Ben has shared some reading from 'When Leaders are at their best' about the five practices of exemplary leadership to help us define our principles and acts of leadership for our BPA around leadership.
I really enjoyed the clarity of the reading and could relate them comfortably to my current challenge of leadership in the habitat. The article emphasises five principles to make extraordinary things happen in organisations: Model the way, Inspire a shared vision, challenge the process, enable others to act and encourage the heart.
Model the Way
'Titles don't make a leader. It's how you behave that makes a difference. Exemplary leaders know that if they want to gain commitment and achieve the highest standards, they must be models of the behaviour they expect of others.'
Even though this sounds obvious, it is essential for our habitat. It adds a lot of pressure to the Team Leader as you do feel you have to constantly model every second of the day. Not only with your teaching but even down to the day-to-day expectations of clearing up, dealing with noise and sharing resources fairly. It feels relentless, very tough. It is noticeable if you don't model, if you don't do it - it it wont be long before it drops off. However, recently there has been a shift in leadership and other mentors have picked up the mantle and not let things slip.
'Before you can lead others, you need to know clearly who you are and what your core values are. Once you know that, then you can give those values a voice and feel comfortable sharing them with others. Exemplary leaders affirm the shared values of the group. Exemplary leaders set the set example by aligning actions with shared values.
Through their daily actions, they demonstrate their deep commitment to their beliefs and those of the organisation.'
This part of the reading had a huge impact on me. It really made me sit down and identify what I wanted to see happen in the habitat. With the introduction of 'Clarity of the Classroom,' as our school focus, gave me the confidence to identify that was one of my core values. I was advisor for AfL for five years and it means a lot to me and my success as a mentor. This has given me real direction in what I believe in and want to support my mentors to achieve in our habitat. I feel much more comfortable with myself as a leader knowing it is something I can help develop and know what a positive impact it will have on my team and students in Coronet.
Inspire a Shared Vision
'You have to enlist others in a common vision by appealing to shared aspirations. You have to have a vision in mind and be clear about why it's important to you. You need to be equally clear about why it should matter to those you're sharing your vision with. When you express your enthusiasm and excitement for the vision, you ignite that passion in others.'
Having identified what was important to me and quickly thought about how I can get across the importance of Clarity of the classroom across to the mentors. Fortunately with it being a school focus that itself gives it credibility and using school 'mechanisms' such as progress pebbles should also give it credibility. It won't sound like it is something I recommend alone, its importance is recognised across the school. My time will be spent with 'Clarity of the Classroom' and using our collaborative planning as a tool to help get across some of the techniques recommend. Also, my genuine enthusiasm and belief towards this will help drive the important messages across too.
Challenge the Process
'Leaders venture out; they don't sit idly by waiting for fate to smile on them. You need to search for opportunities by seizing the initiative and by looking outward for innovative ways to improve. Because innovation and change involve experimenting and taking risks, your major contribution will be to create a climate for experimentation in which there is recognition of good ideas, support those ideas, and the willingness to challenge the system. Leaders are constantly learning from their errors and failures as they experiment, try new things, and incrementally move projects forward. The best leaders are the simply the best learners, and life is their laboratory.'
This is the biggest challenge for me. I take calculated risks, very calculated. Always have and working in the habitat - I have to show I am not afraid to take risks. I had to make one of the hardest professional decisions and allow the habitat to go down a route I was not convinced about at all. We will have to go down a road knowing its going to be extremely difficult and learn from it. I would have never done this teaching by myself and it is extremely frustrating and challenging, but this environment is unique due to the importance of relationships. The gains towards building trust in our relationships was more important.
Enable Others to Act
'Lead by empowering those around you. It is essential to be open to all ideas and to give everyone a voice in the decision making process. Leaders foster collaboration by building trust and facilitating relationships. Giving your power away and fostering their personal power and ownership will make them stronger and more capable. When you strengthen others by increasing self-determination and developing competence, they are more likely to give it their all and exceed their own expectations. Leaders turn their constituents into leaders themselves.'
This section supports our philosophy of empowering mentors at SPS. Working in the habitat is so complicated, due to the amount of relationships, that one leader is simply not enough. The more leaders we have, the more chance we have coping with all the complications. The collaborative planning process would not be possible if all the mentors were relying on me to guide them through the process. Two sets of two mentors have to collaborate together without me, I have to ensure that leadership is demonstrated within those pairings to ensure it works. It has only been a few weeks but the signs are fantastic. Mentors are giving up their time to build those relationships and comprise. Certain mentors are leading the relationship through the process of collaboration. There will be bumps on the way and it is essential I coach and guide them through it. To be honest, the mentors have been guiding me!
Encourage the Heart
'People become exhausted, frustrated, and disenchanted, and are often tempted to give up. Genuine acts of caring draw people forward. Recognition is the most powerful currency you have, and it costs you nothing. Leaders recognise contributions by showing appreciation for individual excellence. It's part of your job as a leader to show appreciation for people's contributions and to create a culture of celebrating the values and victories by creating a spirit of community. Celebrations and rituals, when they are authentic and from the heart, build a strong sense of collective identity.'
Again, this becomes complicated due to the nature of our environment. For recognition to be authentic and to ensure my relationship, based on trust and credibility, stays in tact trust everyone has to recognise it as fair and worthwhile. If I give it recognition and other mentors do not see it as worthwhile or justified it can come across as empty and damage future recognitions particularly for themselves. I have tried to keep my recognitions one-to-one and have worded my recognition collectively carefully which leads to other mentors supporting that recognition. If I sense around the team that it is not being recognised I lead the conversation away from the recognition to more of an acknowledge of the work done. You have to be very mindful of how your recognition is given as certain types of praise can feel authentic for some mentors and totally empty for others. You have to build an understanding of that person and base your recognition around who they are. Very recently, my recognition was met with a real sense of achievement with two mentors and one mentor was not so enthralled. No matter the circumstance, recognition when authentic and meaningful is powerful and needs to happen.
