Great Teachers are Great Leaders and Vice Versa
Tanmay Vora
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** Great teachers are invariably great leaders because they:
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inspire greatness amongst their students.
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influence them to bring about a positive change in their lives.
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enable students to define their personal vision.
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elevate performances of students.
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see each student as a human being.
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‘listen’ to their students’ unique needs.
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not only teach explicit subjects but also share implicit knowledge and experiences.
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coach, guide and mentor their students.
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provide tools and resources necessary for students to succeed.
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act as ‘change agents’ for the society.
Leaders at any level have to be good teachers because they:
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have to set the right context and direct people’s energies.
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have to establish the mission and vision of the project/initiative/organization.
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have to constantly communicate with people for right alignment.
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also have to see their “human capital” as human beings.
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need to share their wisdom, experiences and implicit knowledge.
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got to develop strong relationship with their people.
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also learn a great deal while teaching others.
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develop alternative perspectives about situations in process of teaching.
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have to empower and inspire people towards excellence by teaching, guiding and mentoring.
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make a big difference to organization’s culture and performance.
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are the ‘change agents’ for improving organization’s performance.
** These are traits of ‘great’ teachers only – there are so many lousy teachers around, that this needs a special mention! To see what great teaching looks like – see this amazing video of how a teacher inspires greatness.
Bonus: Read this real life story of how one of my teachers inspired me, unlocked my potential and helped me overcome my fear of speaking in public.
Have a Brilliant start into the week!
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Very rightly said Sir. Great teachers are one who not only nurture a plant, but build a shield of values around it.
It’s amazing how you can shape up a simplest topic like this in such an extra ordinary way!
Have a great fruitful week ahead..
Regards,
Jay Chhaya
Jay – Thanks as ever, for commenting.
Your analogy is so correct – lot of leadership and teaching is akin to planting a seed and then nurturing the growth of people. Both these professions deal with people and seeds of potential within them.
You too have a great week ahead!
Best,
Tanmay
Hi TV…
Loved the title… and enjoyed even more once read it entirely. You made my week start great by providing such an excellent post 🙂
Thanks for sharing your wonderful thoughts.
Best,
Sudev
.-= Sudev Gandhi´s last blog ..I’m back on the Blogosphere… =-.
Actually I am surprised with the blog title, because on Saturday evening itself I had a long debate with some East European friends on the role of teachers.
I was chatting with few of the friends from Romania, where economy is falling down and Brain-Drain has become a big issue. Their teachers are told that by next month their salary would be 25% lesser then what is already considered the “A Penny”, A European country’s teacher to be paid less then 350 Euro and still out of that they would have 25% less. All the teachers are going on strike.
Since the blog is regarding the teacher – Would like to ask, how fair is the government to make the decision, considering that one of the most respect job is not good enough to even rent the house? Won’t teacher and professor be less motivated to work on “the future” of the country?
And do you agree that teacher should be highly skilled to teach better? And if they are well skilled they should be well paid too.
I am not sure if this is right to post here in comment but you are the right person to ask this.
Hi Ajay – I am glad to know that the post idea coincided with your discussion. Brain drain is a mighty topic – and has little to do with teachers. Brain drain happens after the education phase – and has a LOT to do with dearth of opportunities. If you look at what happened in India – brain drain was followed by ‘reverse brain drain’ because of opportunities we created. Penalizing teachers is easier than to create opportunities – which calls for creating ecosystem for entrepreneurship.
While the wages of teachers is a huge issue for me to comment on. Teachers have to be respected with right emoluments and there is no doubt about the fact that teachers have to be skilled. Being a teacher is more than just teaching in classroom. It is a huge responsibility – and for those whose satisfaction comes from nurturing human potential – money usually follows. Passion is important.
Nice sum up TV!
For me the ultimate role of leader/teacher is to make others believe that they are better than they think they can be. To inspire them. Having vision for me means to see what one MIGHT be not how he is. And this can be applied to students, companies, countries, world…
Have an inspiring day, folks!
cheers from Slovakia
i.
.-= Ivana Sendecka´s last blog ..[Video] Believe Me, You Are More Than 2 Pages Of a CV. =-.
Thanks Ivana – I totally agree! One of my mentors calls this “unearthing the potential”.
You too have an inspiring week ahead!
Best,
Tanmay
Tanmay, Great Points! Teachers /Guru play a very significant role in shaping mind and inspiring them at all levels. They are the one who show us the path and share their knowledge/skills on how to walk the path. I feel if leaders adopt this role of a teacher then they can lead more effectively. Thanks
Hi Kapil – I agree. If leaders adopt a mindset to “SERVE” others (team members, peers, their organization and customers) – organizations would be very different from what they are today.
Fundamentals of teaching, motherhood and leadership are all centered around “caring” and “nurturing” human beings.
Thanks for the comment – as always!
Best,
Tanmay