The Inclusive Leader: How to Inspire and Empower in Education

I got to sit in on a meeting at a school I consistently substitute at and OMG so many people can learn from this leader. She is positive, she is communicative, and she is clear about being a forever learner. We will call her Athena for the sake of this post.

After walking in awkwardly into a classroom where all of the staff were sitting at the student's desks facing towards Athena, I scurried around her to start setting up the sub plans. She recognized that I walked in with a quick greeting and informed me that they were having a quick conversation about one of the students. I mumbled my hello and made my greatest attempt to be quiet while struggling with the wires and computer. I am a poor millennial when it comes to tech stuff..

But I eventually put the wires down and started to focus on Athena communicate with the staff. Her voice is loud and clear and she is quick to responses. Athena knows her stuff. But I also noticed, she has clear boundaries, she holds herself as the leader, and she creates a positive learning environment for everyone.

I want to break this down to 5 tips you can do to be this type of leader.

Whether it be in your school district, in your classroom, or in your community.

1. Create a growth culture.

A growth culture, as defined my Mary C. Murphy, is an environment that people can thrive and achieve their potential, both individually and together (check out her book by clicking the image). You can do this by encouraging people to throw out all ideas and never see an idea as a bad idea but as a stepping stone to bigger and better things. A leader who can look at her team and see who isn't sharing their opinions and finding ways to help them gain confidence in the room.

This also means celebrating people's failures as there is always something to learn from them and what can we do better. This book goes over countless examples of companies that thrived because of their culture of a growth mindset.

2. Set appropriate boundaries.

This is just an important life lesson, really, but the importance of being clear about your boundaries and following through with them is a must. Athena had moments even in this meeting to confirm her boundaries which she did effortlessly by verbally redirecting everyone to the topic at hand. But this didn't happen overnight. The first few times you state your boundaries with people you need to be clear and confident with your needs and if they don't listen follow through with your next step to reaffirm this boundary. Need more support with boundaries? My two favorite books are Set Boundaries, Find Peace by Nedra Glover Tawwab and The Book of Boundaries by Melissa Urban.

3. Be the positive light.

Athena is the first to make a joke about accidently wearing socks with a bad word on them to her school site. She is always there to dance with a student, redirect them to the bus during a tough transition, and go out of her way to thank a staff member on doing a great job today. A new thing I noticed she started was during their daily morning meeting. Every morning, before the students show up, the staff have a quick meeting to discuss the expectations and plan for the day. I usually attend when I am subbing and this last time they started a new initiative where they celebrated one of their staff members. Athena organized the activity but sent out the form for everyone to fill out and say who they are voting for and why. Which Athena then read aloud while gifting a bag of goodies to the one being recognized that week. HOW FUN!!

4. Model communication.

I know I talk a lot about the importance of modeling for our kids, but as a leader, you need to be the role model. You need to lead by example. If you want to create the environment I described above, YOU also need to celebrate yourself, you need to be wrong and learn from others in front of them, and you need to respect other people's boundaries.

Which means, talking to people they way you want to be talked to. If you are going around yelling and telling people what to do, it is much harder to gain respect from your coworkers. Modeling how to set high expectations, clear boundaries, and navigating tough situations, is learned through practice with each other.

5. Set high expectations.

   
   

   As the leader we all now you can be, set clear expectations with yourself, your staff, and your students. That doesn't mean if they fail to meet them one day you disown them, but it means you can see a challenge and as the strong, confident leader you are, you are going to find a way to support them.

   
   

   How do you know what kind of expectations to set? Brainstorm, QUEEN! I love writing down my goals for the year, the month, or even the day, if needed. When negative self talk starts happening with my coworkers, I start modeling on the spot about a change we can make to better support everyone. My favorite technique? Keep questioning them.

   
   

   Sometimes I will keep asking reflection questions until I get an answer of where their concerns are coming from or what kind of support they need from me, and sometimes, it is just venting. But this technique has helped me connect with my peers, as I can understand where they are coming from, it bonds us and gives them a safe place to communicate honestly.

   
   

   What did I miss? What are your favorite qualities in a good leader?

   
   

   Inclusion starts with you and I just want to help.

   Kayla Co.