Education Leadership

School leaders are now expected to be more strategic in their running of schools and to become more proactive in facing up to these contextual challenges using various strategies. Many school leaders are struggling to become better education leaders and are looking for practical steps that they can follow. In this piece, I will outline 3 easy steps that school leaders can follow to become better strategic leaders.

1. At the end of the week, reflect.

On Friday evening or on the weekend, pull out your to-do list and goals, your calendar and reflect on what was accomplished and what is still outstanding. Think about what you are proud of. This step is meant to help you pinpoint gaps and celebrate successes. It also enables you to organize your thoughts heading into the next week.

2. Plan the week ahead.

Now its time to take out your calendar and plan for the week ahead. What meetings, trainings, or events do you have coming up? What do you need to do to prepare? What small task and massive projects need to be completed by the end of the week? Next, create a to-do list that integrates all of the things that need to be completed or addressed during the next week. Make sure you put your to do list in a place that is visible, so you see it all the time. This will keep you on task. Pro tip: there are plenty of apps that will keep you organized and help you keep track of your to-dos; the key is not settling on the first one you find. Take a few for a test spin and find out which one works for you. If you want to keep it simple, just use a Word doc to keep track of your upcoming tasks.

3. Say no, delegate, or delay.

As a school leader, you are always busy. Based on the tasks that you have on your calendar, your personal or family commitments, and projects that need to be completed during the current or next week, you have more obligations than you have time to achieve them. Instead of burning yourself out, think strategically. Ask yourself the following four questions to determine what you can complete and what you need to delegate or delay.

• What takes priority?

• What should you be saying “No” to?

• What can you delegate to someone else?

• What do you have to delay?

After you have ruminated on these questions, you should have a more defined plan of what needs to be delegated and what you can complete yourself. Now you are ready to tackle the new week. And just like that, you have become a better strategic school leader.

Empathy or the ability to recognize and understand other people’s emotions is a leadership trait that many education leaders lack. When educators or students feel validated and accepted, it usually leads to better performance. For instance, if one of you teachers is grieving over the loss of a parent, an empathetic leader would do all that they can to help them through the process, even if it just means checking in to see how they are doing every once in a while. How can education leaders practice empathetic leadership? Keep reading to find out.

Be present. If you want to practice empathetic leadership, you must be present, and in the moment. When having meetings or informal conversations with educators, make sure you turn off your phone or at least place it face down. Refrain from using any type of tech devices, unless using them is relevant to the conversation. This means you are free to give others your complete attention and respect.

Be an active listener. You must be an active, nonjudgmental listener to practice empathetic leadership. This allows you to gain insight into what your staff member is feeling and where they are coming from. That way, your responses will be informed and authentic.

Monitor non-verbal cues. Communication runs deeper than just words. If you notice a teacher hanging their head down or shaking it from side to side or avoiding eye contact, you need to know what these non-verbal cues mean. Then you can ask them how they are feeling, which will give them permission to discuss how they think, without fear of being judged.  

Practice pausing. A lot of times when we attempt to give someone advice, we often interrupt or finish their sentences. When communicating with someone today, wait at least 3 seconds after they stop speaking, before you start talking. It may feel awkward because you are used to chiming in immediately, but you will be surprised at how being silent, speaks volumes.

Instead of giving advice, ask questions. Instead of giving advice to someone today, ask questions to understand their perspective better. Don’t overthink this, just ask them the questions that pop into your mind organically.

Choose “we” over “me.” When education professionals are experiencing performance issues, they feel isolated. To let them know that you and the rest of the team supports them and will help them get through their slump, us the terms “we” and “us” so they feel empowered. For instance, “Let’s talks about how we can solve this problem.”

Put yourself in their shoes. To be an empathetic leader, put yourself in your colleagues and employees shoes. What anxieties and fears might they be facing? Even when you are dealing with a difficult teacher, give them the benefit of the doubt, and assume that they have a positive intent. Stay the course, until their intent proves malicious.

What did I miss? What else can education leaders do to practice empathetic leadership?

Before becoming a full-time entrepreneur, I spent 15 years in teaching and leadership positions in K-12 and higher education. One of the things that I wished I had of done a better job of was demonstrating my leadership ability. If you are struggling with the same issue, keep reading, because I have some tips to share. In this piece, I will discuss how you can demonstrate your education leadership potential.

Be passionate about what you do. As an education leader, if you want to show your leadership potential, be passionate about what you do. From the time that you step in the school building until the time you leave, let your love for teaching and learning be evident. Display an energetic passion for your employees and students and make them feel as though you have their best interest at heart. If you are faking, believe me, most people will be able to see right through you. There may be some days when you are feeling burned out, and you can’t wait until the weekend or until the next holiday break. That’s fine, but never let them see you fret. This is difficult, so you better brush up on your acting skills. Don’t worry, it will all pay off, and your higher-ups will clearly see your unbridled passion for education as a sign of leadership potential.

