“If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more…you are a leader” – John Quincy Adams
Another course that was given in Beit Hamoreh Sharansky this summer was a 4-day leadership course designed for principals, managers and individuals holding key positions in companies and schools.
Many noted leaders and principals were in attendance at this workshop. If fact, the wife of a famed Chassidishe Rebbe was invited as an honorary guest to learn what the Max! Leadership Seminar was all about. Although she had only planned to stay a few minutes, just to honor the institution that the Max! workshop was given at, she was so enamored by the concepts she was hearing that she decided to stay on for the duration of the course so she could learn to utilize them when relating to those in her community!
During the workshop, we learned about the traits that all true leaders share. We talked about how if no one is following you, then no matter what position you hold, you are not considered a true leader. The core difference between a manager and a leader is that a manager rules from shoulder, down, while a leader leads from their shoulder and up – with their brain and their heart.
Throughout the workshop we tried to figure out who is a leader that is worth following, how to “enroll” your team so that they will be a part of your vision and how anyone can be a leader, no matter what their position on the ladder is.
We also learned six different keys we can use to actually become that type of leader. We talked about the concept of Servant Leadership, where it’s not all about you, but it’s about serving other people, modeling for them and showing them that you’re there to help them.
We also discussed is about what each person’s vision is for their company or school and what values they have in their lives that they’d want to incorporate there. For example, what is the main focus of your school? Is it on the students, the parents or the teachers? If it’s on the students, then your students will always come first. All the actions you take and decisions you make will always be sure to have the students’ best interests in mind.
Or, if you want your company’s core value to be honesty, then it’s up to you to ensure that all of you and your employee’s dealings and interactions, be it with clients, vendors or between each other, are all open and honest.
It’s from this point that we can begin to build a unique company culture around that value. And in time, your company or school will be known for and run – both internally and externally – around that value.
There was one woman who attended the event who runs a few Special Ed classrooms around Israel – a private organization that gives beautiful support for children there. She was first introduced to Max! last year when she came to two of the courses.
Throughout that workshop, I felt like I wasn’t giving her anything new and that she wasn’t gaining anything from me. This year, she came again all the way from Tzfat with a new baby to personally tell me what an amazing year she had because of the course last year.
She related to the group of leaders in the room how she felt she had much better relationships this year and real tools to deal with her organization and its challenges. It is the stories like these that make it worth coming back to Israel each year for Max!
“The first responsibility of a leader is to define reality. The last is to say thank you. In between, the leader is a servant.”
To find a Max! workshop location near you, please contact us!