COMPETENCES AND QUALITIES OF LEADERS IN EDUCATION: TRANSFORMATION AND COMPARATIVE CHARACTERISTICS

Abstract

The article is devoted to the study of competences and qualities of leaders in education, its transformation and comparative characteristics. It is noted that the distinctive features of leaders in traditional pre-industrial societies were: will and charisma, commitment to an idea/cause, unwavering conviction in the correctness of their thoughts and actions, a clear vision of the future, non-standard behaviour, the ability to enthuse and inspire others, share their positive energy with them, etc. It is stated that the leaders of the society of producers and consumers of goods and services often demonstrate excessive ambition, self-confidence and unwillingness to act proactively and do not have the competencies that meet the challenges of the times. It is emphasised that the information society required completely different leaders, whose defining qualities are: high intelligence, ability to calculate the situation, work in a team, not so much to manage as to negotiate, reflexivity, responsibility for their own choices, sociability, mobility, transversal competences, etc. It is proposed that an innovative society requires a qualitatively new leader - an innovative model. The main competencies inherent in innovative leaders are highlighted: risk management, interest, determination, continuous improvement and development, strategic planning, organisation and planning ability, reflexivity, responsibility for one's own choices, sociability, mobility, intelligence, ability to calculate the situation, and transversal competencies based on deep, subtle interaction with culture, language and history, i.e. through "sense(s)making". It is proposed that one of the factors that should, in our opinion, contribute to the formation of competencies inherent in innovative leaders should be the process of internationalisation of LLL education. The advantages (rapid increase in the quality and quantity of information and its transformation into knowledge, reorientation to the international level of interaction, integration into advanced production technologies, innovations and management strategies, etc.) and negative (unification of the educational model and asymmetry in international interaction, etc.) consequences of this process are presented.