One of my best professional learning experiences came a few weeks ago where I attended a conference that was not specifically for school leaders or teachers. It was refreshing to meet with leaders from government and public service, private enterprise and non-profit organisations. It was good to explore themes common to leadership in small, medium and large organsiations, and see that similar challenges and frustrations exist in other professions. What was even better, was to listen to how leaders approach problems in their respective fields and consider new and different ways of doing things.
I highly recommend that every school leader should step outside the education conference circuit, once in a while, and connect with other professions. Here are some suggested topics or themes that may benefit school leaders connecting with others beyond the education domain:
- Building organisational culture – including having difficult conversations
- Developing teams and individuals
- Decision-making processes
- Problem-solving
- Leading innovation
- Strategic planning
- Change management
- Project management
For those of you interested in the conference that I attended, here’s the link: Association for Strategic Planning
Attending a conference where I did not know anyone was a little daunting but I was determined that this fear should not get in the way of important professional learning. The conference gave me some great insights, affirmed some personal beliefs, and provided some excellent ideas for self and school improvement. Most importantly, it was learning about other professions that was most enlightening; meeting some quite remarkable people who in fact were all trying to do the same thing – make a positive difference.
For education leaders everywhere 