People Focussed Leadership

New beginning…. New Role…. New Chapter….. New Perspective

I remember the time when I was just a teacher (I am still now), just like most teachers, I anticipated anxiously as to what will be my form class, the subject classes that I will be teaching, which committees will I be in and importantly who is my reporting officer (PD) for the year.

However, this year it is different and definitely a new role and new beginning for me as a Head of Science. I asked myself the following question …..Where do I start? What is my key focus as a leader or head of the department? One thing that I find important is caring for people and connecting with them. They called this People Focused Leadership style.

I believe that people are intrinsically motivated to do their best. However, this can sometimes be suppressed by pressures, old habits and fear of the unknown. As a leader cum people developer, one of my roles is to create a department which enable teachers to achieve their fullest potential.
I started off with questions for the teachers to ponder during the holiday. The idea was to get teachers to do self reflection for the year 2010 on what has worked and what has not in the classroom teaching and importantly their professional growth as teachers.

Below are questions that I had posted for the teachers to ponder during the holiday:

• How have your beliefs about learning and pedagogy changed over the years?
• What minor and/or major changes can you make to your teaching in order to directly increase your students' engagement?
• Are there any aspects of the profession that you are ignoring out of fear of change or lack of knowledge? (i.e. technology, Inquiry based learning, AFL, etc)
• What can you do to make your teaching more fun while adding to your students' learning and enjoyment?
• What can you do to be more proactive in your professional development?
• What resentments do your need to resolve in order to move forward more optimistically and with a fresh mind?

I realised that the mistake that I made was not asking them to pen down their thoughts. It would be good if I can consolidate the answers and understand the individual teachers need and strength. However, I find that the above questions are something they can discuss with their People Developer (PD) during the first work review session as I would be doing with the teachers under my charge.

That brings to my attention about getting connected with the teachers. If people focussed is the leadership style that I want to adopt , than it important that i know their strength, their profile and making them involved in decision making.

• Knowing their strength - I need to know the talent and abilities of those in my department, what they are good at. There may be a hidden talent that has not surfaced and by knowing and taking time to know about them enables me to position them well.

• Knowing about them – Guilty, Guilty, Guilty !!!! As leaders we tend to focus so much about their works but not to learn about their life outside their works. What do they do for fun & leisure? What are their families like? Understanding their background can build a great level of relationship.

• Encourages open thinking – I need teachers to open their mind and participate in decision making. It is about them taking ownership and getting them involved in planning.

My first plan was to work with the coordinators. I need to groom the coordinators to be leaders of their units. I need to lead and inspires my coordinators, to be the driving force to lead other teachers moving towards achieving better performance for the department. Let me quote (cannot recall where I read) that an effective leader of leaders makes a difference that improves individual performance and ultimately organizational outcomes. However, I am a bit apprehensive and sceptical if that expectation was too much for them. Definitely, they cannot the sail the boat on their own, they need support and guidance along the way.

Looking above, Im wonder if the strategies work. Wonder if I make the right move.....wonder if i am able to see the fruits of my labour.......