As we move over the halfway mark of the school year (southern hemisphere) many educators will be scouring the position vacant pages of the newspapers, tidying up their profiles on recruitment portals or simply wondering what career positions might meet their skill sets.
It is at this time of year that potential leadership roles start to pop up. (eg. see the Armidale Diocese).
If you want to lead, you can’t only be good at the job you already do. Start brushing up on your leadership skills right now. If you want to move up the leadership ladder you need to focus on the role statements you aspire to fulfil and implement them now.
- Be good at everything you do: Never hand in halfhearted work. Always over deliver.
- Know your strengths, work on your limitations: We can all improve in some area of our work life. Once you identify your limitations develop an improvement plan.
- Seek challenging experiences and learn from those experiences: Doing things for the first time is not easy, yet the more we do it, the better we become. If you aspire to be a principal seek opportunities to lead “principal” type activities.
- Listen to your mentors and colleagues and incorporate their feedback into your learning and development process: Seek feedback often and find opportunities to apply your learning.
- Develop/create your leadership philosophy, and use the lessons of your experiences to develop the ability to remain flexible, agile and responsive to the constantly changing demands of education: Being adaptable and resilient will put you in good stead to develop the necessary skills that potential employers will be looking for. The more you can walk the talk, the easier it will be to talk the walk at an interview.
The strength of your leadership qualities depends on your effort, which is why it’s important to begin developing them even before you’re in a leadership position.
Happy hunting.
