This year is a leap year as evidenced by today being February 29th. It should also be a leap year for your leadership practices. I know you have heard the saying "Look Before You Leap" a million times. This concept was unsuccessfully drilled in my head throughout a series of leaping adventures growing up where both bones and many household items were broken.
What if we were to flip that saying around during this leap year?
Instead of "Look Before You Leap" we would "Leap Before We Look".
Many people spend so much time looking that they become paralyzed by fear and never leap. We also box ourselves into what people have done before and impose constraints that may not be necessary. We are in need of some big changes in education. Those changes will not be made by people who are afraid to leap.
Many changes are being made TODAY on the shoulders of teachers and administrators that have the courage to allow students to bring their own device, flip the classroom, engage students in service learning, and more. Our students need us to leap today so that they have the tomorrow they deserve.
I firmly believe that you can lead from wherever you are. Leadership is all about having the courage to leap forward knowing that failure is possible.
This is your leap year. What leaps will you make to propel all of us forward?
