21st Century Leadership - A Reflection

Over the past few weeks, I've been reflecting on what it means to be an effective leader in the 21st century.  

Jennifer Gunn’s article “Transformational Leadership In Schools,” said that transformational leadership “empowers members of the learning community to improve from within.” Improvement from within would be my metric for success.  When I first began delving into this topic, I considered district level and building level administrators as leaders within the education setting.  Being a teacher within the school, I did not view myself as a leader.  Eric Sheninger's video on the Pillars of Digital Leadership changed my perspective and really sum up what leadership in the 21st century encompasses.  

Now, as I think about my career, I can see myself as a leader.  Over the years, I’ve had ideas to build professional capacity.  When I have an idea I want to try out, I typically run it past trusted colleagues of like mindset.  If they think it's a decent idea, I approach my building administrator for her opinion.  In most cases, both my current and previous administrator supported my ideas.  Generally, leaders in the digital age encourage risk-taking if the outcome will benefit students and/or improve instructional practices.   

Within my school, we implemented the ideas with great enthusiasm but a somewhat limited follow-through.  There is a small group of my colleagues that truly participate.  But, that's how change happens. Eric Sheninger said he started with just 5 teachers in his building that he supported and encouraged to take risks and be innovative. Those teachers became the models for others in the building, and, soon, others followed.  

The winds of change are coming.  Sharing my ideas within my school was always easy.  That's just what you do to collaborate with your colleagues.  In more recent years, I have led some professional development within my school and within my district.  Even more recently, I established a professional Twitter and Facebook presence.  Since doing that, colleagues across my district have reached out to collaborate.  I have extended my Professional Learning Network (PLN) and improved my professional practice.  Participating in Twitter chat book studies, Twitter chats for Apple Distinguished Educators, asking and answering questions among the professional Facebook groups I belong to have all grown my leadership capabilities and instructional practices. Soon, I will be presenting at the IETC conference - broadening my PLN once again.

There is never a good time to change in education.  Jennifer Gunn says education is like "rebuilding a ship from the inside out" because we never have time to stop. She speaks about collaboration, ethics, and compassion leading to momentum within an organization which results in growth and success.  I'm teaming up with a cohort of teachers leaders within my district, and we are planning to invite other teachers from across our district to join us on a journey of growth and success.  Each week for a few weeks, we'll encourage our colleagues to participate in challenges that promote collaboration and the use of technology.  When we work together, we can exact powerful change.

So, here's my challenge - to myself and my readers:  Be the catalyst for change and see who follows you.