School Leadership

Whether you are just getting started in your education career or already in a lead administrative role, there are many things you can do to be an effective leader at work. If you’re going to be the boss that everyone wants to hire or work for, you will need to implement certain practices. Here are a few tips gleaned from experts to become a successful education leader:

1. Close the door

While many educational leaders think an open door policy is best, this can lead to constant distractions and make it impossible to get any work done. Instead, establish office hours when anyone is welcome to come in, perhaps an hour or two out of each day. Also, schedule one-on-one meetings to keep communication in check.

2. Leave your phone

Don’t use your phone in any sort of meeting, whether it’s with a parent, teacher, or administrator. Even if you use your phone to take notes or review an email with information for the meeting, this can be perceived as rude or inattentive. Switch to using pen and paper, and print out or write down any information from your computer you need beforehand. This shows you prepared for the meeting in advance and are fully present and engaged.

3. You don’t have to be everybody’s friend

A good leader should be likable but doesn’t have to be liked by everybody. It’s impossible to have every single student, teacher, and faculty member like you. Focus more on being a good leader than on being a friend. When given a choice, pick doing the best job you can over being the most popular person at work, even if that decision may ruffle some feathers.

4. Recognize your mistakes

Great leaders recognize their failures and take responsibility. They also realize when something isn’t working and are humble enough to admit it, then adjust and make improvements.

5. Show vulnerability

This ties into recognizing mistakes. Great leaders aren’t infallible. There is strength in showing vulnerability and owning up to mistakes. Setting this example allows team members to own up to their mistakes as well, and creates a less stressful, more productive environment.

6. Listen

An effective leader is a good listener. Listen to everyone without judgment and hear all sides to an argument or all options before making a decision. Be open to new ideas from unexpected sources, because you never know where positive change can come from.

7. Be passionate

If you’re not passionate about your school, your students, or your staff, it will show. Not only will your school be miserable, but you will be, too. If you are unhappy in your position, maybe you need to look at a different school, a different position, or a different field altogether. Passion is what drives most people in the education field, and if you don’t have it, it can make your day – and your life – really drag by.

8. Keep calm and carry on

Good leaders stay calm in a crisis, while still showing that they understand the gravity of the situation. Whether it’s a discipline issue such as a fight or something as serious as a school shooting, a good educational leader should have a plan in place in advance and react calmly but seriously.

9. Develop your team

Take the time to get to know the strengths, weaknesses, and goals of your team. Give feedback, both good and bad, in a positive and motivational way.

10. Foster creativity

Old ways of doing things are not always the best ways. Foster creativity and a think-outside-the-box mentality on campus to provide solutions to problems and create new goals.

Whether you are seeking a higher role in the educational field or already working as a supervisor at some level, these tips can help make you a more effective leader and a better boss. Implementing even a few of these guidelines can make a drastic change in your work environment or your attitude towards work. As a leader, positive change in your workplace begins with you.

Many education leaders have lost their competitive edge. You know the type; they have been in leadership roles for decades and refuse to evolve or develop the substance that it takes to be a sustainable leader. Instead of attending education leadership workshops, conferences, etc., they are ok with being complacent and refuse to improve their skills.

They do not understand that education leadership is a fluid position that changes often. Being an effective education leader is hard work, and requires you to have a grand vision, patience, and peerless decision-making skills.

In the not so distant past, an education leader could get away with being marginal, as the pressure to perform was not that high. All you needed to do was keep the teachers from planning a mutiny, the kids from burning down the building, and parents happy. Now, with the accountability era reaching its fourth decade, education leaders everywhere are expected to perform a high level.

In the face of new pressures, transformative education leaders continually reinvent themselves. This ensures that they always have their finger on the pulse of the moment and that their leadership style will always be relevant. In a nutshell, their approach to leadership is to be proactive and continuously improve.

So now we finally get to the million-dollar question. Is your education leadership style relevant or woefully outdated? To help you figure this out, here are four warnings signs that signal that it’s time to consider a change in your leadership approach and style.

