5 Leadership Lessons from the Golf Course

Golf has never been a favorite sport of mine, and I mean never. Perhaps it is the tedious and technical nature of the game that never appealed to me. Maybe it was the lack of excitement in contact sports, such as soccer, basketball, and football that caused me to be a passive golf enthusiast.

As I enjoyed my monthly golf outing with my daughter, I started to see a lot of similarities between golf and leadership. Here are a few things I learned this past week.

1. Your current shot is impacted on your ability to forget about your last shot (this applies to both good and bad last shots.).
2. Sandtraps, and water hazards in front of you will kill your shot if let them.
3. Keep your head down throughout your shot.
4. Some clubs are better for your game than others. 
5. Your focus is your friend.

I don't know about you, but my leadership can be impacted by situations that I have no control over. I have clubs that never let me down while others seem to always hurt my game. When I focus on the sand trap or water in my way, I lose confidence in my swing before I even approach the ball. Isn’t that the same with leadership. Our head is sometimes our greatness asset and worst adversary. 

 Here's the deal, my leadership suffers WHEN I allow factors beyond my control to instill fear or doubt.  Conversely my leadership excels when I look beyond the barriers and set my sights toward the green. As leaders, we owe it to our organization to keep our eyes on the prize and not the obstacles. When we can do that, our swing will be strong, accurate, and ultimately effective, and followers will find confidence in our leadership. 

This week analyze where your swing is slacking. Identify leadership “clubs” (actions) that are hurting your game, and put in some time to get better at them. Finally, identify barriers, fears, and doubts that are inhibiting your game, and make a commitment to meet them head on with confidence.  Trust me. Your game will improve when you face your fears and view your weaknesses are opportunities for growth.  

Are You McFarland USA?

Last month, I saw McFarland USA. The movie is based on the true story of teacher-coach, Jim White, who took 7 impoverished teens from the migrant school of McFarland High School and turned them into cross-country champions for the state of California. What was interesting about White was his reputation as a teacher-coach that had overstayed his welcome at too many schools, and now, he was at his last stop in the teaching profession, McFarland, USA.

As the movie began, I thought to myself, "Oh great...  Is this another Freedom Writers or Stand by Me? Is this another Hollywood depiction of a heroic teacher who helps a few kids succeed in a hopeless American school?  Will I see the principal as another apathetic and overwhelmed leader?  Will I see another disconnected community with frustrated parents?"  After all, when was the last time, Hollywood actually portrayed a public school as something more than a death trap where only a few kids learned from the one and only teacher that could teach?  That is not the true story of American schools, so at the very least, I was skeptical.

Wow, was I surprised?

McFarland was nothing like any movie I had ever seen.  The students wanted a better life.  The principal was actively supportive of White and the team.  The parents and community rallied around the team and ultimately transformed McFarland as a whole because Coach White, the washed up coach, not only changed the lives of his students, but he was the catalyst that transformed a struggling school and community into a positive place that rallied around its periennial state champion.  In this case, it wasn't the campus or district leader that led the change.  It was the teacher who led, and the leaders who followed.  If White had waited for leadership to take the lead in building his team, he may have never had a championship team or even a team at all.  If he had waited for permission to create something new, he would have never changed the lives of his kids.  White didn't wait for a leader to lead his vision, because he was the leader.

So are you McFarland, USA?

If you're waiting on someone to create the conditions for you to make the ultimate impact on kids, please stop.  That someone is you.  If you are waiting on the community to rally around you, please stop.  Create a contagion that forces the community to follow you.  

Pride and success can only be built with a passion for excellence. With passion you can create something that has never been built before. You can change a culture that has been desperately yearning for it.  You can change lives.

Coach White built McFarland, USA for several reasons. Because he had no other career options, because his back was against the wall, and because he had unbelievable grit and determination, he was able to inspire an entire school community to believe in his commitment to one thing, excellence.   We must remember that we all have the ability to transform our schools and communities if we will believe in our passion and our abilities. 

There is a Coach White within each one of us, and it is our job to dig deep to find our inner leader and push ourselves to believe in the power of our position. No matter what role you play, you must always remember that you have the potential to transform an entire community if you will believe in your potential and passion.  The only question we have to answer is this. Will we wait for someone to give us permission to live our passion, or will we take full advantage of the opportunity that has been given us?

#TheChoiceIsYours

What Campus Leaders owe Schools if They're Leaving

I have been very fortunate to have some awesome leadership experiences in different schools, and when I made the decision to leave for a new job, the thought that I obsessed over the most was how I could set the next leader up for success.  The reason for that obsession was simple.  I cared about the kids and their future in the following years, so I didn't want to leave them hanging.  Furthermore, I knew that the teachers deserved as much continuity as possible from my leadership style to the next leader's style, and my information could help the new leader get a strong understanding of the campus, the culture and where to begin his/her chapter.


So Here's the Challenge.
No matter if you are leaving on good terms or if you are bitter about being let go, you owe it to the students and staff to set them up for success next year.  Your last act of leadership should ultimately move your campus forward, and to make that happen here are some things that you must do to set the kids and teachers up for success next year.


