Leadership and Education

Max Depree, former CEO of the Herman Miller Company and best selling author of Leadership Is An Art, and Leadership Jazz, said: 'The three primary roles of a leader are to define reality, act then as a debtor and servant, and finally, to say thank you (to those who have ALLOWED you to lead...)'.

Leadership is a tall order...and an awesome responsibility...'to be a leader means having the opportunity to make a meaningful difference in the lives of those who PERMIT leaders to lead'. Max Depree. Recently I've heard dialogue and read tweets from our newly hired educational leader espousing his leadership 'vision' and what the results might well be...his passion is without question, and his qualifications without equal, but, if he's NEVER 'walked-the-walk', how can he possible become a debtor and servant to those of us who HAVE, some for their entire careers...particularly if there exists NO dialogue?

It is the same argument for an elected Bored-of-Education, in a state that routinely elects a legislature that continuely denies the importance of education, while spouting great platitudes of being 'pro-family' and 'pro-children', yet continues to be the STINGIEST legislature on the continent...witnessed by the LOWEST per-pupil-spending in the country, in spite of the BEST performances in the classroom. THIS is LEADERSHIP??? And I still haven't seen ONE of them down in the classroom to experience, for themselves, the frustrations we're faced with...and the same goes for our Bored, or even our handsomely paid Super-Intendent...we're told we need to introduce 'rigor' into our curriculum, when we set the very STANDARDS for RIGOR for the rest of the country...

Vince Lombardi once said, about leadership: "The quality of a man's life is in direct proportion to his commitment to excellence, regardless of his chosen field of endeavor". I work with these people EVERY day...unfortunately, I don't get enough opportunity to mingle and share with them as much as we should, but it IS improving. Our Professional Learning Community initiative IS bearing fruit, and it will change the face of our already excellent educational efforts.

Attila the Hun, in Wess Robertson's book Leadership Secrets of Attila the Hun, said: 'In the end, vision, drive, energy, singleness of purpose, wise use of resources and a commitment to a destiny worthy of his/her efforts become the characteristics of a leader who exels'. In our recent EBL (Evidence Based Learning, a 'new-and-improved' acronym introduced into our already overburdened vocabulary...) meeting (01/15/10), numerous participants voiced the opinion most of what we've experienced in LEADERSHIP so far is "All talk, no action"...NOT a compelling vote of confidence.

Maybe we're back to Max Depree's second step of 'becoming a debtor and servant'...