Page 8 - Leadership Basics 8

Aware

Before you can improve your time management skills it is essential that you are aware of a number of
things about yourself. First, you need to consciously clarify your own personal and professional values
and goals ‐ where you are going and where you want to be. Secondly, you also need to be aware of
your habits, behaviours, personality, personal and professional responsibilities, values and patterns of
communication. An awareness of these should help you realize why and when you do things and what
factors influence your behaviour. Common wisdom suggests that effective time management stems
from two forms of control: self‐control and job control. Self‐control arises from knowledge of yourself:
your strengths, weaknesses, personality type, and whether you see things as a whole or as smaller
details. Job control requires knowledge of your job: that is, of the school and your role within it. You
must be aware of the school’s major purpose since your values as a leader will be measured in terms
of this. Knowledge of the primary purpose helps you define and clarify your role and areas of
responsibility.
During Links you are constantly setting goals and discussing what is important for you in terms of your
learning.
The awareness stage then involves clarifying what you believe and what it is you want to achieve.
What you want to achieve is best captured through setting goals or targets, in other words, by setting
goals and targets you are actually defining what is important to you. It is not an easy task to identify
your goals accurately. Usually you will have some idea of what they entail, but you must consciously
‘dig’ them out of your mind. The following points may help you to define and set goals.

 Importance/Priorities
Separate personal, professional (career or business) and family goals.

 Past Experience
Think about the things you have done or those that have happened to you that have made you
feel ‘good’: when you felt you had really achieved something.
 Realistic
Make sure the goals you set are realistic.

 Limited
While some goals may be realistic, others may be set too low to challenge you.

 Specific
Make sure your goals are reasonably specific and include some form of a deadline. Think about
how you will achieve your goals and plan for this.
 Written
Put your goals in writing – they will be of little use for planning if they are not formalized.

4