You Never Can Tell

A while back (in August 2017) I was assigned to deliver a lecture on our school’s IT-strategy and the implementation plan for a new learning portal and an administrative system to my colleagues. It was the beginning of a new school year and the idea was that this presentation should launch a long process, that still hasn’t reached it’s goal. I chose to start my lecture by showing this video:

My intention was to illustrate good leadership and teamwork. A leader and their team should not be afraid of taking on challenges [B picking up a sign request for a song that is a cover and that the band hasn’t played together before]. Introducing something new is to take a calculated risk. The leader’s job is to be confident and calm, sending signals to the team [the band members] that this is a task he/she is convinced they will pull off together. The leader can’t do it alone, though. The team members need to be invited to participate and made feel trusted as competent and professional enough to both pitch in their own ideas and to follow given directions.

A team is only as strong as its weakest link, so it’s crucial for a leader to be attentive and flexible. Leadership consists of actions that help the group to complete its tasks successfully and cultivate effective working relationships among its members, no matter if the “members” are the members of a rock ‘n roll band, a faculty or a school class (as a teacher I practise leadership every day in my classroom). Another key thing for a leader is to, sometimes, let go of control and to show that he is able to laugh at his own expense.

You can’t start a fire without a spark (Dancing in the Dark)

My colleagues know very well that I’m a huge Bruce Springsteen fan, so I guess they weren’t really surprised that I referred to him in the introduction of my lecture and I actually think I managed to reach them with my intended moral. Bruce Springsteen and The E Street Band seem to be a very well functioning team lead by a strong and charismatic leader. Together they achieve greatness that motivate and inspire people around the world.