According to the NOLS leadership classification system, I fall under “Architects and Analysts”. I think that the biggest strength of this style of leadership is my analysis skills; I tend to make extremely deliberate decisions. My ability to observe and take in information makes me a valuable contributor to group settings because I often notice and process details that others miss. However, the flip side of analysis is that I can falter when asked to make quick decisions or when I don’t know all the facts of a situation. I would like to improve my ability to make certain decisions more quickly.
The “Architects and Analysts” leadership style fits into how I would describe myself as an educator. I think that an educator should be a facilitator of learning rather than a director, and lessons should be tailored to the prior knowledge and academic interests of the particular group of students. The “Architects and Analysts” style ties into this philosophy because I am good at making observations about my students, and I can analyze those patterns in order to better fit my lessons to them. I think that effective communication in teaching is an extension of analyzing patterns; communicating with students is often about figuring out the most effective way to explain a particular concept based on someone’s prior knowledge and style of learning. Because of the deliberate nature of the “Analysts and Architects” type, I tend to be thorough in addressing topics through various styles of learning (i.e. auditory, reading and writing, kinesthetic, and visual).
Having said all this, I think that a good leader is one who can adapt their style to the situation at hand, and that is the type of leader I aspire to be.
