Meet Conference Scholar
Meredith Stewart
Follow Meredith on Twitter
Follow Meredith on Twitter.
Biography
Meredith Stewart thought that she wanted to be a lawyer but discovered that her great passions are teaching and growing food. In her 6th grade Language Arts and World Cultures classes at Cary Academy in North Carolina, Meredith loves using technology to engage students and enrich their learning experiences.
She is a member of Anathoth Community Garden in Cedar Grove, N.C., where you can find her most Saturday mornings.
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In Her Own Words: A Leadership Reflection
What has led to your development as a leader?
My aversion to the word "leader" is one of the greatest obstacles I face as a leader. I am skeptical of leadership because of the ways in which power can corrupt, distort, and remove one from the work he or she enjoys. However, I believe there are ways to combat the potential traps of leadership.
As a leader, continuing to do some of the work that led you to a position of leadership, whether that’s doing the dishes or teaching a class or weeding a garden, is important for feeling a sense of connection with those you lead and the work they do. In addition, the willingness to be honest about the difficulty of leadership and the mistakes you make along the way not only instills trust, but also counteracts the tendency of power to corrupt. Continued contact with the work you did before you were a leader and transparency may not give you an edge on others, but I think they can keep you from becoming a leader you wouldn’t want to follow.
What leadership article has inspired you?
The Power Trip, by Jonah Lehrer
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