Learning From Lincoln

            Abraham Lincoln's life taught us a valuable lesson on the traits and characteristics that are essential for all leaders today. Lincoln demonstrated a great amount of qualities that made him an inspirational leader. He showed us that he was self-disciplined enough to take his mastery of language and used it to help the good of all Americans. .
             First, Lincoln Lincoln's mission was clear in that he wanted equality and to preserve the union. He had missions and goals that he knew had to be accomplished to complete the job at hand. He faced a lot of obstacles but he remained committed to his vision and mission to create a free nation. .
             Education leaders are accountable and must make sure that they guide, develop and implement a shared vision of learning for every student. Mission statements serve to guide educators and leaders and it's a great reminder to teachers of why they chose the teaching profession and what they need to achieve each day. Students will not succeed if teachers and leaders aren't accountable. I've seen this firsthand in my own experience with our administration and leadership in the school division that I work in. I've worked in the same school system for fourteen years and have been through three Superintendent's and six principals. I've seen strong leaders with personality differences and I've experienced weak leaders who lacked the ability to get feedback from the staff on what worked and didn't work. I've seen missions and visions that were not clear and not communicated well. I can honestly say that our county finally has a superior administration. Our current Superintendent has been clear on adopting our core values and even made posters for us to hang in our classroom so that we could apply our core values in our classrooms. These values have also been communicated with the parents, students and community members so that they knew what our mission and goals are.