How Do You Lead?

(courtesy linkedin.com)

Today begins an amazing week-long opportunity for professional growth through the Ohio Innovative Environments Conference. If you are an educator within driving distance, you should be here.

This is a steal. An absolute gift. An amazing schedule that covers every aspect of what we do for our school communities. There are keynotes, breakout sessions and everything in-between. There are conversations about how we teach, how we lead, the work we do with our students, our colleagues and our communities. Need fresh ideas, wanting a greater understanding of Blended Learning or looking for some instructional technology support? This is the place to be.

This morning we are listening to Paul Sloane. As the author of the The Innovative Leader, he has empowered us to think about our way of teaching and leading by having us explore our assumptions in the work you do. Maybe you have studied some of his work on Lateral Thinking. Through his examples and his sharing of life experiences, we have reflected on the daily decisions we make and the differences between us. Mr. Sloane goes into great depth in regards to both and has challenged me to consider other ways to accomplish daily leadership tasks. He offers some enlightening insights to how we lead and how get others to follow us on our journey.

(courtesy of http://www.destination-innovation.com/)

The proof from the work we are doing today is found in the comments left by the teachers and leaders in the audience today via twitter. We are being pushed to think, to be creative and to be committed to improving our way of leading. 

As you think of your week ahead, consider how you are spending your time.  If you are in the area, drop on by. If you are elsewhere, come back tomorrow and read some more takeaways of the great work by our next keynote, Steve Farber, and reflections of the breakout sessions this afternoon.