I choose to look at life through a prism of possibility. - M.L. Debes

Our Lead

"When as it all too often does, strategic planning begins by identifying external goals and then moves on to analyzing internal strengths, it puts the cart before the horse. To capture its core mission a group must first understand its own strengths (Schein, 1985, p. 55). Over my years of consulting in schools I have been repeatedly struck by how often successful new programs grow out of the conviction or interest of an individual principal or a small group of leaders rather than out of a formal planned change process. The highly personal nature of vision is central to its successes. The value of a vision is not just to clarify goals and plot a strategy but to inspire followers. The change, people must be “moved”. This requires not just an idea, but an advocate. Change begins not just with a goal but with a leader who communicates it, enlisting the organization’s members in the pursuit of a compelling agenda. The leader’s own commitment to the agenda is crucial to its adoption by followers. The leader, that is, must not just advocate but exemplify the change before asking staff to do so (Evans, 303)."

Leadership

• Leadership is a choice, not a position.
• Leadership is about taking people from one place to another. One of a leader’s top priorities must be to assure that the team knows where you are headed. Where are you going? What are you trying to accomplish? Seeing the future is about creating a compelling vision. It may sometimes be difficult to determine where the enterprise should be heading, but heading somewhere is a must. Envisioning and communicating a future-oriented vision is a huge part of leadership.
• Leadership is about engaging others. Leaders should set clear boundaries, provide the objective and then give people the freedom to think for themselves, and let them have accountability for the outcome. Let them know they are valued and appreciated. A great leader also invest in the development of their people.
• Leaders must model the behaviors he or she wants people to emulate. If you stop learning, you stop leading. On a personal level, find ways to enhance knowledge and skills. On a systems and processes level, ask questions like these: How can we do the work better? How can we do it with fewer errors? On a structural level, great leaders understand that organizational structure should be flexible.
• A leader must walk the talk if they want to build and maintain trust. If you live consistently with the values you profess, people will come to trust you. You must gain the trust of your people. If you don’t have their trust, you’ll never be a great leader.

Choosing to Lead, or to Play

Doing whatever we can do within our own circle of friends and acquaintances is enough to qualify as a contribution to some extent. Somehow we contribute, even if only by having an idea and communicating it to ONE other person (better of course if it's two or three ...), to the development of that "collective consciousness" that humanity is growing up to be. The truth is: EACH ONE OF US COUNTS in the way that we CAN contribute. We do not have to, we do have a choice. But one of the options is to play, in whatever small way we can. As more and more people play, there is no way to pick out THE individual which, if eliminated, will stop the progressing of a particular idea. It is by helping these ideas spread further and deeper, now, that each one of us, can not only affect change, but speed up the process through which this happens while guaranteeing longer life to the very ideas you help spread out. "We all live in a world of interconnection... a world of continuous dynamics... a world of perpetual and neverending information transport. In order for our socitey to thrive, we must communicate. New ideas, concepts, and feelings all transverse the globe daily - eventually reaching a recipient who will then be given the gift of understanding. Comprehension. Opportunity."

Listening

See Sources:

Regading the skill of listening as learned from Malcom X: Malcolm listened intently. Whether he was following the opening argument in a debate or an assistant minister's lecture or the ins and outs of a Muslim couple's marital problems, he gave the speaker his full attention. Malcolm placed no less importance on listening than he did on speaking. He considered it an art, and he brought to it the same level of skill and technique that he brought to his oratory. We had to listen as much with our minds as with our ears and concentrate on a speaker's thoughts as well as the words. To listen effectively required discrimination and objectivity. He taught us not to allow our own feelings and prejudices to color our perception so that we could draw vaild conclusions and make sound judgments from what we heard. We learned to listen for the key words that developed a line of argument. We learned to pay attention to a speaker's inflections, which might reveal more to us than the words meant themselves.

Tipping a movement

The success of a social epidemic is heavily dependent on the involvement of people with a particular set of gifts. They are called Connectors, Mavens, and Salesmen.

Connectors:

• People specialists

• Curious

• Self-confident

• Sociable

• Energetic

• They often see possibility in people.

Mavens:

• Information specialists

• Accumulates knowledge

• Enjoys solving problems (own and other’s; often solves own through solving other’s)

• They have no personal agenda. They want to help for no other reason than because they like to help.

• Their goal is to educate and help.

• They probe for more information.

• To be a Maven is to be a teacher. But it is also, even more emphatically, to be a student.

Salesmen:

• They persuade when people are unconvinced of what they are hearing.

• Energetic

• Optimistic

• They believe that the power of positive thinking will overcome so many things.

• Are aware of powerful nonverbal cues, and use them to persuade.

• Are talented in drawing others into their own rhythms and dictating the terms of the interaction.

• They understand that emotion is contagious.|

See the future. Where are you going? What are you trying to accomplish? Leadership is about taking people from one place to another. One of a leader’s top priorities must be to assure that the team knows where you are headed. Seeing the future is about creating a compelling vision. It may sometimes be difficult to determine where the enterprise should be heading, but heading somewhere is a must. Envisioning and communicating a future-oriented vision is a huge part of leadership.

Engage and develop others. Everything that you will accomplish as a leader ultimately hinges on the people you have around you. You must have the right people, in the right roles, fully engaged if you are going to accomplish the things you identified under See the Future. You must engage people in the cause and the work. Once you engage their minds, you can often get their hearts as well. How can we engage people in an activity? Set clear boundaries, provide the objective and then people the freedom to think for themselves, and let them have accountability for the outcome. Let them know they are valued and appreciated. A great leader also invest in the development of their people.

Reinvent continuously. If you stop learning, you stop leading. Leaders must model the behaviors he or she wants people to emulate. On a personal level, find ways to enhance knowledge and skills. On a systems and processes level, ask questions like these: How can we do the work better? How can we do it with fewer errors? On a structural level, great leaders understand that organizational structure should be flexible.

Value results and Relationships. In reality, there are two tests of a leader. Do they get results? And do they have followers? If your heart is right and your motives are valid, most people will meet you halfway when establishing relationships. “People will not give you their hand until they can see your heart.” – John Maxwell.

Embody the Values. If you live consistently with the values you profess, people will come to trust you. You must gain the trust of your people. If you don’t have their trust, you’ll never be a great leader. Walk the talk if you want to build and maintain trust.