Being a teacher entails a lot of commitment. It also means that you are the embodiment of many profession rolled into one. There are times that the teacher will become a little bit of a “handyman”, “engineer”, “nurse”, “Doctor”, “an attorney” but almost all of the time a leader. Part of being a teacher is being a leader, in her classroom, community or to her co-workers. Teachers cannot hide this fact and whether she likes it or not she must accept this reality with open arms.
Being a leader is something that can break a teacher. All the decisions you’ll be making will create a ripple of effect to your surroundings and if you made a mistake critics will be there quicker than a lightning to bring you down. The only way one is able to go through this is through preparation. A teacher must arm himself/herself with the necessary knowledge he/she needs to be an exemplary leader.
One of the most practical and effective principle that a teacher can use in his role as a leader is the principle of “Extreme Ownership” a leadership principle that is widely used by the American Navy Seals and was shared by a Navy Seal vet. Jocko Willink.
Extreme ownership tells us that everything that happens under your leadership is your responsibility and you have to own everything whether it’s good or bad or worst. The reason for this is, if you own up full responsibility to the result you’ll can come up with solutions that you can actually manipulate hands on. If we compare this to a leader who blames his people of a bad result, the leader would have few options on how to control the situation and most of the time the only option he/she has is to fire those he/she thought messed up. In extreme ownership, the leader instead of blaming his people would say that, Maybe he/she have not explained the project well to his people and he/she will be working hard to make his/her people understand the goal that he/she wishes to achieve.
On another note, having this “Extreme Ownership” principle as a teacher and a leader will influence everyone inside your circle to do the same. Thus creating a better and more productive environment for you. This principle is not new as it is one of the Seven Successful habit of Great people by Stephen Covey, but it is seldom used in the field of leadership. So, my dear teachers go forth and use it in the field. Let’s be different let’s be efficient#