Leadercast 2014

On Friday May 9 a group of my colleagues from the Renfrew County District School Board and myself had the opportunity to attend the Ottawa simulcast of the Leadercast. Approximately five thousand people attended the live event in Atlanta, Georgia and another 115,000 people watched via satellite in 750 locations around the world. In Ottawa there was about 200 people participating in the one day conference focused on excellence in leadership. Listening to the insightful and inspirational speeches was reminiscent to the ‘WE day’ experience I was fortunate to participate in with our intermediate students about a month before. The theme of the event was “Beyond You Leadership” and it challenged leaders to turn their focus outward. Among the televised guest speakers were Randall Wallance, Laura Schroff, Desmond Tutu, Dr. Henry Cloud, Laura Bush, Malcolm Gladwell, Andy Stanley, and Bill McDermott. The local Keynote Speaker was Harley Finkelstein, Some key takeaways from the speakers include the following: Harley Finkelstein – local Ottawa keynote speaker CPO of Shopify. -started his first company at age 17 while a student at McGill. Is work a craft or is work a job? Job should be a part of your life not a means to an end. What do they look for in their employees? Resourcefulness “Draw an owl commercial” - Fail gracefully: learn from failures. Compensation is more than money. Perk: Hack days: what can you accomplish in 2 days? Share at the end of the time. Shopify regularly holds town hall meetings so his team always has a forum for compliments and complaints -Work life blending Andy Stanley, Leadership Communicator and Best-Selling Author Andy Stanley – To become a “Beyond You” leader you must fearlessly and selflessly empower leaders around you as well as those coming behind you. If your leadership is not all about you it will live beyond you. What is empowerment? How can I leverage my power for the sake of the other people? The value of a life is always measured by how much of it was given away The value of your leadership will ultimately measured in terms of how much of it was given! We celebrate generosity and selflessness. Get in the habit of making as few decisions as possible “You Decide.” Work for your team…as a team What can I do to help? Empty Your Cup If your leadership isn’t all about you, it will live beyond you. Dr. Henry Cloud, Clinical Psychologist & Leadership Expert What drives and sustains our influence? A boat has a wake on two sides: Relationships and results are two key factors of leadership. All influence is driven by trust. You will develop trust to the degree that people feel connected to them. It’s the connection that builds trust that comes basically from the human heart that wants to be known and understand. Leaders who go past themselves are leaders who give up the hardest thing – “control” Archbishop Desmond Tutu – Nobel Laureate & Human Rights Activist 1984 – Won the Nobel Peace Prize How you treat others is a measure of you as a human being. We must always be respectful & grateful for others. Respect, gratitude, believing in others & recognizing other's gifts. Nelson Mandela’s number one characteristic: magnanimity. Imagine a world in which human interests outweighed national interests. A person is a person through other persons – you are you because of others. I can never be who I ought to be, until you are who you are ought to be. The art of leadership: Listen not just to the voices they like - Not blinded by power - servants, - accountable -Lead, guide, direct, support because they know the way -Know when to retire Laura Bush, First Lady of the United States (2001-2009) If you are a leader, model the behavior you want others to imitate. People are not very good at listening to other people but they are very good at copying them. So…if you are a leader… be a leader worth copying. Calm is contagious. Treat people with respect…Don’t be mean. Don’t be sarcastic. Malcolm Gladwell, Award-Winning Journalist and Best-Selling Author Effective leadership is not explained by the deterrence theory but legitimacy Three elements of legitimacy in leadership: 1) respect 2) fairness 3) trustworthiness It matters not just what you say, it matters how you say it. Create a trustworthy system for dealing with people. When people disobey leaders, the question shouldn’t be what’s wrong with the people, but what’s wrong with the leaders. Responsibility begins at the top. Randall Wallace, Screenwriter, Director, Producer, and Songwriter Honour matters. The secret was in giving in secret. “What happens to your soul when you give is what matters. Give in secret, stand up all, and when you give, give you all. Final Reflection: In all, it was a very inspiring day and caused much reflection and after- thought. One of the common themes consistent in all the speakers was the theme of respect. Leaders treat others with respect. Leaders empower others. These words resonate through me and give me fuel to continue my journey. Harley Finkelstein showed respect to his employees and empowered them to take the lead in some way through his development of ‘Hack Days’. His ideas could be related to a vision of our future of education which I find myself reviewing over and over as I try to make sense of what I have learned and try to articulate the model as it is taken shape in my mind. First if we begin to look at our role as educators not as a job but as a craft…a place where our staff wants to be and a place where individual talents and skills are valued and cultivated, shared with others. Walkthroughs to me would not only be done by Admin, but regular walkthroughs by all staff to be able to see the continuum of learning and models of best practice. A time when our staff can act as leaders/mentors to their peers and conversation can start between educators focusing on their valuable work. A hack day could also be a time for a staff member to try out a new strategy and with the help of the team look at the value. Staff could also be team teaching frequently to allow those with expertise to share. At the same time, if students were given a ‘hack day’ once every few months to incorporate their passions to learn about what they are interested using their particular learning style, driven by their own intrinsic desire to learn, then share with others; school would become a much more engaging place for some of our learners. He spoke about having young students come into his workplace to learn about the work, which seems to be part of what I see as the Ministries move to educate our students about the various career pathways into the future. Finally the idea of ‘resourcefulness’ as a trait to be embraced and revered, can be linked to our character education something for both in our staff and in our students to pursue. Lots to think about, as I continue on this adventure into the world of the Leader.