Leadership From Within: A Spark of Genius

Some people say that leadership is an inherent quality.  Maybe for a few, but the majority of leaders learn how to lead.  Through successes and struggles, leaders cultivate other leaders who, in turn, will inspire other leaders.  The following four characteristics of cultivating leadership are a springboard to empowering others to lead, thus creating a culture of mutual ownership and change in a school.

1.       Surround yourself with genius; you do not have all of the answers.

o   There is absolutely no humanly way possible that any one administrator can know everything about everything.  I was a band director for eighteen years, so I know very little about physics, Spanish, accounting, and welding, but I can write a pretty good marching band show….  Everyone in your organization, whether they share it or not, has a spark of genius.  Allowing those sparks to fuel flames of excitement, professional growth, inspiration, problem solving, and leadership in others creates more motivation than bringing in strangers to attempt the same.

2.       Give others credit for successes; take the blame when things go wrong.

o   The school staff is a team, and teams can both succeed and fail.  While the school leader is ultimately responsible for any success or failure within the building, it is important to give credit where credit is due.  It is not to say that the leader has nothing to do with whatever initiative or issue on the table, but rather that the school leader must empower the staff to fully develop, revise, and implement any programmatic or systematic change for positive influence on students.  They are the ones that are making it happen, so they are the ones who deserve the credit.  On the opposite end of this spectrum, there are times of struggle and even failure.  That is normal.  The leader must take responsibility for the struggle, not assign blame, but then work again with staff to help its success in the future.

3.       Model expectations.

o   If a school leader expects certain actions, he must also model the same action.  This can be said with anything from dress, student interaction, attendance, technology, adherence to deadlines, or response to criticism.  The do as I say and not as I do mentality does not work with students, and it definitely does not work with adults.

4.       Encourage teachers to FAIL and model FAILURE yourself.

o   Failure is not a bad thing (most of the time).  In our district, we use the acronym FAIL to mean First Attempt In Learning.  Through struggles, we strive to improve.  Through improvement, we gain confidence.  Through confidence, we share.  Through sharing, we lead.  We do not expect perfection from our students the first time a topic or skill is introduced; if they did not struggle, how would they grow?  Yes, failure is a tad bitter sometimes, but we all grow from these experiences.  Without my own personal struggles throughout my career, I would not have become the person I am today.  I still have more struggles ahead, and I look forward to continual growth in my leadership and personal life.

Just as students do not care how much you know until they know how much you care, so are the awesome members of your school staff.  Take time find those sparks of genius within those awesome teachers and other staff members at your school.  Give those sparks a chance to start a fire.