I am in the middle of an internal leadership course at my school, which is primarily for those who aspire to progress into middle/senior leadership positions at the school. They've taken bits from the major leadership courses that are offered and made it relevant to our school context. I have been in leadership positions before, but I have never been on a course or looked at what the studies or science says about leadership, so that is what intrigued me about doing the course.
I had a huge reflective moment in our third session, where Mick Quigley, who works with local Malaysian schools developing future leaders in education, gave us an insight on leadership. He played the 'heads up' game, where we had to write down several leaders who we are inspired by on a post stick note and then let our partners guess. It first started with generic questions like; Male/Female? Celebrity? Athlete? etc, but then it got interesting when we had to describe them using descriptors for qualities they possess. When we had to describe them with qualities, I had to explain to my partner that not all are obvious leaders but they have traits and are leaders in their own right.
My list in order was:
Muhammad Ali - A professional boxer. One of the all time greats.
Manny Pacqcuiao - A current professional boxer. Also has a leadership role within the Philippines government.
Andrew Flintoff - Professional English cricketer
Dwayne Johnson - AKA the Rock. Former wrestler, now a major Hollywood actor.
Barack Obama - Former president of the United States.
Nelson Mandela - Activist and former president of South Africa.
I am not doing these guys justice with my very brief explanation of them. They are obviously more than this and are loved for a variety of reasons from different people.
When Mick asked us to describe the leadership qualities of these people to my partner, it hit me to why I chose all of these people. I said to my partner that some of these people are not obvious leaders but do lead in their own right and then I started saying things like they have a hard work ethic, they are charismatic and loved by the people. I also said that they feel like they stay true to their word and feel they have a strong connection to their followers. Mick later made a point that all of the qualities that I have described these people with are probably the qualities that you would aspire to have in your leadership.
What surprised me first was that when I created this list of leaders, I never really put any thought into why I chose them, but only when I started describing their qualities, I realised that I chose them all for the same qualities and that made me realise of what I look for or what I feel is important in a good leader. Obviously, this is my opinion of what a good leader should be and this will vary from person to person.
When Mick then made a point of that these qualities are what you would want in your leadership too, as these values/qualities are important to you, it made me think about my own leadership qualities. I've never really thought about my own leadership qualities mainly because I was learning on the job. I just wanted to make sure that I was the hardest worker in my team and that I don't ask other people to do things I'm not willing to do it myself. I also wanted to be supportive and feel that I always stayed true to my word and that my personality stayed the same and that didn't change just because I am in leadership position. This is something I was conscious about from the start, but I feel all these qualities are the same about me as a person as well as a professional, so maybe that's why I have never put much thought into it.
It has got me thinking of the different leaders I have worked under and what qualities I liked and didn't like. I think the biggest two qualities I liked about these particular leaders were their calm nature and the trust they gave you in your role. They were leaders who stood from afar and just allowed you to get on with it. I think you have to have a high level of trust here and I don't think this type of leadership would work with everyone. What type of leadership would you need to show if you don't trust that person or they are not working to a standard you are happy with? I don't think there is a right answer for that one.
I read a book called 'Leaders eat last' and it was recommended by a few colleagues. I thought it would be intriguing and I was ready to learn from an 'expert', because like I said, I've never really looked at the research behind it. Personally, I didn't find the book that interesting and found that most of the things suggested were pretty obvious. I wonder if this is because I have experienced leadership and maybe I would have learnt more if I read this before any leadership positions I've taken on. The biggest take away was about creating the correct culture and that culture changes depending on many different variables. I felt that this book suggested that there was no 'right' way of doing things a
nd that you're going to get things wrong and you need to accept that and learn from it. That's exactly how I feel about my experiences so far. There was a section on how to lead the millennials, as they had different needs to the older generations, and I found that really interesting, being a millennial myself.
It would be interesting to see if the qualities I value in leaders will change as I age and gain experience. I have already acknowledged that they way I led in my previous school would not be necessary in my current school and vice versa, but I am always observing other leaders to see what qualities I value and would like to develop in my leadership style. As a teacher, I love the fact that my personality and character remains the same, as if I was in front of my friends and family, but there are times where I have to 'play' a role, for example, discipline in the classroom. For me, I see my leadership style the same. I would like to come across with the same personality and character as my normal self, but I also know I will have to play different roles, and I feel that is what needs to be learnt and developed over time. I accept that I will get this wrong at times, but experience will help me with the different situations and context.
If anything, Mick's activity has made me more aware of my surroundings and now that I am thinking about, may make into a better leader in the future. We'll see :)
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