Leadership

Today I did some work with Excelerator. This is a leadership institute run by Auckland University. I had previously been part of one of their leadership programmes which had occurred over 18 months in 2005-7. My work with them today was as an example of a case study of a leadership situation.

The situation was of a challenge around management and governance and the role of the principal and board. I found it difficult to describe and talk about a situation which was a year old but still has so much emotion and rawness attached to it.

Lester Levy, who I admire hugely, talks about this situation as one of courage and standing up for what one believes is right. A Lester quote is "You can spot a leader because they are always face down in the gutter with a knife in their back."

While I am proud of how I acted in this leadership challenge and the development for me was huge, I am still nervous and unsure of why we do what we do. Another Lester quote is "Leadership is voluntary". I am still unsure why I volunteer!

I believe very much in wanting to make a difference to people but am still not able to understand why this is so important to me.

Thanks to Lester and Joline for the invite. Enjoyed the experience but it brought challenges out for me which require more thought.