Leaders should leave behind:

• Curriculum, Instruction and Assessment plans with
• Last year's assessment calendar
• Access to lesson plans and how what you expected from teachers,
• Information about instructional initiatives
• Technology integration plan
• Narrative of how teachers and leaders worked within the CIA framework.
• Ideas for how you would improve things if you were staying.
• Intervention System detailing:
• All of the interventions offered at the school,
• How students and teachers could access interventions at each tier,
• How frequently you met with teachers to discuss kids (include agenda),
• What worked well in the system,
• What improvements you planned on making.
• Master Schedule including:
• Times for staff collaboration
• Courses that shouldn't be changed (include your reason)
• Scheduling problems from previous year
• Changes you would make if you were staying
• All of the special schedules: early release days, pep rallies, testing days, crazy days.
• Your expectations (new leaders deserve to know what has been previously expected so they can adapt their leadership to the current system as much as possible.)
• Your viewpoint on the school's culture:
• What is great about the culture
• What is missing in the culture
• Your plans for improvement if you were staying.
• Access to the school Facebook, Twitter and social media accounts.
• Access to school blog,
• Access to Google Drive or Dropbox documents
• Student Handbook (with suggestions for changes)
• Personnel file with possible vacancies or changes
• Leadership team with:
• Names and positions of leaders,
• Their general responsibilities,
• Their strengths and areas for growth,
• How you empowered the leadership team,
• How you planned to better utilize them next year.
• Staff directory with names, contact numbers, and positions

The reason that it is essential to provide all of this information is not so the new leader will use it all. The information is there to give the leader the clearest picture of how the school operates from the leader's role.  In essence, the information above serves as a launchpad for the new leader, and failure to provide a transition plan to the new leader is ethically irresponsible.

A Leader's Legacy

A legacy is not based on what was accomplished under your tenure; it is based on what remains long after you're gone.  But to be completely honest, I've never thought about my legacy.  I have been truly interested in helping kids in every way possible and that includes when I'm no longer there. If you want your leadership to have a lasting impact and truly be successful, then build strong systems.  Constantly revise them and improve them, and most importantly empower your staff to sustain them.  Ultimately this is what will help the new leader transition into the school.  If the system is strong and effective, a new leader will recognize that quickly and adapt his leadership to the system so that he can begin to move a school's system forward.

Leading with your Tail-Lights

Leaders go ahead to show the way, but they need a way to alert followers if there is danger. Leaders guide others down a path toward success, but they need a way to let the organization know when it is time to turn. When days become dark and it's hard to see in front of you, leaders need some way to show us that they are still there moving everyone forward.

Every leader requires tail-lights just like the car in this picture. They need to be pushing the organization further ahead, but they also need some way to keep followers aware of when it's time to slow down or make a sharp turn. Nothing brings the traffic of followers to a screeching halt faster than a leader without tail-lights who suddenly slams on the brakes. Failure to notify followers that caution is ahead frustrates. Without brake signals, traffic comes to a screeching halt or even worse, to a massive pile up leaving destruction and frustration to all involved. 

Tail-lights in leadership are extremely important. They keep followers safe and informed of what is coming up. A broken tail-light or busted turn signal is no good to an organization. Actually, they're unsafe for the entire organization because followers perceive the leader's erratic decisions as ulterior motives. Sadly, there are many leaders who operate without any type of warning signal. They just allow their organization to crash and burn behind them, and they don't see the importance of warning them when it is time to come to a stop. 

Here are 4 tail-lights that you need to keep your followers moving forward.

Brake Signal

Leaders need to warn followers when it is time to slow down. Brake lights warn followers when the organization is approaching potential problems. Brake lights are probably the most important tail light followers need to see from the leader. 

Turn Signal

Leaders need to notify followers when they are about to turn onto another path. Sometimes leaders need followers to get back on the path of progress or they need to get off the road for a while.  So as not to confuse followers, they should warn followers that they will be taking a sharp turn in the near future and that the turn is purposeful. 

Hazard Signal

Sometimes leaders are stuck on the side of the road with a major problem. So that they don't impede traffic, leaders need to turn on their hazard lights and let followers know that they have to stop moving forward while they deal with the problem at hand. Hazard lights also encourage followers to continue moving forward without the leader. 

Reverse Signal

Leaders make mistakes and need to back up before heading a different direction. Without reverse lights, leaders back into followers and cause frustration. Telling followers that you need to back up builds trust and shows followers that leaders make mistakes too. 

Tail-Lights send a Message

Communication is the most critical skill leaders have at their disposal. The better leaders are at communication, the smoother the flow of traffic will be for the organization. Often times, leaders are so caught up looking forward that they neglect to communicate frequently with those behind them. Tail-lights don't communicate frequently, but they do communicate when it is critical to warn followers that change is coming. Leaders must never forget that failure to communicate critical information will cause the traffic of improvement to crash and burn into a pile-up of dysfunction. The best way to keep progress moving forward is to ensure that you communicate with those who are behind you. That is if you want them to continue following you. 

Are You a Teacher Leader or a Teacher Impeder?

One of the most influential factors on the success of a team is the teacher leader. They have the ability to unite and the power to divide. What they say can pull colleagues together or drive a wedge between tight-knit peers. With every action and reaction, teacher leaders can either lead or impede their teammates.

And it's not that they impede their peers intentionally.  Most teacher leaders have the best of intentions to help their colleagues grow and achieve.  Most teacher leaders want their teams to be cohesive and work together toward a common goal, but the cold-hard truth comes down to how teacher leaders view the concept of leadership.

So What Makes a Leader An Impeder?

Teacher Impeders...

Fail to build a culture of mutual trust and respect that is focused on every student.
Align actions to beliefs that maintain the comfort of the status quo. 
 I ntimidate (intentionally or unintentionally) teammates who take initiative or show creativity or leadership. 
Lead by expecting followers to do things their way. 

What Makes a Teacher Leader?

Teacher Leaders...

Garner support from peers to foster mutual trust appreciation

Understand that their role is to convert followers into leaders

 Inspire creativity and risk-taking by modeling it for the team. 

Delegate leadership responsibilities to all members of the team

Engage and empower all members, especially those who are often neglected. 

So do You Lead or Impede?

