Leadership
... course; and in some cases, one can identify individuals who have devoted their lives- who have even given their lives-in support of the story propounded by “their” leaders.” In order to gain the position I have in my classroom and hope to continue to have I have had to use force and fortitude to make people believe in me. In addition, I have had to believe in myself and constantly reflect on my own morals and values to ensure that I am leading in the way I best see possible. I have had to remain strong minded yet flexible in order to maintain the trust of my students and followers. I have always tried to remain a people person in my journey of leading my students. Gardner (1995) states that most leaders obviously have gifts in the realm of personal intelligence-they know a lot about how to reach and affect other human beings. This statement to me means that leaders should be knowledgeable in their field to some degree but must remain a leader of the people. As a classroom leader, I like to lead under the motto that my students don’t care how much I know until they know how much I care. In terms of leadership for me, I need to know how to reach and inspire my students in order for them to follow me with their hearts and not just their minds. As a Spanish teacher, my students know a great deal about me personally, they know how much I love the language and culture because of my strong family ties to the Mexican culture and its people. I talk to them about my own experiences learning the language and my own mistakes. They know that I truly enjoy what I am doing and are aware that I want to help them to open their minds to a different language and culture. If I were to stand in front of my classroom rambling off in Spanish to show off my skills, my students would be turned off and may shut down and choose not to learn. In my class, students have chosen to be their and I let them know that I respect their choice and value it and want to lead them down a marvelous path of learning a second language. Especially in Spanish One classes, I remind my students what we are all starting out at the same point and taking this journey together, I strive to make them believe on a daily basis that they are capable of learning the Spanish language. Do all my students completely rise to this statement and perform at the highest of levels? In a perfect world, yes they would but even if I see they do not share the same love I do for the language, I like to make sure that they do know that I have their best interests in mind and will always do my best to work with them as an individual. As I work with a diverse group of followers, it is vital for me to keep an open mind. Daft (2001) states that true leaders draw on a number of subtle but powerful forces within t...