Sunday, November 3, 2013

Strengths-Based Leadership and Community

A culture in which strengths-based leadership is promoted creates an environment where teammates are supported and encouraged. This is the fuel that sustains passion.
A mutual belief that each member is valued individually creates a dynamic and symbiotic energy from within. Simply said, each member needs to be valued as an essential part of the bigger plan.
            When a position feels stagnant, partners lose inspiration, and growth comes to a halt. How do we promote forward momentum? One way is to partner with other hard workers. Another way to promote growth is to pair with a partner with opposite strengths than yours. Remember to share your goals with your partner so that you can get more done together.
           Understanding my natural strengths and how they integrate most productively with those of my teammates assists me in working in a leadership position. Knowing who I am, and what my resources are will help me to plan where I am going.
            Making it a point to identify how I can make a difference in aiding my teammates to achieve their individual goals will ultimately help me meet my goals, too. By design, this creates strength within our community. Positioning in any business is strategic. Education is no exception. Leveraging our skills to benefit others creates a win-win dynamic. In essence, this is the definition of teamwork.

Be a catalyst for change. Others might be intimidated by these new rules, new skills, or new strategies. Being willing to soak up this newness and leading by example will promote other teammates into action. Strengths-based leadership creates reciprocal actions that grow support and encouragement throughout the entire school community.

2 comments:

  1. Hi Diana,
    I absolutely agree with you that team members need to be supported and encouraged. I do believe that it is important to be a catalyst for change. I also believe that it is important to I like that at the two schools where I sub that the teachers come together as teams at every level makes for a better working school. I enjoyed reading your post. You have some wonderful ideas.
    Posted by Angela Hanley

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  2. You touched on something that reminded me of what my principal said. I didn't realize until now that she has been using strength-based strategies all along. I mention in several posts that majority of the time there are only a hand full of us who take many responsibility roles and the rest come to teach and go home. She told my colleague that the reason she assigns us the tasks she does is because she knows what kind of strengths everyone possesses. I guess she has known what she has been doing all along. I haven't given her enough credit for that. The only sad part is that she seems to think that my colleague and I are the only ones who can do the tasks :-/

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