Candy and leadership chats. What could be more fun right before Halloween?

I love this TED Talk on leadership and unleashing the inner leader in all of us. Today we are hosting a Teacher Academy meeting at our school and the theme is leadership.

More often than not, when I think of leadership I think of it from the perspective of a history teacher. ASCD published a book entitled Learning From Lincoln: Leadership Practices for School Success. The authors write about 10 qualities Lincoln embodied that can be transferred to educational leadership. Some of the 10 characteristics discussed include communicating ideas effectively with precise and straightforward language, demonstrating personal growth and enhanced competence as a lifetime learner, willing to reflect on and expand ideas, and believing that hope can become a reality.

One of my favorite chapters is the one on engendering trust, loyalty, and respect through humility, humor, and personal example.

We gave our teacher leadership group some challenges today. The challenges are voluntary. I started thinking about whether I was pressing too hard on them. But, then I realized “these are all things I do or have done.” Join a Voxer chat, participate in a Twitter chat, start a blog or write a blog post, open the doors to your classroom using a model like #ObserveMe.

I don’t think we can ever ask our teachers to do something we haven’t tried or are unwilling to participate in. Leading by example is very important to me. I strive to demonstrate lifelong learning, risk taking, reflection, introspection, and a growth mindset. These are my lollipop moments, all of them, all day every day. My lollipop moments revolve around being the type of leader I want others to be.

What are your lollipop moments?