You Are a Leader! Identifying Your Personal Strengths

When you think of the word “Leadership,” what comes to mind? Do you picture yourself? Maybe you think about colleagues, mentors or leaders in history. When I started my first school counseling job 16 years ago, I definitely did not view myself as a leader. I never imagined that I would be the chair of the Maine School Counselor Association. Whether you are a graduate student in a school counseling program, a new school counselor or someone who has been in your role for many years, you probably have had moments when you lacked confidence or doubted your leadership abilities. During my time as a school counselor, I have learned that we ALL can be leaders. By identifying your individual strengths, you can find your own inner leader.

What are you good at? What brings you joy? Maybe you enjoy organizing and planning things. This strength could help you to create a lesson or group schedule or assist in event planning in your building. Are you a creative thinker? You can use this strength to help develop some new bulletin boards or plan some new interactive lessons for your students. Do you have a good sense of humor? Infuse humor into lessons or add a joke of the day to morning announcements. The possibilities are endless. Once you start focusing on your strengths, you can use them to increase your confidence and leadership skills.

Just a few years ago, I didn’t view myself as a leader. One day, a colleague gave me a compliment about some of my engagement strategies during a lesson. She told me that other educators would love to hear those ideas. After that moment, I started sharing my ideas with other teachers and school counselors in my district. Soon after, I got the courage to present at a conference. I began to understand the value of sharing my ideas with others. I started looking for opportunities to use my own leadership strengths every day.

As we embark on this new school year, I encourage you to think about your own strengths. We all can be leaders. You are a leader. You are making a difference for students every day in your own way. Sometimes the smallest things can make a big impact. By finding your own inner leader, you can help your students to recognize their own leadership potential too.

Do you have something you are implementing in your program that you want to share with others? We want to hear from you!

Consider sharing your ideas as a breakout presenter at our annual conference! Access our Call to Programs.
 
MESCA is also looking for school counselors who might want to be featured in a “MESCA Minute” These are short, 1- to 5-minute videos where school counselors share a tip or something that has worked well for them. Check out our YouTube channel (Maine SC) for some examples.

Do you have questions or want more information? Contact me!

Contact Kim Raymond, MESCA Board chair, at Kraymond@rsu22.us.

The MESCA Board held our Leadership Development Institute this summer.