Frequently Asked Questions About The Leader in Me®
What is the leader in me®?
Leader in Me® is an evidence-based, social-emotional learning process that empowers students with the leadership and life skills they need to thrive in the 21st century. It is based on principles and practices of personal, interpersonal, and organizational effectiveness. Distinct in several ways, Leader in Me® starts from a powerful premise—every child possesses unique strengths and has the ability to be a leader—which shapes the views of staff to value and develop the whole child.
This whole-school improvement model integrates leadership development into existing programs, curricula and traditions and serves as a foundational operating system for the school, improving relationships, transforming culture, and motivating staff and students. All stakeholders are impacted by Leader in Me®, starting with the staff of a school, then expanding to students, their families, and the community at large
See Click Here to read more about The Leader in Me® on their website.
This whole-school improvement model integrates leadership development into existing programs, curricula and traditions and serves as a foundational operating system for the school, improving relationships, transforming culture, and motivating staff and students. All stakeholders are impacted by Leader in Me®, starting with the staff of a school, then expanding to students, their families, and the community at large
See Click Here to read more about The Leader in Me® on their website.
What are these 21st century leadership & Life SKills?
When parents and business leaders were asked what they wanted in their schools, the answers reinforced what most people believe—that our schools should not merely be focused on improving test scores, but should provide opportunities for students to develop their full potential. The Leader in Me helps students develop the skills and self-confidence they need to lead their lives and succeed in school and beyond. Specifically, The Leader in Me focuses on students learning the following 21st century skills:
- Student Self-Confidence
- Initiative & Self-Direction
- Leadership
- Responsibility
- Accountability
- Communication
- Creativity
- Adaptability & Problem Solving
- Cross-Cultural Skills
- Social Etiquette
- Teamwork
How does this model teach these skills to our students?
Students learn these skills through participating in goal setting, data tracking, leadership roles, Student-Led Conferences, leadership environments, Leadership Events, and more. The Leader in Me is implemented as follows:
- School staff identify a new vision of the outcomes they want for their school (e.g., decreasing discipline referrals).
- School staff learn Leader in Me principles and tools and begin incorporating the leadership principles in their work and relationships (e.g., learning how to work more cooperatively with each other).
- School staff model the behaviors to their students.
- Teachers are taught how to incorporate the leadership principles and tools into school culture and curricula.
- Key elements of the leadership model are implemented into the school, including:
- Teaching students how to set, track, and achieve their goals in a Leadership Notebook.
- Reinventing the physical environment to reinforce the vision and outcomes for the school (banners, signs, murals).
- Holding Student-Led Conferences, which are similar to parent-teacher conferences, but with the students taking ownership for their learning and leading these conferences.
- Giving each student a leadership role within the school.
- Holding student-led Leadership Events.
- Using a common language of leadership.
- Parents also play an important role in supporting their children in the process.
- School staff, students, and parents utilize a number of resources (lesson plans, videos, student activity guides, Teacher Editions, posters, books, and Leader in Me Online) to help them implement and reinforce the process.
Is It too complicated for small children?
The Leader in Me and corresponding 7 Habits powerfully resonate with students in an accessible, kid-friendly format. Adults in organizations around the world know and love the 7 Habits. The same proven concepts can be taught to students using language and examples appropriate to their developmental stage. Using the metaphor of a healthy tree, Habits 1–3 focus on developing a strong “personal root system,” building character and becoming more independent. Habits 4–6 teach skills of working well with others, and becoming more interdependent. Habit 7 is about taking care of oneself in order to ensure great leadership can continue into the future.
What are the 7 habits You Keep Talking about?
Habit 1: Be Proactive
Habit 2: Begin With the End in Mind
Habit 3: Put First Things First
Habit 4: Think Win-Win
Habit 5: Seek First to Understand, Then to Be Understood
Habit 6 - Synergize
Habit 7 - Sharpen the Saw
|
This Sounds a lot like the book "The 7 habits of highly effective people"?
You are correct! As one of the best-selling business and management books ever written (having sold over 25 million copies in 52 languages) many of us have read this book as we were trying to succeed in our jobs and climb the proverbial "corporate ladder". According to Fortune, Stephen Covey's The 7 Habits is “one of the best-selling books of all time,” was named the “most influential book of the 20th century” by Chief Executive magazine, and was listed as “one of the top 10 most influential management books ever” by Forbes.
