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The Ambassador
In the age of choice, the Ambassador is a more desirable, more important leadership type than ever before. Ambassadors are the entertainers of the edleadership universe, bringing unmatched passion, enthusiasm, and charisma to the table with the goal of telling the best possible stories of their districts, schools, and classrooms.
Ambassadors lead from the front and center, whether that means starring in a weekly YouTube show, promoting successes on social media, or writing a regular blog on the district website. They never shy from the spotlight, but when it’s on them, they have mastered the art of deflecting positive attention to colleagues, peers, and students. Ambassadors don’t need to fake it—they genuinely care about what they are doing and who they’re doing it for.
People love to work for an Ambassador because of the bubble of positive surrounding them at all times. Ambassadors at the district leadership level also tend to craft the clearest, most inspirational mission statements, making it easy for the entire community to rally around a shared purpose. This innate sense of branding is beneficial to any district with aspirations of improving the talent level of job candidates and increasing student enrollment.
Ambassadors tend to be humbler than some of their counterparts, but it would be a mistake to see them as pushovers. The degree of caring that makes them so good at what they do also manifests as fierce loyalty and dogged determination to improve the experience of all stakeholders. The Ambassador is diplomatic to a certain point, but knows when to put the hammer down if people either fail to adhere to the mission or actively work to sabotage it.
What the kids see
What don’t the kids see? Ambassadors are the faces of their institutions, both internally and externally. Don’t be surprised to see these leaders reading books in a kindergarten classroom one day and taking selfies with students the next. Students will enjoy a feeling of direct connection thanks to the Ambassador’s strong social media presence and innate understanding of multiple forms of communication.Potential pitfalls
To predict whether an Ambassador will have a successful run, one need only look at how well and how quickly his or her stakeholders buy in. Because Ambassadors often throw themselves into their goals with reckless abandon, they must be very deliberate about staying attuned with how their efforts are received. Without keen self-awareness, the Ambassador tends to take on too much too soon, alienating the very people who are essential to his or her vision.Ambassadors are at their best when they invite multiple voices to the table and remain cognizant of the omnipresent need for “us” and “we” over “I” and “they.” Authenticity will always be a challenge—is the face you present to the outside world an accurate representation of the culture you’ve built, or an idealized account of where you want that culture to go? If the Ambassador is saying one thing and everyone else in his or her vicinity is saying another, the honeymoon may well be over.
