307Leading Is a Habit of Mind
Wi l l i a m A. S o m m e r s a n d D i a n e P. Z i m m e r m a n17
People often ask us, “How do you teach leadership?” We think a better
question is “How do you learn leadership?” Noel Tichy (1997), in his
book The Leadership Engine, proposes that leaders have two main respon-
sibilities: first, to be the head learner; and second, to develop other lead-
ers. We believe that we develop leaders by managing internal and external
resources to bring out the best in each person. In addition, we lead by
inspiring others toward common visions—for both how we work together
and what we believe about that work.
The Call to Leadership
As we reflect on our teaching experiences, we realize that we were uncon-
sciously on a path to leadership. We experimented with trial and error; we
did what worked. Every day felt like a new adventure looking for innova-
tivesolutions to the puzzles embodied in our students. We asked questions
and took responsible risksto solve the riddles of learning; we reflected on
our thinkingand actions and continued to learn from experience. We look
back and laughat some of our trials and tribulations; naiveté invited us to
experiment through questioning and posing problemsin our bid for elegant
solutions. We now know we are positive deviants; we are always optimiz-
ing solutions with the existing surroundings. It didn’t seem to matter what