Although I have not had the opportunity to work with many IT leaders in my career as a teacher, I have worked with many talented individuals that were involved in educational leadership. One such individual is Rob, the principal of my school. Rob has many talents and abilities that assist him in leading, but the one characteristic that is most outstanding is his communication skills. Communication is a skill that is necessary for a leader of any type.
Communication is much more than words that are heard or read. A leader must carefully choose the method of their communication. It should be consistent with their role and their philosophy within that role. Just as a grade 4 teacher encouraging their students to cursive write should not print instructions on a whiteboard (or Smartboard), an educational leader should not communicate in a way that is inconsistent with their philosophy. One of Rob’s outcomes for our school was to encourage the use of inquiry based learning, which Rob helped the staff achieve by providing engaging activities to help us understand that particular model of education. Also, with regards to IT leadership, the International Society for Technology in Education [ISTE] published a technology leadership standard in 2009 that said that IT leaders should use “technology resources to improve and enhance their productivity and professional practice.” (Technology Leadership Standards, Section TL-V) This means that IT leaders use technology to communicate messages and this in turn communicates uses for technology and encourage others to use it as well.
Rob also realizes that communication is more than conveying ideas to others, but also includes listening to what others have to say. Rob makes a consistent effort to listen to the people he works with. Carey (2005) identifies this as a quality that belongs to the “best leaders”. Rob is very intentional in gathering communications from various groups (students, staff, school board, parents, etc.) which allows him to have a more holistic view of his school. It is also important for an IT leader to be aware of the ideas and perceptions that are prevalent amongst the groups that are connected (directly or indirectly) to the technology that they are responsible for.
Although many leaders have countless good ideas, collaboration with others is often necessary to assist in making good decisions and setting appropriate goals. This collaboration can only be accomplished through communication. Rob’s communication skills allow him to tackle difficult problems by communicating with others involved and also allow him to gain feedback on decisions that he previously made. This allows for a group to take ownership of a school (or any institution) instead of one very motivated individual. Rob, as any other leader, also facilitates collaboration between different groups (ex. teaching staff and school board) through good use of communication.
Hollingsworth et al. (2004) recognizes communication as one of eight “knowledge, skills and attributes (KSAs) that are expected of District IT Leaders in Alberta” (p 24) and that 97% of leaders involved in their study identified communication to be a key attribute for an IT leader. Without communication skills, a person will not have anybody or anything to lead, but with communication skills, a person is able to lead a group of people toward a common goal. Rob’s communication has helped our school be a place where everybody is able and encouraged to work toward a common outcome of educating tomorrow’s leaders.
References
Carey, D. (2005) Some Reflections on Leadership. CIO Canada. November 13(11) p. 6.
Hollingsworth, M., Mrazek, R., Steed, M., Spence, G., Balding, P., Percevault, J. (2004). Information Technology Leadership in Education: An Alberta Needs Assessment. An Alberta Learning funded research project. pp. 1-52. Retrieved April 28, 2009 from http://people.uleth.ca/~m.hollingsworth/itl/itleadership.htm
International Society For Technology in Education (2009). Technology Leadership Standards. Retrieved June 20, 2009 from http://www.iste.org/Content/NavigationMenu/NETS/ForTechnologyFacilitatorsandLeaders/Technology_Leadership_Standards.htm
