Effective Leaders

To me, an effective leader was one who got things done and in a positive manner. I wasn’t wrong, but over the past few weeks I have learned there are a lot more aspects to it than that. Effective leaders need to be vulnerable, good listeners, allow for growth of the community, transparent, servants, and many more things. Each week’s reading gives me more insight into the strengths (and weakness) that I have noticed in my administrators and myself. Being more aware of these characteristics is a huge opportunity to allow me to become a good administrator.

One of the things I have appreciated the most is the need to be transparent. I have mentioned this many times in other blogs, discussions and papers and I hesitate to mention it again, but it is so important to being an authentic leader. Students love to know why and how, even my daughter continually asks “Why?” My job as a teacher, a parent and especially an administrator is to have as many of those answers as possible to earn trust and respect. Trust goes a long way allowing people to invest in your ideas and goals. When, they know that you are a good leader, they will enjoy following and helping to lead when appropriate. Sometimes we don’t know the answers and that is when we are transparent and vulnerable allowing others to step up and help.

One of my personal traits that I have learned to be a strength is that I trust people. Sometimes with too little reason, but trusting your staff gives them the confidence to explore and try new strategies that allow for growth of the community and student learning. If you do a good job of hiring and capacitating the current staff, you become more confident in letting them work independently and create trust.

We are only a few weeks into the course, but I am gaining more knowledge and experience with each discussion and article I read. Continued education is another big aspect of being an effective leader and I am confident that JHU will continue to provide me with excellent opportunities and examples from which to learn.


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