Leadership-Difined by a 5th Grader

An elementary principal recently shared the insights to leadership from the lens of a 5th-grade student. This was the outcome of a writing assignment about someone they recognized as a leader. I was touched and awed by the articulation and key actions (which I highlighted) used to describe effective leadership. I bet this student is also a leader and is destined to have a future impact within GIPS!

"A leader has to have empathy. Empathy is the ability to understand how someone else is feeling and help them if they are having negative emotions. To be a leader, you have to be supportive and encouraging through the tough times. You have to learn how it feels to be in someone else's shoes. Acknowledge their pain. Empathy helps you to respond appropriately to the situation you are in.  People believe that empathy leads to better behavior and less problems. 

A leader also has to be accountable. Accountability is the most important quality of them all. If you’re a leader your teacher expects you to be responsible and organized. You should have all your homework done and be helping other classmates that might not quite understand the assignment. You have to be able to allow people to trust you. Accountability eliminates the time and effort you spend on distracting activities and other behaviors. Being accountable not only means being responsible for something but also ultimately being answerable for your actions. 

Lastly, you have to be positive. If you’re a leader you cheer when you’re behind or in front. And you don’t care when someone makes a mistake. You tell them it's okay and give them positive comments. When someone is down you cheer them up. When you’re stuck on a hard task you stay positive and work hard. Being positive is an example of a growth mindset. A growth mindset is the view love learning and resilience or toughness that is essential for great accomplishment.

Leadership is an important function of management which helps to maximize efficiency to achieve organizational goals; without empathy, accountability, and positivity, we would be lost."

Please don't hesitate to share student work that supports and aligns with our GIPS vision-I would love to highlight other examples throughout the year.