Impeders are not necessarily negative people. They typically want what's best for the school. The problem is that they think their job is to have the plan and make all others follow the plan, but here's the problem with that. That's not leadership; that's management. 

Leaders do not need to possess all the right answers, but they must have all the right questions. Service and support always generates better results than mandates and directives. Teacher leaders know that they must always guide teams to stay focused on what the job requires, not how it must be done. Leading or impeding, the difference between the two is the same as believing in or belittling followers. 

Removing our 'Buts' from Leadership

I read Dan Rockwell's post this morning and it slapped me in the face. Leaders are constantly pressing forward knowing that they must keep the organization moving in order to reach the goal. They acknowledge success, BUT the organization has a long way to go. They praise improvement, BUT we're not there yet. Leaders make praise statements followed by a BUT that lists what hasn't been accomplished. How deflating is that?

I understand the need for constant improvement, BUT our teams and teachers need to know that they are making progress without a descriptor of what is still missing. I must admit, I am prone to make celebration statements with the deflating BUT in them.

Healthy cultures thrive on frequent communication and a critical component is celebration. In DuFour, DuFour, Eaker & Many's book 'Learning by Doing', celebration is a huge part of communication. Here are some tips from their research that leaders must consider if they want to celebrate without BUTS.

Be Specific in the Purpose of Celebration

What gets praised gets repeated. If leaders don't specify the actions that caused the celebration, people will think you are random. Praise a specific action and this will remove the BUT because specific praise shows others the behavior that the leaders wants in all facets of the team. Leaders that add the BUT to this recognition take value away from the behavior being celebrated.

Understand that Celebration is Everyone's Job

The way to start a wildfire of progress is to provide avenues for all staff to celebrate each other's work. Distributing and sharing this responsibility makes the celebration more meaningful because everyone joins the leader in picking and choosing what to celebrate. Also, if the leader is the only one who selects who and what gets celebrated, mistrust and skepticism about celebration takes root. Everyone must own and take part in identifying who and what gets celebrated.

Tie Recognition to your MVVG

Celebration is worthless if it is random or haphazard. When this occurs, people become confused about what is important. If you want to grow, you need motivation, and if you want your mission, vision, values and goals to be realized, individuals, groups and the campus as a whole must be recognized for the behaviors that are aligned with these targets. What gets praised gets repeated by others.

Small Tokens are Most Valuable

Leaders add more BUTS when they recognize a few or limit who can be recognized. Failure to recognize the right work throughout the organization creates pockets of frustration or confusion which Anthony Muhammad says leads to complaining, a precursor to a toxic culture. Small and frequent tokens of appreciation to many people for doing work that is aligned with the mission, vision, values and goals conveys significance in the employee and the work that they do. The more frequent and authentic the recognition, the more empowered your staff will become.

If you notice, these strategies didn't have a single BUT in them. That is because when you have a living mission, vision, values and goals, your organization automatically knows they have more work to do. Taking the acknowledgment of the BUT out of your leadership doesn't mean your team is going to stop improving. Celebrating the right work in a targeted and meaningful way will inspire your team to work even harder because the work that they do is being noticed, praised and shared with others. Isn't that what most people want, acknowledgement for a job well done?

Celebration is the fuel of a healthy culture. The more specific and focused it is, the greater your odds are for reaching your goals and the greater your collective capacity will expand, and there are no ifs ands or BUTS about that.

4 Ts of a Transformational School

In a progressive organization, change is the constant not the variable. It is the process, not the product. Change is intentional not inventional.

But leaders should remember that change is a mindset that must be nurtured from infancy to adulthood. You can't run until you can walk, and you can't walk until you can crawl. No different than raising a child, change must be reared with patience and encouragement as well as guidance and teaching. 

If change is to become the constant for your organization, the leader must create the conditional actions for transformation to thrive:  trusting, thinking, teaching and triumphing.

Does your organization have the 4 T's?

Trusting

Because the leader has established a culture of trust, people within the organization understand that trusting one another is essential to change. Trust isn't built overnight, and it can be decimated in a day; therefore, organizations must regard trust as a fragile yet powerful component, and they must maintain it like a garden. Trust is essentially the health needed to move the organization forward. 

Thinking

All people in an organization think about something, but thinking within a transformational organization is extremely concentrated. Thinking about the organization's mission forces all to be focused on purposeful steps necessary to make change a reality. All people within this organization of excellence reflect critically on their own work and determine how to better improve the organization through their work. Thinking is not a sometime thing. It's an all the time thing, and transformational people are constantly thinking about their work and its impact on the end product. 

Teaching

Transformation is about growth, and growth can't occur unless someone is teaching others. Throughout the organization, training and cross training are not appendages of the organization but the heartbeat of the organization. To truly be a transformational organization, teaching is not the leader's responsibility but everyone's responsibility. If people want the organization to grow and prosper, everyone must recognize their own personal strengths and share their strengths with everyone else. 

Triumphing

Transformation is not about growing by leaps and bounds but growing inch by inch. Transformational organizations look for the inch and celebrate the triumphs along the way. Celebration again is not just the leader's responsibility but everyone's responsibility. Everyone looks for the gains, and they seize the opportunity to initiate celebration. Celebration is the fuel of growth, and transformational organizations celebrate like its 1999. 

Putting the 'S' in the 4 Ts - Sustaining

The final responsibility of a transformational organization has nothing to do with change. It has everything to do with sustaining the change. Change cannot be sustained as long as the leader owns and directs the change. Sustainability requires leaders to hand over ownership to those that it impacts, so they can find the next change that must be initiated. That is what we call empowerment. If followers are empowered to own the change, it will be sustained, and that is when change truly becomes transformational. 

