Leadership
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Establishing yourself as a leader is difficult at best. Just because you hold the position of administrator, does not mean your staff will follow your lead or do what you are asking them to do. The following parameters are suggested to guide your thinking and help you become clear about your role, beliefs and boundaries. The clearer you are in your own head, the more you can be consistent in your leadership style. This can lead to more trust and stronger relationships, which is the core of successful improvement. The key points that follow are the framework and language adapted from chapter 4, in William Glasser’s book, The Quality School Teacher. Who You Are: For the most part, there is a given secrecy between staff and administration. Not knowing otherwise , the staff may fantasize/rumor and may build a false image of you based on very little real knowledge. People are hungry to know about the ones who tell them what to do.
What You Stand For: What you stand for and why is of endless interest to your staff. It is from people like you that their own opinions are formed, challenged, and inspired.
What You Will Ask Them To Do: Telling them what you will ask them to do is meaningless if you don’t, yourself, do as you ask them to do. If you don’t model what you want….you model what you don’t want!
You Will Not Ask Them To Do: When you are ready, explain clearly and specifically that there will be no threats, punishments, or busywork in your school. This means teachers to students as well as administration to staff.
What You Will Do For Them You will help them in any way you can, or if possible in any way they want. You are their friend, you are always on their side, and will never be against them. If they have problems, you will help them think it through, but most of what you will help them with will be limited to school. Knowing you are not perfect, you will be living by this motto: When we have a problem, we will work it out without hurting each other.
What You Will Not Do For Them You will not do their work or figure out their problems for them. You will spend a lot of time teaching them to evaluate and improve on their own. Explain to them, to be successful in life, we must evaluate ourselves and work to improve: We cannot and should not depend on others to do this for us.
Kathy’s Version: The following is an example of addressing the above points as an administrator to the staff. I’ve written it in first person, as I would be the leader speaking to my staff…as an introduction, as a renewal process or even as a reminder. I’m hopeful some or all of this is useful for you to use in your own material. At the very least, it can create questions, challenges or things to consider as you figure out what you will say within each of these categories. Who I Am: Although I spent most of my life in the Puget Sound area of Washington State, I consider myself a Northwesterner, which encompasses much more. Whenever I’ve traveled away, I feel like I am coming home when I am anywhere between western Montana and the Pacific Ocean. Being in the Northwest gives me a sense of place. My home is in the woods of the Inland Empire, in NE Washington State. When you consider the Idaho Panhandle, its rivers, deep mountain lakes and evergreen forests, this is what feels like home to me. Here, I am surrounded by wildlife, fields of green, tall standing forests and a sense of peace. Learning has, and hopefully always will be significant for my leisure time activities. I like to learn as I play, so I’ve chosen three activities to concentrate on; snow skiing - to get on top of the mountains and see forever; golf – to be outside enjoying the sun in my face and the smell of fresh cut grass; scuba diving – entering another universe under the water…beautiful! A few other simple things; I thrive outdoors, drive a convertible, enjoy both watching and playing, read lots, and am up for an interesting discussion most any time. What I Believe In: Years ago, I bought a small, framed poster that showed several people, all different sizes, colors and textures holding hands. Around the images of people were the words, "The Art of Human Being". This captures the basic premise that I try to live by: that every human being deserves to be treated with dignity and respect. It seems to be to be basic to being human. I celebrate diversity. I feel that in the most basic sense human beings are much more alike than different, whether we are talking about race, religion, gender, orientation, ability or status. A core belief, in life and in work, is continuous improvement. ‘‘If it ain’t broke, work to make it better." If this is the focus, I’m in! What I Will Do: As your leader, I will work hard to be consistent and demonstrate integrity. When I have an issue with another person, I will always go to the source. I will not talk behind your back, start or pass on rumors. I hope you will be willing to do the same. I will be principle centered in my actions. This means that my actions will be