Identifying and Using Your
Leadership Skills
Developing your Leadership Talents
New Jersey Association of School Business Officials
 Dr. Jerry Woehr, E.I.R.C.
gwoehr@eirc.org (609) 314-4096
June 4, 2015
WELCOME
Shake hands and introduce yourself
to your neighbor (s).
Name something good that happened this week
TODAY’S FOCUS
- KNOWING YOUR STRENGTHS SO YOU
CAN BE THE MOST EFFECTIVE AND
EFFICIENT LEADER, MANAGER, AND
COMMUNICATOR!
BEST TIP:
KNOW YOURSELF,
AND THEN HOW
OTHERS WANT TO
BE TREATED
• It is better to build on your strengths than work on
your weaknesses.
• You can’t be anything you want, but you can be a
lot more of who you are already.
• In this increasing talent-driven society, we need to
know and to develop our strengths to figure out
where we fit in
ARE THESE TRUE?
HAVE YOU IDENTIFIED YOUR
STRENGTHS?
WHY IS THIS IMPORTANT????
Knowing your signature
strengths helps clarify the
individual talents you bring
to your work unit/team
LEADERSHIP STYLES
ASSERTIVE – AGGRESSIVE - WIMPY
ON-LINE ‘LEADERSHIP STYLE’
ASSESSMENTS
ARE YOU AN ASSERTIVE
EDUCATIONAL LEADER?
Rate three best skills, with a +
Rate three skills to be developed more, with a Focused, driven
Vision - articulate it, get others excited
Knows generally of steps, personnel, resources AND
expected roadblocks to success, but is flexible
Dilemma Resolver – not just a problem solver
Shared leadership; trusts and respects staff
Involves others – and knows when and who
Insures all know criteria of ‘SUCCESS”
Resourceful
Knows when and how to break the rules
Gets results!!!!!!!!!!!
DO YOU GET TO USE YOUR
STRENGTHS AT WORK?
 What are your identified strengths?
 Do you get the opportunity to use them?
 Do you know areas you will have to delegate or
develop?
YOUR SKILLS
 What administrative tasks are you really good at? May not even be something you like to do, but you
just can do it well!
What really makes you happy to see?
 In what areas do you still need to practice?
or those
Reflect on both things you don’t like to do
you just don’t know how to do well.
WHAT COULD BE DONE TO MAKE
YOUR CIRCUMSTANCES BETTER?
What do enjoy in
your position?
What makes it hard
for you to get your
job done?
Not, ‘more help”,
but what would
help?
YOUR STRENGTHS
 Describe yourself to a prospective boss in three
words
 Name 5 good characteristics about yourself
 If you bragged, it would be about…
 You use your personal strengths as evidenced by…..
DO YOU KNOW YOUR BOSS’ NEEDS?
WHAT DOES S/HE VALUE? WHAT
JAZZES HIM/HER?
(HAVE YOU COMMUNICATED THAT TO HIM/HER?)
WHICH WOULD YOUR BOSS PICK?
$100,000 ‘found’ in
the budget for any
use by him/her.
OR
Increase of 10% in
scores on state test
results?
HOW TO ACCURATELY ASSESS YOUR PROFESSIONAL PROGRESS
TWO CRITICAL QUESTIONS TO KEEP
ASKING!
Weekly, then monthly, then quarterly
forever.
Am I doing what you want?
Am I doing it the way you
want?
ACCOMPLISHING THE IMPOSSIBLE
MEANS ONLY THAT YOUR BOSS WILL
ADD IT TO YOUR REGULAR DUTIES.
COMMUNICATION:
7% WORDS
38% BODY LANGUAGE
55% TONE
HOW WELL DO YOU KNOW
YOURSELF? (COVEY “7 HABITS…”)
Most important skill; #5:
“seek to understand before you
seek to be understood”
MOST VALUABLE LEADERSHIP TIP TO
WIN
Active listen until you ‘hear’,
“You get it!” (not agreeing with their
solution, only their concern)
Reframe the Question
Warren Buffett
Know your stuff (content)
Do a few things well; not
many just OK
Watch ‘flavor of the month’
Make changes with clear
purposes
AND NOW, BACK TO YOUR REALITY….
A PARENT WITH A TRANSPORTATION ISSUE
Check if busy doing good
instead of doing right ?
HOW CAN YOU SURVIVE AND
THRIVE IN OUR EVERCHANGING ENVIRONMENT?
 Consistent Personal
Professional Development:
Successful people do a lot!
Write your S.M.A.R.T. goals;
personal + professional
Wisdom consists not so much in knowing what to do in the
ultimate, as knowing what to do next. - Herbert Hoover
OWN YOUR LEARNING
State one of the
two best ideas you
learned today
What are you
going to do first to
begin building on
one of the ideas?
OPTIONAL QUESTION:
COULD YOUR STAFF
VERBALIZE YOUR
GOAL(S)? DO THEY KNOW
WHAT JAZZES YOU?
Would they guess accurately given different priorities?
(when to take BOE calls, who to hide from, whether
proper procedures or reduced cost gives you a
bigger thrill, etc.)
Do they (really) understand and respect what you do
and how you do it?