate environment
mitigate disparities among minoritized groups and feelings of otherness, which begins
disabilities within the higher education sector. I want to provide support, guidance and to
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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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
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
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
Elrod R., Haynes C., Cade S., Forrest A., Loch T., & Schuckman G. (2019). No cookie
Kouzes, J., & Posner, B. (2018). The student leadership challenge: Five practices for
Gonzales. (2019). A leg to stand on: Developing core beliefs and a leadership