Leadership when your not in charge: Follow like a leader

My first post around leadership when your not in charge was about knowing yourself and how to use that to be a better leader. This post will focus on what the author Clay Scroggins calls self leadership. For those of you reading this as the first post a little summary. I am talking about the book "How to Lead When Your Not In Charge" by Clay Scroggins. This is a position many teachers find themselves in throughout their teaching careers. It is not an easy position to be in as we as teachers often times have a tenuous relationship with our admins.I know for me personally there have been times I have been all in behind my admin and there have been times when I cocked my eyebrow and said HUH? at things being proposed thinking I could do better. This books helps navigate the middle ground of being a follower and a leader and is helpful for those like me who like to lead from within. Ok on to the post.

So we have done some self exploration and figured out who we are. Not an easy thing to do and if you are like me you may be still doing it. I think this will always be something we as teachers do as who we are as teachers changes over time. However that being said it is time to talk about the idea of "Self-leadership". In the book Scroggins shares an adage "I would much rather steer racehorses than carry racehorses." in reference to trying to lead someone who doesn't want to be lead. I often times think of my students. They are eager to do but not necessarily in the direction I want them. As I was working on my admin credentials I experienced this with experienced teachers as well. They often times know what is best and don't like to be told what direction to go, they just want to go. This is when we as teachers, admins, leaders are put in the position of carrying the racehorses as opposed to steering them. I recognize in myself when I am forcing my admin to carry me rather than steer me. What can help with this is Self-Leadership and to me the core of leading from within.

The first principle of Self-Leadership is: Model Followership. This doesn't mean you follow every direction given to a T and not complain? No absolutely not. It is about how you handle yourself when the person in charge makes both good and bad decisions. It is about not diving in to the water cooler talk. It is about standing tall and responding to situations appropriately and respectfully. You want others to see you as a person who doesn't pick people apart and belittles them but more one who is supportive and honest. This can be hard to do at times as it is easy to get sucked in to the water cooler talk; I know I have been there many a time. What I try and do in this situation is to listen and not talk. It doesn't always work but again I am only human. A change I am working on is when I feel like I have to talk; I try more to point out other points of view or encourage those who are complaining to try and understand the reason why. Which leads us to the second principle.

The second principle of Self-Leadership is: Monitor your Heart and Behavior.  This is probably the hardest part of Self-Leadership. Many a time we let our emotions (heart) drive our behavior for good or for bad. I can't count the number of times I made a poor decision based on emotions. The 2 that stick out were deeply rooted in emotion for me. One was bad and one was good but both were based on emotions. I have learned from both of those experiences to always stop when I feel my heart jumping up and telling me to do something. It is important to take a step back and think before you act to make sure you are heading in the right direction. In the book the author talks about 3 questions he asked is his old employees before leaving to help inform the work he would be doing in his new job. These questions are based out of the book "The First 90 Days: Proven Strategies for Getting Up to Speed Faster and Smarter." The questions are:

1. What did I do over the past few years tat inspired you?
2. What did I do that frustrated you?
3.  What do I not know about myself that has become a blind spot?

The questions in and of themselves may not be helpful as a teacher but being reflective is very important. As the author says feedback is always circling around your classroom and school about you. Tapping into that feedback is important to monitoring your heart and behavior as it will help mold your behavior in the future. Also it shows to others that you value feedback and are willing to use it to change. Which leads us to our last principle.

The third and last principle of Self-Leadership is: Make a plan. I have a famous saying (one of many my students and family would say) "Know where you are going before you get there." I came up with this as I was stuck behind a slow drive who was obviously trying to find someplace they didn't know. I remember being very frustrated with this person and found myself yelling at them my quote. Fast forward to the present and I find myself being in the situation of that driver. I had been teaching for a number of years and feeling frustration of not having any direction or knowing what to do. I knew I didn't want to teach in a classroom my whole life so wanted to know the next step. On the recommendation of my admin I got my admin certificate. Upon finishing that I found that I still didn't know where I wanted to go as a leader. That was when I inadvertently did what the Author says is the third principle, I made a plan. To help with this plan there are 3 things one needs to do:

1. Know where you currently are.
2. Have a vision for where you want to go.
3. Develop a discipline and accountability to do what it takes to stay on track.

This is important as it is very hard to follow someone who doesn't know where they are going. I know that for me personally it is all about my plan to help teachers become better teachers or a teacher of teachers. I want to be that person in the district that support teachers in honing their craft to be better what what they do. Which is why I am doing this blog and why I offer to teacher classes, and why I want to be a better leader even though I am not in charge. Someone who knows where they are going whether they are in charge or not is easy to follow.

So in the interest of putting my money where my mouth is I want to hear from you about how I am doing. 

1. What are you enjoying about this blog?
2. What do I do that frustrates you in regards to this blog?
3. What might am I seeing or not getting?
4. What could I do better?
5. What topics would you like to explore as we continue this journey?

I welcome your feedback and as always Go Forth and Do Great Things!