Bala Sir on Academic Leadership- 4

What is your confidence level????????????????

?John Adair, a leadership theorist, once said:?????????????????????????????

?“What is the gift that makes a person a successful leader of others? It is simply confidence. It means confidence in one’s powers, and if that confidence is great enough and strong enough it will inspire others, and they will believe in the leader as firmly as he believes in himself, perhaps more so.”?

Look at the following phrases:

?? I think

? I may

? I can

? I will

?Do you find that each of the above constructs reflect different levels of confidence? Which of the above do you use frequently and why??

One of the essential qualities of a good leader is the level of confidence he or she has. The confidence level of a leader indicates the faith one has in their own visions and actions.?If a leader is not confident of herself, how can she expect her team-mates to have confidence in her leadership??

?Very often we give up a task halfway through because we had not thought of its effects or consequences. Besides, we might tend to not complete a task if we get stuck somewhere without knowing where to go and what to do. We need to take up a task only when we are confident of doing it. Even if meet a few failures, they shouldn’t deter us from going ahead.

?In many cases we lose confidence in our actions as we don’t take charge of the situations and we hold someone else responsible for our actions. It is important that we need to take responsibility for our own actions. The more we are responsible, the more we gain confidence in our work.

?Robert Bach, the well-known author says:?"Sooner or later, those who win are those who think they can."

?When we start doing a work, we should ask ourselves:

1. Do I have the motivation to do this piece of work?

2. Am I confident enough to do this?

3. What will I do if I get some hurdles in the completion of the task?

4. If I fail in achieving the desired outcome, what will I do?

?Well, it is said " true greatness lies not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall.

So, friends, are?we confident of?ourselves??

G. Balasubramanian

G.Balasubramanian, is the Chair of the Advisory Council at CLLE. A thought leader in education, he was the Former Director (Academics) of CBSE, Delhi. He is a passionate teacher, teacher-trainer, curriculum designer, and mentor for various educational institutions and leaders across the world. He has to his credit a few hundred plus articles on various subjects published across several magazines. He has authored a number of books for teachers, educational administrators, and school leaders. He has served on several committees on education both at the national and international levels. Currently, he is the chairperson of the Board of Advisors of the International Council for School Leadership, Delhi; consultant to Grey Caps and The Teacher Tribe. World. He brings his extensive experience and wisdom to propel various learning partnerships and initiatives at CLLE.