Spring 2004
Principals of Leadership
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OUCHI AND OTHER PROFESSORS involved in UCLA's school-leadership training urge school leaders to take the idea of local control one step further.

"The whole school finance system needs to be revamped so that the authority and control is at the local level, under the leadership fo the principal. Leadership is the way you turn schools around." — Richard Riordan, California Education Secretary

In addition to controlling their school's budget and making wise spending decisions with the money they're allotted, campus administrators need to think about how they can generate their own funds, says Professor Marilyn Kourilsky '61, M.A. '63, Ph.D. '68.

Successful school leaders, says Kourilsky, co-director of UCLA's Institute for the Study of Educational Entrepreneurship and founder and chief education adviser for the Kauffman Center for Entrepreneurial Leaders, need to be able to distinguish between a good idea and one that presents a genuine opportunity for the school.

Public schools can, for example, rent out space in their gymnasium or auditorium during non-school hours, she says. She cites examples in which students have brought in income for their schools by using their technological expertise to build Web sites for community businesses.

"Part of being opportunity-focused is to think of the school as an education venture," she says.

The keys to what Kourilsky calls "intra-preneurial leadership" are straightforward: Be visionary. Be content-driven. Be innovation-focused. Be risk-oriented. Be customer-oriented.

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