Be a voracious reader. Knowledge is power, and this maxim is certainly true in the education field. As an education leader, you need to be an expert in the teaching and learning process. So be sure to read up on new edtech tools, education trends, etc. As a rule of thumb, an aspiring education leader should be reading at least 4 books per month and at least 20-30 articles per month. Also, you need to have general knowledge about politics, sports, fashion, pop culture, etc. Basically, you need to be able to garner a respectable score if you were playing a game of Jeopardy. Why? Because running a school requires knowledge about a wide variety of topics and most don’t center around the field of education. Also, when attending meetings with your boss, you want them to get the impression that you are a cultured, intelligent person with talents and expertise that go beyond education. For some reason people are impressed by that sort of thing.

Listen. If you want to demonstrate your potential as a potential education leader, make sure you listen at least twice as much more than you talk. Not only does this allow you to fully understand a situation or problem before speaking, but it also gives other people the impression that you are measured, intelligent, caring, thoughtful, patient, etc. Nothing frustrates people more than someone who dominates a conversation without actually listening to what others are saying.

Be selfless. Let’s face it, no one likes a selfish person. When the going gets rough, you can always count on them to do what’s in their own self-interest, even if it means that other people are negatively affected by their actions. Because of this, no one trusts a selfish person either. We don’t confide in them or let them in on secrets because we don’t believe that our conversation will remain private. To the contrary, we know that if it helps them achieve their goals, they will spill our most intimate thoughts, and in effect, sell us out. Of course, higher-ups are no different. Why would they hire an education leader that only looks out for themselves, and in effect, doesn’t know how to be a team player. At the end of the day, selfish leaders are not very reliable, and so when see a potential education leader who displays traits of selfishness, we tend to pass over them when its time to make promotions.

Earn it. At the end of the day, if you want something in this world, you have to earn it. We know that there are exceptions to the rule. You know, nepotism, the good ole boy system, the buddy/buddy system, etc. However, if you go out and work your butt off to land an education leadership position, you won’t have to rely on brownnosing or sucking up to land a position. Also, if you decide to leave your state or country for that matter, you can be sure that your skills and level of expertise will travel.

What did I miss?

During my seven years as a teacher, I worked in one school district that was in utter disarray. The principal was kind and intelligent, but they just did not have what it takes to be an effective education leader. I just couldn’t take the incompetence, and after one year I moved on. I really liked the principal on a personal level, but on a professional level, I was not growing, and neither were my colleagues or the students. If she were more effective, the school could have been a Blue Ribbon School. That begs the question, what happens to a school when an effective education leader shows up. I have some thoughts.

1. School stakeholders begin to embrace failure as the path to victory. Failure can be the pathway to success, and great leaders know this. But knowing that failure is the pathway to success is not the same as accepting it. When a real leader shows up to your school building, when you fail, they will pick you up, and help you chart a course to victory. They know that continuing after failures is the key to success. This will be one of the most critical aspects of your school’s turnaround from bad to good to great. Everyone in the building will believe that they can achieve anything. Student growth will go through the roof, and your school will suddenly be looked at as a national model.
2. Everyone learns the fundamentals. When a coach teaches someone how to play basketball, they focus on the fundamentals first. You know, things like dribbling, passing, proper shooting form, layups, free throws, and the rules. Once players master this, they can begin to practice on plays and then scrimmaging. Well, a good education leader is no different. They know that good teaching is all about the fundamentals. Once teachers master the foundational stuff, the rest comes easy. Because of this, great education leaders make sure that their educators and staff know the foundations of education and are up to date on the newest trends and methods in teaching and learning. From that point, student success can take care of itself.
3. A permanent and perhaps radical change in the school environment and culture takes place. When education leaders are tasked with turning around an unsuccessful school, many focus on changing the school culture and environment. How do they do this? They use Invitational leadership, which is a school management model that aims to “invite” all interested stakeholders to succeed. The leadership model utilizes “invitations” as messages communicated to people, which inform them that they are valued, able, responsible, and worthwhile. The messages are sometimes transmitted by interpersonal action but are mostly disseminated through the institution’s policies, programs, practices, and physical environments.
4. A new standard of excellence is introduced. An effective leader models what the optimal performance looks like. They become the living personification of what excellence will look like at their school. As a result, their performance is replicated by everyone in the school, including students. Education leaders are the ultimate bottleneck. Their failure to perform hinders the ability of others to perform. That’s why great leaders are determined to be the best version of themselves.
5. Transparent performance metrics are established to hold everyone accountable. In a school helmed by a successful leader, everyone knows what is expected them and the metrics that will be used to determine if they are successful. That way, educators have clear metrics to measure themselves, so they can keep themselves accountable, and work on areas of weakness.
6. They establish a winning culture before the school starts winning. You may have to read this phrase a couple of times before it makes sense to you. When an education leader takes over a failing school, there is usually a culture of losing, like a high school team that has been 0 and 12 each of the last 5 seasons. To counteract this, they instantly establish a culture of winning, where everyone believes that they will be successful. To help the school realize these aspirations, they provide teachers, parents, and students with the support and resources they need to be successful. What happens is that this becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy, with performance reflecting the stakeholder’s positive mindsets and hard work that they put in.

We have discussed 6 things that happen when an effective education leader show up? What did we miss?