The Abundant Leader

Weakness is easy to find. Shortcomings can be spotted quickly. Determining deficits defines direction. Pretty much any leader can do any of these things but the abundant leader digs deeper to discover potential.

Setting goals for improvement is a logical next step. Defining plans for action helps initiate the process. The problem with this mindset is that leaders think they have little to start with. Deficit-based leadership starts with nothing to move to something. 

But the abundant leader sees things differently. Sure, they see deficits just like every other leader, but they delve deeper within weakness to find strength. They see ability, passion, will.  While the deficit-based leader starts with nothing and moves to something, the abundant leader starts with something to move to everything. 

Are you an abundant leader?

1.  Do you define what people can do before you create plans for what they need to do?

2.  Do you leverage strengths or just notice them?

3.  Do you use a person's strengths to create initial plans for growth and improvement?

4.  Do you celebrate a person's strengths as the catalyst to motivate growth?

5.  Do you help the person see the potential within their strengths before acknowledging their weaknesses?

Abundance is Opportunity

The problem is that our mindset isn't easily conditioned to seek opportunities. The abundant leader doesn't always see a surplus of strength, but they know that it is there; however, they believe that it is their job to search for it like a miner pans for gold. Every person has worth. Every person has value. The abundant leader knows their job is to help each person discover their worth and value because it is an investment in the organizational improvement.  The higher the value uncovered, the bigger investment is made in growth and improvement. 

Abundance is often overlooked because leaders are pressured to deliver results, but if leaders can pull back and exert patience, their eyes will be opened. By taking the extra minute to survey each person's true reality, leaders can transform the vision of a growth-mindset grounded in replacement into a mindset of growth by adding value to the worth that is already there.   

Communication Lessons from Charlie Brown

Do your children ever fail to pay attention to you? I mean your personal children.  As soon as the word, clean, comes out of my mouth, I know instantly that my children are tuning me out. As soon as words, did you, leave my lips, I know they're not listening. Chores are not their favorite thing to do, and talking to them about their chores is not my favorite thing to do either. Now that I think about it, there may be a correlation between my communication style and their listening.

So in your classroom, do your children tune you out? Can you instantly tell that your students lose focus and are glazed over while you are talking to them?  Even the best teacher in America has this problem from time to time. Are there times when you feel like you are Charlie Brown's teacher?

If you feel like your students are tuning you out, it's nothing personal. It's not that they disrespect you; it's that your communication is so routine that they are becoming immune to it. And it's not that you have nothing interesting to say. It's that the tone, cadence, and passion are the same. If you think about it, before I even played the Charlie Brown video, you knew instantly the sound of the voice of Charlie's teacher. I've never heard a word she said, but I can hear her voice like I was in her class today. 

Wah Wah Wah Wah. 

To get the wah wah wah out of your presentation, it's time to change things up a bit. 

Tone

Does everything that you say come out using the same tone?  Children respond better to auditory stimuli that vary in pitch and volume. If you talk loud all the time, maybe try talking soft some of the time. If you're a quiet person, it is time to get that loudmouth out. Kids respond well to a variety of tones in communication. If you think about it, everyone responds to a variety of tones, so one type of speaking tone will never reach every kid in your class. 

Cadence

If you talk slow all the time, people tune out quickly. If you talk at a rapid pace every time you say something, kids are not receiving every word in your message. Is your cadence harsh or is it meek and mild? If your cadence sounds like a drill sergeant, students will instantly turn off their ears, but if your cadence is more like a whisper, students won't even acknowledge that you're there. The rate and emphasis at which words are spoken plays a huge part in student engagement. 

Passion

Charlie Brown's teacher was boring.  She was not there to make learning fun. Passionless teachers suck the life out of listeners while passionate teachers optimize every aural minute that learners are in the room. Their enthusiasm for learning and fun stimulates interest in the process of not only learning but life. 

So where is your communication?

The best way to find out what type of communicator you are is to record yourself on audio or video. I prefer video because you can see the response of your students to your communication. Yes I know that we all hate to listen to ourselves speak, but this topic is too big not to investigate. If you have a kid that is struggling in your class, don't you want to know if the student is even listening to you?  That might be the first step in intervening for the student. If you have students that are being loud and disruptive, don't you want to know if your loud communication style is setting a poor example for how students should speak in your class or if your quiet tone is being ignored each time your correct?  If students are zones out in your class, don't you want to know if some of your students perceive you as that teacher from "Ferris Bueller's Day Off"?

If you want to improve your instruction, one of the first steps to start with is evaluating your own communication style toward students. Delivery of content is completely dependent on the manner in which you verbally communicate to your students.  How you speak sets the foundation for learning, and it is critical to know if you have a solid foundation for learning.  By evaluating the tone, cadence, and passion within your communication, you can ensure that every student, especially Charlie Brown, learns in your classroom.

6 Steps to Effectively Implement Change

People often rush to make change without making a plan. Here are some important ideas to make change without losing the trust and support of your team.

Communicate the philosophy of why change is important and necessary; then, Collaboratively, have your team define the vision of the organization.

Honor the work that has been done by using data to define your current reality. Be sure to use multiple data points to define where you are because where you are is where your change begins. Data will help identify practices that are effective and need to continue to support the change.

An Action Plan must be developed to define the new strategies and steps necessary to get your team from where you are to where you want to be. Utilize your staff to make your action plan.

Norm staff behaviors so all will agree how they must work together to implement the action plan. Norming your behaviors and actions will build trust and reduce confusion and conflict when problems implementing the change arise.

Goal-Setting defines where the team expects the change to take them along each step of the action plan. Set short term goals that lead toward a long range goal.

Evaluate your progress regularly. Celebrate your victories and make adjustments. If you don't take time to evaluate your progress, you will never know if you are moving closer to your target.

