Leadership is About Empowering People

Bill Gates- “There's a basic philosophy here that by empowering...workers you'll make their jobs far more interesting, and they'll be able to work at a higher level than they would have without all that information just a few clicks away.”

Formal leaders who hold leadership positions are implicitly formal leaders. There is no need to posture. Real leadership comes from the ability to relinquish control and place the responsibility of decision-making on subordinates' shoulders. Unfortunately, several things can get in the way of involving others in collaborative process.

Time management is always a challenge. Some leaders are compelled to accomplish tasks right away because they fear their day will spin out of control if they don't stay on top of things they've set out to do. This rush to make decisions and complete projects often means shutting others out who may hamper efforts to get things done.

Military style approaches may oftentimes seem like the quick-fix ways to address problems, but these approaches don't work with educators. Educators are a different professional breed. We work in living, ever-changing environments (schools) that by nature foster dynamic interchanges among learners (teachers interact with students, administrators interact with teachers, parents interact with administrators). It is what I believe sets us apart from those who in the corporate world. Educational leaders must recognize the distance nature of our profession so that they have the capacity to apply collaborative leadership to their repertoire.