What do I value as a Leader?

We were given some excellent stimulus material to aid us in thinking about what our values are as a leader. There are the usual ones that you would expect; integrity, flexibility and perseverance.  But as I listened to the stimulus material and digested it, it made me think about understanding as a key value for effective leaders.

In Linda Cliatt-Wayman's TED Talk on "How to fix a broken school?" she talks about understanding what is going on. Talking to students, talking to staff. It reminded me of the Japanese Business philosophy of Genchi Genbutsu. "Getcha boots on" and go and see what is happening. Dunn and Dunn (2016) have an excellent article about Genchi Genbutsu and summarise it as "Go see. Ask why. Show respect.”

An interview with Anneleise Hoogland (Hoogland, 2013) on gathering student voice emotes the same philosophy, "Getcha boots on" and listen to the students. What are they learning? What are they having difficulty with? What are their hopes and dreams?

I often get referred to as a "problem solver". I like to mull over a problem, listen to all different points of views and then come up with ideas to move forward. In that sense, I can relate to Linda Cliatt-Wayman's slogan of "so what, now what". Identify the problem and lets solve it together.

References:

Cliatt-Wayman, L. (2015). How to fix a broken school?. TED Talks. Retrieved 1 May 2018, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xe2nlti47kA

Dunn, E., & Dunn, E. (2016). The True Meaning of Genchi Genbutsu. rever. Retrieved 1 May 2018, from https://reverscore.com/rever-app-feed/2016/1/25/the-true-meaning-of-genchi-genbutsu

Hoogland, A. (2013). Looking for learning. ED Talks. Retrieved 1 May 2018, from http://edtalks.org/#/video/looking-learning