Leadership role is an important role for an individual. Best leaders are passionate about developing the emerging leaders around them. They constantly work to improve their emotional intelligence and know that a strong team culture is the foundation for accomplishing the mission. Knowing the strengths and weaknesses of every individual, and to effectively manage the outcome of a team is imperative for success. Leaders have a great vision and use the resources at hand to solve problems. They take risks and make hard decisions, knowing they could sometimes be wrong. My definition of a leader and a leadership is someone, who can lead an organization, a group, or a country. A leader is someone who is responsible for carrying out all the responsibilities and duties, which are required while keeping organization, group or country in mind and what is best for them. In addition, a leader inspires others to share a common goal or a purpose, and give them support and encouragement when needed. At times, a leader makes the hard choice, and self-sacrifice in order to enhance the lives of others around them. A good leader also creates an atmosphere that will encourage all members to use their imagination and creativity at the same time, setting higher expectations for all members to reach the goal. To be a successful leader, one must have inspiring, supervising, and communicating skills. Furthermore, earning respect is crucial to a successful relationship with someone, while also showing that you care about their work or ideas. Being empathetic allows a leader to tap into the emotions of that individual in order to connect in a way that lets that person know you understand what it means to be in their situation. A good leader helps its team to make them successful people. A leader also makes sure there is harmony among all the members in the team. This can be done by listening to all the levels. Lastly, a leadership defines a power or ability to lead others at the same time, and have a vision on what the future should look like. Also, leadership is all about being passionate about what you do, and having confidence in yourself and your followers whom you have to motivate and inspire.
Leadership comes through promoting and engaging in change. I first came to know my leadership definition, when I became a site supervisor for Safari Kid Sunnyvale. As a school director, I was responsible for carrying out all the responsibilities and duties, which are required while keeping the school and teachers in mind, and what is best for them. I had to inspire my teachers and staff to share a common goal or a purpose, and give them support and encouragement when needed. In addition, I had to be a good leader, who creates an atmosphere that will encourage all members to use their imagination and creativity at the same time setting higher expectations for all members to reach the goal. In addition, I had to be at the service of the team. I had to make sure that all my teachers were accountable for what they were doing. If they did well, I gave them a pat on the back, but if they struggled, I made them realize their mistakes and work together to improve. For example, since this school was new, I had to train all the teachers on how to teach the Safari Kid curriculum to the children. Also, help them with any activities when needed.
I was influenced to become a pre-school site supervisor by my pervious director when I was working for Santee CDC in San Jose, California. I had a wonderful director, who was training all her teachers to become a director someday. Her name was Becky. Becky always saw good qualities in all her teachers. She was a wonderful coach to all of us. She was a continuous learner and adaptive to new trends. Becky also ensured teachers and staff felt motivated at all times. Most importantly, she was always prepared to deal with whatever situation may arise. Lastly, she was a great director, who was able to connect people together and find ways to earn their trust.
When leaders lead people, community, or country, there are values and principals, which they hold dear. As a site supervisor, there are values, which are dear to me, and I feel it is very important to have these values. One of the value is duty. As a leader, I am responsible for the center, students, and staff safety. I am required to carry out my task because I am responsible for it. Since I am the lead administrator of the school, it is my duty to handle problems with my staff and students, and run the center as smooth as possible. I have to make sure the teachers are providing fun learning environment, and the children are gaining their education by using age appropriate materials. For example, since my school is a franchise, I am responsible to provide all the necessary education reading books and materials to teach the children, so the teachers can carry out the lesson plans. As a leader, I have to be oozing with confidence, show some swagger and assertiveness to gain the respect of my staff. The other value, which is dear to me is the community. As a leader, I reached out to the community, where my center is located to bring out the awareness about a new pre-school and after-school program in the area. With the help of the community, I found out what kind of program I should create in my community. I have also partnered up with local schools for after-school programs for elementary age children, who needs after-school care. We also sponsor the local events in the community to promote awareness. In addition, I held open houses in my school, where we invite parents in the community to visit my school for pre-school and after-school program. Furthermore, collaboration is also very important to me because as a leader, I am collaborating with my staff to achieve the goals, which I have set for the kids and for the school. I am also collaborating with the parents to ensure good education for their children at my center. I am making sure the kids’ needs are met. According to Debra Ren- Etta Sullivan in Learning to Lead, as a leader, I will “have a strong, more meaning full relationship with parents and families if they feel they are working with you on behalf of the children P.76.” At my center, the teachers do parent-teacher conferences twice during the school year to meet the children’s goal. This way, the teachers are collaborating with the parents to meet the children’s academic goals together. Lastly, to create a village for all children, we must foster the relationships between teachers, parents, children, and community to ensure best learning opportunity. As a leader, achieving goals are ongoing task because a leader is always improving and learning from mistakes. My achievement would be when children in my community will be enrolled in my program, and I would have a waiting list. I am licensed to have 38 kids. Currently, I have 12 pre-school children enrolled. I have worked really hard to get where I am today, and I am continuing to work hard and achieve the goals. For example, to create the pre-school program, there are so many state regulations, which I am required to follow. As a leader, it is also my responsibility to make sure the center is providing a balance between play and education. The teachers have set time for play and learn. At my center, we provide 30 minutes of play before circle time, and 30 minutes of play during snack time. In addition, we provide 30 minutes of academic activities. In addition, I have to make sure all the staff are receiving fair share of their salary. Lastly, I have to make sure teachers’ work life is balance where I am not over working them.
Everyone is a leader but only a selected few are a great leader. Regardless if they have worked their way up the corporate ladder or just started your own business, the route to leadership is never an easy one. I encounter various types of situations and emotions; there are good times, stressful ones, and even terrible times. However, as a leader I always work hard to lead the teachers to success, regardless of the situation that we are facing. I am working on being a great leader by practicing best leadership skills taught to me, showing my commitment, sets the example for others to follow, and leads to greater loyalty and respect for myself as a leader.