1. You make bad decisions. If you find that you are starting to make uncharacteristically bad decisions and people are starting to question your judgment, then its time to consider a leadership style change. When education leaders start to make bad decisions consistently, it’s a sign that they are out of touch with the times. They need to reset and learn how things work in the here and now, not how they worked years ago. For instance, a principal that has been in their position for 30 years may be accustomed to making gut decisions about curricular or resource adjustments, but this is woefully outdated. Nowadays, education administrators use data-driven decision making.
2. You grow complacent. The moment you become complacent, your ability to be an effective education leader will begin to nosedive. When you grow complacent, you stop growing, and your attention to the small things starts to wane. After that, you lose your executive presence, risk-taking ability, and creativity.
3. People stop liking you. To be a great education leader, people must like you. If they don’t, you need to change your leadership style. This usually happens when you forget how to be a great leader. For instance, most people measure a great leader based on the number of leaders that they create. If you rarely delegate tasks and projects, your employees might get restless and feel like all they do is grunt work. Because of this, they probably won’t like you or respect your leadership, as they feel that you are holding them back. Develop a reputation for growing your employees and for being approachable. Then, you will have no problem getting people to like you.
4. You stop reinventing yourself. If you don’t evolve and continuously reinvent yourself, you will not last long as an education leader. This is a pivotal success factor of leadership. To do this, keep your pulse on the trends and issues in education and education leadership. Also, you will need to be a voracious learner; so, attend workshops, read books, attend conferences, etc. Remember, if you can’t reinvent yourself, how will you reinvent your school or district in the face of financial and governmental pressures? Education leaders who don’t reinvent themselves get stuck in a funk and find their career path limited.

Now ask yourself again, is your leadership style outdated?

Wrong or right your reputation precedes you. When starting our as a new or established education leader, your reputation can make or break your tenure. In a perfect world, people would wait to get to know you for themselves before passing judgment, but then again this is not an ideal world. If you don’t already know, your leadership reputation is how people judge your level of character or integrity. Sometimes there is some validity to an education leader’s reputation, but sometimes there isn’t.

For instance, you were formerly the assistant principal of a middle school within your district, and you are being promoted to the position of principal, at another middle school in the district. You were successful at your former school, and most of your colleagues believed you were the best administrator that they ever had. However, some may not necessarily feel this way, partially because of the fact that on several occasions you had to write them up because of serious infractions.

When the staff at your new appointment find out that you are being hired, they will inquire about your reputation. The stories they hear will be a mixed bag, and unfortunately, most people will spread the believe and spread the negative rumors, way more than the positive. So what do you do? Although you are not perfect, you know that you were productive, hence your promotion. So how can you improve your reputation as an education leader? Here’s how.

1. Find our what your leadership reputation is. Some people would say send out a survey so people can comment anonymously. Don’t use this option unless you are strong enough to find out what people really think. You can also ask a colleague to find out. They can give it to you in an authentic way, and make it sound more constructive than a survey.
2. Establish the reputation that you want. Although your reputation may not be what you would like it to be, you can always change this. People will believe negative stories about you initially, but this perception of you will change once their beliefs are challenged. Let them see the real you, and watch your reputation improve.
3. Don’t try to be liked. When people find out what others think don’t like them or think negatively about them, they go out of their way to get them to love them. Beware this can compromise your ability to lead, and sabotage your tenure.
4. Go on a charm offensive. Instead of trying to get people to like you, go on a charm offensive. This doesn’t going out of your way to get people to like you, it just means using a pleasant demeanor to soften their stance. Who can live with making you out to be the bad guy, when you are just so pleasant to be around?
5. Be accountable. The negative things that others say about you may have a lot of validity. If this is the case, its time to take a look in the mirror and come up with a plan to improve these negative attributes. Be transparent about the things that you are working on. Ask peers, friends, and family to hold you accountable for your actions. Thank them, and don’t get defensive. But also, don’t allow them to use this to manipulate you.
6. Reflect. At least once a week, but preferably daily, take time to reflect on how you are doing. Make sure you find a place where you feel centered and at peace. Are you proud of the interactions that you have had with others, and the decisions that you have made? Were these decisions and interactions emblematic of someone with integrity and morals? Are you doing everything that you can to meet your reputation goals? Don’t be too hard on yourself. You are human, and so you will make mistakes. You have to be ok with that. Use your mistakes to your advantage and keep working towards your goals

What do you think about my list? Are their other things that education leaders can do to improve their reputations?

