Authentic Leaders with Astounding Zeal for Education: Basis for Crafting the FALAZE Model

Abstract

Introduction:  Authentic leaders demonstrate qualities that drive the educational organization from the standpoint of perseverance to continue and achieve the laid mission and vision. Authentic Leaders are task-oriented since they consider the number of activities accomplished in a period. However, some give more on human relations. The followers of authentic leaders with astounding zeal for education are convinced of their leadership when authentic leaders do what ought to be done as to the mission and vision of the organization. The study explored the characteristics and traits of authentic leaders with astounding zeal for education, demonstrating extraordinary enthusiasm, extensive educational purpose, and relentless pursuit of innovative and effective educational practices.

Objectives: The study is guided by the following objectives: To identify how authentic leaders, lead the organization and establish the organizational culture. Another objective of the study is to explore the challenges encountered by authentic leaders in handling and managing the organization to develop superior services and find out how they balance their time between their family and their work assignments. The study aimed at the leadership model, which could be derived from the life story of authentic leaders.

Methods: The administrator's life story was explored within the Authentic Leadership Development Model (ALDM) framework [1] leading toward organizational commitment. The study was conducted at the Division of Malaybalay City, Bukidnon, Philippines in the school year 2022-2023. Case analysis was employed in the study using in-depth interviews, document analysis, and unobtrusive observation, with the school administrators as key informants of the study. Three employees validated each informant's authenticity and life story. The observation and interviews focused on the two years (2019-2021) experiences were used to create the life story of the key informants. A leadership model and a glimpse into how the informants live their lives considering the five elements of authentic leadership on the cognitive element, individual leader-follower behavior, historical context, proximate context, and distal context were utilized as the guide of the study.

Results: Both authentic leaders with astounding zeal for education perform a strategic environmental scanning. Decisions are based on the needs of the teachers, which serves as an environmental scanning strategy. The professional, technological, mental, social, and economic needs of the teachers when addressed enable them to deliver excellent products and services as the learning needs of the students may be resolved. Creating the Advisor ship, summative, adopt an area, and mentoring (ASAM Initiatives) is the established organizational culture of the College of Education that brings the teachers into concrete best practices with specific direction. This culture of helping and advising the students through the advisement from first-year college up to fourth year directs every stakeholder of the teacher education institution to the peak of having top not-cher in the LET. The identified risk also leads the Dean and the faculty members to define and address the needs of the students in passing the LET. Conflict between faculty members, work competition, diverse personalities of the faculty members, and overlapping schedules were commonly observed challenges encountered by the key informants

Conclusions:

1. Authentic Leaders with astounding zeal for education consider the love of family, strong support to the faculty, and love of work as a valuable diverse focus resulting in assertive but objective conflict resolution.


2. Since authentic leaders with astounding zeal for education analyze conflicts objectively, and provide a win-win solution by assigning focal persons to groups of potential faculty members to progress and sustainable development of the institution, therefore, these leaders are employing assertive but objective conflict resolution.


3. Through diverse focus and assertive but objective conflict resolution, authentic leaders with

astounding zeal for education were able to come up with scientific Initiatives