Leadership
In a leadership meeting last week we had an unannounced guest speaker. In these circumstances you don’t know what you are going to get! It was Denise Wilcowski the head of the Territory’s Association of Educational School Leaders. She gave us a bit of an autobiography, which was interesting. What caught my attention was her list of attributes of a quality leader. I have listed them as best as I can below:

1. Be an effective communicator. Make sure you are genuine and open; connect with individuals.

2. Be an Educator; self directed with a personal depth of knowledge. You must be able to network.

3. Be a visionary; of where you want your school to be, and how you want to get it there. Your focus must be the kids; the department and other outside stakeholders will want you to focus on their needs, but your focus must always be the kids!

4. Be a facilitator; You will be working with a varied group within your community, so hone your Human Resource skills and facilitate, rather than boss.

5. Be a Change Agent; The one constant in life is change, and this is very much so the case in schools. Make sure you are ‘at the helm’ in change that goes on around you.

6. Be a Culture Builder; We all influence the culture within our organizations, as individuals we build this culture - we have to walk the talk!

7. Be an activator; Drive energy, have a sense of humor and fun, be a doer.

8. Be a Producer; Have a strong sense of accountability, have high expectations, remember that the core of your drive needs to be the kids.

9. Be a Character Builder. You are a role model, so you must project integrity, authenticity and respect for yourself and others. You need generosity and humility.

10. Be a Contributor; Encourage people and be a facilitator in their success. Remember that you are ‘growing up’ leaders within your community, including students, parents, administrators and teachers. This will require perseverance and determination.

I began to take notes and after the meeting had finished realized that I had listened to a few gems of wisdom. There are plenty of books, websites and videos that give us leadership advice these days, it was nice to hear it from another educator ‘in the flesh’. Thanks Den.

Photo from Comment Central