Rebecca Braitling, Poyee Chiu, and Sue Covelli-Buntley of UpSpiral Leadership interview Joel Wright, the founding president of the Leadership Forum Community. Rebecca, Poyee, and Sue met Joel almost five years ago through the Leadership Forum, one of the longest-running leadership conferences worldwide. Joel is currently launching Democratizing Leadership Exchange, a resource hub that aims to empower all members of society on exceptional leadership.
[02:32] Introducing Joel Wright
[06:50] Democratizing Leadership
[12:52] Defining the Democratizing Leadership Exchange
[17:22] The Importance of Integrating Leadership Strategies in Schools
[20:34] Challenges Plaguing Leadership Education
[ 32:05] How Leadership can Positively Impact School Life
[34:40] The Lightning Round: A Series of Brief Questions
[41:45] The Flip: “Leadership is for Grownups”
Joel believes everyone can be a leader regardless of their background; we just have to tap into people's leadership potential and offer a little bit of leadership development. In the past, people would only be exposed to leadership training during the latter stages of their career. By this time, it's usually too late, and it becomes a burden to the new leader since they are forced to consume all this new material and still lead others. Moreover, many leaders often say that they wish they had been taught about leadership from a young age. Joel believes we can change the narrative by teaching students about leadership before entering the job market.
Teaching students about leadership packs its own set of unique challenges. First, teachers are already busy as is, and adding extra teaching material to their schedules will be met with frowns. Thus, Joel believes that the only way to do this is by using short and easy-to-implement tools. This way, a teacher will not be burdened with any extra material, and the learner gets to gain leadership training quickly and efficiently.
The past couple of years have witnessed an increased number of schools adopt the democratizing leadership framework. The framework aims to offer learners short learning materials that they can consume and apply to their student lives. This helps them think about how to understand and overcome challenges that they might be going through. Since leadership affects many aspects of a person's life, these tools can also be used to solve challenges plaguing the family unit and the community.
As earlier mentioned, most senior leaders never learned leadership practices and how best to pass on their knowledge. What happens then is that they develop mindsets that limit other people's opportunities to step into leadership positions. As a leader, it's your duty to nurture your team members, especially new employees, and push them to become the leaders they were meant to be. However, as much as you'd love to hold their hand throughout the journey, it would be best if you gave them the freedom to make mistakes. Learn how and when to step back and let the upcoming leaders tap into their creativity and solve problems for themselves.
For more information on becoming an excellent leader, visit the UpSpiral Leadership website, and remember to tune in next week! Check out Joel’s website and get in touch with Joel via LinkedIn.
