**3. Leading and leadership development within socially demanding contexts**

Leaders are expected to lead within all contexts, specifically those that demand prowess of their abilities. Demanding contexts require a leader who is able to accede to the trying environments and deal with difficult or extreme incidences as they occur. Hence the need to develop them. The need to help leaders apply what they learn to their context is confirmed [5]. However it is important to highlight that what is learned should add to the understanding of varied modalities of tackling problems so that leaders are empowered to initiate their own ways of resolving issues within their situations, which may not necessarily be the same as other circumstances or contexts.

Often what is learnt is hardly practiced, which suggests that what is taught may not necessarily be relevant to what leaders need to know and be able to use when devising ways to address issues in demanding contexts [33]. Difficult contexts arguably require leaders who are decisive and can act swiftly or deal with whatever issues cropping up at any given time, within their practice. The three components when leading within challenging contexts found to be significant are; dealing with problems directly related to the school context, being people-centered by adopting the values that prioritise people over the organisation, and promoting collaboration and moral purpose [34]. The preceding discussions expose the key considerations when planning for leaders' development; content provisioning should be personalised, socialised, adaptive and context based for leaders.

#### **3.1 Personalised provisioning to build capacity**

Leaders in difficult contexts need to be social change agents. However, there are no two contexts that have the same difficulties. Hence it is essential for trainers and providers to structure development programs for leaders in a manner that equip them with skills that can enable them to deal with issues as they crop up and themselves be able to build capacity or organise capacity building for all stakeholders in their institutions.

There is a need for provisioning of dependable support for school leaders to accede to the demands of changes in education, effectiveness and improved quality of education, and so that they can develop and shape the direction of their schools [25]. The capacity development is vital for improving knowledge and skills, particularly intending to attain co-operation and develop a culture of quality performance [35]. Personalising such provisioning according to the needs of the leader can possibly have immediate and direct impact on their practice and provide them with skills to promote collaboration.

#### **3.2 Socialising practice to promote collaboration**

Leaders in schools have to understand their role and its impact on practices within their contexts. This includes contributing towards social values and educational ethics; having competency in critical skills and knowledge set that is fundamental for accomplishing the demands of their role successfully; and possessing the professional attributes that can enable them to succeed in leading others collaboratively [25]. Learning to push for social practice in order to promote collaboration is crucial and ought to form part of the school leaders' development plan.

Without the understanding of collective practice, and the extent to which such practice can help transform and or improve performance, school leaders may struggle to enjoy the support of all stakeholders and run their institutions through a shared process. Leading a successful school does not rest on the leader alone, but relatively on a collective responsibility that nurtures leading collaboratively [35]. To make this process bearable, it is essential for leaders to distribute their process of leading in a manner that fuses an element of democracy, without losing sight and grip of the purpose for which such process is meant. This implies embarking in a collaborative way of accomplishing goals that can be done by considering all inputs and collectively deciding on the best solution.

Coherence, unity and shared focus on agreeable deliverables allow for power sharing and common understanding of institutional goals [36]. The role of leaders in this instance is to guide the process towards achieving agreeable results. Thus, shared values, can be used as a scaffolding to bridge such significant social process [15]. Scaffolding the process of leading makes others want to emulate their leaders while complying and carrying out duties as well as responsibilities because they understand the importance of working together for a common purpose. This requires properly planned provisioning for leaders, that supports development of self and others.

#### **3.3 Planning leaders' development provisioning that is adaptive**

The prosperity of any institution rests on the leaders' ability to support development of others and being dedicated to pursue own professional development [37]. This requires knowledge of: the manner in which performance management is associated with planned improvement and continuous development; approaches linked to skilled development and adult learning; the promotion, implementing and encouragement of collaborative leadership; and the importance of Ubuntu inspired leadership [25].

Leaders are expected to demonstrate their headship through the implementation of planning processes, show of equity and fairness, and encouraging participation by initiating collaborative activities particularly in socially demanding contexts [37]. However, Ahn warns of the possibility of resistance, particularly when there is suspicions favouritism or the practice of the "Russian Doll" phenomenon, a process seen to be superficial and favouring the leaders' picks [8]. The majority of demanding contexts are thwart with such practices among others [35]. It is therefore important to plan for leadership development programme for school leaders that will particularly enable them to act prudently.

