Leadership is .....

Taking time for oneself, one's family and one's faith. Leadership involves balancing the many "pulls" in one's life and enjoying all of the gifts that life has to offer. Each day is a gift - take care to not take for granted!!

Memorial Day Weekend

We should all be grateful, thankful, and offer remembrance to the millions of men and women who have served our country and who have sacrificed for our freedom. They are heroes, they are everyday people, they are leaders.

People

As I reflect on leadership, administration, public service, endings, and beginnings, I find the same connections between successful people and relationships. As social beings, we seek the benefits of friendship, mentorship, collegiality - in work, personally, in civic clubs, sports, and hobbies. The people are who/what "matter" insofar as leadership and change, and growth and progress are concerned.

New Beginnings

On a personal level, I am very excited about the new beginnings I am about to "encounter". I have weeks left in a job I have held for several years at a place I have learned and grown for the past thirteen years. It will be bittersweet to leave the many relationships I have had the privilege of building over the years. I am confident that many of the relationships will sustain the transition and my departure. What is most exciting is that I am about to join a school family in another community that has a rich history, strong continuity, and strong community ties. It is an honor to have been selected to join this new learning organization. My hope is to meet/greet/start to build relationships with the people and then find out their needs and wants; and my hope is to be able to work together and lead in as collaborative manner as practical in the best interests of the students, faculty & staff, parents, members of the board, and the community in general. It is fantastic to have this opportunity for new beginnings!! This will be a series of true leadership experiences and opportunities for learning and growth.

International Leadership Thoughts ... see description and link to other blog

From another blogger in the blogosphere: Inspirational Leader Vs Good Leader – What’s the difference? "There is a thin line between a good leader and an inspirational leader. A leader has ‘vision’, as well as an understanding of strategy, the use of power and drive, while an inspirational leader goes beyond all this and achieves more. What maketh an inspirational leader? - People who have the passion and zeal to do something different and have the power to encourage people to follow?" Posted by: Posted by Asma Zaineb Linked to me from: Praveen Kumar Sr. Executive-Business Development at CommLab India To read the complete article, please click on http://blog.commlabindia.com/elearning/inspirational-leader

Leaders know what questions to ask ... they share with others

An example of this comes from a blogger I follow, teacher Bill Ferriter ... Click Here you can read a recent post from Bill about questions to ask before buying an Interactive White Board (IWB). The "take-away" from his post (and from mine) is that leaders should be aware that there are many great ideas and all ideas have many implications ... one way to maximize the effectiveness of decisions to know what to ask before engaging in actions. No matter what action is considered it is essential to consider the implications for the people involved and impacted about the action(s) prior to implementing. Intentional decision making, in my opinion, involves seeking input from those who will most be affected by the implementation. It also involves intentionally sharing thoughts, desires, wishes, hypotheses from the leader/leadership team about why they consider the change, implementation, etc.

Quick Urtak Poll

Urtak 2114

Technology Integration in Education "Ning"

http://tech-in-ed.ning.com/ The link above will take you to the Ning for Technology Integration in Education. This social network site is designed to help facilitate the use of technology in the classroom. As a leader my mission of service to others includes discovering and sharing resources of interest so that learning and continuous improvement may take place at all levels. Leadership involves finding out what others need, want, and are skillful with; meeting those needs when possible, fulfilling those wants when possible and enhancing and improving those skills when applicable. I hope that this "ning" provides useful materials, guidance, and support in the area of instructional technology use.

Relationships

Research on leadership essentially indicates that the most important attributes of a leader involves relationships. Listening to others, involving others, building capacity in others based upon their interests and skills, all of this is essential for a leader to be successful. Building professional relationships is foundational for all leaders who hope to find success in education, management, organizations, any industry where people are involved. The best advice I could give to an aspiring leader is to LISTEN to people involved; build RELATIONSHIPS with those around you; show RESPECT to all, and value the honor, dignity, and worth of all individuals!!

More on Leadership and Impact

It's very rewarding when you can participate in the selection of excellent teachers with peers who are trained in the research based methods. It is very rewarding to recommend for hire 200 teachers with whom you have worked for four years. It is very rewarding to participate in what works in education - to join with those who "do" in education. As a public educator I am biased ... yet it is still rewarding and affirming to be part of systems that truly do work, are measurable, and make lasting impacts on student learning. This is an example of leadership that is meaningful.

Twitter

I am rediscovering Twitter ... still I'm not 100% certain how to maximize its impact in/on my professional leadership journey - but I am following more "tweets" and taking suggestions from friends and colleagues about how this web 2.0 experience can increase my (and anyone's) connectivity with our newly flattened world.

Very helpful website

The Illinois Association of School Administrator Web site is very helpful for school leaders, administrators and new superintendents. http://www.iasaedu.org

A video clip about "perspectives" ... it pays to listen to several sides ... know your audience ...

IL Pension Law Changes

Illinois pension laws will change ... http://trs.illinois.gov/subsections/legislative/SB1946.htm This will affect employees post 2011 ... but the concept is clear - all sectors, even the public sector - need to tighten their belts ... the economy is not getting better yet ... all the more reason we need great leaders and leadership in all parts of society.

What makes a leader effective ... an ongoing concept

Leaders are effective when people listen to them. Many writers and researchers have written a lot about leadership. Many studies identify scientifically what leadership is and what traits, behaviors, and responsibilities are "research-based" and proven to have "effects" and impacts on certain behaviors (like student achievement). What makes a leader effective is not answered or described in one post, one log, one blog, one answer. Unless the writer suggests that RELATIONSHIPS - two-way, respectful, nurturing, responsible, appropriate, mutually beneficial, and based upon common beliefs and vision - can help support an assertion that leaders are effective when they build relationships and when their leadership is built upon the foundation that people-centeredness is at least a hugely impactful starting point for effective leadership.

Great Professional Development Experience

Today I was inspired and engaged in a day long IL Administrator Academy course sponsored by North Cook and Lake County superintendents. The District Leadership that works ... striking a balance, presented by Dr. Tim Waters was very useful. Over the next few days I will reflect on what I learned, how I hope to apply the new learning, and generally how this type of professional development (PD) can make an impact on my leadership as well as overall student achievement increases.

Random thoughts about leadership ...

From time to time I will share some random thoughts about leadership ... Leadership is making tough decisions with input from key stakeholders. Leadership is making decisions based upon the values, mission, and vision of the organization. Leadership should be based upon the heart and mind in synergy.

Interactive Poll - Public Education Views, Thoughts - first use of Urtak

Public Education/Leadership

Worldometers - real time world statistics

Pretty amazing link to real time stats in an active "ticker" format

Worldometers - real time world statistics