3 A Steve Jobs Moment Ahead?

We've all been affected by the loss of Steve Jobs and the hole in the creativity universe today.  Like many of you, I've been looking at websites and reading more about him and his life and, most importantly, his leadership of one of the most well known companies in the world.

What I've learned from many sites like wikipedia, the Wall Street Journal and All About Steve Jobs is that he was more than a leader; he was a visionary.  We all knew that but once you start reading, you realise just how deep that really went. What stuck me in particular is that he made mistakes along the way ( the infamous firing from Apple) and was able to reinvent himself to make one of the greatest come backs in business history.

After months of reflecting on my performance here at my school I feel like perhaps I need a "Steve Jobs Moment" myself.  I've been struggling with the realisation that I am not the leader that I thought or hoped I would be.  I have only been in a coordinator position for 3 years but as I have been reflecting, that road hasn't been what I wanted.

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Those of you who have crossed over into leadership roles from a teaching role remember the moment when you said "I will NOT be THAT administrator" like Justin Tarte asked in his blog.  I did it too.  Yet, here I am realising that I am turning into exactly THAT administrator.

I have not spent as much time as I wanted in the classrooms.  I have not been able to go and team teach.  I have not been able to give as much PD time to teachers as I had hoped.  I have not been able to motivate and instill passion like I had dreamed.  Don't get me wrong, I have been working very, very hard and we have made lots of changes and improvements, but on the things that weren't number one on my list.

So, now I'm thinking I wish Steve were here so I could ask him "What changed for you the second time around?" "What did you do differently?" The first time as the head of Apple it didn't go how he wanted and he was fired.  The second time, nothing stopped him.  Was it that he put his priorities first, no matter what?  For example was the conversation something like "Sorry, I'm not going to do that economic report that you need, I'm going to create the iPod with the development team and don't bother me again?"  Is it possible that as a coordinator I too have the power to say "I'm not going to that meeting/ do that report/ organise that budget because I am observing and working with teachers?"

Is it really that simple?  Could my "Steve Jobs Moment" be really around the corner? What do you think? Can you come back from realising that you are not the leader that you thought you were?  How do you get back on track?

Looking forward to your thoughts...
Jessica :)

Photo Source:  Forbes