Are the Best Leaders also the Best Learners?

According to Kouzes and Posner truth nine is “The best leaders are the best learners” (pg. 119). Being open to new experiences, and evaluating the experience though a reflective lens enable a leader to assess both the successes and failures of the new behavior. This reflective process enables a leader to experience growth. As the leader experiences growth, the mental model change establishing a “growth mindset…based on the belief that your basic qualities are things you can cultivate through your efforts” (Kouzes, & Posner, pg. 124). A leader’s “growth mindset” penetrates all aspects of their lives, whether in the classroom, an athletic endeavor or business proposition. (Kouzes, & Posner, pg. 126). Fullan refers to “pursuit of precision, not prescription” as the growth mindset, collaboration, monitoring, and making adjustments (Fullan, pg 82).

“There are five elements, enable leaders to have a growth mindset based on deliberate practice; 1) is specifically designed to improve their performance, 2)is repeated a lot, 3) feedback on the results is continuously available, 4) it is demanding mentally, and 5) it isn’t much fun” (Kouzes, & Posner, pg. 130). But is does ultimately result in the development of the skills desired.

Becoming the best, doesn’t just happen, it is cultivated. “It is estimated that it takes 10,000 hours of practice, over ten years to become an expert” (Kouzes, & Posner, pg 127). It is a thoughtful choice, which requires deliberate practice to become an effective leader. Though a “growth mindset” a leader stays open to the possibilities of opportunity of growth in leadership.


Fullen, M. (2008). The six secrets of change. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

Kouzes, J. M. , & Posner, B. Z. (2010). The truth about leadership. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

Social Networking, Transparency and the Participatory Culture

Today’s middle school and high school students have been drawn to the transparent highways of social networking. According to Jenkins et al. (2006), social networking is in essence a resource of transparency in which students have the ability to explore information, publish personal thoughts, and blend ideas with one another. In the article, Confronting the Challenges of Participatory Culture: Media Education for the 21st Century, it states that “a resourceful student is no longer one who personally possesses a wide palette of resources and information from which to choose, but rather, one who is able to successfully navigate an already abundant an continually changing world of information” (p. 49) The theory of transparency addressed in this article is referred to as “participatory cultures” (p.3). A participatory culture is identified as one in which students possess a stream of philosophy where minimal limitations exist for creative communication where students’ personal influences make a difference to their social network affiliates such as FaceBook. I agree that in order for students to be members of a participatory culture, educators will need to collaborate to ensure that each student best comprehends how media shapes perceptions and mental models.

As said by Jenkins, research shows that although students are innovative they “may lack some of the core life experiences and basic knowledge that might help them to discriminate between accurate and inaccurate accounts” (p.45).

After reviewing this article, one question jumps out at me: via transparent social networking to communicate with one another, how might participatory cultures become productive members of a technological society in which youth are unable to differentiate between what is accurate and inaccurate when making sense of online resources?

Jenkins, H., Clinton, K., Purushotma, R., Robinson, A., & Weigel, M. (2006) Confronting the Challenges of Participatory Culture: Media Education for the 21st Century. Retrieved from http://digitallearning.macfound.org