ABSTRACT

Leadership entails skill in handling and distributing power, and making calculated choices. Students' daily lives involve "work," and their "jobs" entail these precise skills. As teachers grow throughout their lifetimes, the setting may change, but the fundamental skills that help students succeed remain constant. Authentic leadership requires the "bandwidth" and flexibility to help guide a group or organization. Leadership itself hinges on effectively capturing and directing the collective attention. Leading attention requires these elements: focusing students own attention, then attracting and directing attention from others, and getting and keeping the attention of employees and peers, of customers and clients. Self-awareness, a vital aspect of leadership, includes having an accurate image of one's strengths and weaknesses. This affords children the opportunity to view themselves as protagonists, directors, and authors of their own stories. As children become more self-aware, they naturally realize that the self is part of a bigger system.