Change is hard because it requires so much commitment and organization. Taking time to plan ahead and then gathering input and support from your fellow staff members will pay huge dividends in the long run. Change can be successful with strong leadership, strong teamwork and a strong plan.

Leading with Decisiveness not Divisiveness

Organizations cannot move forward without decisions. Choices are always in front of you. Some decisions move your organization forward while others move you backwards. Some decisions unite while others divide. There are times when people connect to the organization while other times people disconnect.

Why is that?

Typically more people connect to a decision when they feel like it benefits the organization as a whole. In times of disconnectedness people feel like they are excluded and that their voice is not heard. Leaders unintentionally divide organizations and don't realize it until it's too late. 

Some leaders are decisive but they don't really care if it divides people because their decisions are aligned to their own beliefs and values. Some leaders are indecisive and as a result divide the organization because they can never figure out which direction to go. And then there are the leaders who are decisive in such a way that strengthens the organization every time they make a decision. 

So which are you?

Indecisive thus Divisive

Indecisive leaders have not identified or have no confidence in their own values. When making a decision they are constantly worried about the ramifications. Who will be mad is often a question asked. Worrying about the boss' approval consumes them. As a result of their floundering in uncertainty, indecisive leaders move their organizations backwards. 

Decisive and Divisive

Confident leaders have no problem making a decision. They know exactly what they want, and they can make a quick decision with little hesitation. The reason for this is simple. All decisions are made based on their own values. The problem with this type of leadership is that self-centered confidence can create collective conflict.  

Decisive and divisive leaders do not consider the ramifications of their verdicts on the organization. Making decisions based on what they think and feel frustrates followers. People see punitive policy rather than purposeful progression. So being unilaterally decisive can be just as detrimental to the organization as being completely indecisive. 

Decisive & United

Leaders who are decisive and unite others are centered around one key issue, values. These leaders not only know what their own personal values are but they know the values of the entire organization. They have no qualms making a decision because they know that every decision either conflicts with or complements organizational values. Uniting others is not a problem in times of solution-seeking. By constantly staying committed to values, leaders use each individual relationship to strengthen organizational values; furthermore, these uniter's empower followers to become leaders and make decisions that also align to the organization's values. 

Be Undivisive in your Decisiveness 

Being decisive takes courage, but being a uniter takes vulnerability. Understanding the minutia of organizational interdependency takes a lot of analysis and self reflection. By constantly committing and recommitting to personal values and organizational values, leaders can always make not only the right decision but the best decision to keep the team moving forward. 

Leadership Lessons from a Super Bowl Sideshow

No man will make a great leader who wants to do it all himself, 

or to get all the credit for doing it. 

-Andrew Carnegie-

I watched the interviews of Richard Sherman following the Seattle Seahawks' NFC Championship victory over San Francisco. If you don't what I'm talking about it, you missed a powderkeg that exploded on Facebook and Twitter for the last week. Basically, his comments about the team's win focused mostly on his confidence in his own physical talents as well as ability to belittle his opponent.  He said very little about his team's success. In short, his comments came off to many as cocky rather than confident.  What's interesting was that his teammates were ok with his comments while his critics were fired up, and in the end, I don't think he gained more supporters.

Every bit of research says that leaders must be confident individuals if their organizations are going to achieve success. They must believe in their abilities to overcome the toughest of situations. They must be ready to step up when no one else will. But here's the issue. Some leaders exert their confidence to move people forward while others flaunt their confidence to turns followers off. 

Why is that?

It all comes down to how and when leaders use the words, me and we, as they deal with success or failure. 

In Times of Success 

Cocky leaders use the word, me, to describe the reason for the team's success. They may use the word, we, to define the team, but you will definitely hear overtones of the leader's abilities in every action that they describe as the reason for team's success. Success couldn't have happened without the cocky leader. 

Confident leaders see no use in the word, me, to describe reasons for success.  Confident leaders let their actions do the talking for them. You will hear constant praise for the team as they describe how everyone worked together to make it happen. You will hear no overtones of 'Me' because the leader will be constantly praising the strengths and contributions of every member that played an integral part of the team's success. 

In Times of Failure

The cocky leader will be extremely disappointed and moderately immature. His anger, aggravation, and frustration will reveal itself in the way that he describes the team's failure. Rarely will he point the finger at himself because there were too many variables and too many people involved that contributed to the team's failure. Cocky leaders cannot accept failure; and therefore, their narcissistic behavior will not allow them to personally accept responsibility for loss. 

The confident leader will acknowledge the fact that 'we' did not win the game; however, the leader will not put the blame on 'we' but on 'me'. Because of the leader's poor planning the team was not prepared to win the game. The leader does this because he knows that the team looks to him for guidance and strength. Strength is only revealed in times of true vulnerability. In showing flaws and revealing human imperfection, confident leaders grow and organizations respond positively. 

Super Bowl Sideshow 

Whether you agree with Richard Sherman or not, the fact remains that his statements put him in the spotlight rather than the team. Don't get me wrong. He's a great player and made a great game saving play in the NFC Championship Game; therefore, he deserves lots of credit for making that play, but we mustn't forget that the Seahawks put him in the position to make the play.  Without the team's effort and success, he just made another good play.

Now in the end, his comments may help his team prepare for the Super Bowl by taking the focus off of other key players on the team, but one thing is certain.  Sherman will be under intense pressure on Sunday to back up his statements when he faces arguably the best quarterback in NFL history, Peyton Manning.  Cocky leaders allow their emotions to get themselves into this position, but confident leaders never allow words of bravado to cause them this type of unnecessary pressure.

