CHARACTERISTICS OF AN EFFECTIVE LEADER

Educational leaders play a pivotal role in affecting the climate, attitude and
reputation of their schools. They are the cornerstone on which learning
communities function and grow. With successful school leadership, schools
become effective incubators of learning, places where students are not only
educated but challenged, nurtured and encouraged.

On the other hand, poor or absent school leadership can undermine the goals of an
educational system. When schools lack a strong foundation and direction, learning
is compromised, and students suffer. According to a Wallace Foundation study,
“Leadership is second only to classroom instruction as an influence on student
learning.”

Good schools are driven by Teachers, Principals and Heads of School who are
passionate about making a difference to the lives of the children in their care.
However, the challenges of 21st Century global and technological advances have
placed school leaders and teachers under more pressure than ever before.

How can you be a successful school leader or and promote international school
leadership? Here are the characteristics I believe you need to develop to thrive in
the 21st Century.

 Honesty and Integrity

As a leader you need to know yourself and your values. Find a school that aligns
with your values and then model your values and the school’s values to all in your
community. Make a personal commitment to be honest with yourself and your
team at all times. Be transparent. Nurture honesty and integrity in your faculty and
students. If you make a mistake, admit it, take responsibility for it, resolve it and
learn from it. Always uphold your word and your promises.

Ability to Trust and Empower

Listen to your teachers and students. Learn their talents, interests and passions and
then delegate accordingly. Empower them to take responsibility for tasks and
projects. Be there to coach them and make sure you praise them for what they
achieve.

Communicative, Collaborative and Connected

Openly seek and share information and knowledge. Seek to be understood and to
understand others. Connect with the world via blogging and social media, and
follow organisations relating to INTO international education. Collaborate with
others virtually and face-to-face to ensure the best decisions are made.

 Positive Energy

Always present a positive, pro-active and caring approach. Make the time to speak
with students, teachers and parents. Get to know and value them by developing
authentic relationships. Make sure you manage your health, well being and energy
levels.

 Confidence 
Be confident and approachable, even if this is your first principalship or
international school leadership role and you are feeling overwhelmed. Be visible,
ask questions, value what you see and give praise for effective teaching and
learning practices. As a leader you will be faced with difficult situations. In these
situations, always stay calm and confident to maintain morale and confidence in
the school community. Ensure your focus always returns to your strategic goals.
The key objective is to keep everyone working and moving ahead.

 Commitment and Persistence

Displaying genuine commitment and dedication is such a motivator to your

teachers and students. Make sure you create short term and long term plans based
on 21st Century strategic visioning.  Be 100% committed to the achievement of the
school improvement goals. Adapt when unforeseen situations occur and then
persist till the important goals are achieved. Never give up!

Willingness to Learn, Unlearn and Relearn

Never stop learning! The opportunities and possibilities of the 21 st Century are
exciting and empowering for you and your school community. Be open to it and
adopt a growth mindset. Seth Godin says, “If you’re not doing the things that
scare you, you’re not really learning.” Attend workshops and conferences to learn
from great 21st Century leaders.

 Entrepreneurial, Creative and Innovative

The ability to think outside the box is powerful. Creativity and innovation are great
ways to manage the disruptions and complexities of the 21 st Century. Empower
students and teachers to be resourceful, flexible, creative, to think like
entrepreneurs and develop global partners and resources to succeed in our ever-
changing world. Develop the school as an entrepreneurial organisation.

 Intuitive

Learn to trust your instincts. Recent research shows that we can successfully solve
problems intuitively.  Listen to the voice within you; it comes from a wise and
good place.

 Ability to Inspire

Be inspiring! Address teachers, students and parents with speeches about noble
21st century educational possibilities, highlighting the school’s vision and mission.
Create an enthusiasm and optimism to work together in creating future directions
for the school. Continue this focus all through your tenure. For some inspiration to
motivate your team, check out our list of inspirational quotes for 21st century
educators.

Innovative

An innovative leader is not afraid to implement new ideas and take risks. Without
the belief that failure is an essential component of real success, a school can never
reach its full potential.

Confident

Confidence is contagious. With the right amount of confidence leading a school,

staff and students are guaranteed to follow suit, inspired by the portrayal of inner
strength and fearlessness that says: “I can achieve anything.”
Collaborative

A great leader knows that success comes only through effective collaboration. By
including staff-members in decision-making, and confiding in teachers for ideas,
suggestions, and support, an idea can become a movement.

Creative

A creative mind sees the world differently. A great leader will imagine new
possibilities, and visualize new ideas in everything that they do. This inspires
others to think in the same way, building a school full of original thinkers,
visionaries, and leaders.

Open-minded

A great leader knows the importance of being open-minded, allowing others to

experiment with new methods, investing in new technology, and developing a
growth mindset. Building a team based on openness, students are never denied an
opportunity to excel.

