Sunday, December 16, 2012
The Shoe that should fit
Strength based leadership should be something that all leaders learn to lead by and use as an example of on how build a strong team. These teams are often important we work best when people access our strengths. Teachers often are asked to play the role of many people, we often are asked to put on many hats and by wearing so many hats we never get to focus in our hat that truly fits. I think about strengths and weaknesses in a variations of shoes. Sometimes are shoes become too big, too small, and then we have the perfect shoe that fits just right. When working leaders often times lose focus of their team member strengths and tend to think as their team as one person rather than people who posses strengths and weaknesses. In the past I have worked for a leader who always seem to command rather than adapt to his teams strengths. She would often assigned task that I would consider to big for that persons almost as if she was asking them to walk in too big of shoes. Normally the person would fall, and fail at the task, which would then become someone else's task to fill plus their own. This reminded of too small shoes because times when we have too small shoes, we tend to walk slower, the shoe tends to be painful, and although we get to our destination it is often with marks or scars that leave your concern for next time. Giving some a task that does not allow them to grow their strength is exact same as asking someone to wear a too small shoe, they have out grown the shoes and need room to expand. A shoe that has a perfect fit allows you wear it comfortable, and you are able to get to your destination without falling.
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The analogy of the shoe is facinating. It gives a great presentation of misguided leadership. This analogy should be easy to understand. If your shoes are too big or too small that make it difficult to walk. That is why understanding your strengths and those you lead is vital to good leadership. Teachers do wear many hats and I don't think that's really taken into consideration. As a teacher the students needs may require a nurse, parent or protector as well as many other things. Often times we are so consumed with being their for our students it overtake us. A good leader would know how to transition from one role to the other smoothly. This is a part of the leader understanding their strngths and weaknesses. If a leader find themselves overwhelmed they should pause collect their thoughts before proceeding.
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