I believe effective mindful leaders have a myriad of skills; they are visionaries that see the big picture while understanding the small pieces, moving parts and ripple effect of any or all decisions. Using active listening, they collaborate to develop a safe and equitable culture. At the same time, an effective school leader needs to make and stand behind difficult and sometimes unpopular decisions, explaining them in ways that encourages stakeholders’ buy-in and acceptance. Strong principals and vice principals promote shared leadership and mentor others in developing leadership skills. Most of all they are caring individuals who are passionate about students and education.
“Leadership today is based on relationships built with trust, hope, love and encouragement.” ~Billy Cox …show more content…
Anyone can give order or tell others what to do, but a leader does more. Leaders share their vision in ways that inspire others to have the same drive. By building relationships they know who to bring together to get things done. They value each person’s unique talents and skills. They listen to stakeholders and develop plans by bring the right people together. They understand that they don’t know everything, that everyone makes mistakes and to lead you must participate.
“Trust is the essence of Leadership.”
To quote Colin Powell, “Trust is the essence of Leadership.” A simple sentence with a powerful truth; fore to develop trust means to live a mindful life with character and value. Trust takes time to develop, is dependent on honesty and must be attended to or will be lost. It is fragile and requires effect communication skills. With trust, a leader can support teams to take risks, accept mistakes and accomplish task they didn’t believe they could.
“Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It's not.” - Dr