Tag Archives: Educational Leadership

10 Ideas To Move Innovation Forward

cc licensed ( BY ) flickr photo shared by -= Bruce Berrien =-

Through a lot of conversations on social networks, face-to-face opportunities, and reflection, I have been thinking about some of the things that I have seen to create new and better (innovative) opportunities for learning. This is not only in the context of student learning, but as well as opportunities for staff and their own professional development. Below, I would like to share some of my thoughts as well as some corresponding quotes from people both in and out of education. (I have written about this topic before, but I really wanted to focus on people specifically.)

1. Have a clear vision.

Although the term “innovation” talks about continuously developing new ideas, I really believe that it is imperative that the notion of risk-taking and continuously developing better learning opportunities for students. The other idea is that leaders should have some clear notion on what learning could look like in today’s classroom, not simply having a vision that is not clear. Once those ideas become clear to others, trust that those you serve will take off and make amazing things happen. Give them the autonomy to make the vision come to life.

“If you do a good job of teaching your values and mission to the people at the bottom of your organization, then once you give them control, they will do the right things with it.” Charlene Li

2. Model what you want to see.

It is really easy to go say, “do this”, but it is more important to say, “let’s do this together”. If you think about the way many run staff meetings, they often talk about “21st Century Learning” but do not model it when educators are present. People rarely change because they hear something, but are more likely to grow if they experience something. How are you making those learning opportunities something people experience?

“Meaningful change ain’t gonna happen for our kids if we’re not willing to invest in it for ourselves first. At the heart, it’s not about schools…it’s about us.” Will Richardson

3. Break it down into smaller steps.

When we have a giant vision of what “better” looks like, it often becomes overwhelming to people who are nowhere near an “endpoint”. To help people move forward, skill and confidence have to be built along the way. Every step closer to a vision, is great progress.

For example, if you want people to become more connected, show them ways that they can benefit immediately as opposed to focusing on all of the amazing ways they can bring experts into the classroom, help them find one single resource. Once they see the value of that, they are more likely to make the next step which could eventually lead to the giant leap.

“The path to success is paved with small wins. Even the grandest and most glorious victories rest on a string of modest but constructive steps forward.” Robert I. Sutton

4. Help people move from their “Point A” to their “Point B”.

Everyone is at different points in their learning journey. This is not just students, but educators as well. Too often we offer workshops and expect people to be all at the same point by the end, but is this really honouring where people are at? I really believe that once a teacher quits learning, they will become ineffective. It may not happen tomorrow, but it will happen. That being said, I can easily work with anyone that is wanting to learn and get better; they don’t have to be at the pinnacle. Start where people are at, as opposed to focusing on where you want them to be.

“Multipliers invoke each person’s unique intelligence and create an atmosphere of genius—innovation, productive effort, and collective intelligence.” Liz Wiseman

5. Work with people 1-on-1.

One of the best things that I have done this year (in my opinion), was offer “office hours” that gave teachers the opportunity to ask me about whatever they wanted to learn. Large group sessions give ample amounts of information, but can also be ineffective for many. Much of the time, teachers would come to me with questions of things that they were interested in learning about, and I led them to initiatives in our division that would help them. The big “light bulb moment” for me was this; it was not about what I wanted to teach them, but about what they wanted to learn. It is much easier to work from that point when helping others move forward.

“To sell well is to convince someone else to part with resources—not to deprive that person, but to leave him better off in the end.” Daniel Pink

6. Promote champions.

In education, no matter the level, it is never about “us”, but it is always about others. It would be really easy to maintain a space where you are always seen as the “expert”, but it is more important to build systems and capacity if we want long term growth. Sometimes, even when you know the answer, it is better to be a “connector” and show that you value the people who are already doing great stuff. A system should never be dependent upon one but should tap into many.

“…the world changes by dint of small groups of dedicated people.” Margaret J. Wheatley

7. Share, share, share!

“And then one day, you look up and realize that all those individual trajectories have turned into a wave.” Stephen Johnson

One of the neatest things about many of the initiatives that we have within our district is that we really focused on a few things to get to that transformative level in our work. When sharing became the default with many educators, we were learning from so many others and really pushing the limits of our work.

A simple analogy. Most people know that we do not use something simple like Microsoft Word past ten percent of it’s capacity (not the innovative type of software I am promoting, but the example is used for familiarity). What happens when everyone’s ten percent is different, but we all share? Our learning grows so much when we all share what we know with one another.