In The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People book, Covey writes that he conducted an in-depth study of decades of principles of personal, interpersonal, and organizational effectiveness, which he gleaned from numerous books, articles, and essays, written by some of the world’s greatest thinkers and leaders such as Aristotle, Benjamin Franklin, Samuel Johnson, George Bernard Shaw, Viktor Frankl, T.S. Eliot, Carl Rogers, and Peter Drucker. These principles include: fairness, integrity, teamwork, honesty, human dignity, service or contribution, quality or excellence, potential, patience, nurturance, encouragement, responsibility, vision, collaboration, and renewal.
In The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People book, Covey writes that he conducted an in-depth study of decades of principles of personal, interpersonal, and organizational effectiveness, which he gleaned from numerous books, articles, and essays, written by some of the world’s greatest thinkers and leaders such as Aristotle, Benjamin Franklin, Samuel Johnson, George Bernard Shaw, Viktor Frankl, T.S. Eliot, Carl Rogers, and Peter Drucker. These principles include: fairness, integrity, teamwork, honesty, human dignity, service or contribution, quality or excellence, potential, patience, nurturance, encouragement, responsibility, vision, collaboration, and renewal.
if the 7 habits were written for adults, why are we implementing it at BES?
Nearly 10 years after The 7 Habits was published, a principal at a failing magnet school in Raleigh, NC attended a conference about the book and its principals. This principal, Muriel Summers, was interested to see if these habits could be applied to children. Upon learning that her school was about to lose its magnet designation due to low enrollment, she asked her superintendent what she could do. He informed her that if she did not come up with a new magnet theme to attract families then the school would not be able to remain in the magnet program. Thinking back on the conference that she attended, Muriel decided to identify "leadership" as her new magnet theme based on community feedback from families, educators, and area business leaders. She decided to use FranklinCovey’s The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People® and several other educational best practices to design, develop, and implement a leadership model for her school.
Within a few years, Muriel's school (A. B. Combs) experienced a significant turnaround, and the school was named the #1 Magnet School in America. A. B. Combs reported improved academic achievement, increased enrollment, soaring parent and teacher satisfaction, and higher levels of student self-confidence. Several other schools across the country took note, replicated Summers’ leadership model and started to achieve similar dramatic improvements.
Based on demand from Summers and other principals and teachers who were intrigued by A. B. Combs’ success, FranklinCovey codified Summers’ process, creating Leader in Me® so that other schools could implement the same leadership model and achieve similar results.
On May 16, 2014, A. B. Combs Leadership Magnet Elementary was named the #1 Magnet School in America for a second time. It is the only school to achieve this award twice.
Within a few years, Muriel's school (A. B. Combs) experienced a significant turnaround, and the school was named the #1 Magnet School in America. A. B. Combs reported improved academic achievement, increased enrollment, soaring parent and teacher satisfaction, and higher levels of student self-confidence. Several other schools across the country took note, replicated Summers’ leadership model and started to achieve similar dramatic improvements.
Based on demand from Summers and other principals and teachers who were intrigued by A. B. Combs’ success, FranklinCovey codified Summers’ process, creating Leader in Me® so that other schools could implement the same leadership model and achieve similar results.
On May 16, 2014, A. B. Combs Leadership Magnet Elementary was named the #1 Magnet School in America for a second time. It is the only school to achieve this award twice.
are there things we can do at home to help?
Yes! You are your child’s first and best teacher. You lay the foundation for the education of your children’s mind, heart, body, and spirit. No matter what’s going on in your child’s school, you can help your student discover the leader within and prepare for a great life of contribution and service. Your job as a parent or guardian at a Leader in Me school is to reinforce the principles that your child learns at school helping them to become a leader of his or her own life.
Will this process take away from instructional time?
Leader in Me works in concert with the academic, behavioral, and culture-based initiatives already in place at BES. Implementing this process means there is a common language that permeates all levels (from educators to students and parents) and everything that the students do during the day. The framework of the common language is the "7 Habits of Highly Effective People". This provides consistency and a common understanding of how people interact that will not only benefit students during their time at BES but in all areas of their lives for the rest of their lives. Leader in Me is not meant to replace the other initiatives or instruction, but to enhance them.