Leaders and Leadership
I’ve been thinking a lot about what a great leader does.
How they take action. How great leaders support those around them. Of course there are heaps of blogs out there ranging from @gcouros to @dculberhouse
I’ve learned a lot from my friends @scottrrocco and @bcurrie5 and the whole #satchat and #satchatoc crew. A great chat for leaders in education. I’ve tapped into @cybraryman1 plethora of resources. I have many leaders in my community of learners and I also work with many leaders at my won school.
I was inspired last week by a quote from what a keynote speaker at the IBO Conference in Singapore said about Steve Job’s mantra. He said ‘I don’t hire people that need to be managed’. Think about that for a minute. That made total sense to me. We are all working towards the same goal, especially in education and should not need to ask to take action. We should not need to ask to take charge of our own learning. This should be expected. We do not rely on others and are afraid to make decisions. Let me add to that, leaders should not only be risk takers and make decisions but stand up and be counted if they make the wrong decision. I am not talking about administration here. I am talking about leaders. There are leaders amongst your staff. Some we recognize and they stand out. Others sometimes not so much.
The second thing that inspired me last week was this image someone posted on Twitter:
I was quite moved by this. Again this makes sense but I wonder how often this is put into practice. Again I am not just talking about administrators, as of course just because you are an administrator does not automatically make you a leader. I believe school leadership is earned. How often have you empowered someone to lead the way? My guess more often than you realize. It’s a great mantra for admin to adopt I think. Who doesn’t want a motivated staff that are empowered to make decisions? I believe leaders/administrators need to celebrate other’s successes and support other’s failures. Great leaders empower others.
The Learning Journey 
Great post Jason. It has definitely left me thinking about learning and leadership.
I wrote a similar post exploring the idea that everyone has the potential to be a leader and what this might actually mean http://readingwritingresponding.blogspot.com.au/2013/11/can-everyone-really-be-meaningful-leader.html.
Aaron
I liked your post thanks for sharing. Left a comment. I love Rockwell’s list!
Great post, Jay – sorry I missed it last month. At the IBAP conference Richard Gerver emphasised really clearly the importance of being managers of your own learning. He said that education is all about the development of the human being and that human interaction will always be important (technology existing to support education, not to replace teachers) – so the need for leaders who are also teachers is crucial. I love the quote about true leaders creating more leaders!