What is your leadership stance?

 Currently I am reading Simon Sinek's new book, "Leaders Eat Last," and I am loving it. Even though the book is heavily focussed on business, the leadership principles being discussed in the book match my own beliefs about what makes for a powerfully successful school and school system.

I remember a very important lesson drummed into my head by my former leaders; the power of relationships. Relationships, relationships, relationships, and not just with students and parents, but with staff as well. I counselled one of my daughter's friends one day who was struggling with the direction she wanted to take her career. I her not to pick teaching unless was what she really wanted to do. Teaching is hard and it isn't a job to consider if you aren't totally committed.

Teaching is about so much more than lessons. When you are all in your students become part of your family and you live through their many ups, downs and tragedies. This year may be one of the most challenging one yet for this generation of teachers. What makes Simon's book so powerful for me is his steadfast belief that an organizations that prioritize respect, trust, empathy, kindness, and care for their employees are the ones that thrive. A true leader is one who recognizes they are privileged to work alongside the people they lead.

A leader is only as successful as the people around them so ensuring the climate and environment is conducive to feelings of safety and value will naturally contribute to creativity, innovation and risk taking. These are all critical pieces of the formula for success. Simon talks about the importance of leaders being gatekeepers and keeping the dangers that might lurk outside away from folks. 

It is easy to know when we are in the Circle of Safety because we can feel it. We feel valued by our colleagues and we feel valued by our superiors. We become absolutely confident that the leaders of the organizations and all those with whom we work are there for us and will do what they can to help us succeed. pg. 28

So what does this look like in education? 

As a Principal I absolutely saw it as my responsibility to look after my staff. That didn't mean my expectations weren't high, they were, but if I wanted 150% from my folks everyday I had to give them 200%. I was in the front hall greeting them as they came in. I made a point of never walking around looking like I had the weight of the world on my shoulders, and I practised the culture of yes. I was always open to new ideas and I would make a point of supporting innovations that teachers wanted to try. If the idea was good for kids then I would find a way to support it. I would learn from them, with them and protect them from the latest train pulling  into the station. I would tell them about all the new stuff coming down but collectively we would decide how invested we were going to become in those ideas.

In every school where I was principal I had a leadership team. I figured out pretty quickly that if my schools were to be successful I had to maximize the potential in the buildings. I was not the smartest person in the room and I had to be a good listener and learner as well as leader. Sometimes I saw my job more as a facilitator than leader but I made sure I was there when my staff needed me. It is important to note that I didn't suffer fools and if there was someone on staff who did not have the best interests of the students at heart I dealt with it. Simon Sinek often says that you send critical messages to your staff when you have a toxic member on staff and you do not deal with it. Frankly it also says a lot about your integrity and your commitment to your ideals. Being a leader is not easy and dealing with a toxic or incompetent staff member goes with the territory, but it is a challenge we can't shy away from.

As a Superintendent I saw my role to be the same as when I was a Principal. I wanted to be the Superintendent I would have liked to have. I didn't micromanage my people, I supported their innovative ideas, I supported them attending conferences and professional sessions to help with their learning, and I had a leadership team to assist with deciding the direction of the professional learning within our group. I saw my role as being the plough to help them through the organizational red tape that can sometimes get in the way of school leaders doing their job. Not avoiding things that were legal or legislated but rather the hoops that organizations create before anything gets done. I wonder how many of those hoops are really just systemic barriers to many things?

The story I will share to illustrate my point is the holiday gathering I had each year for all of my Superintendent folks. Each year I would invite all of my Principals and Vice Principals, Psychologists, SERTs, Coaches, and resource personnel to a gathering at a nice restaurant close to our area. I would personally pay for 3 or 4 bottles of red and 3 or 4 bottles of white wine, buy the first beer for any who didn't drink wine, and then my Superintendent budget would pick up appetizers for the evening. The gathering was really important and valued by my staff and I knew that because they all came. Every last one of them. I watched their shoulders come down as they walked in the door and suddenly there was laughter and conversation. The only business for the night was me thanking them for all they did to support the children we served and I wished them a relaxing and restful holiday. A small amount of appreciation for the people who worked their hearts out each and everyday.

A little thing but my folks knew how much I appreciated them and valued them.

If you are a leader I would encourage you to think about two things

1. Consider reading Simon's book Leaders Eat Last. 

2.  Think about the leaders you had who made a difference in your career/life and see if you can be that leader too.

Hazel

When Life Gives you Lemons - A personal reflection

 I am noticing more and more tweets from teachers expressing their worries and concerns about going back to school. I am sure there are many of you who are feeling exactly the same so I wanted to share a strategy on how I handled a similar situation as a Principal.

When I became the Principal of a large middle school, we had a provincial government that was very hostile towards teachers. Almost on a daily basis the headlines in the papers were all about how Ontario teachers were underworked, overpaid, and not serving the needs of students. Anyone in a school knew how unfair all of these accusations were but the constant bashing was taking a real toll on education workers. If as a Principal your focus is providing the best opportunities and environment for your students, then you have to worry about the morale of your staff. 

The school is situated in an area where our students really needed us to bring our "A Game" each and every day, and they would sometimes show their appreciation in ways that would challenge all of us. Adults who are feeling unappreciated and maligned are not likely to manage such a situation in a way that best supported the kids we served. I needed to come up with a plan.

I decided that the wellness and wellbeing of my teachers had to be a priority. I set aside $500.00 of my budget for staff wellness. I took the money and purchased 10 x 50.00 gift certificates for a family restaurant and I invented staff bouquets. I called my staff together and told them I was so proud of them for the kind, everyday things they did for each other. I told them we needed to be each others cheerleaders because it wasn't coming from anywhere else, and I urged them to fill out a bouquet to thank a colleague when they did something nice for them. It didn't have to be anything big. Shared a lesson, covered a class for a washroom break, took a duty when you needed help, gave you a compliment when you needed a boost.

The staff jumped on the idea and soon the walls of the staffroom were covered in bouquets thanking colleagues for their everyday acts of kindness. Each month at the staff meeting I would write down all of the names of folks who had been given a bouquet, put them all together in a hat and draw out a name. The lucky name that was drawn was given one of the 50.00 gift certificates to go out with family or friends for a treat. I then placed all of the bouquets in staff mailboxes for them to treasure and we started over again. A little thing but staff loved it.

My next step was to hire a massage therapist with a mobile table to come once a week. She set up in an empty room I had and did 1/2 hour massages for 10.00. Staff would book appointments on their lunch or planning times and enjoy an opportunity to destress in the middle of the day.

We did spirit days that were just for staff, drove the kids crazy trying to figure out why we were all dressed up, lunches catered by administration, a blues day in the middle of February with food all designed around the colour blue, and well, you get the idea. We found a way to take the crap and change it into chocolate pudding for real!

The cost for me as an Administrator, $500.00. The payback for my staff and my kids, priceless. In the middle of all we are going through we must find ways to look after the mental health of our staff so they can look after our kids. There is so much change on the horizon and the pandemic is far from over. With a little creativity we can change the culture of our school from one that seems constantly stormy to one that is fun, upbeat, and positive for kids, because at the end of the day it must be all about the kids.

There will be some of you who read this and say, "I could never do that." Maybe not, but I bet there are even better things you could do. Don't wait for someone else to save you, become your own best cheerleader and turn things in the direction that they should be headed. It will pay huge in the end. Heck you might even find your scores go up if that is what you care about.

Hazel