1. Create a safe teaching and learning environment. Everyone in your district or school district should feel safe when they walk on campus. To accomplish this, you need to create a security plan that is second to none and hire the best people to enact it.
2. Make others feel safe to speak up. You should make sure that everyone has the freedom to voice their opinions and concerns. You must model this every day by having an approachable leadership presence.
3. Make tough decisions. Education leadership requires you to make hundreds of leadership decisions a day, and each one is important. Don’t be afraid to make tough decisions, regardless of how others will feel. Remember, do what is in the best interest of the students.
4. Express expectations. Everyone in your charge should know what you expect of them on a day to day basis. They should be able to perform in a way that aligns with your district’s core values and mission and furthers the vision that you have set.
5. Challenge others to find their own solutions. Instead of being the hero and attempting to solve your staff’s problems, empower them with the tools that they need to be self-sufficient.
6. Be accountable. If you make promises, keep them. If you make a mistake, admit it. If you do something hypocritical, recognize and acknowledge it. Being accountable to yourself and others will make it easier for you to hold them accountable.
7. Be an example. Successful education leaders practice what they preach. This may sound easy to do, but for many, it is quite tricky. You have to realize that wrong or right, you are always on stage, and your detractors are waiting for you to contradict yourself. Practicing what you preach on a day to day basis while probably be one of the hardest leadership skills you ever master.
8. Give continuous feedback. Teachers and staff want to know that what they do matters. So, make it a point to provide them with constructive feedback every day.
9. Grow talent. On a day to day basis, you have to put your staff in a position to develop and showcase their abilities. This is the best way to help them grow professionally
10. Ask questions. Don’t be afraid to ask questions. Not to sound redundant, but as I say in a lot of my leadership articles, the smartest people in the room are not afraid to ask questions.
11. Don’t procrastinate. Why put off until tomorrow, what can be done today? Avoiding procrastination can help you prevent burning out by helping to keep your workload within a manageable range.
12. Be Mr. or Mrs. Sunshine. Every day cannot be perfect, and the truth of the matter is that sometimes they can be nightmares. In spite of it all, you have to exude a positive attitude, even if you are angry or frustrated on the inside. Botton line, sometimes you will have to fake it.
13. Be an instructional leader. I don’t know when instructional leadership stopped being a requirement for educational leadership positions, but this seems to be a trend. As the leader of your school, you are required to be one of, if not the best teachers in your school. If you are not, how will you help your teachers grow their pedagogical and classroom management skills?
14. Invest in people. I know that you are so busy and you don’t have time for chit chat, but sometimes it has to be done. You need to get to know your staff on a human level to understand how to help them be the best educator they can be.

What did I miss? What else do effective leaders do on a day to day basis?

Ever since I was young, I have been a fan of action movies that feature heroic leaders rallying the troops and leading them to victory, whether literally or figuratively. When I became an education leader, I sought to pattern my leadership style after the heroic leaders that I had come in contact with throughout my career. I thought that if I did this, there would be no way that I could fail. I quickly saw the problem with being a heroic leader and made adjustments. In this piece, I want to discuss those problems.

The problem

Being a hero leader can leave you with the false belief that you can do things better than anyone else, which stifles the staff’s productivity, creativity and leaves them in a state of dependency. Great education leaders don’t do that. They create a team that is motivated, effective and independent by delegating authority and decision making. They understand that it is not their job to rescue their subordinates, it is their job to help them develop a high sense of self-efficacy, and learn to solve problems by themselves.  

Those who fall into the trap of being the hero leader and rescuing their staff end up stressed and burned out. That’s because they end up completing a lot of tasks that their teachers and support staff should be doing, instead of holding them accountable. They seem to forget that is their job is to be a leader and help their subordinates think and work autonomously.

The solution

Instead of answering questions or solving problems because you feel compelled to do so, teach your educators how to solve problems for themselves. If you address your staff’s issues for them you teach them to run to you at the first sign of trouble, instead of taking a step back, looking at the problem holistically and then coming up with a solution. You want your employees to be able to leverage their own skills and gifts to find answers and, in the process, build resilience. Use questions and problems to create teachable moments for your staff.

Concluding thoughts

If you want to be an effective educational leader, instead of being the hero, learn how to be a masterful instructional leader, mentor, and coach. Also, master the art of asking useful questions, and use them to help your subordinates learn how to fish, instead of feeding them.

