A deep sense of trust and cooperation are very important in good leadership. Simon Sinek gives a very interesting 11 minute TED talk on what it means to be a good leader, creating a culture of trust among those in your “tribe.”  Definitely worth reflecting on his vision for leadership.

What if we used his framework as a tool to determine whether we are building a safe culture within our schools?  Are we creating a culture of trust so that our team is willing to extend themselves beyond the expectations we have?

A few quotes that spoke to me.

You know, in the military, they give medals to people who are willing to sacrifice themselves so that others may gain. In business, we give bonuses to people who are willing to sacrifice others so that we may gain. We have it backwards. Right?

When we feel safe inside the organization, we will naturally combine our talents and our strengths and work tirelessly to face the dangers outside and seize the opportunities.

Leadership is a choice. It is not a rank. I know many people at the seniormost levels of organizationswho are absolutely not leaders. They are authorities, and we do what they say because they have authority over us, but we would not follow them. And I know many people who are at the bottoms of organizations who have no authority and they are absolutely leaders, and this is because they have chosen to look after the person to the left of them, and they have chosen to look after the person to the right of them. This is what a leader is.