The Magic of a Leader

I am in my fourth month as a Professional Development Coordinator. In these few short days, I have learned a great deal about relationships, and have observed many interesting things about the relationships between teachers and administrative leaders in schools. It may sound funny, but sometimes as I walk across the threshold of a door into a school, I am often able to sense the relationships present in the building.

I was fortunate as a teacher to experience an exceptional leader, who always viewed the status quo as being unacceptable. She gave our staff direction, and always knew where we were going and how to get there with our support and expertise as educators. She gave us hope. She was trusted and valued, and I believe she felt the same of each person on our staff. We all knew that she was a gift, and we treasured her and all that she brought to our team. We worked in harmony under her leadership and courage, and honestly, there was nothing that we couldn't achieve because of the strong loyalty we felt for her, and all that she was to us--and our students.

As I reflect upon those previous days of teaching, I am quickly reminded that my former leader was a woman of strength and integrity. She had an infinite level of ambition. She had a way of making her staff, and every single student in our building feel valued and empowered to be more than they thought they could be. She knew every child's name, in an elementary building with over 300 students in enrollment, and how each of those students learned best. She spent time in classrooms, and knew our strengths as educators. She left notes on our desks or in our mailboxes about our instruction, accentuating our positives and noticing our gifts. There wasn't a day that I didn't want to go to work while under her leadership. She encouraged greatness and we would have never accepted the status quo. We learned through her that the key to student success was developing positive relationships and leaving lasting impressions.

I can say without hesitation that anyone who entered our building could sense the relationships, love, hope, and respect that resided as they walked across the threshold. The magic in that building was hard to define, yet any visitor knew it when they saw it.

Is this kind of magic present in your school? If not, what will you risk to make it a part of your life, and the lives of those students you care so much about?