Who do I admire as a leader?

When asked to ponder who I admire as a leader, I am often drawn to personality or leadership traits and styles, rather than specific individuals.

TRAITS

Decisiveness, Integrity, Compassion

In general, the leaders who I admire tend to be decisive. In my experience, leaders who are decisive examine the problem in front of them, accept questions or suggestions from their team, and come to decision as efficiently as possible. In my experience, I always prefer to take action quickly, and adapt my plan as I go, rather than delay on a decision. While I do acknowledge that my affinity to this type of leadership style may be because it aligns with my own decision making preferences, I do believe that making decisions quickly and efficiently is admirable. 

I also admire leaders who are driven by their personal values and integrity. They are aware of the complications and intricacies of leading teams, and are sincere and honest with their subordinates. I trust their ability to make tough or tricky decisions because I know that they are grounded by their own moral compass. The decisions they make will not be arbitrary, or externally motivated, but simply the best decision possible that aligns with their values.

Lastly, leaders that I admire are compassionate. In the world of education, it is imperative that school or organizational leaders are understanding of others perspectives, and that the leaders care about the populations they are serving. I admire leaders who work hard in defense or for the betterment of a population- not because it is best for the them, but because they genuinely care about the people they are serving.

STYLE   

Flexible, Focused and Collaborative

I admire leaders who have a strong vision for an organization or a team, and logistically understand what steps it will take to fulfill it. When leading a team in education, where the landscape is consistently changing (new students every year, shifting grade-level standards, new technology), it is important that leaders are both flexible and focused. Leaders who can do both- lead a team to executing a task while remaining cooperative and flexible- is a bonus. Finally, I prefer to work with leaders who lead with a collaborative style. If a leader can be secure in their own knowledge and expertise, and willing to hear from all members of a team, the resulting idea or product will be created with the best ideas from the entire team. In my experience, collaborative teams produce the best outcomes- both for the populations the team serves and the members themselves.