My undergraduate degree was in English and Secondary Education but the teaching market imploded when I was ready to start my career. I learned so much from my education mentors, especially during my student teaching phase. Most of all, I gained a sense of who I was and what my unique strengths were in the classroom, particularly while I engaged the students. I understood that to connect with the kids in a meaningful way, I needed to be confident and at the same time be respectful of all the different opinions being offered. Those crucial lessons would stay with me and empower me to lead in my profession today in a business environment. Because our teachers are the first role models for many of us, they must be strong leaders with exemplary leadership skills and here’s why.
Teachers Instill In Us Respect For Others
For many of us, our teachers in grade school taught us to listen to the other children in the classroom. They showed us that if we just give others a chance we will learn so much from them. Everybody is worthy of respect and that means not putting others down and giving them their fair time to share their perspectives.
Teachers Help Us To Understand Ourselves
It never dawned on me that being a capable facilitator was an important skill in any profession. During my student teaching experience, my mentor teacher helped me see how natural teaching and interacting with students was for me. It was the first time I even thought about my intuitive styles and strengths.
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What strength has a teacher helped you to see?
Teachers Open Our Minds And Hearts
Many of us had the opportunity to learn something new, perhaps even beyond our frame of reference from a teacher. When teachers expand our thinking, we grow and try new things. Teachers who are able to share the significance of having empathy towards others empower us to lead in both our professional and personal lives.
Teachers Demonstrate How To Communicate
A skilled teacher leads when they model how to speak and listen in their classroom. They do this by:
- Asking great questions that don’t just require a yes or no answer
- Gently reaching out to someone who has trouble speaking up or is a bit introverted
- Encouraging clear, open and direct language
- Rewarding sharing of ideas and suggestions
- Creating a safe environment to speak personally and authentically
[Tweet “Teachers lead when they model clear and open communication.”]
Teachers Encourage Risk Taking
One of the greatest lessons teachers can empower in us is to make mistakes and face failure. It is only when we learn to bounce back from a fall or admit to a misstep, that we can see risk and imperfection as part of our everyday routines. These mistakes are what ultimately can lead to extraordinary innovation. We take the problem solving skills we learn in school to our careers and if we were taught to stretch and take risks, we will be capable leaders and thinkers.
How have the teachers in your life helped you in your leadership today?
Excellent Post Terri! What a great reminder about all the things that excellent teachers do. I have had some amazing teachers in my life that were great mentors. The awesome teachers in my life made me really think for myself, helped me shape my values and express them. They also helped challenge me to think big and act big! Love this… And a great reminder that we are teachers. What do WE want others to get from us?
Teaching and leading go together and when teachers empower us to be the best thinkers and problem solvers, they are cultivating future leaders.
You are so blessed to have met such wonderful teachers during your education. It sounds like they helped you identify your extraordinary gifts and ways to share them. Helping our teachers be strong leaders will help develop caring citizens with the ability to face fear and take risks.
Thanks Cynthia!
Great post Terri! You & I share 2 undergrad majors. My 3rd was Sociology. Loved being a teacher. Enjoyed your analysis here.
Great minds think and plan alike, Joy! I can definitely see all your education, English and sociology skills present in your outstanding work in image design today!
I too loved teaching and I am so grateful that I had the opportunity to teach. Transferring my teaching skills into corporate leadership training was such a natural. Teaching is truly a noble profession and coupled with my MBA I feel very empowered.
Thanks Joy and keep sharing those magnificent insights with us!
Excellent. Teachers are some of the very first leadership role models our children have. That’s a tremendous responsibility. Students are mostly learning from behaviors. The best teachers know this and don’t rely on position, but instead on influence.
Your tribe may enjoy Alli and my Parent’s Guide to Leadership. It’s got some exercises that are easily used in the classroom as well. http://letsgrowleaders.com/publications/parents-guide-to-leadership/
I agree Karin that teachers have a huge responsibility and that is why mastering leadership skills that can help students grow is essential. A great starting point for teachers is to think about how and where they influence others and then to see how they can connect more successfully with students. Children’s minds are a blank slate and that means they come with little judgement or assumptions. It’s a perfect time to cultivate openness and risk taking.
Thanks Karin for your great insights and sharing your and Alli Polin’s Parent’s guide!
Love this, Terri!
Teachers are underappreciated heroes in today’s world. Their influence on the children they teach cannot be over emphasized.
If they encourage their students to have a growth mindset, this tool will take them far in life. Unfortunately, our education system is built almost entirely around a fixed mindset, wherein you are either smart or not…you either get good grades by memorizing or not…
Thanks for this beautiful post as a reminder of how important teachers are! And that we all need to be teachers in some form or another…
Yes LaRae, teachers are under appreciated heroes! They also are role models for our children and can make an even bigger difference by honing in on their leadership skills and learning new ones too. I really believe that teachers who are great leaders know how to help students recognize their strengths and blind spots in a supportive way. They also can help kids become clearer and more influential communicators by just learning the best strategies to impart those skills.
Thanks LaRae for your support!
Really fantastic, Terri! Reminds me of my student teaching experience and why I made the move into adult learning.
Teachers really can be role models for patience too… giving people the space to figure things out instead of demanding a correct response in an instant.
Interestingly, my son’s classroom is connected to another classroom at school and early in the year he came home and said his teacher never yells but the teacher in the other classroom yells all the time but they kids still don’t listen. There are much better ways to lead than yelling… glad is seeing that in motion.
Thanks, Terri!
Thanks for sharing that great story of the teacher who yells. The way teachers communicate is a leadership skill as well and sometimes they don’t realize how raising their voices to yelling can cause students to ignore them. By reflecting on how we behave when we become frustrated can empower teachers to transform into more influential communicators.
There are so many ways for teachers to grow into fantastic leaders once they are exposed to doing things differently.
Thanks Alli and I hope you are enjoying your visit back home!