“The smartest person in the room is the room.” David Weinberger

8. Model and promote risk taking.

We often talk about “promoting risk taking”, but do leaders model it? People will not feel comfortable unless we openly share the things that we are trying to do to get better. Every time I write a blog post, I am taking the risk of looking stupid or saying something that someone would take offensive, yet I focus on clarifying my thoughts openly since I want our community to do the same. How can I ask it if I do not model it?

Once people see that you are doing this, they are more likely to try their own ideas and push what is happening in their own situations. Giving people license to take risks, will more likely lead to some amazing things.

“if you want innovation, it’s critical that people are able to work on ideas that are unapproved and generally thought to be stupid. The real value of “20%” is not the time, but rather the “license” it gives to work on things that “aren’t important.” Jonathan Fields

9. Find the balance of “pressure and support”.

I have talked about this to a great extent in my blog, but I think it is important to create a sense of urgency in our work while also ensuring that people are supported. If it is important, you will find money, and make time for people. This sense of urgency and support will help people to move when combined, much more than if there is an abundance of one and lack with the other.

“I believe that managing is like holding a dove in your hand. If you hold it too tightly, you kill it, but if you hold it too loosely, you lose it.” Tommy Lasorda

10. Always remember that we are in the “people” business”.

No matter how urgent things are, it never helps when we make people feel incompetent. We can have great ideas, but it is important to understand that we often do not know situations that people are dealing with in their personal lives, and what is happening outside of their work. Ensure that you show you value what they already do, before you start pushing where they should be. Once a person knows they are valued, they will go to much greater heights than if they never felt cared for in the first place.

“I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” Maya Angelou

Concluding Thoughts

As we continue to work on growth and change management, working where people are and caring about them, makes them not only more open to change, but eventually want to embrace it. It is a process that needs patience, but with each small victory, many get closer to the big goal.

“Rather than viewing change as a threat and something to be feared, we will find ourselves embracing change, recognizing its potential to drive us to even higher levels of performance…”John Seely Brown

“People do not fail in life because they aim too high and miss…”

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cc licensed ( BY ) flickr photo shared by http://heretakis.com

A superintendent was in one of my workshops with his administration team, and he raised his hand and said the following:

A lot of what you are talking about and sharing is great, but where would you find the time?

My heart sunk immediately.

Hearing the lead of an organization say that in front of his staff made what I was sharing optional. What bothered me about the statement is that the work I was highlighting of so many teachers in our district, he acknowledged as being “great”, yet you could tell that it would never be something that he would see as a priority.

As an administrator, it is imperative that you have to be a “defender of time“, so you can’t do everything in your school, but if we were to take a look at a lot of the tasks that we do in school, do they lead to “great” or are they something we just do because we have always done it that way. If we want to get better, we should look at what we need to do, while also what we need to get rid of.

If you look at any person that has done something awesome, the question that always comes up from others is “where did you find the time?” It is not about time, but it is about an attitude and a way they live their life. Most people that are really fit and in shape, don’t find the time, they make the time. They know it is important and it is just what they do. That’s it. Is that any different from any endeavour?

Does every teacher have to be “great”? Not necessarily, but I believe that this is something we should all strive for to benefit our students. As I think of this notion, I heard this quote and it sticks out to me regarding this thought process:

“People do not fail in life because they aim too high and miss. They fail in life, because they aim too low and hit.” (Unknown)

Thoughts?

The Dead-End Leader

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Having a conversation with a good friend and talking about my own experience, we shared some stories about leadership. The one thought that kept popping up in my head is the notion of the “Dead-End Leader” and how life-sucking these experiences can be in our profession.

Example…

You are having a conversation with your principal talking about a new idea and they tell you all of the reasons why it won’t work. That is essentially saying “no”, or else, “too risky for me to back it.” This puts you in the position of either not doing it, not feeling comfortable being ‘subversive’, or making it happen in spite of your administrator.

Take the same idea with the same risks, and your leader says, “I’m not sure, but have you thought about these things?”. Or saying,”I don’t know enough about this, so please tell me more.”

Great leaders continue the conversation.

They empower you.

They show trust in your ability and knowledge.

They don’t stop the journey, but make you think about your course.

This is more than great leadership, but this is also great learning.

This (for me) goes back to the question…are you a fountain or a drain?

(As I wrote this, I thought of this video and post shared by Dean Shareski. Take a look at it because it is definitely worth the time.)

“Is this good enough?”

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cc licensed ( BY ) flickr photo shared by Bigbadvoo

I had a great conversation last night and the gentleman told me a story that I found extremely powerful…

As a teacher, he had a student hand in an assignment the day it was due, and ask him, “Is this good enough?” The teacher looked at the student and asked him, “What do you think?”

