RickScheibner.net

05 Feb, 2007

Leadership Meme

Posted by: Rick In: Uncategorized

Kimberly Moritz recently tagged me for a school leadership meme.  The topic is:  “What are seven qualities we don’t know about you that help you be a leader?“  Without further ado, here goes:

  1. Analytical:  Perhaps to a fault.  I really don’t like to put something in place unless I’ve studied it from every possible angle.  I love numbers.  And don’t forget the graphs.
  2. Communication:  I like to think I’m able to present those “brutal facts” to people who need it the most, and do it in a business-like but non-threatening manner.
  3. Collaboration:  I love it when a project is born out of the efforts of more than one person. 
  4. Creativity:  Let’s look at the problem from a different angle so we can find a solution that we haven’t thought of yet. Lay all of your ideas out on the table, even the crazy ones.
  5. Equality:  I don’t care if you’re a paraprofessional, a teacher, a specialist, a custodian, or an administrator.  If you work at our school, we’re all on equal footing in terms of our responsibilities to our students, families, and community.  It’s a bit of a cliché, but we’re all stakeholders in this community we call education. 
  6. Tech savvy:  Well, savvy enough to put something like this together anyway. 
  7. Balance:  I believe that it is my role as a father and my approach to parenthood that makes me who I am as an educator.  Take away one job, and the other is greatly diminished.

Seven people (administrators, school leaders, and other edu-bloggers) I’m tagging for this:

13 Responses to "Leadership Meme"

1 | Miguel Guhlin

February 5th, 2007 at 9:39 pm

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Great! Thanks for sharing this…actually, I started the meme but haven’t “done it” yet. Maybe I’ll go last!

Miguel

2 | brian

February 5th, 2007 at 10:39 pm

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Rick,
Can you explain to me how you “tag” someone. I am unsure of this process but it sounds interesting.
Brian

3 | Rick

February 5th, 2007 at 10:46 pm

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Miguel–D-ohh! Sorry, I thought you’d done it. I’ll fix that in the post.

Brian–All you do is just tell somebody they’re tagged, and then provide the link to their site like I did with you and the other people. Hopefully, they’re paying attention to their inbound links, and they can respond in kind. You can see those inbound links on your Dashboard page in WordPress.

4 | brian saxton

February 5th, 2007 at 10:51 pm

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Rick,
I was perusing your 7 and it appears you are going to graduate at the head of your class. You seem to have hit on 7 important points that are keys to being a quality administrator.

I particularly enjoy #7: Balance: I think that this is something many adminstrators lose sight of. #2 Communication: Very important to be able to present those brutal facts in a non threatining way. and lastly #5 Equality: Making sure everyone knows they are all of equal value will carry you a long way in adminstration.
Great Job!!
Brian Saxton

5 | Randy Rodgers

February 6th, 2007 at 8:07 am

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My first tag! I’m in Miguel’s session this afternoon at TCEA, so I’ll have to be sure to bring this up! I’ll work on mine.

6 | Teaching Better With Web 2.0 » Tagged! Leadership Meme

February 6th, 2007 at 8:25 am

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[...] I’ve been tagged, at last–now I feel like a real part of a community!  Rich Scheibner tagged me as part of the Leadership Meme. The discussion topic is “What are seven qualities we don’t know about you that help you be a leader?” Self-assessment–scary! Let’s see… [...]

7 | brian saxton

February 6th, 2007 at 10:12 pm

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Rick,
In all my hurry I forgot to tell you thanks for tagging me. As Randy stated, I too feel part of the community. I am excited to give my 7. Unfortunatley Edublogs is down so hopefully tomorrow.

Brian

8 | Todd

February 6th, 2007 at 11:10 pm

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This is my first tag. I’ve looked on at memes in envy for too long. Now, I feel all warm and fuzzy inside. I’ll have to get rolling on this. Thanks, Rick.

9 | Rick

February 7th, 2007 at 5:39 am

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Glad this was so well received. I look forward to reading all of yours!

10 | Leadership Tag: Thoughts On Teaching

February 7th, 2007 at 11:14 am

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[...] After just about 2 years of blogging, I finally got hit with a meme. Rick Scheibner threw this my way: “What are seven qualities we don’t know about you that help you be a leader?” Yikes… Those that actually know me, if I’m full of it, call me on it. I’d do the same to you. I’ll probably want to change this as soon as I click “Publish,” but here goes: [...]

11 | Steve Sokoloski

February 10th, 2007 at 8:17 pm

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I am flattered to have been tagged by Rick Schrieber for a Leadership Meme – “What are seven qualities we don’t know about you that help you be a leader?“ And Rick sorry for the delay in posting, it was a busy week and I did not catch it until the weekend.

I do not know about this. There are clearly days when I do not think that I lead much, or lead well, but here goes:

1. The Ability to Think Ahead: It is important to me to understand what might be coming around the next corner, get there first, try to understand it and help people get there.

2. The Ability to Plan Well: Change comes. Trying to make change happen in meaningful supported chunks requires a plan that is visible, logical, and sustatined. Small chunks over time are better than big splashes.

3. I Try Not to Chase: I have been in teaching for 26 years. It is sometimes hard to cut through the clutter and the pendulum swings in our field. And some of it comes around and around in different clothes. I go back to the point where Seymour Paperet said that Logo would change the world and we had little kids crawling around the classroom floor with green tablecloths on their back pretending to be Turtles. And, it was interesting to see Negroponte couch his One Laptop Per Child rationale in Paperet’s thinking. It is hard to separate the wheat from the chaff. Sometimes a leader’s job is to find the really important nuggets, and know when they have, but it is hard.

4. I Try To Be Supportive of People Where They Are: Not everyone you lead will be a high flyer. Not everyone you lead will be the best in the brightest. Sometimes you need to figure out where they are, and what for them is the next step. Make that next step easy, but help them take it.

5. Kids First, Always(1): When faced with conflicting decisions and options you will never go wrong if the analysis is what’s best for the kids, or in the worst cases what has the least impact on kids.

6. Kids First Always (2): Never forget your smile and good morning may be the beginning of the only part of that child’s day that is predictable, safe, and supportive.

7. Understand and Know Your Community: You are a part of the fabric that binds and sustains your community. Know your kids, know their families. A principal I admire makes it a point to know every child, and every parent by their first name. He can engage every single one of his parents with something he knows about their life their family. He creates community by understanding community. Also, what goes in the community I work in, won’t work in the town I live in or vice versa.

12 | Tagged » Life In The Fast Lane

February 10th, 2007 at 8:18 pm

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[...] I am flattered to have been tagged by Rick Schrieber for a Leadership Meme – “What are seven qualities we don’t know about you that help you be a leader?“ [...]

13 | Stephen

February 14th, 2007 at 7:39 pm

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Hey Rick…sorry I haven’t done this yet. It’s on my list!!

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  • Damian: Congratulations, Rick! I, too, recently changed positions after 8 years in my previous one, so you and I will probably be going through similar parts
  • Stephen Rahn: This is great news! I look forward to following your new adventures.
  • Abi: I read your evernote series of blogs especially the wish list . I always felt that if the notes had a highlight feature it would be more great. S

About Me

I am employed as a counselor in the Hermiston (Oregon) School District, and have just completed the requirements to become a school administrator. The views and opinions expressed by me on this website are my own and not necessarily that of my employer.

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