Reflections from Last Week:

Last week was our first content-related discussion and all of you jumped in with both feet - as I had hoped. The prevailing thoughts were that your leadership style must mesh with your personal style and should be flexible in different situations. Here are a few excerpts:

"There are times where leadership styles may shift but should continue to show qualities of trust and commitment to the team, children, and families. I have developed this style through experience, and trial and error. It is important to note that a leader is not just in charge but decisions being made directly affect others. It makes me look from the outside in and see what would be beneficial to the organization, in a way that supports staff."" - Angelica C.

"If asked about my typical leadership or management style in an interview, I would describe it as predominantly transformational. I believe in inspiring and motivating my team members to reach their full potential and contribute to the organization's success..... My development of this style has been influenced by both formal education and hands-on experience, where I have witnessed the positive impact of transformational leadership in driving organizational change and growth." - Raghad A.

Assessing yourself

The assignment next week is the creation of a vision statement. To do that in a genuine manner requires that any skepticism or fear of taking risks be suspended for the purposes of this assignment. But first, you must assess yourself. Do you see yourself as a risk taker? A visionary? Or somewhere in between? Are you satisfied with how things are in your program, in our profession, and in society at large? How close to your dream are you?

What To Do:

Read the following statements and then discuss which one or ones feel most like you, remembering there are no right or wrong answers - just authentic ones.

• I avoid taking risks and tend to put my head in the sand when it comes to big changes.
• When I feel something really needs changing, I'm willing to stick my neck out.
• I'm always ready to challenge the status quo, to speak up or advocate for something that obviously needs changing.
• My program is pretty close to how I want it to be.
• I have a list of changes that need to be made if our program is going to meet our profession's definition of quality.
• My vision for our program goes far beyond what is typically discussed in the professional literature. I have big dreams and am willing to work to achieve them.