Diane Egbers from Leadership Excelleration (LEI) and co-author of The Ascending Leader joins Carole Dorn-Bell on the podcast once again. Today the two discuss the importance of team leadership development at schools and beyond.
Carole begins by asking Diane how she uniquely provides leadership and team development in school districts.
“Given that it’s the time of year to be grateful, as we go into Thanksgiving and the holidays, one of the things we’re so grateful for with the leadership teams that we work with today in K-12 education is just the dynamic leaders who are such willing learners,” Diane says. “And so what we uniquely do is we work with and we customize an approach for the overall district team development based on their history, based on where they uniquely are as a team, as well as the opportunity to coach each individual one by one.”
Diane says that unique approach creates momentum at both the team and the individual level.
Individual coaching involves one-on-one meetings to review all the assessments and tools—things that relate to strengths, style and influence strategies.
“We also help an individual to think about how they’re contributing, and how they’re leading their own team,” Diane says. “They get a 360 coaching experience.”
For districts, there’s a notable impact for this work.
Carole asks if she could share the greatest impact for a team.
The essence is that feeling of enjoying time together and being efficient and effective when meeting as a team. There’s also the feeling of a human-to-human connection in a tech-centered world, and this sort of leadership development creates community.
Carole asks what effect it has on the leadership culture within a school district.
Diane says there are four components. It helps them to be more connected to the mission overall, and to have that sense every day that they’re working on behalf of the future of the district. So inherently, it’s more hopeful but also more aligned. It’s about consistency and collaboration between and among functions and then across the district.
Carole asks about a new women’s leadership program in Ohio in conjunction with the Buckeye Association of School Administrators.
“Their desire is to really elevate women and have them more prepared to strategically lead going forward, so it is very different than what we’re doing in school districts,” Diane says. “There’s not any crossover in terms of content. It’s really about helping women to be strategic leaders in districts and uniquely, how you go about that as a woman.”
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