Do You Let Me Fly? Questions for Leaders

10/02/2019

Do You Let Me Fly? Questions for Leaders

The pessimist complains about the wind; the optimist expects it to change; the realist adjusts the sails.
William Arthur Ward

In the book, The Soul of Leadership (which makes the case that everyone can be a leader), author Deepak Chopra provides questions to ask ourselves to assess our ability to provide positive leadership. Can we…

"Think clearly and concisely?
Weed out prejudices and personal biases?
Examine assumptions to make sure they aren’t secondhand or unproved?
Explore every thought in depth?
Pay attention to subtle impulses, focusing on them until they expand and unfold?
See each thought without judging or dismissing it prematurely?
Walk around and see your thought from several angles?
Be sure you aren’t influenced too much by stress, emotion, or the heat of the moment?
Be above the drama of the situation?"

And in the book, Art of Leadership: Cultivating an Early Childhood Curriculum, Margie Carter provides some questions for educational leaders (which is all of us) that are written as if a child in our program is asking us. Here is a sampling:

"Do you appreciate and understand my interests and abilities and those of my family? Do you know me?
Do you meet my daily needs with care and sensitive consideration: Can I trust you?
Do you invite me to communicate and respond to my own particular efforts? Do you hear me?
Do you engage my mind, offer challenges, extend my world? Do you let me fly?"

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