The student looked bewildered at the teacher and thought he was messing with him. What the teacher had explained is that the work was not for the teacher, but for the student himself. That every single day, he has to try and do his best work to his ability, not to what he thinks the teacher wants, but to the best of his own ability.

The teacher then said to the student, “If I give you 24 more hours to do this, will you give me your best stuff?” The student then looked at the teacher, wondered if he was serious, and took him up on the opportunity. The next day, he showed up and his work improved dramatically, not because he was doing it for the teacher, but he was doing it for himself.

When the teacher became a principal, he told his staff the story about this student and he said, “If we are expect our students to bring their best work to school everyday, shouldn’t we model that ourselves?”

The next time I hear the question, “Is this good enough?”, I guess we have to figure out good enough for whom?

The First Step to Change

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I get a lot of emails asking about creating the conditions for change and recently was asked, “As a new principal, what is the first step to create a better learning environment in our school?”

Here is my answer…do nothing.

Too many times people walk into buildings and have some great ideas and they start trying to tweak this, and change that, etc., yet that often alienates the people that you want to get better.

What I would strongly suggest is that you sit back, watch, learn, and figure out what people are great at already and build from there. You will build relationships and people will trust that when new initiatives begin popping up in your school that you already value their skills and abilities. Also, this will create a team approach as opposed to the “admin vs. teacher” culture that is prevalent in many schools.

“It takes far less energy to move from first-rate performance to excellence than it does to move from incompetence to mediocrity.” Peter Drucker

When You Outgrow Leadership

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“Anyone can run away; it’s super easy. Facing problems and working through them, that’s what makes you strong.”Unknown

With the infusion of social media into our everyday lives, along with educators using to connect and learn from others, the expectations in our own circumstances has been raised. Through sites like Connected Principals (full disclosure…this is a site that I created and which many contribute), the role of principal and how it is done in other organizations has become increasingly transparent. People have access to what leadership looks like, and many want more guidance to reach a higher level in their own careers. In working with many “high-flyers” both in and out of my organization, one of the consistent things that I see in all of them is the craving for mentorship. They tend to be “sponges” and want to soak in as much as they can, learn from it, and lead because of it. Often though, this mentorship can be lacking in their own situation and leaves a person with a couple of choices; leave or flounder. I would like to hope that every principal and superintendent is amazing, but as in every field, there are those that are lacking.

Make your intentions transparent

Some want to become a principal and some want to stay in the classroom their entire career and be the best teacher possible. Leadership is essential in growing both, yet often our goals are not known by those that we work with. Simply asking for a time to sit down from your leader and talk about what you would like to do or where you would like to go is the first step in getting to your next level. We often assume that our leadership does not know what we need, but sometimes the reason is because we have never had an open conversation and shared our aspirations. It is hard to be on the same page if we have no idea the direction.

Empowering your leader

Insecurity can lead to serious issues in both our personal and professional life, and leadership is a tough position that can really exponentiate those feelings. It doesn’t happen with all leaders, but it does happen. We often want to feel valued by our leadership, but how often do we try to show how we value the person above us in the chain of command? Simply asking questions such as, “what do you think?”, or “what would your suggestions be to get to the next level?”, shows that you value their opinion. Communication and relationships are always a two-way street and we have to treat them that way no matter the hierarchy.

Find mentorship

Whether your are getting what you need in terms of mentorship from your own leader, an outside mentor is always beneficial. Not simply someone else in your building, but more important, someone outside. When we spend a lot of time in one place, we often become oblivious to the things that may jump out to others. A different perspective can help us grow and bring more leadership within our own organizations and be crucial in our own development. Asking advice, listening to stories, or sharing difficulties with someone else may help to open your eyes to new solutions that are not currently being brought into your line of sight.

Moving forward

I am blessed to have many great mentors within my own school division, but I often benefit from connecting to principals and superintendents from around the world to get a different viewpoint and to hopefully help my own growth. Many are not in my situation, but as we ask students to find solutions to their own problems, we need to do the same or ourselves. There will be no growth if all we do is complain that our current leadership is not cutting it; that is simply a waste of time. The best educators find a way to get the mentorship that they crave for their own growth in their current situation, or they leave and find it somewhere else. We always have choices.

4 Leadership Qualities That Need Follow-Through

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There are a lot of “qualities” of effective leadership that are discussed, yet important elements are left out that leave these qualities lacking. When I think of what I want to see in leaders, and what I do my best to aspire towards, I try to think of certain qualities and the corresponding actions that make them whole. Here are a few below.

