Most powerful act of leadership is giving it away: leadership that matters is leadership that is sustained. Sustaining leadership requires a plan for distributing it to others.It is argued that one of the most significant acts of leadership in our nation's history was the resignation of George Washington as commander-in-chief in 1783. In the words of historian Gordon S. Wood Gordon S. Wood (born 1933) is Alva O. Way University Professor and Professor of History at Brown University and the recipient of the 1993 Pulitzer Prize for History for The Radicalism of the American Revolution. , "This self-conscious and unconditional withdrawal from power and politics was a great moral action, full of significance for an enlightened and republicanized world, and the results were monumental." Jacob Neddleman, in his book, "The American Soul, Rediscovering the Wisdom of the Founders," continues this reasoning by adding: "The most influential actions of the most influential man in American history are movements of stepping back and the surrender of personal power. The most decisive actions of America's greatest symbol of will are actions of letting go." Could it be that the leadership that matters most is purposeful pur·pose·ful adj. 1. Having a purpose; intentional: a purposeful musician. 2. Having or manifesting purpose; determined: entered the room with a purposeful look. non-action? Perhaps so. Andy Hargreaves Andrew Hargreaves (13 February 1951) is the Thomas More Brennan Chair in Education at the Lynch School of Education at Boston College. The mission of the Chair is to promote social justice and connect theory and practice in education. and Dean Fink fink Slang n. 1. A contemptible person. 2. An informer. 3. A hired strikebreaker. intr.v. finked, fink·ing, finks 1. To inform against another person. , writing in the April 2004 issue of Educational Leadership, point out that leadership that is not sustainable is useless. They share seven principles of sustainable leadership, among them the ideas that sustainable leadership requires, from day one, a plan for the succession of leadership and that leadership can only be sustained if it is distributed. Leaving behind good leaders Writing in this same issue, Michael Fullan emphasizes that "the main mark of successful leaders is not their impact on student learning at the end of their tenure, but rather the number of good leaders they leave behind who can go even further." Just in case I haven't beaten you over the head enough with this thought, consider the words of Ronald Heiftetz and Marty Linsky, again writing in the April 2004 Educational Leadership: "Most people would rather have the person in authority take the work off their shoulders ... But the real work of leadership usually involves giving the work back to the people who must adapt, and mobilizing mobilizing, v 1. freeing or making loose and able to move. 2. observing any ongoing movements in a client's body, whether small or large, assisted or not, that identify strengths and weaknesses, as well as the client's physical and them to do so." By resigning his position at the conclusion of the Revolutionary War and again by refusing to seek a third term as president, George Washington ensured that his leadership mattered because he gave the work back to others. But the real wisdom behind this "inaction in·ac·tion n. Lack or absence of action. inaction Noun lack of action; inertia Noun 1. " is that he knew there were others who would carry on. Wisdom of the group Needleman points out that the framers of America were men of disparate backgrounds and hopes. But in working together to create the documents that serve as America's spine (The Declaration of Independence, The Constitution, The Bill of Rights) they did a remarkable thing. They made a super-human effort to listen to each other as they trusted that the wisdom of the group was greater than the wisdom of any individual. Because they had learned so much from seeking understanding of each person's point of view, our founders learned that "the art of the future is the group. The intelligence and benevolence BENEVOLENCE, duty. The doing a kind action to another, from mere good will, without any legal obligation. It is a moral duty only, and it cannot be enforced by law. A good wan is benevolent to the poor, but no law can compel him to be so. BENEVOLENCE, English law. we need can only come from the group, from associations of men and women seeking to struggle against the impulses of illusion, egoism egoism (ē`gōĭzəm), in ethics, the doctrine that the ends and motives of human conduct are, or should be, the good of the individual agent. It is opposed to altruism, which holds the criterion of morality to be the welfare of others. and fear." Sustaining leadership The parallels between what our founders knew and what we've learned about leadership that matters for schools are powerful--especially when the concept of moral imperative A moral imperative is a principle originating inside a person's mind that compels that person to act. It is a kind of categorical imperative, as defined by Immanuel Kant. Kant took the imperative to be a dictate of pure reason, in its practical aspect. is added to the mix. America's founders knew that a republican democracy could only thrive when it was not just a democracy of personal preference, but also a democracy of conscience. Educational researchers have learned that for a school system to thrive it must have a collective moral purpose. To me these parallels are incredibly reassuring. Leadership that matters is leadership that is sustained. Sustaining leadership requires distributing it. Leaders are created through the purposeful action of listening to others while discovering higher "truths." The most powerful act of leadership may be to give it away to others. The mythic myth·i·cal also myth·ic adj. 1. Of or existing in myth: the mythical unicorn. 2. Imaginary; fictitious. 3. wisdom of America's founders is supported by educational research on leadership. A wonderful legacy Heifetz and Linsky tell us that "the problems that require leadership are those that the experts cannot solve." No wonder leadership matters. What a wonder that America's founders provide such a legacy of how to lead. Makes me proud to be both an American and a school leader. George Manthey is a professional learning executive for ACSA ACSA Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture ACSA Association of California School Administrators ACSA Airports Company South Africa ACSA Apple Certified System Administrator ACSA Australian Curriculum Studies Association . |
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