Stepping into a new position with its host of new responsibilities and expectations is a daunting task no matter which position it is. For education leaders (principals, superintendents, curriculum developers, etc.) this feeling is magnified when they are the ones in charge of the direction, vision, and growth of a school that will affect hundreds of lives. Helping give new education leaders the support system they need to be successful is pivotal in the short-term and long-term. A growing shift towards mentorship programs for education leaders is thankfully becoming more common. 

What Does Mentorship Look Like?

Mentorship within the education profession is already commonplace as new teachers to a district are frequently paired with a veteran teacher to be their mentor throughout the first year or two at the new school. These pairings have a host of benefits such as lower attrition rates, improvement of teaching practices, and the building of a stronger community. The mentor teacher also gains from the relationship due to closely working with a colleague who may have new ideas or approaches to content. 

This same approach is beginning to be mirrored in educational leadership roles because many of the benefits teachers gain in mentorship programs listed above are identical or run parallel to educational leaders. The struggle with creating education leader mentorship programs is the lower number of professionals who are in these positions. This means that sometimes a school might need to pursue outside third-party consultation for a mentorship program which typically will have increased costs associated with it. 

The Need For High-Quality Education Leaders

There can be no doubt the connection between high-quality education leaders, high-quality schools, and high student performance. The inverse is just as true with low-quality leadership being more likely to create lower-quality schools and in turn lower student performance. The expectations are exceedingly high for new leaders of a school and are expected to take the reins and “learn on the job” which is a detrimental approach to such an influential position.

Providing systems of support, such as mentorship, for these leaders can only serve to benefit them, their school, staff, and students. The sad reality is that, just as criticisms are made about teacher preparation programs, typically graduate programs for education leadership are too grounded in theory and are out of touch with the reality of today’s school districts. This further places new leaders into a disadvantageous spot and creates a bigger need for high-quality support. 

Conclusion

The new leaders of a school need to be supported just as new teachers do. While there are not as many readily available opportunities for these leaders sometimes all it takes is a simple phone call to a fellow administrator for advice or talk with the superintendent to begin the implementation of such programs. 

While this is easier said than done amid all the other responsibilities and duties, it can provide benefits that affect the lives of thousands over the course of a few short years. 

One of the best ways to make positive changes in any community is to become a leader. This doesn’t mean you need to be in a position of authority or to exert your will over others. Being a leader means you set an example through words and actions, and are someone your community looks to for guidance and assistance. Educators are natural leaders for the children in their classrooms, and can also be leaders among the faculty and staff. Whether you are an educator looking to improve your leadership skills or someone trying to move up the ranks within the educational system, here are the five ways running can make you a better leader. 

1. Goal-setting

Running forces you to set goals for yourself, whether it’s the distance you want to be able to run, a race you want to qualify for, or a personal time you are trying to beat. Part of being a leader is always working to improve yourself and the community you serve. Learning how to set and achieve personal goals through running is great practice for setting goals for yourself in your career, and eventually setting goals for others to develop them. 

2. Learning how to pace yourself

It’s inadvisable to sprint one hundred percent of the time you run. You have to learn how to pace yourself so that you don’t burn out too quickly and can keep a store of energy for when you need it to finish a race. The same is true in your goal of becoming an educational leader. You can’t give everything one hundred percent, all the time. You have to know how to pace yourself and not wear yourself out or spread yourself too thin by saying yes to everything and exhausting yourself. Be conscious of where and how you exert your time and energy.

3. Mind over matter

Of course, there are physical limitations to running, but the biggest obstacle in any race is not the person in front of you or even your own body. It’s your mind. So much of running is psychological and a case of mind over matter. If you push yourself, you can achieve things you never imagined possible. The same is true for your educational leadership. You are capable of more than you think, and if you set a goal, you can reach it. 

4. Delayed gratification

You can’t just wake up one morning and decide you are going to run a marathon that day. It takes training and practice, and you have to learn to set realistic milestones. This can also be helpful in your goal of being an educational leader. It’s unreasonable to expect to accomplish all of your goals for yourself and your community all at once. Much like running a marathon, it takes time, careful planning, practice, and patience.  

