Day 16 of #28daysofwriting and I have to say I am very happy that I attended ULEARN14 last year as it still is providing me with a wealth of ideas to start from!
Today I was running out of things to write when I remembered something I heard at ULEARN14 about the Trinity of Leadership (that's my name for it, can’t remember what it was called). This idea stuck with me after hearing and I found myself seeing examples of it everywhere.
The idea goes that in any leadership team, in any good team in fact, there needs to be a balance of three personality types.
1) The Visionary:
This is the big ideas person. They see the dots and how they connect. This is the person who takes best practice and usually steps it up into next practice. They find ways to stay on the cutting edge. The push boundaries and rarely like to play it safe.
On their own this person will sometimes struggle with systems and find doing repetitive tasks tedious. Visionaries can bee seen as random thinkers, and can be seen as flighty as they probably like throwing ideas around to see what sticks. They usually need someone to reign them in as they can overwhelm others who like things stable and routine. That's why the next person in the team is…
2) The Manager:
This person excels at the small stuff. Their world in about the details and the systems. You need one of these people on your team. They make the school or team run like a well oiled machine. They are deadline orientated and paperwork will be joyfully completed. They are busy and efficient and are often seen as leaders but can sometimes get stuck in their routines, meaning they need the support of the above mentioned Visionary. The Manager personality can sometimes be a bit cold and calculating and so to help balance this they need…
3) The Nurturer
The nurturer is the people person. They a the people on you team who get along with everyone, they naturally make sure everyone is alright and dish out acts of kindness. These are those amazingly well liked people on your team. This person puts people first and with a nurturer on your team chances are there will be a focus in your school on community and school culture. With a strong focus on people the need the other to personality types to help the develop some big picture ideas and systems to implement them.
So that's the breakdown. Every person has a mix of these personalities and very few people will be clear cut on way or the other. But I am sure you have all met people like I have described.
At several top performing schools I have visited and a leadership team that I saw speak at ULEARN14 have all displayed these attributes. Some almost comically. The balance of these personalities are key to the secret sauce of success.
When I team taught last year this ideas was key in our success the other teacher and I had enough of a balance of all of these skills, plus a really good set of contrasting and complementary teaching strengths. That it just worked. It meant the students had exposure to varied teaching styles and the way we rotated groups through it meant that students weren't stuck with one style or personality for a whole year. When it comes to team teaching, personality REALLY matters.
So will leave you with one final thought, and I can't remember who it was that said this… But in a world where we can find out anything and lets face it many teachers are quick learners, it is the person that matters. When putting together your team apply the beer test. If you wouldn't spend time having a beer with this person, why would you want to work with them???
I hope you enjoyed this post. Please comment on some of the best leadership teams you have worked with or seen and share your thoughts on what made them so successful.
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