Making A Trail

What makes a leader? How can one person make a difference? What are the qualities and traits of educational leaders in the 21^st century? What makes them unique? What makes ME unique?

These are just a few of the questions that have been rolling through my mind as of late, as I find myself constantly thinking of what the next five years hold. I am not sure if it is because of the courses I am involved in, or because my final months at Brock University are coming to a close, leading me to the inevitable path of hunting for teaching jobs that are currently not available. A big sigh for all the teacher candidates in Southern Ontario. However, in the process of thinking about the future, I stumbled upon leadership traits in my past.

Looking through my yearbooks last weekend, I could not help but laugh when I saw my parting words to my fellow Grade 8 peers. A quote by George Bernard Shaw summed up a leadership quality I still believe today. “Do not follow where the path may lead. Go instead where there is no path and leave a trail.” In no way does this mean that I see myself as a leader now, or even back then, I have simply realized the beginnings of what it takes to be an individual leader in a large community of different philosophies and beliefs. In order to stand out and take on that role, you need to create new boundaries, stepping into areas where others may have wanted to go, but have not found the courage. A leader is the individual who starts a new trend, setting the stage to create a collaborative environment of multiple people. A leader is not necessarily someone who “runs the show”, but someone who has the ability to lead a group of people in the right direction for changes. In regards to education, it could be taking on a new vision for the school community, implementing technologies to change instructional approaches inside and outside of the school, or even creating a base of communication with other communities. How to get there? I’m still not too sure.

But I do know one thing, becoming a leader is not a switch that takes place over night. I’d like to think that empowering things like this happen like that, just as they do in the movies, but that is not a realistic thought. Knowing this, I think one of the most important qualities a leader can have is perseverance. Standing alone before the recognition of change I imagine would be quite daunting. However, accepting that responsibility, facing challenges and not giving up is what separates those from trying to make a difference from those that do make a difference. In this case, finding the means and goals of your intended leadership is the first step.