Layla’s response can be found here:\u00a0https:\/\/create.twu.ca\/layla11\/2018\/10\/26\/response-to-sallys-the-three-questions\/<\/p>\n
Thank you for your generous words in responding to my post, Layla.\u00a0 The information for strategic leadership is so applicable in many situations!\u00a0 I believe developing a mindset for strategic thinking is done through daily decision choices when practicing the competencies described by Hughes, Beatty, and Dinwoodie (2014) as scanning, visioning, reframing, making common sense, and systems thinking (p. 72).\u00a0 We work with core competencies and curricular competencies in our classrooms daily so the understanding of practicing competencies until they are a natural way of doing things is easy to understand.\u00a0 If we want strong leaders in our organizations and our communities, shouldn\u2019t we begin teaching strategic thinking skills to our students?\u00a0 Preparing children to be strong members in society is part of our educational mandate in British Columbia (BC, 2018).\u00a0 As you said, Layla, \u201cleadership stems from our daily life\u201d (Zhang, 2018, para. 1).<\/p>\n
There is such a natural fit between children and servant leadership which was a delightful discovery when I took my first courses at TWU.\u00a0 My premise is to instill transformational servant leadership foundational skills in my students so that the foundation of this approach toward people becomes part of their everyday thinking when they are making their own decisions. Why waste time?\u00a0 Servant leadership includes such life skills as listening, empathy, stewardship, commitment to the growth of people, and building community (Northouse, 2013, pp. 221-223).\u00a0 These are the same character traits we want in our classrooms and schools as we train our peer leaders; it seems appropriate to teach them directly to children.\u00a0 Make the unconscious conscious to facilitate active learning of life-long skills (Lepsinger, 2010, p. 59).<\/p>\n
\u201cTrain a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it\u201d (Proverbs 22:6, NIV).<\/p>\n
References<\/p>\n
BC New Curriculum. (2018). Career education. Retrieved October 29, 2018 from https:\/\/curriculum.gov.bc.ca\/curriculum\/career-education<\/a><\/p>\n Hughes, R., Beatty, K., and Dinwoodie, D. (2014). Becoming a strategic leader: Your role in your organization\u2019s enduring success. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.<\/p>\n Lepsinger, R. (2010). Closing the execution gap: How great leaders and their companies get results.<\/em>\u00a0 San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.<\/p>\n