Finally, cocky leaders never consider using their words to bring people together as their first priority. Their insecurity won't allow that. However, confident leaders constantly find ways to put their team in the best position to win the game. When they win, the leader gives the team credit for doing so. And when the team loses, the leader takes full blame for not putting the team in the best position to win.

That is true leadership. 

5 Notification Settings for Focused Leadership

I recently readjusted my notification settings for all of my social media.  The reason for that was pretty simple, I was being interrupted way too much. Now don't get me wrong. I enjoy finding out what's happening through my different social media platforms, but I don't need to know that information every time it happens.

So while I was pondering how I wanted to be notified about updates and information like that, I started to think about the types of notification settings I have in my leadership?  After all, being reminded about critical tasks and events is one of the most essential things that every leader needs. So after pondering this idea for a little bit, I would like to share with you five ways to set up your notifications to keep your leadership focused. 

1.  Calendar

Early is on time and on time is late. There are so many things coming at leaders that sometimes they forget about important appointments. Setting up your calendar to your phone and allowing it to go off 15 minutes or 30 minutes before every event helps leaders make sure they arrive to all of their appointments on time. 

2. Tasks

There are always important tasks, and sometimes there are menial tasks that leaders put off to the last minute. Having reminders and alarms set to get all tasks completed keeps leaders focused. 

3.  Communication

This is the most important task leaders have to do. Communication must be done frequently and regularly so that followers are informed and know exactly where the organization is going. Setting alarms to schedule emails to the staff and social media posts to the community is an extremely important thing that all leaders must do; otherwise, leaders will forget to communicate ahead of time or completely fail to communicate altogether. 

4.  Monitoring and Evaluating

It is very easy for leaders to keep their eyes off the prize. Setting alarms and reminders to monitor and evaluate projects or classrooms is a very important that leaders must put in place.  These regular notifications to follow up help ensure that accountability occurs in the organization. 

5.. Celebration

Celebration is the fuel of achievement. If you don't fill up the car with gas, you won't have enough gas to reach your destination.  Leaders must set reminders and notifications to keep them focused on celebrating the organization teams that are excelling and individuals that are rising to the occasion. Forgetting to celebrate will ultimately cause your organization to fail. 

Focused Leadership

Leaders are bombarded from the moment they walk in the door. Emails, phone calls, surprise appointments, and other interactions will always deter leaders from getting the job done. Having the 5 notification settings of focus leadership turned on will ensure not only that the job gets done, but that it will get done correctly.  

6 Lines of the Net of Communication

Christmas came again for me on December 26 when I went crappie fishing with a friend.  We had a great time as we pulled in the motherload of a limit. To top it off, we enjoyed a beautiful sunny but chilly day on waters smooth as glass.

Fishing is a challenge much like communication is for leaders. We are constantly trying to hook each member of our community to our mission. Beneath the surface, community stakeholders are swimming around our hooks consuming a smorgasbord of communication. If all we have is one fishing pole and one hook, what's the real chance that we will be able to catch all of our stakeholders with our communication?

Communication in the 21st-century school must transcend itself from fishing with one line of communication into combining multiple lines of communication and weaving together to create a net of communication. There is no one lure that will hook all of your stakeholders.  There is no bait that will make them bite every time you throw out the hook. Let's face it. The people in our school community are way too busy to wait for us to give them communication in the manner that best suits us. Our message has to be wherever they are whenever they are ready to receive it. Communication has to be a net that catches every person every time the message is thrown out to the community.

In addition, communication can no longer be from one person. If we are going to create a net of communication, everyone has to play their part in our fishing expedition.  Everyone has to hold their end of the line because everyone has

the responsibility of making connections and maintaining them with all members of the school community. For every member of the organization that fails to except this challenge, the result will be one more fish that slips through the net. 

What Lines are needed to make a Net of Communication?

Verbal & Face-to-Face

Every member of your school comes in contact with stakeholders in your school community through verbal and face to face encounters. Of all the hooks, this is best way to communicate with your community and the best way to ruin your relationship with them as well. Capitalize on every meeting you have face-to-face with your community to project a positive image of the school because there's not a second opportunity for a good first impression. 

Paper

While this is the most traditional form of communication, it is still the preference of many members of our community. With all of our efforts to connect virtually, we can't stop sending things home for people to pull out of the backpack. For many people, paper is the only bait that will connect them to our school. 

Web Presence

Webpages are great one way communication tools. They can inform people whenever they are needing instant information. The biggest turn off about webpages is when they're not updated or are too difficult to navigate. If you plan to connect your community through a webpage, there are 2 rules of thumb. 

1. Make sure every page you create stays current and updated frequently with relevant information. It will hook members of your community on 24-7 basis. 

2. Make sure people can find the page they're looking for in 3 mouse clicks or less. Anything more than 3, and they'll stop biting. 

Social Media

Nothing gets two way dialogue going with more people better than social media. People are always on their phone thumbing through their newsfeed of choice. Schools with daily or even hourly updates on multiple social media platforms and blogs promote strong lines of communication with the community because parents and the community can get involved in the discussion and even start discussion on topics that leaders weren't even considering.  Finally, social media is the best way to identify the undercurrents that are beginning to form in the community.  

Text Message Services

This is a great one way communication tool that schools can use to update their parents with important information immediately. With the click of a button your entire school community can be informed of extremely important information. Remind 101 is a great example of this tool. 

Gradebook Subscriptions

Many gradebook software programs have features where parents can subscribe for email updates and alerts about their student's grades. Schools need to take advantage of this opportunity and encourage parents and even teach them how to subscribe to their child's grade book. Making the grade book transparent gives parents the opportunity to be proactive in helping their kids improve their grades. 

Catch More Fish!

