Investigating the Relationship between the Use of Inspirational Motivational Practices and Shared Decision Making

Studies have shown that effective leadership practices, such as transformational leadership, are crucial to establishing working relationships that support successful team work. One aspect of transformational leadership, inspirational motivation, supports the establishment of relationships leading to commitment and success that exceed participants\u27 expectations. The purpose of this mixed methods study was to investigate the relationship of inspirationally motivating practices employed by three school principals and the process of shared decision making as is required by the New York State Department of Education. The study was conducted employing the quantitative and qualitative collection and analysis of data. The two questions that guided this study were: (1) What is the relationship between the principal\u27s self perception and the perception of the School Based Planning Team regarding the principal\u27s inspirationally motivating practices? (2) How does the principal exhibit behaviors that promote consensus based decisions during School Based Plaru1ing Team meetings? The analysis of the quantitative data revealed common perceptions regarding the inspirationally motivating practices of the principals. Qualitative data from the focus groups and face to face interviews found that the principals in this study employed inspirationally motivating practices that facilitated working relationships within the teams they lead. Recommendations based on the findings of this study includes the development of training modules focused on shared decision making and formal professional development for principals focused on research based practices that support team leadership