Wednesday, March 14, 2007
Virtual Discussion
Interns, Leadership and competence become infused with power when the leader has a clear mission that is embraced by members of the organization. In this discussion, share experiences that you have had where the leader's mission was embraced and where it was not embraced. Describe the consequences that you witnessed. Post your mission as one of your two entries.
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I have seen two levels of competence within our 2 principals in our district. Our elementary principal has a clear mission on our school improvement plan. Our staff understands her requirements and organizational skills. She is proactive in problem solving by maintaining a clear vision of the direction she wants her staff to go. There seems to be a team understanding and a sense of camaraderie within that area of the building.
Our secondary side is much different. We are all in our own little world and a huge gap in communication persists on a daily basis. This lack of dialogue causes a wealth of conflict within the staff and our secondary leader either doesn’t care that there is no collaboration or doesn’t get it. A lack of competence and leadership ideals are driving our moral of our secondary building lower and lower every year. Many of our good teachers are going elsewhere because this is a difficult place to work. More importantly our secondary students, especially the JH students are struggling in academic areas as well as discipline and social areas due to this lack of organization.
As a teacher and an administrator I find it difficult to intervene, when our district level leader seems to just be riding out his final months before retirement.
One example of a leader having a clear mission, and her students having extraordinary buy-in and ownership of that vision is one of our math teachers at AMS. She uses the Kan-Ed resources and uses formative testing with her students throughout the year to monitor their needs and progress. The clear mission for 100% of her students is to achieve "Meets Standards" or higher on the math assessment. She tutors students who need extra assistance after school for many months to prepare them to be successful. She continually talks about the importance of achievement on the assessment and in her class. Her students have great respect for her, and complete buy-in to her mission. Needless to say, her results are always very impressive. This is a case where the leader is a teacher, and the followers are students. John Maxwell said that "Leadership isn't position, it is influence." The great teachers can have a powerful influence on achievement and the overall culture of a school.
"Leadership isn't a position, It is influence" what a great quote. I truly believe in that philosophy and looking at the great leaders that I respect in a wide variety of organizations. Good leaders use a facilitative approach to "influence" or create buy in within the groups he or she is trying to reach. I think this quote is essential in all leadership success stories.
I've worked for a variety of leaders during my educational career and I really like the buy-in philosophy. That implies that professional experiences from teachers, other licensed or classified personnel is important and should be obtained when practical. I have observed this being done and I have observed the opposite. Everyone needs a job so when the latter is done, the motions and bare essentials are completed. Lack of compliance could be and would be considered insubordination. On the other hand, I have seen leaders not only utilize, but seek input from those who could certainly add to the mission of the school. I like what Brett's quote stated and I like to think I try to lead like Quentin...seeking that important input and THEN using it. I read a book called Servant Leadership a while back. It examined the leadership qualities of Christ (I am not trying to proselytize)and was very interesting. Christ lead by being an example to others and by being a servant to others. Shouldn't a leader examine his/her leadership in the same way? For instance, in education, as leaders, shouldn't we ask "how can we help teachers achieve the goal of educating our students? How can we help students achieve the goal of learning to the best of their abilities and so they ultimately learn how to learn on their own...desire and seek answers to questions on their own."
I appreciate Brett's example of a teacher leader. I think we too often immediately think of administrators when asked to give leadership examples and we forget about the strong influence of teacher leaders. I have learned the key to strong leadership is to build capacity with your teachers and get out of the way. This fits with Bob's example of servant leadership. My personal leadership mission has always been that in whatever I do, my actions must be congruent with my belief that my purpose is to support the teacher/student relationship which is fostered within each classroom. In other words, I am here to serve teachers and students. This guiding principle helps frame and direct the tough decisions made daily in administrative leadership
In my varied experiences with different leaders. The key difference between a leader's mission being accepted and not being accepted is collaboration. Those instances where the leader expanded ownership of the mission through collaboration, the mission was embraced and supported. In expanding ownership, the leader does not need to put staff through a grueling session of mission building where 30 minutes can be spent on whether or not the word "of" should be included. I believe expanded ownership can be achieved through support, encouragement, and visibility on behalf of the leader to build the necessary relationships to expand the mission through actions rather than verbal command.
