I recently attended a professional development taken by Andy Hargreaves on the topic Uplifting Leadership. Uplift is the force that raises our performance, spirits and community. At a personal level, uplift impacts our feelings and emotions. We feel a sense of uplift as we serve others and they in turn experience uplift. Andy Hargreaves attributes six factors to uplifting leadership. In this post I’ve outlined these six factors and applied them to student leadership in schools.
Uplifting leadership is not about becoming number one or wiping out others in your field of competition. It isn’t driven by performance data and is unlikely to involve following a path taken by others. Uplifting leadership is also not about short term results in a race to the top. Rather uplifting leadership combines six factors to achieve improbable success. Each of the factors have in built tension or conflict. Uplifting leadership is a journey or a quest. To quote Stain Thomas Aquinas ‘If the highest aim of the captain were to preserve his ship, he would keep it in port forever’. Uplift in action necessitates a voyage into unchartered waters and a sense of adventure.
Six Factors
- Dreaming with Determination: The leadership journey starts with a compelling dream that resonates with your identity. This dream is a courageous quest that may be difficult to achieve. In order to overcome setbacks it is critical to persist on achieving your dream through determination.
- Creativity and Counter-flow: Creativity is the capacity to generate new ideas by using imagination. Counter-flow may involve a change of direction that is against the mainstream. Engaging with resistance should be expected in effective leadership. Creativity and counter-flow turns weaknesses into triumphs, changes what isn’t succeeding and engages with disciplined innovation.
- Collaborating with Competition: At first this concept can seem counterintuitive, however both truths can coexist. As we collaborate with competitors we seek mutual advantage, a higher common purpose, friendly rivalry and greater innovation.
- Pushing and Pulling: Teams require push to challenge and stretch. Teams also require pull to draw people together.To push is to apply pressure to achieve results, this can be necessary to accomplish more and raise performance. To pull is to inspire and enthuse others through intrinsic motivations to achieve mutual goals.
- Measuring with Meaning: It is critical to use extensive data to monitor and manage progress. However, this data must be interpreted intelligently in order to prove valuable insight and meaning. Data should be broad, balanced, accurate, fair, timely and seek to measure what people value.
- Sustainable Success: Whilst it is relatively simple to instigate change, it is far more complex to keep this change going in the future. Sustainability is often treated as an afterthought, rather than planned at the outset. To obtain sustainable success it is important to find and fix short-term problems then predict and prevent long-term challenges.
Student Leadership
This week the Year 5 students at Emanuel School have been applying for 2016 leadership positions. The students were given the opportunity to nominate five leadership roles and answer the question: What qualities do you possess that will assist you in becoming a good leader? I wonder if the students could apply Andy Heargreaves’ six qualities of uplifting leadership as they approach leadership roles next year.
- Dreaming with Determination:
- What initiatives would you like to start in your new role?
- How could your ideas and ambitions really transform your area of responsibility?
- Creativity and Counter-flow:
- What creative ideas do you have for your leadership role?
- What might be some obstacles that you’d need to overcome?
- Collaboration with Competition:
- What leadership teams could you work with to achieve a higher goal?
- How could you collaborate with the Emanuel community or students at other schools?
- Pushing and Pulling:
- How will you inspire the students that you lead and help them see your vision? (pull)
- When will you need to develop an action plan and push to make it happen? (push)
- Measuring with Meaning:
- How will you obtain feedback from your peers on your leadership and initiatives?
- What indicators will help you recognise success?
- Sustainable Success:
- What legacy do you want to pass on to future student leaders?
- How can plan for your initiates continue with future student leaders?
- Can you train up others to take your leadership role in the future?
Question for you: How do you create uplift in your leadership? Can you see these six factors applied to student leadership in your school?
