Top 5 Qualities People I Look Up To Have In Common: My Post For #leadershipday14

Today is Leadership Day. Thanks to Scott McLeod for starting this years ago. Every year I look forward to reading posts from today. I usually don’t write a post bc I don’t always feel like a leader, but leadership, especially Digital Leadership, has been on my mind lately, I figured I’d write about others that influence me.

No matter what, there are people in our life we ‘follow.’ Those people we look at as leaders. Leaders I really look up to seem to have the same qualities. So since I always think of Leadership Day as a throw back because I can remember reading posts years ago, I’m going retro and making one of my lists.

Top 5 Qualities People I Look Up To Have In Common (AKA How To Be an Awesome Ditgital Leader)

5. They focus on learning not products.
I love hearing about the newest technologies as much as the next person. But blogs that focus on mostly products lose something with me. Blogs and people who draw me in are those who focus on the roots of education. Good pedagogy, big thinking, and believing in their students. Those are the difference makers. They may not get as many blog views as others talking about products, but those make lasting impressions as technology changes.

4. They share what not with whom.
I know, I know, my last blog post was on this, but it’s so important. People who share what they are learning at conferences or through conversations are really making such an impact on me. Much more than those just posting who they hung out with or talked to on Voxer. What’s the use of learning if not sharing. I’m noticing that I’m picking up a whole new PLN now this has become a focus of mine. I’m searching out for people posting their learning and have met some pretty amazing people. Leaders share their learning.

3. They question instead of tell.
Some of the blog posts that have really stuck with me this year have been more of questioning and searching for answers than telling me what I need to be doing. It’s like in the classroom, we want to ask questions to get our students to start asking their own. This has been great launching pad for some of my thoughts this year.

2. Reach out beyond their niche.
I’ve always made a big point of not just following people like me. Follow people who have different beliefs, cultures, and most importantly other professions. Don’t just follow them, make them part of your PLN. I learn and connect so much from people from outside education. They truly push my thinking. I also get to show them what awesome things that are going on in education. Don’t write someone off because they are in marketing or IT, they will influence you more than you will ever know. They could’ve written me off as ‘just a teacher’ but invited me into their world and I’ve learned so much.

1. They admit when they make mistakes and have solutions.
I have enjoyed a lot of posts this year where people have admitted failure and then offered solutions or talked about what they did to fix it. It takes so much strength to admit you were wrong, but it takes more strength to reflect on that failure and do something positive with it. I don’t know about you, but I love having someone making the mistakes before me so I don’t have to.

These are just five. I could probably come up with ten but no one wants to read all of that. But those who have really made an impact on me over last year hit all five of these. I hope one day I will have a majority of these qualities. Thanks to those who have given me something to strive for!