Lifelong learner

Every great educational leader sees themselves as a lifelong learner with a growth
mindset. Leading by example, a lifelong learner encourages learning in all aspects
of life, as something fun, stimulating, and empowering.

Proactive

All leaders need to be proactive. Without waiting for things to get done, a great
leader will take control and make it happen. By getting staff-members on board
and building a combined attitude of pro-activeness, there’s no telling what
your school could achieve.

Motivational

As a role-model for both staff and students, an educational leader needs that
motivational attitude that drives change, difference, and optimism. This encourages
a school body to stretch towards every goal, giving 100% in every single
challenge.

Positive

A positive atmosphere tends to cling to the school walls, encouraging staff and
students to uphold this joyful ambiance at all costs. While an educational leader
does need to display strength and authority, this doesn’t have to come at the
expense of positivity. By instilling a positive school atmosphere, a brighter outlook
will prevail, no matter how dark the walls.

Different

A great leader knows that to create your own success, you need to first discover
what makes you unique. By promoting difference as something to be celebrated,
students are encouraged to stand out, be original, challenge convention, and not to
fear the judgement of others.

They Understand the Importance of Building Community

Effective school leaders build and sustain reciprocal family and community
partnerships and leverage those partnerships to cultivate inclusive, caring and
culturally responsive school communities. To build these community networks it is
essential that school leaders are visible in their schools and community, develop
trust and create a sense of transparency and shared purpose with parents, staff,
community members and students

They Empower Teachers and Cultivate Leadership Skills

Great school leaders know that they are not running a one-man show; that they
cannot do it all alone. They know that they must surround themselves with great
teachers and colleagues and, not only that, they must fully support teachers and
staff by encouraging them to continually learn, develop and, perhaps most
important, become leaders themselves.

They Utilize Data and Resources

Successful school leaders use data, including standardized and school-based

assessments, to drive continuous improvement through site-based decision-making
for the express purpose of promoting equitable and culturally responsive
opportunities for all students. The opportunities that data present are many and the
most effective leaders are able to leverage that data to make strategic decisions to
benefit their students.

They Have a Vision and a Plan

The very best leaders are also visionaries. They have a goal that they can unite a
team around and a plan to help them get there. Not just that, but they are able to
clearly articulate their school vision and goals.

Vision is perhaps one of the most important qualities a leader can have as it
provides momentum and direction, not just for the team leader but for each and
every team member. Of course, in order for leaders to be successful in pursuing
their vision and enacting their plan, they must pair their vision with unrelenting
passion. Vision and passion from an effective leader should generate inspiration,
motivation and excitement that permeates throughout the school.

They Create Collaborative, Inclusive Learning Environments

Inclusive learning provides all students with access to flexible learning choices and
effective paths for achieving educational goals in spaces where they experience a
sense of belonging. The best educators know this and prioritize inclusivity,
creating safe learning environments that nurture every student. Leaders that
prioritize inclusive learning also typically believe that every person can contribute
to the greater learning community and therefore they encourage collaboration
between faculty as well as students.

They Are Passionate About Their Work

Passion is a critical ingredient for nearly anyone who wants to be successful and
happy in their job. But passion is especially important for school leaders, who
typically have a great influence on their school’s climate and culture.

Passionate people have a contagious energy that can greatly affect teacher
satisfaction and drive as well as student performance. “All the knowledge in the
world can’t make a good leader: It’s the care for the work and the people who
collaborate with you that makes the difference,” wrote Forbes. “This is in large
part because people want to follow a passionate leader. Someone who cares about
not only the cause for which he or she is working, but also the other people who
are involved in the effort. Passion for the projects, for the company and for the
people involved are key to successful leadership.”
7. They Encourage Risk-Taking

What most educators already know is that failure can be the greatest teacher. Just
as teachers should encourage risk-taking amongst their students in order to spur
growth, truly effective leaders encourage risk-taking amongst their subordinates
and colleagues by creating a supportive environment that rewards not just
successful ideas or initiatives but effort as well, no matter the outcome.

They Lead by Example

We’ve all heard the saying, “Do as I say, not as I do.” Of course, the irony is that
actions are much more telling than words. Leaders who lead by example position
themselves as tremendous role models for not only the students in their school or
district but for colleagues and parents as well. A leader that leads by example
almost always receives respect and admiration, without which he or she will find
little luck in leadership. As philosopher and physician Albert Schweitzer once said,
“Example is not the main thing in influencing others; it is the only thing.”

They Persevere – Staying with a School for at Least Five Years

Change, while good, can also be disruptive when it occurs too frequently. In the
case of school leadership, it has been documented that frequent turnover results in
a negative school climate, which in turn has a negative effect on student
performance.

They Are Lifelong Learners

Perhaps the most important of all qualities that a school leader can possess is
the unquenchable thirst for knowledge. As John F. Kennedy said, “leadership and
learning are indispensable to each other.” The best leaders, no matter what industry
they work in, know they will never know it all. They are humble in their
knowledge yet confide.