There are so many beautiful
works of art that sit in so many museums throughout the world. Some in
particular that come to mind are magnificent statuary on display and presented
at the Museo Archeologica Nazionale in Naples, Italy. My wife and I visited
there two years ago, and were awe struck looking at the lifeless, yet
remarkably oversized statues of the Caesars and their compatriots, as well as
their enemies, standing or sitting erect looking out into the distance. These
statues are a testament of time, history, and the closest images we will ever have
of who and what they were without the convenience of photography. But, they are
still just statues taking a revered pedestal in a museum.
Interesting
enough the white marble and granite statues seem pretty much all the same. Research
from various sources have now determined that at the point of their creation
some thousands of years ago, they were actually painted and colorized with
pigments to make them look much more lifelike as a memorial testament to who
they were and what they did for the civilization of their times.
As the picture of Octavius Caesar can testify,
colorizing the statue makes him look different. The bust on the right looks
regal, resilient, and visionary. The bust on the left looks made-up to be more
human. It’s hard to imagine following such a leader like the one on the left,
compared to the commanding presence of the figure on the right.
But, that
is how it appears as we look for leadership today. We want the resilient and
fearless leaders of marble and stone to pave the way. But, instead, we have these
people of human qualities, with flesh and blood. And when you come down to it,
leadership is nothing more than just that: human qualities of flesh and blood. Despite the fact Augustus Caesar may have been
a great leader in his day, it matters little to us now. Leaders are people and
they deal with the everyday issues of life, as we know them today, and not a
thousand years ago. As David Foster
Wallace reminds us: “Real leaders are people who help us overcome the
limitations of our own individual laziness and selfishness and weakness and
fear and get us to do better, harder things than we can get ourselves to do on
our own.”
So,
how can you be a visionary leader for your organization as you begin a new
school year. Take some advice from an interesting article I read a few month
ago entitled the The 7 Secrets of Inspiring Leaders, by Carmine Gallo:
1)
Ignite your enthusiasm: according to financial guru Suze
Ormon, “You cannot inspire unless you inspire yourself.”
Struggling with low test scores reported last spring? Ignite passion for the
work of being the leader of your school.
2)
Navigate a course of action: vision, sharing it, directing
it, and leading others into a process to successfully meet their goals is the
purpose of the vision or the course of action.
3)
Sell the benefit: your teachers, students and even their
parents are in need of a rationale for making sense of the common core issues
of our schools. Make it a goal to incorporate it into your comments, dialogues,
and conversations to reinforce the vision.
4)
Paint a picture: the human mind is programmed to see the
bigger picture. Sometimes that is accomplished through telling stories, using
humor to lighten the load, and finding the group moral to the narrative.
5)
Invite participation: we all lived through “shared
decision-making”. Now, invite everyone to participate in working towards the
mission and the vision. Invite faculty to drop in regularly to voice their
opinions and concerns. Have a weekly coffee hour with parents so they can do the same. Valued constituents
in a school organization want meaning. They need to feel valued as well as
their opinions and feedback.
6)
Reinforce optimism: General Colin Powell said it best:
“Optimism is a force multiplier”. Find something positive about something that
is happening everyday in your schools. Share the excitement.
7)
Encourage potential: In this phase of heightened teacher
accountability, and professional learning plans, and the fear of firing people,
look for ways to encourage the seminal goodness and earnest potential of each
and every faculty and staff member.
There are many things to
remember about starting a successful school year. Consider the lifeless statues
I mentioned earlier. Being known for greatness is not worth anything after you
are gone. Making meaning for the people in your organization is worth
everything now.
Have a great school year.
Bier,
Sariel. "Iconic Images: What Images Will Change the Way a Person Sees
the World after Viewing Them?" Quora.com. August 8, 2014. Accessed August
23, 2014.
2 "A Quote by
David Foster Wallace." Goodreads. Accessed August 23, 2014.
Gallo, Carmine. "The 7 Secrets of
Inspiring Leaders." Forbes. July 6, 2011. Accessed August 24, 2014.
