Stronger Together - Terri L. Martin

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href="#ue2026e01-ba24-57df-b24d-641345eb419c">Chapter 2 (page 17).

      Visioning ability means how well you work with others to create and sustain a vision. This ability is paramount to collaborative leadership success. Tim Kanold (2011) explains that the resulting “vision answers the question, Are we really doing what matters?” (p. 12). Collaborative leaders use the vision as a guide for all they do and lead a school to that vision. Chapter 4 (page 41) defines vision and addresses committing to one.

      Open, honest dialogue is one of the best ways to communicate. It is also helpful to be sure everyone has the same understanding of the language because words have different meanings, implications, and connotations (DuFour et al., 2016). Collaborative leaders use good communication to help them help others move forward. Chapter 6 (page 67) details communication strategies for different audiences.

      While keeping conversations positive is important, you cannot avoid difficult conversations. Dennis Sparks (2010), in his book on daily meditations for school leaders, says, “Intentionally increasing the number of positive interactions with members of the school community can transform relationships and improve school culture” (p. 39). We strongly believe that positive interactions will hold you in good stead when you have more difficult ones.

      Leaders who understand their own strengths, perhaps through an assessment such as this chapter’s “My Leadership Strengths” worksheet (page 13) or the LPI (Kouzes & Posner, 2012), can use those strengths to build trust, create vision and buy-in, communicate effectively, and help create growth. For example, leaders who are visionary can use that skill to paint a picture of the future and guide others in that direction. Similarly, detail-oriented leaders might gather others together to create a detailed plan that shows the steps necessary to move toward a designated end line. Leaders can make most strengths work.

      Let others know who you are. If you can jump right into a task and complete it, make that fact apparent. Share your strengths with others, and let them know that you are available to assist them whenever anyone needs those strengths.

      A benefit of collaborative leadership is that no one person has to have all the necessary skills or strengths for any given situation; a good collaborative leader capitalizes on strengths from others. For example, a collaborative leader who needs to give detailed instructions to others but lacks that particular strength knows who could get the job done right; that leader delegates the task appropriately.

      Note that a leader’s understanding of his or her personal weaknesses is not synonymous with being a weak leader. This realization might actually be one of the biggest lessons you can learn from your self-assessment. There is often a perception that a leader cannot have any weaknesses. Everyone has weaknesses. How you handle them makes the difference.

      In the end, personal understanding of a leader’s strengths and weaknesses enables growth. See “My Leadership Strengths” (page 13) and “My Leadership Challenges” (page 14) at the end of this chapter to jumpstart that understanding. They promote reflection on each of these in order to grow as a leader. Finally, “Celebrating My Strengths” (page 15) helps you focus on positives. Leaders need to take time to recognize themselves and acknowledge when they have used their strengths to move an organization forward. Seeking honest feedback about your strengths and weaknesses is important, too. George (2011) encourages getting that feedback from other leaders and your superiors, as well as from those you lead.

      In this chapter, we answered the question, What kind of leader am I? Take time answering the following questions, and think critically about each.

      ▪ What are you doing right now that fits with what you learned from reading this chapter?

      ▪ What might you stop doing after reading this chapter?

      ▪ What might you start doing after reading this chapter?

      Think about your current leadership abilities, whether you are currently leading a team of people or not. Consider the following two steps.

      1. Identify your own leadership strengths.

      ▪ Using the “My Leadership Strengths” worksheet (page 13), list between three and five of your personal leadership strengths.

      ▪ Brainstorm ways you can use these strengths.

      ▪ Record when you use these strengths and the impact they have had.

      2. Identify your own leadership challenges.

      ▪ Using the “My Leadership Challenges” worksheet (page 14), list between three and five of your personal leadership challenges.

      ▪ Brainstorm ways you can strengthen those areas.

      List at least three of your personal leadership strengths. Then brainstorm possible results of using those strengths.

      List at least three of your personal leadership challenges. Then brainstorm ways you can strengthen those areas.

      List at least three of your personal leadership strengths. Keep a running log of when you used them and why.

      Stronger Together © 2018 Solution Tree Press • SolutionTree.com Visit go.SolutionTree.com/leadership to download this free reproducible.

      CHAPTER TWO

      How Can I Earn Trust?

      In collaborative leadership, trust is essential. Research bears this out. Educational professors Megan Tschannen-Moran and Wayne K. Hoy’s (1998) study demonstrates a significant direct correlation between trust and how often a teacher collaborates with the principal and with colleagues: “Faculty trust is an important aspect of the openness and health of school climate. It is related to the authenticity of both the principal’s and the teachers’ behavior” (p. xx). You will find action steps for building trust later in this chapter (page 22).

      While trust is critical, its existence is not always obvious. Joel Peterson (2016) discusses how when trust is low, organizations move toward using power as an influencer—that doesn’t coincide with collaboration. On the other hand, when one person trusts another, he or she spends less energy protecting him- or herself and, therefore, feels safe to take risks (Edmonson, 2004; Jarvenpaa, Knoll,

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