Several days ago, (or, last year in Internet time) Todd tagged me with an interesting meme on leadership. I’d rather be thinking and writing about Moodle and how I think it might be a better tool than it is for classroom writing workshops – but I do think I have a little something to offer here as I teach a course on leadership at my school, although I certainly don’t have all the answers. The question (originally asked by Miguel) is:
What are seven qualities we don’t know about you that help you to be a leader?
I believe the original intention of the question was to get administrators to blog about some of their leadership skills — but I think teachers can and should lead in the classroom and in educational reform efforts. Here goes:
1. Humility. I believe that I am right more often than I am wrong — but I am often wrong. Knowing that I am fallible and human means that I need to pay attention to others’ ideas and styles — there’s much to learn from how other folks conduct themselves. Even on my best day, I could be better.
2. Modeling. I don’t know if this is a quality or an attribute — but I’m going with it. The best leaders are those who model in their actions and thoughts the paths that they believe are worth taking. Every morning, when I ask my students to read and to write, I write and read with them, as it’s so important that they see me doing the same things I ask of them. I am very fond of Mohandas Gandhi’s charge to "be the change you wish to see in the world."
3. Service. I teach servant leadership to my students. Leaders who serve their fellow folks learn what those folks truly want and need. I try to find little ways to be helpful when I can.
One aspect of service, though, is that sometimes serving someone honestly means denying them a want and instead fulling a need. The trick to being a good leader is knowing when a "need" is essential.
4. Passion. If you’re going to be successful as a leader, you’ve got to care about where you’re going and why you need to get there. Bill Cosby took some criticism in October for sharing his thoughts on passion — but I agree with him on this one. We’ve got to care an awful lot about what we’re doing — and we must be able to communicate that passion to others.
5. I don’t like ham. (Okay — I don’t like metaphorical ham. But I’ve nothing against the real stuff.) When I took my current position, an administrator told me about a woman, let’s call her Linda, who, every year at Christmas, cut the ends off of the ham she prepared for the holiday meal before sticking it into the oven. One year, someone asked her why she did so. She did so because that’s how her mother had always done it. Linda called her mother to ask why she cut the ends off of the ham.
Linda’s mother laughed and told Linda that when Linda was a little
girl, the family didn’t have a roasting pan that could accommodate the
size of ham that she always bought — so she cut off the ends so the
ham would fit.
When I say that I don’t like ham, I mean that I always like to
know why something is either being done TO me or BY me. If the "why"
doesn’t make sense, I work as best as I can to change the situation so
that it does. Good leaders are always looking for the ham stuff in their organizations, groups, or selves.
6. Laughter. This world is full of heartache and pain and disappointment and hurt. Does every meeting have to be painful? Every chance I can, when it’s appropriate, I like to make a joke. It’s part of who I am, costs nothing, and keeps things grounded.
7. Knowing When to Quit. I considered making up a "seventh" quality/attribute. But what would be the point. When it’s time to move on, it’s time to move on.
Time to tag. If you’re in a position of leadership in a school environment, consider yourself fair game for this one. Tag.
