Friday Feature: 13 Questions: Are You a Leader or a Follower?

earlychildtrainingcenter.com

Early on in my first job as a school counselor, a high school principal I greatly admired asked me if I'd ever considered becoming a principal.

I laughed out loud. No, I told him. Not even once.

I didn't want to supervise adults. I wanted to teach the kids. And I still feel that way.

But over the years, I've come to learn that it's possible to be a leader without actually being the person in charge. And it's possible to be the person in charge, but not be a leader. I've worked for both kinds of people, and the best leaders are those who, in the words of another principal I admire, "let their wild horses run."

Those two principals were very, very different, but they had one thing in common, and it was the reason I enjoyed being a part of their staffs. They didn't believe in micromanaging. They wanted to nurture, to assist, to facilitate. They knew when to step in and when to back off.

How about you? Based on the traits described in this article, are you a leader or a follower?

Which do you aspire to be?