First Week - Leadership

Well, this isn't a very good way to start a new class.  I forgot all about blogging last week.  Hopefully this doesn't become  a habit!

The first week of class made me take a closer look at various people that I have known in leadership roles in the past.  It made me identify the characteristics that made them good, or not so good, leaders.  I think a good leader wears many different hats.  They need to know when to be compassionate, tough, politically correct, and honest.  They also have to keep the goal in mind when making decisions.  One of the best leaders I know was an administrator that helped our school develop a strategic plan.  At the time, a  lot of people thought he was nuts - why would you do something that no one would ever implement?  But he brought a lot of community members into the school, and gave them ownership.  By doing that, he made them change the way they felt about our school, and they turned into supporters of education.  He showed me that a good leader enables people that you work with, giving them the opportunity to work through things themselves but also not being afraid to tell them when an idea isn't the best for the school.  No matter what decision he had to make, he kept the school's best interest in front.  Which was the reason for a strategic plan.  All decisions could be either supported or denied by the strategic plan.  The plan made us function as a team, as we were all on the same playing field.  I learned a lot from this man.  I hope that someday I can be half the leader that he was.