Fourth Tier

The Fourth Tier examines the various roles (leadership tiers) that all leaders must master to be highly effective. These tiers include the leader as a high performing manager, the leader as an expert in their chosen field, and the leader as a builder of teams who are mission driven. The fourth of these leadership tiers involves the ability to provide charismatic leadership to the organization. Charisma is the result of eight specific leadership qualities that can be understood and taught. This book examines each of those eight charismatic leadership attributes in detail. How these charismatic leadership attributes can be learned and how they relate to each other to form a comprehensive view of the charismatic leader are also addressed. An examination of how state agencies assigned to assess and license education leaders address, or fail to address, these charismatic leadership attributes is also explored in detail. The Fourth Tier also examines the important impact and reciprocal relationships that occur between charismatic leaders and those who follow and support charismatic leaders in pursuit of the leader’s mission.

In Mission-Driven Leadership (2018), Dr. Colwell introduced the education field to three tiers of leadership skills required to meet the challenges of 21st century schools. Now, in The Fourth Tier: Leadership and the Power of Charisma, Dr. Colwell continues his thoughtful focus on the attributes that engender the highly effective leaders that are needed to face the complex context that is education today. Here, Dr. Colwell confers a new set of transformative skills; the largely neglected socialized charisma skills, which he argues are not innate, but rather, can be learned by leaders seeking to improve their effectiveness. The Fourth Tier is a practical discussion on the implementation of a very focused set of attainable attributes that can transform educational leadership, thus allowing good leaders to become great., Written for leaders who are looking to make a significant difference in their organization, The Fourth Tier: Leadership and the Power of Charisma, carefully details the impact of charisma in the workplace and how leaders are influencing and sustaining cultures of success for all stakeholders during some of the most complex and challenging times in education. This book is a must have for modern educational leaders and will be indispensable to anyone looking to develop the essential leadership skills necessary for success in the 21st century., Colwell’s latest book, The Fourth Tier: Leadership and the Power of Charisma, provides a clear pathway to learning about and applying the often-missing leadership development component of charisma. Leading complex 21st century schools, districts and organizations requires much more than deep knowledge of management, instruction, and mission. Understanding the nature of charisma and the role of charismatic leadership is an essential component for developing and maintaining high achieving organizations. This book is a must read for our team!, Leadership preparation programs often emphasize the priorities of management, and instructional leadership. The Fourth Tier, however, elevates the conversation with groundbreaking discussion on mission, charismatic leadership, and results. Dr. Colwell considers the attributes that create an interpersonal leader who adeptly leads schools in complex and potentially volatile times. The Fourth Tier will prepare new leaders for the challenges they will face, but is also an essential read for school leaders at any stage. After reading The Fourth Tier, it is clear that charismatic leadership should be at the forefront of any conversation on school leadership in modern times.

Chris Colwell is Associate Professor and Chair of the Department of Education at Stetson University. His forty-two year career includes serving as a district leader and principal at al levels of P-12 education.