"A leader is best when people barely know he exists, when his work is done, his aim is fulfilled, they will say: we did it ourselves." - Lao Tzu A leader is courageous, reflective, and compassionate, someone who can unite a team of people working toward a common purpose, leading others to find the potential within themselves. A leader is someone who has difficult conversations, challenging others to be the best that they can be, while knowing that empathy and understanding allows for us to be human and build trusting relationships. During my career, I have been afforded the opportunity to work closely with great educators and leaders. Dedication, strength, and perseverance are essential components of this work. We are tasked with inspiring children to be life-long learners, to help them understand the challenges we face, and to prepare them to lead our communities as we work collaboratively to solve problems and develop creative solutions. Educational leaders must be responsive to the dynamic nature of our world, leading through adversity and difficult times, while inspiring an optimism that no challenge is too great to overcome.