1. Words without action – This one is so plainly evident, yet it has to be stated. Leadership is not simply being a “thought leader”, but someone who gets things done. This quote sticks out to me:

“Everyone who has ever taken a shower has had an idea. It’s the person who gets out of the shower, dries off, and does something about it that makes a difference.” Nolan Bushnell

Have you followed through on your promises?

2. Being “heard” without follow-up – I will have to admit, I look for more than just being “heard” by someone when I have a concern or an issue. I want it to be a conversation. Being “heard” and “agreeing” are two different things, yet often times common ground can be found. It is essential to listen to all of those that we serve, but how do we follow up? Sometimes after these tough conversations, I wait, go home, think about it, and either respond in detail through an email or have a follow-up meeting to share what I heard, and talk about next steps. It is way easier to take a side in the heat of the moment, but if you are an effective leader, you will work to find the “best” idea, not “your” idea. Take time to share that thought process to ensure that you show others no they are an important part of your team.

3. Vision with no clarity – Every school or district has some mission statement, and after awhile, they seem pretty generic. If you want to see progress, start breaking these statements down and talk about what it looks like in the classroom. If you want to find out if a school leader has a clear vision, ask them what learning should look like in the classroom. If they can’t give you some ideas in the classroom, we have a problem. A moving target is pretty hard to hit, but not as tough as a target that doesn’t even exist.

4. Promoting “risk-taking”without taking risks – “Risk taking” is something that is often talked about and encouraged at the leadership level, but does it happen often? If an educator does not see their administrator taking risks in the work that they do, that teacher is not going to feel very comfortable doing it in their job, which will often relay down to the students being risk averse.

Here is an example.

I have visited many schools and seen a lot of staff meetings that look pretty similar. Administrator at the front, educators sitting down (either by themselves in groups or individually), information being dispersed, and group talk that is often at task. There is often a lot of complaining about the process, yet things don’t seem to change. What if the administrator decided to change things up, or tweak, or turn things upside down, and embody trying to do something different that is better? If it doesn’t work, we try again. Honestly, if staff meetings don’t change, you can forget about classroom learning changing. People are not likely to change when you tell them something; they are likely to change when they experience something.

When I think about the work of effective leaders, it shouldn’t be complex, but a lot of work. Great leadership takes time to build relationships through trust and actions. Being charismatic and effective communicator are not the qualities that many look for; they want credibility. Follow-through is essential and can take leadership to the level that we need to reach.

Ownership and Leadership

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cc licensed ( BY ) flickr photo shared by VinothChandar

When I first started teaching, I remember a student election that was quite controversial. One of the “bad” kids decided to run for president and he was very likely to win. This was not a kid that cared about necessarily improving the school, but wanted to prove that he could win the election because that is how little “student leadership” meant to the students. His platform was run on the idea that he would win the election, and then do nothing. He eventually bowed out but he had made his point. To be honest, the student council was a joke to many and this student was just proving it.

So why did the kids consider it a joke? Most likely because student leadership in school had no real ownership over anything (at the time). Yes they would organize dances (based on how many we would let them have and only if teachers would supervise), but other than that, there was not much the students could do. They had no say in how things were taught in school or could they really talk about how they would want to learn. There were a lot of active kids that would organize things, but only if they were allowed.

Without ownership, there can be no leadership.

When I came to my current school division, I remember my first principal putting me “in charge” of technology within the school. I had heard similar sentiments before, yet when it came to decisions in my past schools, I was not asked for input. That was a role for administrators, not for “teachers”. Throughout the year though, I was continuously asked by my principal on my thoughts, and saw my input not only being valued, but also use for implementation. At the end of the year, when the budget was put together, I was asked to look after the technology portion and make the decisions for purchasing. At first I was astounded by being able to “oversee” this, and my principal simply told me, “I have hired you for your knowledge in this area and it only makes sense that you make the decisions.” My dedication to the school rose exponentially because now if initiatives succeeded or failed in this area, it was my responsibility.

I continuously have been given leadership opportunities within Parkland School Division that are tied with the ownership over the process and results. When I became principal, my hours were much longer, because I cared a ton about the success of the school, but I was okay with this because I loved what I was doing. With that being said, my focus was to transfer the ownership to our school community to build leadership.

