Anne Johnson responding to Fields Wicker-Miurin:  Learning from leadership's missing manual


Lessons of leadership

• "It's the spirit inside."
• Passion
• Drive
• Commitment
• A different way of looking at the world
• A bridge connecting what has come before with what will come
• Seeing the world differently, asking different questions
• Not about the leader . . . about others
• Sensitivity to what is happening, possibilities, responsibilities

Fields Wicker-Miurin's argument is one that I have heard applied to change in schools.  "Look at success" as your model.  Identify what good teachers, good schools, successful students do and use it as your guide.  Her models embody servant leadership and active leadership.  Each of these individuals engaged in active learning pursuing understanding/research/evidence to better understand the possibilities and seek solutions for future generations - altruism in practice.  In listening to their story, one imagines that they had to have a strong internal compass to face lack of understanding, resistance, and fear that accompanies change.  They also had passion and a personal connection to the "cause" they choose to lead - and in at least one case, we see a mentor for leadership in the form of a grandparent and parent.

I think good leadership like good teaching is an art form . . . while the craft portion and skills can be taught and enhance leadership.  It seems that some individuals have a natural potential for leadership and one that is hard to define.  One of my colleagues often talks about roving leadership within an organization.  The idea that at different times, in different places, and with different individuals . . . effective leadership occurs.  There is much to be said for this concept . . . an organization can be much more fluid in its approach to problem solving and opportunity seeking, react more quickly to developments, and create higher levels of ownership for all parties within the organization.  The individual leader is motivated in their passion/interest areas - the best foundation for engagement.   

I have often wished for a "leadership manual."  There is no doubt that much of my learning has been accomplished through mistakes . . . and I believe this is true for most of us, teachers and administrators.  My epiphany in this area isn't about making mistakes . . . that is a definite, no way to avoid it, going to happen certainty.  The question is how quickly one learns from their mistakes, the types of mistakes made, and whether one repeats them . . . and how they are addressed.  I have found parents to be enormously forgiving when honesty is employed - followed by the implementation plan of action to alleviate their concerns.

Anne