I’m here today to disturb you. Shake people little bit. Part of
my job is to be a professional
disturber. Shake people out of the little bit and pull them out of their safe
harbor of known. Challenge and inspire you to see new set of eyes. Lot of us
stay within the safe harbor of the known and in the security zone because we
think that’s the safest place to be.
Why do we want to stay in the safe zone?
We keep doing the same things.
We keep treating the people in the same way.
We keep repeating the same behavioral patterns.
We keep thinking the same kinds of thoughts.
Why do we resist new or the change?
We do that we’re afraid to do new things
We do that we’re afraid to stretch even if we knew at the deeper
levels that if we move towards the change we will grow.
Here is the new Idea: There is no safety in the comfort zone.
There is no safety in the safe harbor of the known.
If you really want to be accepted by the students then we need
to come out of our safety zones. We need to stretch like rubber bands, trying
new things, Innovating, exploring and pushing the personal frontiers. You know
the ships that stays in the safe harbor never get banged up. It never
experiences rough seas but that’s not why the ships were made for. Similarly,
if human beings stay within their safety zone and if they don’t stretch, then
there is no stress no challenge no struggle but that’s not what human beings
are made for.
Is "all teachers are leaders" simply a catchy phrase or
does it have real meaning in practice? Is it an assumption? If so, who makes
that assumption? Does it mean that teachers are leaders of students? Does it
mean that teachers are leaders of their peers? Does "all" mean
"all"? Are teachers natural leaders? In what situations do teachers
lead? Do teachers have to have permission to lead? Who would be in a position
to give permission? How do other teachers feel about teachers who assume
positions of leadership? What is a position of leadership? What other questions
does the phrase "teachers are leaders" raise?
Introduce yourself…tell three things about you.
Name a few Teachers whom you remember as good leaders also and
inspired you in your life time.
The Greatest models of leadership are children these days.
Children have the ideal traits of a great leader. They stretch in various ways.
Children are curious
Children don’t resist change
Children love to learn
Children embrace change
Children are passionate they put people first
Children are loving
Children understand the importance of relationship
Children connect so easily. Example of Five children and Five
people in Lift
How can we get those traits of greatness back?
In school, stand single line and the first person is the leader.
Everyone in the class gets a chance to be a leader. Each of us learnt
how to do it.
Everyone should feel and act like a leader.
Why we don’t feel that we are leader ourselves.
Many people just
don’t feel the need to be leaders
They’re secure; don’t need to prove anything; they’re happy,
content and they like what’s happening to them.
The greatest responsibility of leaders is that they not
shortchange themselves, thereby shortchanging those whom they lead.
The beliefs you hold at the beginning of the journey defines the
Journey.
All of us have a psychological bandwidth of perceptions called
beliefs.
If your life has to be examined as a Teacher, as a leader, your
beliefs has to examined.
If life has to expand, beliefs have to expand.
Change the attributes by which the person defines himself and it
will change the way he lives.
You can perform to your beliefs or underperform to your beliefs
but you can never over perform your beliefs. Thirukural: Vellathanaya malar
neetam…
Tell yourself you are not here for ordinary things in life.
You cannot change the quality of your teaching, inspiring and
relationship with the person without changing the quality of your beliefs.
Rather than examining your life which is the effect, rather
examine your beliefs which are the cause. Change the cause, the effect will
change by itself.
Without shift in belief, there is no shift in life.
You cannot change without changing their belief.
You can give lectures, speeches, references, you can motivate or
shout at them, scream at them, reprimand them, you can give them incentives or
give them awards, but you cant change an individual without changing his
beliefs.
He doesn’t believe in his leadership qualities. Example: Sachin
and Dhoni. Raina & Gambhir.
Counter salesman – is not enough with individual excellence –
but make people excel with your lifestyle. Without this change is belief
system, shifting the designation, shifting the salary scale, shifting the
incentive slab or even shifting the office will not bring about leadership
qualities.
Who you are is lot more important than how you look.