based on my beliefs, not based on dictates or how things have always been done before. Rules and procedures are established for a reason. Directives are given for a reason. If that reason is not grounded in principle, possibly the directive, rule or procedure may needs to be challenged or adjusted in some way. I will work hard to be honest in both conversation and action. This may create tense moments which I will try to be aware of. Know that, if you ask me a question, I will answer in the most honest way I know. Due to the nature of our human being business, I will frequently need to check my perceptions; to do this, I will work hard to make sure I understand and I may ask for clarification more than once. It’s important, hang in there with me. What I Won’t Do: Educating children today is the hardest job there is, after parenting. Your work is valuable beyond belief. I will work hard never to de-value your work, your profession or you as a person. I will never intend to hurt you. Challenge you - grapple with you - ask you to improve, yes. Hurt you, no. Only in time might you trust me on this. You are all familiar with that phrase – poor planning on your part does not create an emergency on my part? This is true! If you have deadlines or events that catch you unprepared, I will not rescue you. I will help you in any way I can, to avoid these situations from happening…just ask. I won’t be perfect. I know, for sure, I will be making many mistakes, as human beings do. I hope they are small and insignificant in the process of any given day, but I will make mistakes. I’ll be working for continuous improvement, not perfection. I won’t hold still. I’ll always be working on something, even if it’s to solve the next crisis ahead of me. I will work on my deep breathing too. I won’t get caught up in politics. I won’t take sides. What I Will Ask of You: I am asking that you personalize your work. We are teaching children. I am asking that you see them as human beings, and as works in progress. Be a whole teacher, one who teaches human beings, not just academics. I will ask that you challenge your own thoughts and practices on a regular basis. It’s good for us all to renew frequently. I want you to be a mindful educator. I am asking too, that especially in difficult conversations or when emotions are revving up, that you make sure you are listening and check your perceptions often. It’s a good practice for everyone. Time management in this job is an amazing task. For that reason I am asking that you honor my time. Here’s what I mean by "an open door" policy; If my office door is open, I’m available. If my office door is closed, I am not available, whether I am there alone or with others. When I am talking with anyone, I want to give them my best set of senses as well as my brain. And, from time to time, I need to reflect on thoughts, read or make my own notes, without interruption. Making appointments dates in the calendar or placing notes in my box for information purposes is great. Please don’t come in my office and say, "do you have just a minute"…when it’s not a one minute issue. We need to pay attention to each other when we communicate. I prefer not to just ‘catch’ issues on the fly. I will do the same for you. On significant issues, I will need 24 hours think time before a decision is made. Please plan on this in your notice of deadlines, etc. Because I believe this is so important to the art of being human, I am asking that you too, go to the source. For issues that involve anyone you work with here, please go to the source to solve them. If you need help, just ask My final request of you is to be a learner. It is something you expect from your students, therefore it is something you can do for yourself. Challenge yourself, share your learning, read professional material, teach us what you know, help others grow. There is joy in learning! What I Won’t Ask of You: I won’t ask you to be perfect. It’s not possible and we’ll all go nuts trying. I am asking you to grow and challenge yourself and along the way, I expect we’ll all be making mistakes. Hopefully, with the 24 hour think time being a practice for us all, these mistakes will be the small ones, not the big ones! I won’t ask you to jump through meaningless hoops. If there is something that we have to do, that has been meaningless in the past, we’ll either look for a way to improve it, or we won’t do it. Talk to me if there are hoops, rather than learning, in your life here at work. Please, don’t tell me what I want to hear. Honesty is what we want, not in a brutal fashion, but in a clear, gentle manner, so it can be heard. We all need to challenge ourselves. I won’t ask you to do anything that I am not willing to do myself. I might ask you to do things I don’t like to do, but not something that I would not be willing to do. I won’t ask you to compromise yourself. I fully expect, as our relationships grow and become stronger and we trust each other more, we will find more joy in our job. I’m in!
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