I am fascinated by strong leadership. Leadership that outlasts a position, a title, an opportunity. Leadership is a fluid term, one that can encourage despite a collegial relationship or a “title” driven subset. It’s one that allows someone to see past who you are, and instead, be who you can BE.
The leaders who said, “You’re a great teacher, would you even consider being a principal?”
I am thankful to have seen leadership in the form of a teacher who encourages me with a card that said, ” I see what you are trying to accomplish, and we’ll get here, don’t give up on us yet,”
The one who said, “I see your potential, come lead in my district”, and then gave me a chance.
The one that said, “You can do this, b/c leadership is more about…”
I am thankful for leaders who see past the immediateness and more about the possibilities of who you could be. The ones not limited by titles, experience, or past. The one who could see who you could be, because of a connection, a feeling, an opportunity.
What Are the Qualities of a Good Leader?
1. Honesty and Integrity: Leaders value virtuousness and honesty. They have people who believe in them and their vision.
2. Inspiration: Leaders are self-motivating, and this makes them great influencers. They are a good inspiration to their followers. They help others to understand their roles in a bigger context.
3. Communication skills: Leaders possess great communication skills. They are transparent with their team and share failures and successes with them.
4. Vision: Leaders are visionaries. They have a clear idea of what they want and how to achieve it. Being good communicators, leaders can share their vision with the team successfully.
5. Never give-up spirit: Leaders challenge the status quo. Hence, they never give up easily. They also have unique ways to solve a problem.
6. Intuitive: Leadership coach Hortense le Gentil believes that leaders should rely on intuition for making hard decisions. Especially because intuition heavily relies on a person’s existing knowledge and life learning, which proves to be more useful in complex situations.
7. Empathy: A leader should be an emotional and empathetic fellow because it will help them in developing a strong bond with their team. Furthermore, these qualities will help a leader in addressing the problems, complaints, and aspirations of his team members.
8. Objective: Although empathy is an important quality a leader must imbibe, getting clouded by emotions while making an important business decision is not advisable. Hence, a good leader should be objective.
9. Intelligence: A good leader must be intelligent enough to arrive at business solutions to difficult problems. Furthermore, a leader should be analytical and should weigh the pros and cons before making a decision. This quality can be polished with an all-inclusive leadership training program.
10. Open-mindedness and creativity: A good leader is someone who is open to new ideas, possibilities, and perspectives. Being a good leader means understanding that there is no right way to do things. Therefore, a good leader is always ready to listen, observe, and be willing to change. They are also out-of-the-box thinkers and encourage their teams to do so. If you enrol for a leadership course, all these things will be a part of the curriculum.
11. Patient: A good leader understands that a business strategy takes time to develop and bear results. Additionally, they also believe that ‘continuous improvement and patience’ leads to success.
12. Flexible: Since leaders understand the concept of continuous improvement, they also know that being adaptable will lead them to success. Nothing goes as per plan. Hence, being flexible and intuitive helps a manager to hold his ground during complex situations.
The one who two years after leaving you could meet you for lunch for leadership input, and bring you a cupcake, because that’s just how they lead.
That’s who I want to be.
Leadership thankful,
Amber
Knowing this, I still wanted to offer/facilitate an opportunity for leaders in our district to grow, even if it doesn’t look like it has in the past. A book study is typically an effective form of professional learning because new learning can be immediately applied. Educators are involved in multiple sessions where there is continuous discussion around a relevant topic that has arisen from school data. Remember, the goal of any professional learning is to have a positive impact on student learning. But finding a book that makes everyone happy? Paying for hardcover books that I may never see again? Ugh. The central office role I serve in now makes it even more important to recognize that one book choice isn’t going to meet all the needs of all our learners.
I had the opportunity recently to connect with a few like-minded, position-similar, folks. Finding and building new connections in this role has reminded me again in life how many things can be different when you 