It’s never too late to be awakened in life.
Your success as a teacher is not on the results you produce but
on the results you make others produce.
What are your beliefs about being an Educator?
How do you define yourself as an educator?
They are afraid to
lead
We are
afraid because success puts pressure on us to continue to succeed.
Often we just don’t want to be responsible, so we shrink from
leading.
People who have poor self image will always shy away from
success.
Some prefer to be with the crowd; its lonely at the top.
Risk is another reason; people don’t want to stick their necks
out.
In early Indian context,
when teachers ran their own home based schools (Kurukulams),
structured all their own
curricula, and recognized their ability to impact
the learning of every
student, teacher leadership was an imperative, not an
option.
As Kurukulams became
multiroom buildings and then multibuilding school systems, however, the status
of the teacher moved from expert to employee.
Currently, when the
emphasis on achievement and accountability it threatens teachers and they do
not think of themselves as leaders.
Risk-takers
have often been called “movers and
shakers”
because of their responsiveness to problems and their willingness
to
participate in decision making, to “shake up” the system, and to tackle
the
status quo. Of course, classroom teachers solve problems and make
decisions
every day, but the characteristic that enables teachers to become
leaders
is a take-charge attitude—
Students
also benefit when they see their teachers taking risks, extending
boundaries,
and stretching their capabilities. Ateacher who tries new teaching
models
or uses new technology in her or his classroom takes risks very
publicly.
However, teachers who are not complacent, but who are excited
about
learning and expanding their skills through managed risk-taking,
provide
role models for students venturing into new areas.
Teacher as a leader is not
about having position.
Its not about having a
Title…
Its not about being a CEO,
MD, HOD, Principal, Director, Chairman.
Its not about having a
office by yourself and having an AC.
Its about doing your part
in every little thing you do.
Take 100% responsibility
for your life.
-
Level of your achievements
-
The results you produce
-
Quality of your relationship
-
Your health status
-
Your income
-
Your debts
-
Your feelings…everything!
But most of us have been
conditioned to blamed something outside of ourselves.
We blame …
Our parents
Our bosses
Our friends
The media
Our co workers
Our clients
Our spouse
The weather
The economy … anyone or
anything we can pin the blame on.
Good old story about a man
searching something in the street light when he had lost it in his house.
Have you ever blamed
anything in the system? Mention few…
Event+Response=Outcome
Every outcome you
experience in life is the result of how you have responded to an earlier event
in your life.
If you don’t like the
outcomes, there are two basic choices you can make:
1.
You can blame the event for your lack of results
2.
You can simply change your responses to the events until you get
the outcome you want.
You can change your thinking, change your communication, change
the pictures you hold in your head (Your beliefs of yourself and the others)
If you keep on doing what
you’ve always done, you’ll keep on getting what you’ve always got.
Blaming
others is excusing yourself.
When
you complain, you are signing away the powers of human being.
Learn
to replace complaining with making requests and taking action that will achieve
your desired outcomes. That is what works. That is what leaders do. Either work
it to make it better or leave. Do something to change it or get the heck out of
it.
Examples
of Steve Jobs- Apple computers, Bill gates – Microsoft, Chinnapillai – Self
help groups, Man of trees, Sarath Kumar – Noodle Kings.
Leadership begins with you:
Are
you proud of what you do.
How
hard you play when no one is watching.
Do
what is right rather than what is easy not because you get promoted but it is
the right thing to do and doing what is right is demonstration of excellence.
Are
you an educator because it is your passion or you are in this job by accident?
Do
you have a vision for your passion profession?
High
visionaries achieve higher.
The
greater danger for most of us is not that our aim is too high and we miss it,
but that it is too low and reach it – Michelangelo.
Don’t
let anyone talk you out of your vision:
There
are people who will try to talk you out of your vision…
They
will tell you that you are crazy and can’t be done…
They
will laugh at you and try to bring your level down…
They
are Dream stealers… every Institute got such people. Every department has such people.
