Envision, Equip, Empower and Execute
The past two years have provided me the opportunity to focus deeply and directly on aspects of strong educational leadership. My presentation linked above and original philosophy written at the start of this program (see full paper on the right) highlight my initial foundational beliefs in what educational leaders do, what their roles and responsibilities look like and what it takes to be successful. I highlight my belief that leaders are still humans and part of families and that plays a critical role in personality and leadership style, that teamwork and collaboration are essential and critical for successful leaders and that educational leaders are forward thinking- anticipating the future needs and working to meet those needs for a school community. While I still believe these components are valid and important, I find myself now reflecting on my philosophy of what educational leaders can DO, rather than what they ARE. I would add to my original thoughts the critical piece of empowerment. I believe highly functioning educational leaders empower those around them. This does happen through teamwork and anticipatory thinking, but my focus has shifted more from what I would be as a leader to what I can do. I see great potential in colleagues around me (myself included) and fully believe in the positive impact of motivation and empowerment. I believe the resources we've studied, conversations our cohort has discussed, experiences I've had in my schools and mentoring I've been provided by the professors along this journey have all helped me to to deepen and mature my understanding of the scope and impact of educational leadership. Now as I seek employment and leadership roles in my new school community, I am sharing and promoting my updated and revised beliefs and goals as an educational leader: Envision, Equip, Empower and Execute Envision the potential and imagine the future needs in our school, Equip self and other teachers and leaders with the skills, support and resources to address the needs, Empower teacher leaders to take action on their decisions and goals by spreading leadership, responsibility and decision making power and Execute the plans and progress needed to best support and enhance the vision of the school, community and student learning! |
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