Last week my cohort discussed qualities of effective leadership in and outside the classroom. A lot of rich discussion resulted because this is one of those topics that runs deep with all of us. We all have strong personal feelings on what effective leadership looks like, and what it takes to be a great leader. I've had some time for our discussions to settle a bit, and am going to try make some sense of it.
Initially when thinking of leadership I think of those who are the leaders in a community, whether that be a school, playground, office, or parliament. We all can associate to those roles, but I do believe leadership takes on many different faces. Sometimes it is simply being comfortable taking a stance, helping and encouraging others, or being the silent rock of the group. Leaders know when to speak up, and when it is beneficial to have some quiet time. I think being comfortable with silence says more than the urge to constantly talk from anxious nerves. Leadership is the ability to provide ideas, or facilitate a group on this. Moreover, it is being a calm persona for others to bounce ideas off of or absorb tension. It is having the ability to rise to the occasion, and turing frowns upside down. Leaders are those who we look up to and admire. Leadership takes on so many different faces it's impossible to peg down one defining characteristic or attribute.
Leadership I believe is a skill and to a degree innate quality. (The jury is still out on this one though!) And like a skill, I believe leadership abilities can be taught and learned. Just recently I ran a workshop in my Methods class on cooperative and collaborative learning. One of the important ideas we stressed is we need to explicitly teach and model for students how to work collaboratively in the classroom. We all learn from observations and experience; therefore if you have never been privy to great leadership demonstrations then it will be more difficult to cultivate your own abilities. With that said, I do believe great leadership is completely subjective, and is influenced by your environment and experiences.
Knowing when to take a step back and let others step forward is a wonderful skill as it empowers others and creates a greater community of partnership, equality, and learning. Being an active participant is just as important as leading, and to be an active participant students need to learn how to actively listen. I strongly feel one of the most important characteristics of effective leadership is the ability to support and develop people. When you succeed at this you empower the individuals, and this will create a wonderful trickle-down effect to all those around. These feelings are as contagious as laughter, and when the school is feeling great the team-bonds grow stronger and greater. This leads to everyone taking on and sharing leadership roles in their community.
Altogether I believe we are all leaders in our own right. Those moments when you witness unexpected kindness, thought, generosity, new ideas or outlooks - those are the moments of great leadership in action. Those 'wow' moments when you stop and think about your own choices and behaviours - the ability to evoke these emotions is something each and everyone of us does every day. As I mentioned laughter is contagious, well so is negativity, and so is positivity! As much as the term "reflect" is started to seem like one of the most used terms I've heard since entering teacher's college; it does seem fitting to say we need to stop and think about what we are doing and how we are affecting those around us. Great leaders understand this dynamic relationship, and practice it too.
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