President’s Letter: Your Leadership Challenge

What does it mean to be a school counselor leader?
 
We all have a leader inside of us. One of the most important aspects of leadership is being a good communicator. We must become skilled at communicating our worth, our proper role and ways we can be of benefit to our school community. Being a leader as a school counselor can look very different from one person to the next. I challenge you to find your voice and use it to advocate in whatever way you feel most comfortable. Whether it is advocating for yourself at your site, or district, or advocating for our profession at the state capitol.
 
Never stop fighting! We must be our own marketing directors, advocates and cheerleaders at the end of the day. We wear many hats and this can get to be an exhausting existence. Never forget to take care of yourself so that you do not lose your passion. We cannot become complacent when we get saddled with non-counseling-related duties and just power through them to get to what matters most to us – direct services to students. I have heard from some school counselors that they are not comfortable talking about the tasks that they should or should not be doing because they feel insubordinate or disrespectful doing so. I encourage you to look at the act of informing others about the benefits and role of the school counselor as an exercise in respect and courage. These are two character traits that we all hope to instill in our students, and what better way to do that than through modeling this behavior. (And here is a page of resources from ASCA on the school counselor’s role that may help you with these conversations.)
 
We must work closely with our site and district administrators in a shared leadership capacity to influence stakeholders regarding the big picture issues. We can’t stop talking about moving closer to the 250:1 ratio, counselors as building test coordinators, 504 coordinators…the list goes on and on. Familiarize yourself with the ASCA publications and position statements and use them to educate those around you and maximize your students’ success both inside and outside of the classroom.
 
We must be adept at advocating for ourselves and rallying with those around us when we need to adjust the course and keep our focus on the big picture. We must remain our own champions. Our own heroes.
 
Contact Melanie Hayes, OSCA president, at melaniehayes216@att.net.