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The Role of a Leader: Fortune Favors the Bold

Throughout my career, I have embraced the role of a leader in many roles and projects. Being an effective leader is simply to “courageously follow, and show others how to follow” (Sivers, 2010). My passion for leadership stems from actively listening to others, understanding their needs, making bold decisions, and fostering collaboration as equals in every project.

For example, I collaborated with my colleagues to restructure our school district’s online learning curriculum, ensuring student success in a post-pandemic world. In the corporate sector, I collaborated with employers and Subject Matter Experts to enhance onboarding by developing an Augmented Reality training tool, creating a walkable AR learning experience for new employees.

By leveraging technology and fostering collaboration, taking the initiative for a meaningful cause attracts support and creates a lasting impact.

What better way to emphasize the power of relationships than the intricate hive mind of bees?

The Power of Relationships

A key point to leadership is building authentic relationships with those around you, treating them as intellectual equals and contributors to a project. Within my practicum environment, my primary focus has been empowering others, which cannot be done without establishing genuine connections. Every interaction builds a culture.

Ways I make genuine connections include listening empathetically to others and inquiring, highlighting the exceptional work of my colleagues in meetings, and encouraging the ambitions of large-scale goals and ideas. Like Couros says in The Innovators Mindset, “If innovation is going to be a priority in education, we need to create a culture where trust is the norm” (Couros, 2015, p. 69).

Building Trust and Taking Risks

A key aspect of innovation and leadership is empowering others to take risks. Building trust is essential to risk-taking. Like bees, a leader’s strength does not originate from individual power but from the collaboration of many. It is important for a leader to advocate for and encourage those ideas to create an innovative culture. Not all leaders are created equal, but a great idea can be one in a million.

For example, an educator I work with wanted to implement iDoceo as a grading tool for their team. Despite initial resistance, I supported the educator by providing guidance to explore its benefits and helping them practice presenting the knowledge to their team after hours. As a result, the team adopted iDoceo for grading and leveraged its’ seating chart organizer.

Conclusion

The power of a leader is not measured through one person but through many. Like Derek Sivers said, “Leadership is overglorified” (Sivers, 2010). The facets of leadership, like a beehive, thrive on communication, collaboration, and a shared vision for success. Without trust, the innovative culture we strive for is only a vision. But leaders who put their followers first can make that vision a reality.

References:

Couros, G. (2015). The Innovator’s mindset: Empower Learning, unleash talent, and lead a culture of creativity. Dave Burgess Consulting, Inc.

Sivers, D. (2010). First follower: Leadership lessons from a dancing guy [Video]. YouTube. https://youtu.be/fW8amMCVAJQ

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