A Learning Leadership Platform
I’ve served in various leadership and middle management roles in learning organizations and wanted to reflect on my servant leadership style.
From 2016-17, I embarked on a year long certification in International Educational Leadership. This course was intense; we had monthly gatherings, weekend retreats, and face to face sessions with thought leaders flown in from around the world to Hong Kong, where I was living at the time.
The culminating project was to present our leadership platform to a panel of school directors. This rite of passage was terrifying and gratifying.
This experience built my confidence so that I could move into leadership roles, and by the time I left teaching in 2021, I was the Head of Department for a team of 15 instructors. As a direct line manager with wide-ranging responsibilities from budgeting to hiring to performance reviews, I often fell back on my leadership platform for guidance.
My entire ideology around leadership can be synthesized into three core values: Great leaders serve the community, model behavior, and envision the path forward.
Serve the community- My role as a leader has always been to uplift my team members. I create opportunities for them to shine, and always act with kindness, even when having difficult performance conversations.
Model behavior- My expectations for my team are clear in the way that I conduct myself. We cannot expect our employees to honor integrity, inclusivity, or a work-life balance if we don’t hold ourselves to that same standard.
Envision the path forward- It is up to us as leaders to keep current on new innovations, and to envision the direction for the team. Clearly communicating our goals and making sure everyone is able to provide input and get on board leads to higher functioning departments.
That’s my learning leadership platform in a nutshell.
Reflecting on your core leadership values can provide the framework for all of the choices you make. What are your core values as a leader?