When I realized how much more job satisfaction I had, when I was trusted to help move our school forward (in all my positions), I wanted to give as many people that same ownership that I felt and continuously develop leadership. Not only did my staff lead our professional development, but they also defined the goals for the school. If the goals were not achieved, it was on all of us, not just the principal. People stepped up and did an amazing job for our school. There was no more “passing the buck” to someone else; these was our goals, our implementation, and we all shared in the success and failures.

We often talk about developing leadership, but if people do not have the opportunity to own it, how far can they really go?

Making Meaningful Sense of Our World

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I asked a group of teachers, “When you need information, what do you do?”

Think about the question yourself…what do you do? Do you ask colleagues? Look at encyclopedia? Throw in your “Encyclopedia Britannica” CD Rom into your computer?

What they ALL said (all of them) was that they “google it”.

The ability to google something is important, but assessing that information is imperative. Many have advocated that students should have the ability to have a device during exams. Wouldn’t that create a better test? Finding the information is important, but what you do with the information is where the rubber really hits the road. If I can google the answer to the test, is the assessment any good?

If you think about it, how many adults go to a textbook to find information? Honestly, why do we even teach with textbooks anymore? Because they are engaging and mirror what we see in the real world or because they are the easiest way to deliver a packaged curriculum? Nowhere outside of schools is “science” that packaged.

Now, when I think about how I look for information, “googling” something is not on the top of my list. Often I ask the question on Twitter and get fewer results which are always better, because they are researched and used by teachers that I have connected with. Can anyone do that at this moment? Probably not, but I have taken the time to develop a network of educators that has actually saved me time in the long run. The time spent following and learning from other educators has been invaluable to my work and is actually a “21st Century Literacy“:

Build intentional cross-cultural connections and relationships with others so to pose and solve problems collaboratively and strengthen independent thought.

I also have learned where to get information on specific things such as hotels. Searching google might lead me to the hotel’s website and let me know what the people who own the place think of it but Trip Advisor tells me what people who have stayed at the establishment think of the place. How many hotel websites say that their establishment is just “ok”. Sites like Trip Advisor keep many organizations “honest” and actually forces them to produce a better product. Having a “name” as a hotel is no longer enough; you have to back it with quality. If you aren’t using sites like this already, what information are you losing out on?

I have thought a lot about this topic when I saw the following quote:

“When we teach a child to deal with a changing world, she will never become obsolete.” Seth Godin

The technology will always change, but the skill to find information, make sense of it, and then do something meaningful with what we have learned, is essential.

Questions and Ownership

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cc licensed ( BY SD ) flickr photo shared by alexanderdrachmann

I have had some great conversations with some really smart educators over the past few days, and one in particular has stood out.

Frustrated by the slow pace of change in her building, an administrator asked me for some advice on how she can help move her staff forward on any issue and how they could adopt a more positive culture in the building. I asked her to explain her vision to me, and she had some really great ideas for what her school could look like, and I followed it up by asking her if she has shared this vision with her staff. I then asked her what were the questions that she asked of them about this topic, and honestly, she hadn’t really asked much.

The problem with that is as administrators, no matter how smart we are, we shouldn’t have or give all of the answers. If you think about this, as a teacher, you are most likely the smartest person in a room full of students, but we need kids to figure out the answers, not listen to them. What do we as administrators embody to our staff that we want modeled in their classroom?

For example, I brought up the conversation about teachers standing outside of their classroom to welcome their students. There are so many benefits of doing this to improve the school culture and climate, yet if we simply say this as administrators to our staff, it may not be embraced by our staff. Instead, why not ask a question similar to the following:

“If we stood outside of the classrooms in the morning and greeted our students, what do you think that would do for the culture of our school?”

Instead of always being on the defensive and trying to justify answers, why not listen to staff and have them say why or why this wouldn’t work? Too many administrators spend a lot of time defending their great ideas, but we need others to take ownership for these ideas and share their thoughts, both positive and negative.

After this conversation, there is an important follow up question:

If we feel this would improve the culture of our school, what do you need from me to ensure that you are successful?

I hear the term “servant leadership” used by many, but modeled by few. When you want any initiative to work in your school, you must be able to share what you will do to ensure that your staff that YOU serve will

I have said this before, that great leadership should model the same things that great teachers do. If you are the leader or teacher with all of the answers, what happens when you leave? What have you built within your school or classroom? Even if your school moves forward because of the wisdom of one person, that is a culture of one, and that culture will die when you leave. We have to figure out better ways for our staff and students to own the culture and learning, and follow up by doing what we can to empower them to be successful.

Our work is about making others better, not displaying our own intelligence .

The Principal of Change

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