The Leadership Toolbag

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As I enter into the unchartered territory of being a junior high school administrator, I find myself having continual moments where I am learning so many new concepts that I do not want to lose track of them all. They come during both formal and traditional learning settings, and through informal teachable moments. It is in these informal moments in which I find the true gold nuggets. The lessons learned during these moments tend to be those that cannot be learned from a book, but rather are learned by the actual experiences. What makes these lessons important it is that they are authentic. I have always believed that it is important to gather all the tools that I can, even if it is a tool that I do not see myself ever using. I can always learn something, even if what I learn is the lesson of how I never want to be. It is akin to knowing when to use a hammer and when to use a screwdriver, you just learn and know as you go. What happens when the tool I usually use does not work? This is when I reach back into my tool bag and give it another try with something different. Sooner or later I will find a tool that works, or, I will search out someone that has the tool that I need. Ideally, once I find the person with the right tool, we work together. Nowhere is this collaborative tool sharing more evident than in a leadership setting. Dr. Anthony Muhammad discussed that leadership is a shared responsibility of a team to develop and enhance human beings. I see this as a perfect example of selfless service, where everyone is prepared to help others and take risks together as a team. When everyone shares his or her tool bag for all to use, we can transform school culture through communication, empathy, and trust. This description falls under the umbrella of transformational leadership (Mohammad, A. 2020).

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Leadership

“Leadership is not a position, it is a responsibility, the focus is on the people'' (Mohammad, 2020). Transformational leadership is how I have always lived my life, and without question, I am all in. It started in my coaching career with the concept of transformational coaching, and as I transcended into school administration, those transformational skills have helped me more than I ever could have imagined. From the moment Dr. Mohammad started talking, I was hooked, and I knew that I was placed here at this moment for a reason. Transformational leadership, whether it is coaching a team or leading a school site, is described by Mohammad as finding a way to help others become better as a result of one’s presence; however, it does not mean that one has to be in a position of power to be a great leader. Even Colin Powell, in the clip provided by Dr. Mohammad, described leadership as something as simple as people following you only out of curiosity. This leads us to the question, why do some people easily have the ability to be great leaders while some do not? The answers can be found in the delicate balance of empathy, trust, and communication. This is not to say that all leaders are just born with the ability, sometimes we must work at being a balanced leader. It is important to note that according to Mohammad, people can grow and there is always room to develop.

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Communication

When Dr. Mohammad revealed that there is no strategy on how to navigate poor communication, I thought, “Wait! Stop the car! What?!” I can hear my dad’s voice saying that communication is the key to success.I see empathy and trust as the destination on our path of communication. It is very difficult to have one without the others. Dr. Mohammad is saying, however, that if you are not great at one of those components, then you need to recruit someone for your team that is. He also describes building a strong team where there is a balance of skill. The goal is to hire a diverse population so people can complement each other's strengths and fortify each other's weaknesses - to have a dream team that could be close to perfection, where if someone on your team is lacking, another has that quality in abundance. Those qualities of high importance are very specifically noted as empathy, trust, and communication. (Mohammad)

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Trust and Empathy

Trust and empathy go hand in hand and was best described during the symposium as a genuine concern for others that shows people that you hear and see them. It is nearly impossible to have one without the other. People ultimately just really want to know that you care about them. "There is no traffic jam on going the extra mile" (p.92). As a leader, if I have a group of people that know they are supported, they in turn trust me and will go above and beyond what is asked of them because they know I would not have them do anything that I would not be expecting of myself. This is the perfect example of “trust transcending logic in the sense that if you as a leader model the desired behavior and have empathy for those on your team, you will have created connections of the heart” (Mohammed).

The most important thing that you can do as a leader is to be transparent to others that you are not the only person that has the proper tools or access to the tools in the bag. By acknowledging that fact and inviting others to join you with their tools and experience, you encourage the transformation of culture through communication, empathy, and trust. "In other words, how leaders decide to act and interact with others will ultimately determine whether their organizations continuously improve or fail" (Cruz & Mohammad. P. 126).

~leigh

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References

Cruz, L.F., & Mohammad, A. (2019). Time For Change: 4 Essential Skills for Transformational

School and District Leaders. Bloomington, ILz: Solution Tree Press.

Maxwell, John, C. (2003). Ethics 101: What Every Leader Needs to Know. New York, NY: Hachette Book Group.

Mohammad, A. (2020, August). Transformational Leadership. Education Leadership

Symposium via live stream, Concordia University Irvine, Irvine CA.