5. Building a community

Although running is something you can do on your own, there are many opportunities to get involved in a running community. Running with a partner or group, participating in a team, or registering for races are all ways that you can be part of a community of runners. Many races have registration fees that give back to the community or a charity in some way, so even by participating alone, you are contributing. Educational leadership is about building a community, too. You want to build the community of your students, the faculty and staff, and the administration. You also need to be in touch with the parents and the general community surrounding the school as well. 

Next time you go for a run, think of the ways that your exercise can help you become a better educational leader. Through this healthy habit, you are cultivating skills and a mindset that can help you achieve your goals and help your community. 

Great education leaders can prudently and quickly analyze situations and act accordingly. Being decisive does not mean making a decision quickly; it means making the right decision promptly. Don’t make the mistake of choosing the first decent solution that comes to mind. It may be a viable solution, but you owe it to your stakeholders to find the most viable solution to the problem. This will give you the best chance of experiencing your desired outcome.

Education leaders are masters at thinking quick on their feet, and formulating a solution to a problem. Those that have this skill enjoy long careers in the field of education. Those that don’t end up burning out, unable to deal with the pressure.

Ask your team for advice

However, do not fall into the trap of making all of the decisions yourself, as you will isolate team members from the decision-making process. Even if you have a good idea as to how a situation should be handled, invite your leadership team to help you. In some cases, they may be able to come up with a better solution that you, and in most cases, they can help you fine-tune yours. Since you are married to your solution, you are too close to see the possible flaws. You know who can spot them? Your leadership team. Decisionmaking is an essential skill that all leaders need. Remember, your decisions affect the futures of our children, and if you are continuously making decisions that disadvantage children, then you are doing more harm than good.

A little experiment

Over the next month, focus on making better decisions. If possible, try to gather as much information and data as you can before making major decisions. When making decisions that require a quick, on the spot response, focus on processing information quickly, and coming up with the best possible decision.

What do you notice after one month? If you follow my advice, you should notice that the decisions that have made over the last month are starting to bear fruit. This is turn will help your organization to be more productive and efficient.

When you make practical decisions, you build trust with your fellow educators, which gives you the ability to make decisions quicker, with less blowback. This means you don’t have to explain the rationale for decisions, because people trust you, based on your track record. However, the truth of the matter is that many leaders find it hard to consistently make good decisions.

Other considerations

Making good decisions involves producing alternatives and examining each option diligently. For instance, if you are looking for a way to discourage students from misbehaving in the classroom, you may find yourself with several viable options. You could punish misbehavior with detention or possible suspension. You could set up a restorative justice program in your school. Or you could train teachers on the latest in classroom and behavior management techniques. Of the three, the final two, seem like the best options. It just depends on your situation.

Once you have made your decision, communicate the plan, and put it in motion. Knowing how to trust your intuition, quickly evaluating situations as well as the people you are dealing with, and making an informed decision is a critical aspect of leadership.

Sadly, most meetings are never as fruitful as they could be. After all, if you are a leader, you usually get to work with people that you like, which can be a distraction. If you are an especially comical bunch, the meeting could be a series of jokes, laughs, and digressions into topics that have nothing to do with the theme of the meeting. In the end, everyone’s time has been wasted. Effective leadership is about making meetings as useful as possible.

Preparation is key

Begin by having an agenda, and make sure you distribute it all of the people who will attend at least 48 hours before the meeting begins. On the day of the meeting, make sure the temperature in the meeting room is comfortable, and the room has been properly cleaned.

Make sure you start the meeting on time and end on time, which is one way to respect everyone’s time. During the meeting, provide a brief overview of the agenda, and then start with item one. Encourage everyone to contribute and to take notes. As the leader of the meeting, you’re responsible for the flow of the meeting, so take care not to spend too much time on one item. You can even establish a time limit for the discussion of each item. If distractions occur, seek to minimize them and then get the meeting back on track.

When it is time to end the meeting, ask if there are any final questions, and establish a time and date for the next meeting. That’s it, having a productive meeting that stays on topic and does not run over its time is not that hard; it just takes focus.

Concluding thoughts

Do a good job of effectively leading meetings, and you will see your organization’s productivity skyrocket. People will be excited to attend meetings as it will help them to become better employees and make their assignments and projects less cumbersome. Yes, wonderful things can happen when everyone is one the same page and marching to the beat of the same drum.