Commercial fishermen could cast out fishing lines and wait for the fish to come to them, but they don't leave their success to chance. These fisherman are successful because they go to the fish and use strong nets to catch more fish. If schools wish to strengthen the lines of communication with more parents and community members, leaders must put down the fishing pole and make a net. They need to assemble their organization and multiple communication tools into strong nets of communication each time they send out their message.  If they can adopt this philosophy of communication,  they will always pull in a much more informed school community. 

Are you a Leadership Coach or a Commentator?

Being the passive Dallas Cowboys fan that I am, I have gotten frustrated when they blow a lead or fail to make the playoffs for the third year in a row.  What's worse is that it has been extremely frustrating to not see them in the Super Bowl since Jimmy Johnson set Barry Switzer up for success.  Needless to say, I have a lot of suggestions for Jerry Jones.  But hey, who doesn't.  Go to your Twitter feed or Facebook and you will find 1 million commentators using their infinite wisdom gained from years of yelling at the TV from their Lazy-Boy recliner.  And if that's not good enough, turn on the radio, ESPN, or NFL channel, and talking heads with lots more wisdom than you or me are weighing in on why the Cowboys just can't get it done.

Sure, it's real easy to pick apart Tony Romo's decisions in slow motion after we have had time to study the defense and their blitz package frame by frame.  After we have had 5 minutes to dissect 2 seconds frozen in time, it's real easy to blame Tony for not picking up that critical first down with no time left on the clock.  It's easy because anyone can pick apart history after it has already happened.  Commentators get paid tons of money to criticize plays that coaches (who get paid tons more money) design on the fly in the heat of battle.  The point is this.  Anyone can be a commentator and criticize their team, but only a select few are capable of coaching their team to victory.

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Add your Leadership to this Analogy

There are 2 types of leaders:  coaches and commentators.  Coaches lead their players to victory, and commentators tell others why the players won the game or screwed it up.  Here are just a few things that makes your leadership more like a coach or a commentator.

Coaches

• Prepare their players to be victorious.
• Praise the team for the win.
• Take the blame for the loss.
• Capitalize on mistakes as learning opportunities for growth.
• Use performance data to find strengths in individual players to improve the team as a whole.
• Use results to prepare for the next opponent.
• Have meaningful relationships with their players.

Commentators

• Question players why the game was won or lost.
• Praise the team for the win.
• Blame the team for the loss.
• Magnify mistakes as reasons for failure.
• Use performance data to praise winners and criticize losers.
• Review results to promote winners and vilify losers.
• Have superficial relationships with players from a distance.

Coaches are proactive.  They move their teams forward, and they do that by building strong relationships bound by strong structures for working together. Commentators don't build anything, and they criticize everything.  In short, leaders consciously choose to be proactive or reactive.  They choose to build for the future or criticize the present.  As leaders, we have a choice.  We can spend our time coaching our organizations for the future or criticizing them for the current place that they are.  

I don't know about you, but I choose to coach for the future.  I can't do anything about the results of the past.  I can't bring back the glory days, but I can make new glory days.  I can criticize the Dallas Cowboys all I want to, but I, as a commentator, have no power.  Only Jerry Jones and the Cowboys organization have the power to make change.  (That's a suggestion, Jerry!) The same goes for leadership. You can criticize your organization all you want to, but the only person that can improve the organization is you, the leader.  If you're the leader, move from the reactive mode of commentating and into the proactive mode of coaching.  If you're not the leader, quit commentating on the leader's performance and start helping the leader by being proactive.  If you can stay away from commentating and commit to coaching, you may just find that your efforts will take your team back to the Super Bowl.

The choice is yours...

Leading with a Parachute

I had a once-in-a-life-time opportunity to fly in a World War II plane.  Needless to say it was a 'Bucket List' experience.  As we were getting ready to take off in this awesome piece of history, I asked myself this question.  Where is the parachute?  I mean it is a beautiful plane, but what if it breaks down?  What if we take a nose dive?  While I had complete faith in the pilot, I had to ask this question.  After all, we were only talking about my life.

Getting Ready for Flight with
Pilot, Steve Dean
(I'm in back.)

Parachutes are a safety net in case the plane fails.  If we had our choice, we wouldn't want to leave without one.  So if we would feel more comfortable with a parachute on a plane, what about in our leadership?  Wouldn't we feel more comfortable taking off on a leadership venture if we had the security of a parachute?  Wouldn't we would feel more comfortable going out on that limb knowing that we had some sort of safety net in case our plan failed and we needed to bail?  Has anyone ever felt this way?

The fact is this.  No leader wants to jump out there without some kind of insurance.  We all want to know we will be okay if the plan fails.  We all want some type of parachute to protect us as we try to soar into the wild blue yonder.  So what are the different types of parachutes that leaders have in place before letting their leadership ventures take flight? 

Critical Friends

All leaders have critics, but great leaders have critical friends who will tell them things they don't want to hear but need to hear.  Critical friends care about the leader enough to make sure he doesn't crash the plane.

Honest Feedback

Leaders need honest feedback especially when the plane is in flight.  Honest feedback is the altimeter and radar when the leader is flying the plane with zero visibility.

Understanding Teammates

Leaders need empathy from their fellow teammates.  People don't always understand the rationale behind decisions; therefore, the leader has to take time to make sure understanding is in place when a plan is about to take off.

Trusting Relationships
Developing trusting relationships are the key to successful leadership, but this idea couldn't be truer when plans fail.  Relationships save leaders from crashing and burning.

Exit Plan
Not every leadership idea works.  That is why leaders need to make sure they have an exit strategy.  Exit strategies are better than running the entire organization into the ground.