Every one will meet such people in life. Don’t bother them.
Story
of Monty Roberts: The Man who listens to
horses
So
create your future from your future, not your past.
You
are the average of ten people whom you most spend time with.
Associate
with leaders avoid dream stealers.
Leaders are Emotionally Adult:
Are
we emotionally balanced in our relationship with the students and fellow
Teachers?
Are
we emotionally mature to deal with our students or we give in to cheap
popularity?
Start
strict and give legitimate freedom. Quote examples: Juvenile students.
How
to attain Emotional Adulthood?
If
you have acceptance, it will keep you emotionally tranquilled. Non acceptance
will keep you emotionally disturbed.
In
class room set up, we come across very often the feeling of fear. What is Fear?
When
I’m about to encounter uncertainty, I don’t know what’s going to happen or
don’t know what is awaiting ahead then this causes fear in me.
In
trekking and white water rafting, there is uncertainty yet it is not fear but
it is an adventure. In uncertainty, when you accept it becomes an adventure and
it becomes fear when you don’t accept it.
When
something that you don’t like happens, if you don’t accept it becomes anger but
if you accept, it becomes tolerance.
When
do you feel Jealous?
When
someone has something that I don’t have or someone who is able to produce
better than me or what I can’t do, then I feel Jealous.
If
I accept the fact about someone better than me, then that becomes inspiration.
If
someone has hurt you, if you don’t accept it is hatred and if you accept the
hurt then it becomes the forgiveness.
The
emotional equation of life is so simple:
If
something that is handled with non acceptance, it becomes negative emotion,
If
something that is handled with acceptance, it becomes positive emotion.
Never Judge without knowing the background
Question 1:
If you knew a woman who was pregnant, who had 8 kids already, three who were deaf, two who were blind, one mentally retarded, and she had syphilis, would you recommend that she have an abortion?
Read the next question before looking at the response for this one.
Question 2:
It is time to elect a new world leader, and only your vote counts. Here are the facts about the three candidates. Who would you vote for?
If you knew a woman who was pregnant, who had 8 kids already, three who were deaf, two who were blind, one mentally retarded, and she had syphilis, would you recommend that she have an abortion?
Read the next question before looking at the response for this one.
Question 2:
It is time to elect a new world leader, and only your vote counts. Here are the facts about the three candidates. Who would you vote for?
Candidate A.
Associates with crooked politicians, and consults with astrologist.
He’s had two mistresses. He also chain smokes and drinks 8 to 10 martinis a day.
Candidate B.
He was kicked out of office twice, sleeps until noon , used opium in college and drinks a quart of whiskey every evening.
Candidate C
He is a decorated war hero. He’s a vegetarian, doesn’t smoke, drinks an occasional beer and never cheated on his wife.
Associates with crooked politicians, and consults with astrologist.
He’s had two mistresses. He also chain smokes and drinks 8 to 10 martinis a day.
Candidate B.
He was kicked out of office twice, sleeps until noon , used opium in college and drinks a quart of whiskey every evening.
Candidate C
He is a decorated war hero. He’s a vegetarian, doesn’t smoke, drinks an occasional beer and never cheated on his wife.
Which of these candidates would be our choice?
Decide first… no peeking, then scroll down for the response.
Candidate A is Franklin D. Roosevelt.
Candidate B is Winston Churchill.
Candidate C is Adolph Hitler.
And, by the way, on your answer to the abortion question:
If you said YES, you just killed Beethoven.
Pretty interesting isn’t it?
Decide first… no peeking, then scroll down for the response.
Candidate A is Franklin D. Roosevelt.
Candidate B is Winston Churchill.
Candidate C is Adolph Hitler.
And, by the way, on your answer to the abortion question:
If you said YES, you just killed Beethoven.
Pretty interesting isn’t it?
Makes a person think before judging someone.
