Leadership: Where Is It Coming From?
THOM HUGHART MASCA VP Administrators
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ere it is the last day and last hour before this article is due. I procrastinated for a very good reason: I was waiting for inspiration. It didn’t happen, or if it did I missed it. So, I have decided to rerun an article that I wrote two years ago and add a few thoughts to it. The topic is leadership and where it comes from. I want to put a plug in for interns and the value of having them work in our departments. I am still puzzled by guidance directors who do not have at least one intern in their department. If space is the issue, there are ways to overcome the
problem. I have found them. I cannot imagine providing all the services we provide at my school without the help of our two interns. What they do for our department is so important. But equally important is what they can do for our counselors. They can teach us, keep us up to date on what’s new in the field, and contribute to our own professional development. Interns have to do action research or some type of research project. Turn them loose on your school. What have you wanted to study, explore, or better understand? Of course, someone has to provide supervision and fill out some forms for their school, but nothing is really free. The payoff, I believe, totally outweighs the cost.
Finding our future leaders Here is the piece about future leaders. If we truly feel a commitment to our profession, then I believe we have a commitment to do our part in cultivating our aspiring leaders. This was my major concern for our profession, which I dis-
We offer Degrees and Certificates in
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cussed last year in the November issue of CN. Where are the leaders for tomorrow? They are sitting in our Counselor Education Programs, they are interning in our schools and we are supervising them, they are working in our departments as new counselors. We can spot them; take a look around. They are the ones who have the energy and enthusiasm to jump right in and get the job done. They ask the probing questions and struggle to understand every last drop of meaning in our responses. They think and act with the perfect balance of independence and interdependence. They are not afraid of words like “accountability, data driven or standards based.” They are comfortable with change and do not see it as a threat. They have successful ways of controlling stress in their lives and still love their jobs. They are neither naive nor cynical. And they firmly grasp the reality of our profession and want to improve it. In other words, we know our future leaders. We work with them. We don’t have to hunt for them; we only have to open our eyes and see them. But that’s not enough. We must nurture them, care for them, support them, and mentor them. We have to tell them that we see these leadership qualities in them, and we should help direct them to forums where they can be leaders, first in their own schools, then in the larger arenas. We can encourage them to lead a committee or co-lead one, or we could recommend that they represent the department on a board or committee. Find opportunities for them to become involved in district, state, or national organizations and activities. If possible, allow them released time to pursue these leadership opportunities. They need our assistance and direction to move from potential leadership to actual leadership. And we need these new leaders now. As professional school counselors we are called upon to define ourselves, rewrite our job descriptions, compose mission statements, and take back control of who we are and what we do. We need the freshness of perception and the dynamism of our newer colleagues. Help identify our emerging leaders and encourage them to step up. ■ COUNSELOR’S NOTEBOOK
