Using John Maxwell's Leadership Landmines as Teacher Leaders

 Welcome to another week friends! Let's focus in on leadership this week, and reach beyond our realm of teaching by taking some great advice from a leader who always makes an impact on others who lead, and/or aspire to lead... John Maxwell. 

As I scrolled through the episode selections I found one labeled "Leadership Landmines." Now, if you’re not familiar with the podcast, I highly recommend it because John Maxwell focuses on leadership for all, not just educators, but everything he discusses is relevant to what we do- no matter where we are in our leadership journey. 

All leaders go through challenges- he terms these “leadership landmines.” To encourage you to listen and generate suspense, I will refrain from summarizing the first four. The fifth and final one, poor timing, stood out to me the most because timing for everything in education is crucial. As teacher leaders we are always racing against the clock, which can often lead to different roadblocks, yet sometimes victories. John Maxwell classified these as the following: the wrong action at the wrong time = disaster, the wrong action at the right time = a mistake, the right action at the wrong time = resistance, and the right action at the right time = success. Which one(s) are you experiencing as a leader? At some point I feel we have experienced all of them, and we probably have spent the most "time" in making mistakes, or having resistance. The point is to learn from the mistakes, or take a disaster and see how we can start again with a fresh perspective. It’s almost impossible to experience the positive timing without “loosing time” though failures. With time and experience, we learn lessons how to adjust quickly and make fewer mistakes. 

Resistance is probably the most challenging because we are depending on others to "buy in" to ideas or change which can be hard. John Maxwell also brings in another idea here which I loved; the idea of the "three seasons of timing" which are people change when they are hurt enough so they have to, when they learn enough so they want to, or when they receive enough they are able to. As leaders in education, we have to think, how can we include others to help move away from resistance? Teacher leaders often have to be in the middle of other teachers and administrators and survey their audience to see what "season" other teachers are in, and this in fact can be different from teacher to teacher. Managing this is probably equally or more difficult than managing a classroom. Teacher leaders can acknowledge where everyone is on their journey, and help them through their timing as individuals, which can make a positive collective impact.

It’s important to embrace the times that try us the most to rise up so we can be better versions of ourselves, as well as support others. Combining a “fail forward” and servant leadership mindset will help us spend more time making the right actions at the right time, and less time in resistance. What are some things you can do to help yourself as a teacher leader to improve your timing and make a positive impact on our field for other teachers? This is your chance to start the process, let’s embrace it together!

Final thoughts- Keep reminding yourself you are a leader, and you can make a difference. Keep navigating the timing categories, and learn from the disasters, mistakes, and resistance. Keep in mind that resistance can be the most challenging, but it's the most rewarding when you help others overcome their fear to change. Keep leading others through the "seasons of timing" and watch others bloom because of your leadership. Finally, keep in mind that great leaders will experience both success and failures, and it's the failures that truly improve our leadership and make us be better for ourselves and others. 

I will be back in about two weeks friends- I will be attending conferences and professional development. I can't wait to share all that I've learned with you!