Becoming A Technology Leader

To become a technology leader you must first understand yourself.

Next is to develop your vision. In many instances you can become a part of a greater vision that the school or district has in place but you should have a vision that you can see, taste, feel, smell, touch, and hold in your hand. 

You must examine and embrace your vision. The vision must become a part of your thoughts and motivate your actions. If you truly understand your vision it will be something that drives you towards your goals. A vision can provide you and others that you influence with a "meaning of life".

Your vision will give you direction on how you want to be a technology leader. You will be able to use your vision to guide your actions for yourself as a teacher and as a technology leader. Your passion comes from your vision and is communicated by your actions and words. 

Once you have decided how you will be a technology leader, it is time to take steps to motivate others to take actions towards the vision.  

But first you should understand how others see you as a person and a leader. Leaders are able to change their perception so they know how others see them. 

Leaders listen more than they talk because they then have the knowledge to make informed decisions. Listen, not just to their words, but to what their body and actions say, and to what is not being said. 

Here is the most difficult step. Ask someone what they think of you, what others say about you, your good and bad traits. Make sure the person you ask has your best interests in mind and will tell you honestly.

As a leader you must deal with other peoples perception of you. You may not be able to change their opinions quickly but with time and work you can. As a leader you must constantly deal with the perceptions of other people so let honesty be your guide. 

You will have discovered some things about yourself, your motivations, and how people think of you. Now you will need to make some decisions.  What is it that you want to do, need to do, feel that you must do to make your vision a reality? Time to Brainstorm and decide what actions need to be taken. By you and by those you can lead/motivate/share the vision with.

Make a list of all the goals and actions that will need to be taken. Prioritize this list so that your actions will have the greatest impact. Actions that motivate others to participate in your vision can be more important than actions that provide personal satisfaction and rewards.  But also realize that your success is also dependent on your own needs so your actions must be balanced with personal priorities and desires. 

Once you have made and prioritized your list, you can start becoming a true leader. Here are a few ideas that you might just consider first.

Understand that when you talk about technology integration, you must be the model that they follow. Don't just go out and tell everyone to do something that you aren't willing or don't have the experience/skills to do yourself. 

So make a commitment to be what you ask others to become.

Technology leaders should have the skills to provide empowering situations for other teachers to see the successes that technology can provide. Be able to show a lesson that teachers can believe they have the skills, or to learn the skills is within their abilities, that they can easily implement in their own classrooms. To empower teachers you must provide a situation for them to see themselves as capable of doing it. 

But you also need to be aware of their needs and fear. Making teachers feel comfortable, capable, and cared about will help overcome those fears. Example - Telling them that "no matter what happens it can always be fixed" will give them a comfortable feeling that they can experiment without the embarrassment of failure. 

Empowering and motivating should be consistent processes of incentives and encouragements. Reward and recognize those who are taking actions towards the vision. Whether it is just a statement of recognition or an official ceremony, people want to be recognized for their actions.

Clarity is very important at this point. To motivate other people they must have a good understanding of your vision and expectations. Clearly communicate what it is you expect. Many people make their work harder by not making sure that those they are leading understand what the goal, vision, or objective is.  Without understanding their can be no sharing of vision and cohesive actions towards making the vision a reality.