Every May and June, millions of K-12 teachers quit their jobs, choosing to transfer to another school within their district, teach in another district, or leave the teaching field for good. Nine times out of ten, their decision is related to the effectiveness of the school’s principal. So, what things do principals do to make their teachers quit? Keep reading to find out.

Mistake 1: Setting inconsistent goals or expectations. Consider this scenario: You instruct teachers to have a zero-tolerance approach towards bullying, profanity, and fighting. However, when you become inundated with student referrals, you ask teachers to adopt a more relaxed approach. This will drive teachers crazy and convey the impression that you are unwilling to be tough on discipline. Your inconsistency makes their life a living hell, as it makes it harder for them to maintain order in their classroom. When they start burning out, they move on.

How can you avoid this situation? When you set expectations or goals for teachers, be sure to follow through. Being transparent and consistent with your expectations will make your employees feel secure. This will make your school building a more pleasant place to work.

Mistake 2: Putting people in the wrong roles. Let’s say you interview a teacher who was trained as a lower elementary school teacher. If you hire them to work in that capacity, and they make it known that the K-3 grade level is the area where they feel most comfortable, believe them. Don’t try to move them to upper-elementary because you did a poor job during the off-season hiring period. If you do, you will find that at the end of the year, ironically, they will be the ones moving, but they will be moving on.

How can you avoid this situation? Be transparent about the grade level, and subject area you are hiring an educator to teach in. If you think there might be a chance that they end up working in another grade or subject, let that be known. That way if you need to change their roles they will be more open to the idea, as they knew it would be a possibility.

Mistake 3: Failing to create a psychologically, safe school culture. Unfortunately, some schools are hostile environments. So if you notice teachers and staff members being overly agreeable or quiet during staff meetings, that’s a bad sign. When teachers fear that their ideas or constructive criticism will be met with retaliation, they tend to keep their mouths shut, unwilling to make themselves targets. In a psychologically unsafe school, teachers become less effective and fail to grow. Because of this, they move on.

How can you avoid this situation? Create a school culture where people feel comfortable sharing their ideas, opinions or constructive criticisms. This creates a psychologically, safe school culture.

Mistake 4: Creating a school culture that is too safe. In a school environment, a healthy amount of pressure is essential for educator growth. When teachers feel overly pressured to improve standardized exam scores, they lose sight of what is necessary, and are more prone to get results by any means necessary; even if it means cheating. On the other hand, if teachers feel no pressure at all, they may start to become complacent, which will stifle their professional growth. When educators cannot find meaning in their work or don’t feel like they are growing or making a difference, they move on.

How can you avoid this situation? Sure, you want to create a safe school environment, but you don’t want to create a culture where people say whatever is on their mind. Some things should be left unsaid, even if they are correct. Also, people need to feel a moderate amount of pressure to perform. If not, at least half of them will take advantage of the situation, performing at a level that requires the least amount of energy or effort. Teachers need to be held accountable for how their students perform, and only a school culture with high expectations can accomplish this.

What did I miss?

Every once and a while, school district superintendents must consider replacing a principal who is no longer effective. It seems simple enough, but the task is not as clear cut as it seems. To help you decide, let’s discuss seven clear cut signs that its time to make a leadership change at one of your district’s schools.

1. Their leadership style and approach is outdated. When a principal’s leadership style is outdated, teachers and other staff members will stop responding. That means that they are no longer inspired to follow their principal because they have stopped learning and growing. This happens when the leader gets complacent and refuses to reinvent themselves. The most effective school leaders are proactive, changing with the times, and staying up on new trends. If you begin to notice that that one of your principals is operating on auto-pilot, it is time to make a leadership change.
2. They have a sense of entitlement. When one of your principals starts to act like the district owes them something, they may be power-hungry. Sooner or later, they are coming for your job “by hook or crook.”
3. They are rude. When a principal is rude and disrespectful, it means that they feel threatened, and are not confident in their abilities. Competent school leaders show executive presence by treating others fairly and exuding a touch of class.
4. They exude selfishness. Being a school leader is all about helping teachers teach, and students learn. A selfish principal is a dangerous one, as their decisions are based on what is best for them not on what’s best for the students. They are not looking to establish community partnerships for the betterment of the district, they are looking out for themselves.
5. They are disorganized. If you ask one of your principals to discuss the vision that they have for their school, and they fumble the response, chances are they are disorganized. Effective education leaders are always prepared, even for the unexpected. Organization can be taught, but if its couple with other weakness, it may be time to consider a leadership change.
6. They are indecisive. It is frustrating to work for an indecisive principal. Since a school is a fast-paced organization, every second counts. When principals become indecisive, it is a sign that they are losing trust in their own abilities. They can’t handle the pressure anymore and don’t want to be held accountable for making mistakes. In the process, they are losing the respect of their employees and colleagues.
7. They have no strategic focus. When a school leader lacks strategic focus, it is hard for them to realize the vision that they have for their school. They can no longer influence growth and innovation, “and can’t see the forest for the trees.” Because of this, they cannot maximize the resources that they were given and are essentially a dead man or dead woman walking.

What did we miss?