SEEing to Lead

Matthew Woods has served in various roles within K-12 education. His professional experience includes being a high school social studies teacher, middle and high school assistant principal, middle school principal, and director of student support services. In addition to his K-12 work, Matthew has also served as an adjunct professor and field instructor at the collegiate level for student-teachers. Aside from this work, Matthew hosts a K-12 podcast, Leading Out the Woods, and is the author of the children’s book series, I Wanna Be… , starring his one year old son imagining different occupations he would like to grow up to be. Matthew is currently working on his leadership book, The Sandbox Mentality: Empowering Leadership. For more information regarding Matthew’s professional and educational experience, please visit his LinkedIn page. Key Takeaways: You need to take advantage of every opportunity you can to give back to the community that gave to you. Sometimes we have to just step back to realize how blessed we are. Critical thinking is essential if people are to continuously improve. Create spaces that are safe for people to think critically or practice skills. Effective leaders don't ask people what to do, but instead provide them strategies on how to do it. You have to be proactive instead of reactive.  If you are constantly reacting you are going to fail. Put out the match before it becomes a forest fire. Empowerment is about getting people comfortable to push the boundaries on their current situation. Sometimes when people tell you to take a step back they're saving you from falling down. The 4 principles of the sandbox mentality. Autonomy and empowerment must align with core beliefs. Stay In Touch: Twitter Website