Week 9 - #CathEdSocial - Leadership in Catholic Schools

Week 9 - #CathEdSocial - Leadership in Catholic Schools
This blog is written as part of the NCEA Social Media Influencer Contest.

Leadership in our Catholic schools is should be servant leadership.  Always.  This means putting others’ needs before the leader's needs, being present, being visible, being transparent, and being trustworthy. Effective Catholic school leaders create the conditions where the POSSIBLE becomes PROBABLE.

According to this video, the 10 things that servant leaders are effective in doing include:

1. Transferring love from thoughts and values into action
2. Recognizing our common humanity
3. Using power rightly (right use of power)
4. Undertaking leadership as a spiritual practice (looking at leadership as MINISTRY)
5. Viewing leadership as a journey of faith
6. Building an embodied peaceful presence
7. Valuing community
8. Seeking personal transformation
9. Understanding the universal
10. Lifelong learning

Jesus was the perfect leader. Just like Jesus did, I believe that effective Catholic school leaders build a strong team around them who possess complementing gifts and talents, clearly state their  vision and mission, delegate duties, are not afraid of confrontation, and empower others.  Jesus' approach to leadership was rooted in interdependence. ALL of us are smarter than ANY of us.

Leaders do not create followers; leaders create more leaders.  In Catholic schools, we create evangelizers, we create intentional disciples, and we create more leaders and saints.  Leadership is not about being the best. Leadership is about making everyone else better. In our Catholic schools, this means practicing the virtue of humility and prayerfully leading.  

Leadership is about making others better as a result of your presence and ensuring that impact lasts in your absence.  It is not about being or becoming "the best," but working with others to be united together in mission. In our Catholic schools, this means our Catholic school leaders should foster teams, should work with faculty to learn Google Classroom, and should pray with each other and for each other.

The BEST thing that I have recently read about leadership in Catholic schools is the publication written by the Andrew M. Greeley Center for Catholic Education School of Education Loyola University of Chicago titled, "A Systems Approach for Developing Leadership Paths for Catholic Schools."

I recently found and read this free ebook from leadlikejesus.com entitled When Personalities Clash: Understanding Who God Made You to Be. Basically, it is a tool that has helped me become more self-aware and become more aware of others' personality types and motivations, which are essential skills to have as a Catholic school leader.