Leaders are in tune with themselves and the society at large and use emotional and social intelligence skills to renew themselves, create positive relationships, and foster a healthy, vibrant environment to engage others toward a common goal.
Educating a new generation of leaders is essential to accelerate global social progress. Leadership is the capacity to motivate others to accept ideas, values and actions necessary for the advancement of society and fulfillment of human aspirations at the local, national and international level.
Characteristics of Leaders
- Inspiration: Leadership is about influence, guidance, and support, not control. Great leaders inspire and then get out of the way.
- Contextualize: Great leaders respond to each challenge with a fresh eye.
- Continuous Learning: Curiosity and an insatiable desire to always do better is the mark of great leaders. Never satisfied with the status quo, they welcome new knowledge and fresh challenges.
- Resonance: Resonance is a powerful ability to drive emotions in a positive direction to get results. Resonant leaders are in tune with themselves and the society at large and use emotional and social intelligence skills to renew themselves, create positive relationships, and foster a healthy, vibrant environment to engage others toward a common goal. They do this through mindfulness, hope and compassion.
- Values: Great leaders possess high values like integrity, kindness, respect and humility. Ignorance and arrogance are leadership killers.
- Emotional Intelligence: Great leaders understand empathy, and have the ability to read people’s (sometimes unconscious, often unstated) needs and desires.
Fostering Leadership in Education
- Providing learners with the opportunity to develop collaboratively and individually.
- Students are motivated by goals which they find personally compelling as well as challenging. The instructor can create leaders by helping the learner discover his full potentials and set directions by encouraging him to channel his energy in the right direction.
- Empowering learners to make significant decisions is a key goal for leaders.
- Awaken the student’s intrinsic commitment and motivation.
Further Reading
- Annie McKee, “Resonant Leadership,” Teleos Leadership Institute
- How Leadership Influences Student Learning The Wallace Foundation
- Michael Fullan, “Leading in a Culture of Change” ERIC
- Meghan M. Biro, “Leadership Is About Emotion” Forbes 15 December, 2013
- Resonant Leadership” Teleos Leadership Institute