I have an elementary principal who has a clear mission and great support from all staff in the building whether they like him personally or not. He is supportive of staff and values their knowledge and ideas. As a result, I have seen very little staff turnover and typically the staff members who have left have retired. He has a way of empowering his teachers and supporting them to set up different programs and approaches in the building to support academic excellent. He has a high proportion of low income students with little parental support; however, year after year these students achieve well on the state assessments. This school has a reputation among these families that the school has done great things for them and we get a lot of students moving in as a result. He has strong leadership skills and competence that result in everyone feeling needed.
It was really hard to come up with a mission statement. There are so many things that are important to me that it was difficult to narrow it down into one statement. My mission statement is as follows: I will be a source of leadership, fairness, and understanding to my family, school, and community.
Sorry for the test my other comments have been blocked. Ugg Technology.
It is very important within the realm of leadership to understand the value system of the people around you. I think a good leader must understand and be empathetic of others around them. Unsuccessful leadership is usually characterized by those qualities that focus on individual merit for the purpose of promotion rather than doing what is best for kids.
I have be involved with a variety of leaders that have served well and also those that haven't served well. My mission will strive to provide personal satisfaction through the success of my staff and students.
Interns, sounds like you are all reflecting on the fact that "Leadership isn't position, it's influence" This can be quite humbling at times, as we reflect on how we address problems and issues in the proper way. Please continue to share and grow together.
My former boss and recent superintendent was one of the greatest leaders I've ever known, although he would never admit to it, which is exactly why he is a great leader. He is the most unassuming person I've ever met. He is the first to place the success of the organization at the feet of the employees, not himself. He had a vision to align our curriculum and assessments ten years ago. He went about it one core subject at a time and involved many teachers and administrators. By allowing for the ideas and vision of others, his own vision came to fruition. Today, his vision of an aligned curriculum is the foundation for everything we do at Haven today. This concept has even gained momentum over the years (the "flywheel effect" from Good to Great). I learned a lot from him but certainly need to utilize more of his leadership techniques.
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With March Madness still weighing heavily on my mind, I will share a story that I read the other day about Bill Self. Even in light of the fact that the Jayhawks are once again out of the tournament without achieving the final four, this writer instead focused on him as a person, a leader, and the right man for the job. One comment the writer used to point out this fact was that around KU, Coach Self treats everyone with respect and dignity. He is the same peson in front of the Chancellor as he is in front of the custodian. If others around you feel like a contributing part of the organization and they feel like the leader of that organization honors them, regardless of their stature, then the leader is effective. In the book "Gung Ho," this concept is called "Worthwhile Work." When workers feel as though what they're doing is worthwhile, then they tend to maximize job peformance. A good leader tries to ensure that all people in their organization feel as what they are doing is "worthwhile."
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I am witnessing leadership in our vice president that is widely embraced. His presence is clearly being felt and not just heard, which is very important. As stakeholders, we tend to become mystified and lulled by individuals who present leadership in value of "great speeches and presentations." This is not uncommon. Leadership should be exemplified in actions. In those actions, lies true leadership.
I have also experienced the opposite. The office in which I was employed had a rift amongst certain employees. The departmental overseer allowed two individuals to govern the same department with equal power. The working environment was chaotic as a result of two mangers that fostered conflicting philosophies in their leadership. Those conflicts caused many subordinates to create alliances which were counter productive and hostile.
I would like to expand on the explanation of collaboration and ownership to include collaborative relationships between teachers and students. When students have a shared ownership and feel listened to, their engagement and learning increase. It also helps foster leadership in our students. Our teachers need help being collaborative leaders just like we do.
I think for those of us working in USD259, we witnessed a significant mission in 2000 (or so) when Winston's mission was to upgrade our schools so that children could have basic creature comforts that all other schools were afforded. There was no waivering, no stopping and no hesitating. The job was to air condition and rebuild our district so that kids, staff, leaders could do what they do best in an environment suitable for learning and all other academic events. Personally the leaders I have worked with have been pretty good at stating missions, but making them flexible to change with the populations and such. Our current professor in EL 946 (Neil Guthrie) has a strong mission to "lift up" all kids and make inclusion a very real and every day occurence in 259. I love the idea but understand that if we are to have parity among our student groups, then we must have parity amongst our leaders. Those who are supervisors of student groups such as special education and ELL are not starting at the same vantage point as all other supervisors. As in the case of 259, any and all changes go through the Asst. Sup. and the Curriculum folks, so why not make sure that supervisors of Sped and ELL are Asst. Sups as well. That way everything (every initiative) and change in our district has the stamp of approval and the mission to "lift up" all students and staff. This would create consistency for all district level administrators and would close the "information" gap between those that need to know so they can provide appropriate and necessary training and inservice to the masses. My mission is to create a system of inclusion that is seamless and far-reaching, affording all student groups with an educational model of the "power of two."