Teddy’s
story
Freedom
Writers
Paradigm
shift – Alteration of Bandwidth of psychological perception – experience and
define – not define and then experience – we have created our definitions about
students. We look at reality by our definitions - open up your definitions – re look at your
beliefs – Life can’t fit into your definition – you cannot change the quality
of your relationship without changing the beliefs you have about the person.
The
scratch is not in the object but in the spectacles. Dead fly in the telescope.
Even
a wrong appears ok, diluted, subdued, right because of the beliefs.
Duryodhan’s
belief on his friend and wife.
Rama
and Sita in Ramayana.
Ever since moment makes a Leader
When
this man was thrown with the indignity he went through, his thought process
went through internal churning, Epiphany – Divine intervention shifts your life’s focus and gives a EVER SINCE
moment. From the time of the birth of the Barrister until on the platform, he
had EVER SINCE moment. Teresa’s churning …
In
small turning points of our life, we experienced EVER SINCE momentarily. But we
need to invite the Divine Intervention.
Leaders put people First
Leadership
is all about relationship.
We
are good in sending satellites to target with pinpoint accuracy but we have
struggles to walk across the street to meet your friends.
Eg.
What is DOCOMO?
My
boys relate through FACEBOOK.
Connect
with people and communicate. If you want to be successful, you need to
communicate.
-
Celebrate people, respect each other not
as boss. Give types of leadership here.
-
Great leader is like the sun, give
everything towards people. Like sunflower follows the sun, people will grow
towards you.
-
No matter what your designation is if you
give of yourself, if you celebrate your students, if you develop deep
relationships, people would turn towards you as a great leader.
-
We are all same if we strip away all
formalities. We all have need for hunger, need for human connections, need for
being accepted, belonging, need to be loved and need to be made special.
-
Keep championing the best practices. Share
one best quality that you exercise as a leader. Behavior that gets rewarded is
the behavior that gets repeated.
-
Create a culture. This is the secret weapon to be a successful
leader. Rules of behavior to follow in an organization. Name some rules that
you would like to change or alter.
-
Great leaders work on the culture.
-
In order to be a leader, they think that
they need to talk in a certain way, behave in a certain way that makes them
strong and powerful, talk like this, command like this, but ironically we
connect to people who are down to earth, who are practical, when you are real.
-
Take away the mask then the chemistry
happens. Example: Indian team won the match. How do they hug each other? Do
they formally greet each other?
OBSTACLES TO
TEACHER LEADERSHIP
There are many reasons why
teachers have not assumed appropriate leadership roles in schools and in
education. For one thing, there has been a confusion of the meaning of
leadership with that of management, supervision and administration.
Good managers can also be
leaders; and leaders can also be good managers.
|
MERE
MANAGEMENT
|
REAL
LEADERSHIP
|
|
Concerned
with now; sees the bottom line
|
Concerned
with the long term; sees also the horizon
|
|
Seeks
to maintain and to protect the status quo; prefers safe and orderly dynamics
|
Seeks
change and innovation; fosters risk taking and creative tension
|
|
Judges
itself by how many are affected; feels responsible
|
Judges
itself by how many involved; tries to be responsive
|
|
Emphasizes
skills and tasks
|
Emphasizes
ideas, habits, and the “big picture”
|
|
Could
be casual
|
Must
be passionate
|
|
Projects
strength and relies on rewards and punishments
|
Makes
others strong and relies mostly on intrinsic motivation and on logical
consequences
|
|
Speaks
to the task; is realistic and practical
|
Speaks
to the heart; is optimistic and hopeful
|
|
Figures
it out at the top and calls the shots through directives, orders and mandates
|
Multiplies
informed choices for others and seeks out their collective wisdom
|
|
Identifies
the right strategy and does things right
|
Promotes
strategic thinking and does the right things
|
|
Claims
authority by position; can be imposed
|
Earns
authority by expertise and modeling; must be accepted, selected, elected
|
|
Expects
compliance and requires loyalty to an individual or to an organization
|
Expects
commitment and seeks loyalty to principles and shared ideals
|
