Rowdy said:
In this part of the book, we are looking at the leadership aspects of people and what really exemplifies a good leader. It was mentioned in the reading that the ability to make others feel empowered is a sign of a good leader.
I can attest to this from both sides in gaining the respect of your peers/coworkers as well as being given this power. I have had two great “bosses” before I became a teacher who really empowered me as an employee and made me feel like what I did and what I contributed mattered to the growth of our company.
While I was at Texas Tech, my supervisor informed me of the job/task at hand, got my input on it and then either approved it or we tweaked it together. After this, she pretty much let me take care of the job with little or no supervision. Once the job was complete, we sat down again and she provided feedback and/or let me know what changes needed to be made. She trusted me to get the job done, she gave me the tools and support needed, and supported my ideas.
My other supervisor empowered me much in the same way. The best way she did it, was she took a shot when everyone else advised against her move. She made me one of the youngest Market Managers for Sprint at the ripe old age of 24. I was in charge of a market that included Southeast Missouri and Southwest Illinois. I had 6 retail stores, 3rd party and business-to-business channels and over 75+ employees as well as in charge of profit and loss of millions of dollars. Lot’s on the line for someone so young. But she let me know, she wouldn’t have put me in that position if she didn’t think I couldn’t do it. Like it said in the reading, she made me feel powerful,
Neither one of these leaders had any type of superiority complex or ever made me feel belittled, micromanaged or like they were better than me. I always felt acknowledge, listened to and respected. Many times I never felt like their employee, but in the truest sense, their colleague.
I have also done this with my students. I give them the tools and support and allow them to put their input into what we are learning, how we learn it and what they create. I give them that empowerment and they understand that for their projects to be good, it relies more on their effort, understanding and cooperation than me just “teaching” them what I want them to know.
Some of my fellow teachers and even my principal have recently visited my class during a live production of the broadcast and mentioned afterwards that they never knew how much work the kids do and how hard it is to get a live show done. This actually made me feel better because many times other teachers think all we do is the “fun” stuff and press record on a camera, that it isn’t too hard to do that. Now they know.
The reading asked “How much greatest are we willing to grant some people?” I feel like I allow all of my students to achieve as much as they can. Sometimes it does bite me in the rear because I may give some too much credit or freedom/flexibility, but I would rather quell that, then stifle the possible growth.
I loved when he spoke about allowing the Cuban musicians to lead the American musicians. I will tend to do this as well. I see which students are better at shooting, or editing or writing and use them to help their peers when they have questions. I see more being accomplished this way then if I tried to help each one individually. Plus, the students helping love being able to help, they feel important now.
My school should adopt saying “Remember Rule No. 6” as well, our principals and staff are all pretty amazing and I feel as though we may have that tattooed on our arms. None of us take ourselves too seriously and promote such a comfortable work environment that I heard various amount of other teachers and parents talking tonight from other schools how they wish they were at our school. Rule No. 6 rules.
Brenda McGee said:
“The ability to make others feel empowered is a sign of a good leader” This statement is a statement that is essential to the growth of any leader of a company. If the leader does not understand this coming in the door, it is hard to gain respect and support of the staff in the future. The staff at my school would benefit from visiting your school to see what a team looks like. I will be sharing this book with my principal with hopes that she will purchase it for our staff.
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