The Chinese use two social values termed Confucianism and Guanxi. Confucianism based on hierarchy and relating, where leaders with more resources and power are highly regarded and honoured than leaders having lesser means and power [38]. Guanxi is an element of confuciation in which emphasis is on personal connections, more of "whom you know is more important than what you know" [38]. This has a potential to negate all good intentions the leader has to form

#### *Deconstructing Leadership: Engaging Leading through a Socially Constructed Process DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.90630*

successful collaborations, particularly if it is not understood by all involved and is not explained. Consequently, amassing skills to navigate such processes successfully is important, particularly in an attempt to re-write the narrative about leading differently and re-looking the social construction of leading, particularly in socially challenging contexts.

#### **3.4 Context centered leadership development**

There is a need to explore the extent to which successful leaders are able to react and adjust to various contexts [5]. Deeper appreciation of the mechanisms and ontology of leadership practices and impact resides with all those charged with the responsibility of leading specifically, and those they lead in general. Understanding how leaders adapt and respond to varied contexts warrants considering different approaches successful leaders employ. It is a process that overall, necessitates a coordinated collective working collaboratively and be aware of their context [39] Hence the necessity to provide development suitable for such leaders' needs.

Leadership in recent times, is considered a team practice [5]. The art of influencing collective effort, when leading to a point where stakeholders consider themselves partners within the terrain of leading has a potential to heighten collaborative intent. Carsten and Uhl-Bien in [39] found in their research that followers see themselves as associates in the process of leadership and as a result are productive, hence they work better and desire to achieve more. Therefore development of leaders in contexts where leaders are embraced and stakeholders consider themselves leaders in their own right, ought to strengthen these acts of goodwill by equipping leaders towards leveraging on such practices in their course to create space for leading collaboratively and influencing practices.

#### *3.4.1 Influencing practices*

Sometimes, initiating activities and or programmes that are unpopular and not favoured may prove problematic, particularly in challenging contexts. This is where the application of social values such as guanxi may be useful to garner necessary support towards having a ripple effect of diffusing action that influence the embracing of change and different ways of doing things. There is nothing wrong with leaders having a core that help them overcome institutional cultural obstacles in their attempt to influence conduct and effect necessary change [39].

In developing own relations when leading, it is essential to make it clear that the covert dyadic ties established to have someone or a core representing people a leader can rely on, should be based on work and ensuring that full support of the leaders' initiative ignite influence of others. A core in this instance resembles a relationship between a leader and nucleus members forming the chromosome group from which action launch. This core comprises trustworthy individuals who have bought into the vision and are willing to roll-up their sleeves to get work done. They agree to be sent on a high authority mission requiring fearlessness and awareness of the task at hand with mutual trust intact and are a de facto link to the leaders' office because of their social attributes [40]. The individual or core in such instances are entrusted with a responsibility to be an expanded influence cohort. Such initiatives should be context based and meant for a specific social course [41]. Leaders need to be prepared towards developing such core if they are to make headway concerning achievement of goals, particularly in difficult contexts.

The critical operative value of the core is founded on trust. Trust forms the bedrock for institutions and is arguably essential to build strong relations for effective collaborative social action. It is essential for achieving the potential collective

benefits of scale and scope and should extend beyond personal and individual relations to mutual trust [42]. The operative principles at play in this instance are openness, transparency, trust (as a value) and authenticity to achieve bilateral, institutional, and relational trust. Bilateral trust is based on fairness, stability created, and predictable collective routines established based on the institutional norms, whereas institutional trust is founded on processes, principles and norms within the organisation [43]. Relational trust happens when all parties demonstrate a willpower to work hard towards achieving goals [44]. When power dynamics are uneven, it is essential for school leaders to specifically, be the key drivers of trust [43]. Once trust is established, leaders in socially distinct contexts (particularly in socially demanding education contexts) can influence practices and build teams.
