A Comparison of the Leadership Styles of the Leaders at New World School of the Arts

OBJECTIVE
To determine if the perceived leadership styles of the leaders at the New World School of the Arts were different according to their roles in the organization.

METHODOLOGY
The study focused on the top two leaders (provost and principal), who completed the LPI-Self. LPI-Observers were distributed to 144 respondents, of which 66 were returned (46% return rate): 84% of the high school faculty (N=21), 64% of the full-time college faculty (N=14), 23% of the adjunct college faculty, 80% of the college administrative subordinates (N=19), and 100% of the high school administrative subordinates (N=4). The administrative subordinates, faculty also completed the LPI-Self. Demographic data was also collected.

KEY FINDINGS
The LPI-Self scores of the Provost were significantly higher than his administrative subordinates on Inspiring and Encouraging, and significantly higher than the scores reported by faculty for every leadership practice but Modeling. Administrative subordinates perceived significantly lower scores (on the LPI-Observer) than did the Provost on every leadership practice except for Modeling -- all five leadership practices were perceived significantly lower than the Provost by his faculty. The Principal's leadership scores were not significantly higher than those of her administrative subordinates, but were significantly higher on Inspiring, Enabling, and Modeling than faculty self-reports. LPI-Observer scores from the administrative subordinates, compared to the Principal's LPI-Self, were significantly different (lower) only for Modeling. The Principal reported significantly higher scores on Enabling than perceived by her faculty. There were no significant differences between the LPI-Self scores from administrative subordinates or faculty members across the two leaders. However, the LPI-Observer scores revealed significantly higher scores on Enabling and Encouraging for the Principal than for the Provost as reported by both administrative subordinates and faculty. No differences were found as a result of comparisons by demographic data.