Years ago, I was blessed to be in a position to hold seminars with groups of educators designed to discuss and build leadership skills both informally and formally, internally – for the individual and externally for the school. As we discussed leadership skills and qualities, we would talk about new tools being put in our toolboxes as leaders. This year in Teach & Serve, I have decided to talk about many of those tools.
ACT DECISIVELY
I point out immediately in this post that this tool is not decision making. Decision making is certainly an important tool for a good leader. There is no doubt about that. Leaders need to be able to weigh circumstances, judge them and make determinations. For sure.
However, the tool under consideration here is acting decisively.
It is often easier to make the decision than it is to carry out the decision. Making the decision can be the easiest part of the leadership process. Acting on the decision is where leadership truly comes to the fore.
Decisions are not always universally agreed upon and those that are challenging are often the hardest to implement because the community can be split on them. It is easy behind closed doors with a group of administrators to say “yes, even though it’s unpopular, we are moving in this direction.” It is harder to actually get up and move in that direction.
Leaders who act decisively are likely to engender respect from those they lead. Moving the organization ahead with clear direction is not always easy. Developing this tool serves a school well.