It was a pleasure to be interviewed on the ISS EDUlearn: Ask Me Anything podcast, hosted by Mike Pierre and Dana Specker Watts, about the importance of leadership in international schools, the challenges leaders face, how they make a difference and how to grow as an international school leader.
You can listen to the full interview here:
Everyone is a leader! And those aren't just words. The reality is that everyone has an area of expertise and everyone has skills that are unique to them. At the right moment, they can share those skills with the organization and the people that they work with. Leadership is crucial at all levels in international schools, whether it's formal or informal leadership.
Any decision that a leader makes should always go back to what's in the best interest of kids, of learners. If it's in the best interest of kids, it's in the best interest of the adults as well. But the guiding force should be the mission of the school.
As a leader, it's not enough to say "let's go there", there has to be a sense of shared vision, that means each individual needs to have their own personal vision that matches the vision of the school and it's the job of the leader to facilitate that thinking and to explain why the school is doing what it is doing, why the school's mission is what it is, and why everyone involved in the school is helping to lead that forward.