I appreciate all of your comments. I think the one thing I would add from personal experience is that the great leaders I have been associated with all seem to be "great people persons". I mean that they have a way of communicating with ease to make every situation appear to be resloved with little effort. There never is a feely of panic but instead a calm reassurance that all will be well and this hurdle in our way can be and will be overcome together. The leader fosters a great since of community. Bob's comment about servitude is wonderful. I (not often enough) will ask a staff member if there is anything I can do today that will help them. The custodian once answered that I could go clean the bathroom. I went into the room and put on the yellow rubber gloves and proceded to head toward the restroom. I told her that I would give my best effort but the restroom would not sparkle like she could make it after a cleaning. She was impressed with my willingness and now will let me take out some trash once in a while but since I can't make the bathroom sparkle like she can I am not allowed to clean it.
I honestly believe a good leader would never consider asking an employee to do a job that the leader would not attempt.
Leaders value all employees and make all employees feel as though the day would not be a success if that employee was not present.
They are the great conductors of the large band. They make all the pieces fit together so the product is a sweet sound for all to hear.
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I believe that educational excellence flourishes in an atmosphere of cooperation and mutual respect and results from partnerships between students, schools, and the community. My mission is to support students’ and teachers’ life-long learning by empowerment and collaboratively problem-solving for the future.
I have seen exceptional leaders influence learning by galvanizing efforts around goals and by establishing conditions that support teachers and that help students succeed. Poor leaders on the other hand usually lack the listening and communication skills required to galvanize others into consorted action and therefore are unable to affect the learning process in a productive manner.
My current leader has a clear mission of the goals and outcomes for our school. The year I began teaching at this school was her first year as a principal in this building. In the past six years, she has encouraged collaboration among our faculty members in determing our goals for each school year as well as our long term goals. Our mission is something that we developed together. Each year we analyze how well we did in supporting our mission and meeting our goals. We continually strive to do better and better each year focusing on our overall mission. One of the characteristics I absolutely love about my current leader is that she works hard to build leadership capacity within the staff. As Brett and Denise mentioned, teachers as leaders helps to build a strong leadership capacity within the building. My current leader truly values others opinions and thoughts and works collaboratively with our staff in making crucial decisions which in turn makes it easier for people to have ownership in what we are doing - our mission and goals. Too often, I believe schools become more focused on the wording in the mission statement than the meaning of the mission statement. In my first teaching experience in another district, I remember the entire faculty spending time at the beginning of the year analyzing the mission statement and rewriting it if needed. What always happened was a group of teachers challenged a word in the statement - not the meaning. The faculty would argue over a preposition for hours with no regard to the meaning of the statement!!! My current leader does a tremendous job of involving others in our mission. We are a team working together for the good of all students not just the students we have in our classroom. The teachers in my building know that they are responsible for each and every students' learning regardless if tbey are in their classroom or not.
My current leader definitely has a clear mission about our school. She was moved to our school the same year I became a teacher there. Over the past six years she has worked diligently to include all staff members in the vision for our school. She did not come up with the mission for our school, but rather included all faculty members in the process. Together as a staff, we developed our campus improvement plan each year. All teachers have a voice in what our goals are for the year and how we are going to achieve those goals. Having everyone involved in this process helps to create ownership in what we are doing to educate children. Through this process, each and every teacher shares their thoughts and ideas and work collaboratively together to determine our mission, vision, and goals. My leader also works very hard in building leadership capacity among teachers. As Brett and Denise stated, lead teachers are an important component to leadership in the building. Leadership should not only be held by the principal. Lead teachers can have a very strong influence on other teachers. Having the right people in these positions is critical.
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Actions speak louder than words, don't ask others to do what you are not willing to, be humble, take advice, listen, provide positive feedback, be nice, create and build relationships, and let everyone know who needs to know what your expectations are and how you want them met.
As far as my mission, I would say it is "To be a builder of people." Whether it be students, staff, my own kids, or whomever, that will be what endures after everything else is forgotten. It ties into the old saying that, "You will never have more than the person you become." I agree with the other posts that we are in the people business. We need to be the ones encouraging others to dream. My son still believes he will play in the NBA someday (he is 11). Instead of crushing it, I choose to talk about "paying the price" and that it is all about "a boy, a ball, and a dream" - the old Dick Vitale line.
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