This past Thursday marked the 95th birthday of one of the world’s greatest leaders – Nelson Mandela. In the spirit of #mandeladay let’s take a look at your power as a leader and how you can change the world – seriously. If Mandela were in your position of power, what decisions would he make?
Mandela passionately advocated and believed that education acts as the most powerful weapon to change the world. Like a seed, a thought could grow into something more powerful than we can imagine. And there’s no better place to get thinking started than inside your school. You house the next generation of thinkers and change-makers.
Keeping Mandela in mind, let’s take a look at how you can foster a school environment where no one feels suppressed, but rather empowered to have their voice heard. A poorly led school can feel like a prison and a school led well can feel like bliss.
“Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.” – Nelson Mandela
Whose voice get’s heard?
Ask yourself and your team, how do allow your faculty to share their voice? What about your students? Large-faculty meetings or assemblies have become a bit of a chore and often only extroverts get their voice heard. Why? Because they are louder.
As one alternative, consider taking a look at digital meetings, using tools like GotoWebinar. The benefit of these “faculty meetings” is that it allows users to see any presentations more clearly, be in the comfort of their own home, and interact with the presenter through typing in questions. There’s a comfortable anonymity that allows all attendees to engage with questions.
You can even do this with digital comments on your school website. Just for fun, think about the benefit of allowing students to post comments on the school’s blog. Build school pride with students sharing highlights about the homecoming football game and allow students to share kudos for seniors accepted into college. No marquee necessary.
Talk about the power of being listened to. When a student feels she is listened to, she is more likely to share her voice more team project management tools. She is more likely to be empowered. She is more likely to be a leader. The same goes for teachers and school leaders like yourself, as well.
