Tuesday, December 01, 2009

Showing your Level 5 Ed Leadership as a MAD Principal


Like it or not, Web 3.0 world has crept into every part of job descriptions and hiring of school leaders. Today's school leaders can approach innovation in this world of almost instant awareness through building a brand for their school, and at the same time build a genuine brand for themselves that distinguishes their professional value.

Jim Collins' Level 5 Leadership work fits into my view of MAD AVE Princples and my search for MAD Principals who want to introduce the ideas of branding into the conversation of school achievement and excellence.
A Level 5 leader knows meaningful organizational change on his/her leadership journey is accomplished by bringing out the best in others. A leader who takes on branding in education wants to poke at the human essence of what an organization is about and what that organization delivers in its brand promise. In fact, any principal who becomes MAD for branding possesses the capacity to be a level 5 leader. The experience of building a brand can be the training ground for level 5 leadership whose hallmark is the creativity and innovation that takes an organization from good enough to great.

Ok, some days educational managers feel like they have to don the superman or superwoman cape to face the challenges of leading a modern school, whose possibilities seem boundless due to 3.0. However, on the educational branding front, the cape...or the mantle can and should be shared.

Yes, it is the leader's vision, the leading from the front, that creates the desire for a brand that is unique and meaningful. Yet, to be at Level 5, Collins would expect one " flatten out" the challenge, and share the development of the brand. This separates the Level 4 Leader from the Level 5 Superman or Superwoman. Educational Branding development works best when the effort is launched horizontally across the organization. Leaders who draw on the talents of the many make the route from Planing the Brand to Living the Brand easier, more genuine and faster to achieve.

So start the process to being a Level 5 leader, by doing your homework. Find content you can share that can help you grow a team. Start looking to the MAD world of MAD AVE by reading and researching. Hubspot, social media today can help you on the roadthrough inspiring content that leads to confidently thinking about how 3.0, branding, and social media are a new part of your job description as a Level 5 MAD Principal on the BRANDING journey.

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