Education leaders have personalities that make them individuals. They are full of idiosyncracies and not afraid to stand alone and be different. To be a great educational leader, you have to be comfortable in your own skin. If you can’t be comfortable with yourself, how can you expect others to be comfortable with your leadership?

The importance of being authentic

Be yourself, and know that you are more than enough. You don’t have to speak like Martin Luther King or have the charisma of JFK to be a great education leader. You just have to be willing to work hard at your craft, understand how to manage a learning environment, build a great leadership team, communicate with others, etc. If you can do that, you are ahead of the curve. 

Transformational education leaders understand that the things which make them different are the things that define their character. Just be yourself, and people will favorably respond to your authenticity. Think about this, how do people feel when someone they know is not being their authentic self? We are initially a bit shocked and turned off by the fact that the person either: isn’t confident enough to be themselves, doesn’t respect us enough to be themselves, or is playing a fictional part to manipulate us for their own gain.

You may think that you are fooling others by playing a role, but at the end of the day, people will figure out that you are an imposter, and in one way or another, you will be ostracized for it. So do yourself a favor, and just be yourself. People can try to imitate you, but you are the only one who can pull this role off.

What does Shakespeare have to do with it?

“All the world’s a stage/And all the men and women merely players” is a phrase that was coined by William Shakespeare. The meaning of this phrase is that this world is like a stage show, and all human beings are merely actors. I think that to a certain extent, this is true. So, why not play the role that you were born to play on the center stage?