308 Learning and Leading with Habits of Mind
kind of school, what the level of diversity or socioeconomic standing, or
what kind of administration we worked with in the organization. Others
said, “Where did you learn that? We need to know that,” and we found our-
selves in front of peers teaching them what we knew. Teaching peers
required that we learn to thinkand communicate with clarity and preci-
sion. We did not necessarily name the Habits of Mind at that time, but we
are aware that the habits were clearly evidenced in the way we worked.
It was fun, exciting, and daunting. Neither of us had aspirations to seek
many of the jobs we took—including the highest-level jobs in our systems;
sometimes, we think these jobs found us, because they were a next logical
step for us as teacher-leaders. Yet, being a superintendent or the president
of a national organization is not an easy feat. Crediting fate as our sole
guide would be dishonest; we arrived at these destinations through persis-
tence, determination, diligence, and hard work. However, we were always
willing to reflect on what we did, willingly took feedback from those we
trusted, and learned from experience. We found that we cultivated Habits
of Mind that helped us focus, commit, and stay passionate about our work.
Most important, when leaders embody these habits, others emulate creat-
ing a culture that adopts these mental attitudes. This short essay tries to
answer the question: How do you learn to be a leader and what is the sig-
nificance of the Habits of Mind as a part of that learning?
This is not a how-to manual, but rather an exploration of how these
habits helped us be competent, confident, and more successful as leaders.
The frame of the Habits of Mind makes cognitive processes concrete,
bringing clarity and precision to our thinkingand actions, and thereby
providing opportunities to learn and grow.
The Habits of Mind are pervasive enough to cover the territory; they
allow us to set a rich context for our leadership discoveries and they con-
tinue to provide ongoing knowledge, skills, and applications in our lead-
ership roles. By adopting the Habits of Mind as a thinking frame, leaders
widen their repertoire of possible actions and foster flexibilityin response.
Having only one or two response sets for difficult problems limits a
leader’s influence and ability to find resolution. When leaders learn to
stay flexible, they increase their personal and professional efficacy by