The leader I want to be

I've been on sabbatical. I have missed a lot of school. I have missed school. I have met with inspiring educators at various schools and enjoyed seeing other schools in action and wondering about the next phase for our school.

I was asked two brilliant questions by learners at two different schools. The first of these was from a five year old. I asked him what he was doing on his ipad and rather than answering me, he asked, " Are you Kevin's Dad?" Thenother great question put to me was from a 12 year old. He asked, "Is this your job?" I replied, "No, but I wish it was!" It would be an incredible job - to visit schools, talk with learners and educators and then write about it. These experiences change you. It's an honour.

So what has really happened while I've had my sabbatical?I feel I've changed. I don't want to go back and be the same old me. I need to be better at some things. I cannot expect our school to continue to evolve while being the same leader I was.

So, what do I want to be?
I want to be more inspirational. What is it that makes a leader inspirational? Different things for different people. I need to personalise my leadership more.
I want to be more relaxed. I wear my job pretty hard. Sometimes it hasn't been fun. I need to be more prepared and use better strategies for amanging some situations.
I want office free days where I am in a class for most of the day. I want to see what's going on more. I want to have far greater "voice" of learners, educators and community. I'll need to listen more.
I want to be an expert learner myself. I need to read even more, connect even more, collaborate more.
I want to take greater risks and innovate more. I need to pursue some personal goals and develop some other interests.

I know I don't have all the answers yet-that's not what this is about, but I do know that I want to be and will be a different leader than I was before.