I have been thinking a lot about leadership this term and what it actually means. Our newly elected Major Officials were lucky enough to spend a whole day thinking about exactly that – what does leadership look like in a modern world?
To me leadership has never been about power and authority, it is about positive social influence – I know what my own leadership is not, but do I really understand what it does look like?
One very important part of leadership for me, possibly the most important part, is authenticity. This week I was at the annual conference for The Society of Heads. This is an organisation that some years ago I Chaired and it was certainly a year that tested my leadership (some bright spark suggested that the collective noun for Heads is a ‘Swelling’, but I digress). One of the presentations looked at ethical leadership and I was really very pleased to see the ethical element.
As I said at the start leadership is about positive social influence and I think it important that we all, and in particular our young people, understand that we are all leaders. One does not need a position of responsibility to be a leader. We can all exert social influence for the good in our daily lives. The result of this thinking is that in future we will not confine leadership training for those elected to positions of responsibility. We will find a way to engage with all of our children about the true meaning of leadership and how we can all lead to a more just and kind society.
