Leadership is Conceptuatization - Greenleaf Pt 6

Several years ago, I was learning how to schedule students for classes within a school software system. In the process of building the master schedule, I made a suggestion to my mentor regarding the placement of study halls and the maximum number of students per section. My suggestion was that we schedule only one study hall section per period and set a maximum of 30 students per section. My mentor had a hard time holding back a laugh of disbelief. "Try it and sees what happens," was his smug response. In my tentative confidence I said, "I think I will!"

With just a few key strokes, the study halls were in place and a simulation was begun. At the end of the simulation, the computer gives a statistical printout of the % of students that could schedule with the parameters presented. A good percentage for an initial simulation was 60-70%. As the computer gyrated in the scheduling process, I was anxious to see how my first attempt would fair. Once the computer had finished doing its thing, I hit the statistics screen.... 25%! No way! My high expectations were not just disappointed but were totally devastated.

My good natured mentor did not rub it in too much - he simply explained that the computer made the study halls a priority. It interrupted any free period as a request for a study hall. As soon as the study halls filled up, all the other students were unable to schedule and the computer kick them out of the system. The mentor always added study halls after all the other scheduling was complete. I had missed the big picture and failed to understand the overall process of the software. My inability to conceptualize the big system and the "thinking" of the computer program, made my idea sink like a lead balloon.

Greenleaf, in his definition of Servant Leadership, provides ten characteristics of effective leadership. One of those characteristics is conceptualization. Larry Spears (2010) states,
"The ability to look at a problem or an organization from a conceptualizing perspective means that one must think beyond day-to-day realities.....The traditional leader is consumed by the need to achieve short-term operational goals. The leader who wishes to also be a servant leader must stretch his or her thinking to encompass broader-based conceptual thinking.....Servant leaders are called to seek a delicate balance between conceptual thinking and a day-to-day operational approach."

I see this concept of leadership being significantly different from the concept of vision. Vision is the ability to see the organization is 5-10 years and what the organization can and should become. Conceptualization, in my mind, is the ability to see the 30,000 foot view of the organization. It is the ability to go to the balcony and see the organization as a whole system of systems. It is more along the lines of Peter Senge's (1990) 5th Disciple of system thinking. Being able to see how the various departments and individual leaders within the organization relate to one another is the key to conceptualization.

Recently, I managed to offend an entire department within my organization with one huge response that lacked sensitivity. The leader of the department and her office manager both resigned because of the organization demonstrated a lack of support for their program. That was not my heart, it was not my intention, in fact, it was the opposite of my agenda, but a lack of conceptualization resulted in an offense big enough to result in a resignation. The effective and wise servant leader takes a trip to the balcony often and looks at the organization with the eyes of conceptualization. Where are things going smoothly and where are personnel working in great collaboration? Where are there tensions that pulsate with frustration and mistrust? Where are ideas flowing with creative collegiality and where are the communication lines plugged with gossip and pessimism?

Sometimes leaders fail to see the critical processes within the organization. Some miss the folly of concentrating on study halls that prohibit the effectiveness of the overall schedule. As I found out in the scheduling process and, again recently, in dealing with the needs of organizational programs, understanding the overall process is absolutely essential to the effectiveness of the bigger system. Conceptualization is critical to servant leadership.


Spears, L.C. (2010). Character and servant leadership: Ten characteristics of effective, caring leaders. The Journal of Virtues & Leadership, 1:1(25-30).

Senge, P. M. (1990) The fifth discipline: The art and practice of the learning organization. New York: Doubleday.

30,000 foot view (image: Peter Kaminski)