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When I took my first education leadership program, I was a junior executive at a large firm. Although I had a great degree from a reputable college, nonetheless I seemed stalled. My performance was pretty good, but I never was able to make the next step and get advancement. I was smart enough to know that, In spite of the fact that I was working for a large and soulless bureaucracy, the responsibility for my stagnation was mine and mine alone. I had heard a lot of good things about education leadership programs, and I asked to be enrolled in one. My boss was quite happy to see my dedication to self-improvement!
When I first got to the leadership development program, I was more than a little bit disappointed. Education leadership seemed a lot like kindergarten. Basically, it involved a lot of self-affirmation along with “life lessons”. Instead of learning how to share, however, we were learning how to tell other people what to do and have them obey us.
Nonetheless, despite the crass simplicity of the education leadership classes, I could definitely see them working. Every day, I felt a little bit stronger and a little bit more self confident. Every day I felt a little bit less inclined to compromise and listen to my opponent's position, and more inclined to take control. Basically, I was half 21st-century intellectual, half Hun Barbarian marauding across the steppes. In short, I was prepared for corporate America.
I won't say that education leadership is for everyone, but it certainly teaches you life lessons that are universal. It is a shame that business leadership programs are only given to business people. All that junk about sharing that people learn in school, about teamwork and such, leaves them unprepared for the real world. Only education leadership classes can show them how things really are!
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