Excellence comes from effective leadership while mandates just bring mediocrity.
All effective leaders provide five common traits to their folks:
- Vision - Leaders know where they are planning to take the organization.
- Communication - Vision is communicated to all in such a way that it absolutely permeates the organization.
- Trust - Great leaders earn trust every day and they must, because trust is the glue that holds organizations together when things get tough.
- Personal Regard - There must be regard for all, always; respecting differences.
- Stay Forever Positive - Leaders are role models, and for the organization to remain positive in tough times they must exhibit a positive outlook, as they are the source of hope for others.
About 21years ago I read a book called “Leaders; Strategies for Taking Charge” by Warren Bennis and Burt Nanus. This book, although it never once mentioned education, validated virtually all I believed to be true about effective leadership. I’ve used their book as a text on leadership for teachers, principals, department heads, prospective administrators, and school board members many times over the years, and I’ve found that I’ve adopted much of the language they used, so I feel it only fair to give them credit here.
How important is effective leadership? “Research shows that there are virtually no documented incidents of troubled schools being turned around without the intervention of a strong leader. While quality classroom instruction is of primary importance, leadership- or lack of it- can determine whether good ideas or practices in a single classroom spread system-wide so that all children learn well.” From the American Association of School Administrators, July 2009
I’ve received lots of credit for my past leadership efforts, but truly my success is directly attributable to the people I’ve hired to work with me. Effective leaders surround themselves with talented people who are mature enough to accept a shared vision, put aside the need for garnering individual honors, and work for the good of the whole. A good leader always tries to hire people smarter than they are; my only problem is that is so easy to do. (c:=