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Leadership is not about you
By audhill | July 20, 2008
I’ve just recently tapped into a conversation that is going on among edtech people. It is a conversation that is always going on among edtech people. Namely: how do we get people to change… how do we get teachers to use technology and administrators to demand teacher use of technology.
It has been my belief that the failure of administrators to get buy in from teachers on any particular change is more about the way in which leaders view leadership than it is about teachers. Leadership is not about grand plans, paradigm shifts or hiding the cheese. Leadership is about getting the best out of your staff… whatever that “best” is.
In my view, that means a balance of control and letting go of your idea. Pardoxically, giving up the reins, being willing to see your precious ideas morph into something else is the best way to achieve your own ends. It comes from a fundamental recognition that a successful climate (in business or personal life) is created when each best self finds expression, not when each self gets with your program.
On ChangeThis, Michael Kanazawa makes this exact point and it highlights a simple truth. As he says in his last paragraph If you believe that people hate change and that it is your job to change them, they will hate it. If you believe that people thrive on change and that your job is to unleash it, you will tap into a limitless source of ingenuity, energy and drive that will allow you to consistently take your big ideas into big results.
Topics: education, leadership |