Quote for Leaders

The first responsibility of a leader is to define reality. The last is to say thank you
~ Max DePree, in The Art of Leadership

I think this sums up for me what a forward-thinking change-agent school administrator should be. A few years ago, I had an Assistant Superintendent who had the words "TTWWADI" on her bulletin board with a line through it. I asked her what it meant and she told me it meant "That's the way we've always done it." She felt that if schools and their leaders continue to do what is comfortable and they've always done, the results will always be the same. That may be fine if you like your results, but I know very few schools where that is the case. The leader instead should define the way they will do it in the future, based on the needs of the students, teachers, community, and the future.

The second is an often-overlooked piece. I sometimes find that thank you's from leaders are either blanketed- given to everyone without personalization (i.e. "thank you all for coming") or not given at all. As education is about socialization and relationships, remembering to say thank you to individuals (and mean it!) is important.

What do you think qualities of a forward-thinking change-agent school administrator should be?


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