Pulling the Rip Cord

When leaders take time to pack a parachute, chances are they will survive leadership failure.  Leaders don't pack a parachute planning to wreck the plane.  They see the parachute as a required tool in place every time a new idea takes flight.  Most ideas work, but the parachute is in place to make sure that a failed plan doesn't ruin the leader's credibility with the staff , but more importantly doesn't wreck the culture of the organization.  Parachutes only work when the leader pulls the rip cord and that can only be accomplished when the leader is committed enough and humble enough to admit he failed.

The 4 Pitfalls to Pride

Pride is an important element to leadership. Leaders must exude confidence in order to get results. They should use their charisma to build relationships and a culture of commitment. They can use their self-esteem to build confidence in others.

But sometimes pride has a negative effect on leaders. When pride is all that the leader knows, he will not be prepared for times of crisis, failure and personal errors. In these times, leaders who fail to drop their displays of boastful self-pride succumb to the 4 pitfalls to pride:

• Conceit - an excessively favorable opinion of one's own ability or importance
• Arrogance - offensive display of superiority or self-importance; overbearing pride
• Gall - bitterness of spirit; impudence
• Egotism - excessive and objectionable reference to oneself in conversation or writing (sidenote - I found it interesting that the origin of this word was idiotism.)

These pitfalls represent  the 4 prison walls of self-worship for leaders who are inherently incapable of relinquishing their pride.

How can leaders avoid the pitfalls of pride?

1. Exude Humility

People are more responsive to humility than egotism, especially when the leader is the cause of failure. Leaders must display their vulnerability to followers, and this act will create more trust in the organization and a deeper belief in the leader.

2. Give up on Shameless Self-Promotion

When the leader attempts to right the wrong by bragging about how great he is and how much he has done for the organization, everyone gets the message that the leader cannot accept his own imperfection. Prideful leaders should stop propping themselves up on a pedestal and accept that they're human like the rest of us.

3. Overcome the Fear of Imperfection

Leaders are human; thus they are fallible. Sadly, our world doesn't accept imperfection even though no human is perfect. The ultimate leader embraces his imperfection and uses it to model humility for his team. It takes courage to stand out there and say you're not perfect, but great leaders do it all the time.


Pride is great in good times and destructive in dark times. Leaders must understand that pride is a double edged sword that can help the organization grow or kill the leader's future with the organization. The very best leaders balance pride with self-actualization and own the mistakes that they make. They do all this because they understand and respect the pitfalls to pride.

6 Ways Leaders Win over Whiners

Whiners plague every organization. They wear down others with their laments of underwhelming stress. Even though they drain, we must never lose sight of the fact that every whiner has the potential to positively impact the organization.  The key is that leaders must remember to address their needs as opposed to their wants.

What is a whiner?  A whiner Is a person who wants the focus to be on them and their plight. They use whining as their chief form of communication to seek the following:

Sympathy - Whiners want people to feel sorry for them. It elevates their sense self-importance. 

Attention - Whiners want the spotlight on them and how bad their life is. They don't like for others to get attention. 

Pity - Whiners want people to feel compelled to drop what they're doing and feel sorry for them. 

In short, whiners suck every ounce of life out of the creative potential of an organization. 

So what do whiners need?

Whiners need leaders who will move them from sapping the life out of others to focusing on helping the organization move forward. Leaders challenge whiners with the following:

Calculated Ignoring 

Leaders know the difference between whining and legitimate concerns, and leaders ignore whining. 

Heart 

Leaders exhibit their heart of courage by confronting and redirecting the whiner's focus from his personal needs to what is preventing them from supporting the organization's goal. 

Engagement 

Leaders engage whiners by asking them for solutions. Whiners don't want solutions, but leaders force the focus to stay on solutions. Leaders engage by keeping the focus on improvement. 

Expectations 

Leaders shut down whining when it is detrimental the organization. A whiner's behavior must be challenged, and expectations challenge whiners to get their behavior in check. 

Specific Feedback 

Leaders identify when whiners truly don't know what to do and give them specific feedback to help them move toward viable solutions. 

Encouragement 

Leaders understand that whiners ultimately lack emotional stability, and they regularly encourage whiners through personal attention and regular conversations.   Leaders also know that they can accelerate whiners with each positive interaction.

Whiners are easy to avoid, but the greatest leaders realize that whiners are the missing link to the organization's success.  They know that avoiding whiners impacts the organization negatively as whiners can eventually make the culture toxic. Since whiners are the missing link in the chain of systemic improvement, winning them over is a necessary action that ultimately strengthens the system as a whole. 

The Perfect Halloween Mask for Leaders

Halloween is here, and everyone is geared up to sport their best costume. After all, it's our yearly opportunity to transform into someone more interesting. We can replace our normal persona with a more unique and dynamic character who is nothing like us at all, so we are all in search of the perfect costume.

Leadership masks are similar to Halloween costumes but with deeper purpose. While we wear the masks of responsibility and vision, the masks that we choose to wear go far beyond covering our outward appearance.  The more we wear them, the more they actually consume our inner leadership DNA.  With every leader that has impacted our lives both positively and negatively, we have been slowly molded and shaped by the leadership mask that we identify with the most, and that is when the real masquerade begins.

So which mask is the perfect one for leaders?

Superman 

Clark Kent has always been there to save the day.  The leader of strength uses his superhuman powers to improve the organization.  The downside to this mask is that Superman believes that no one else has the power to do anything. In essence the ability of the organization rises and falls on the shoulders of this superhero. 

Jack Sparrow

One of my favorite movies is "Pirates of the Caribbean" with the wiley Jack Sparrow. Every kid loves dressing up like him. He is such a unique character that is capable of escaping any jam. While he is a very charismatic and unique leader, Jack has a problem. He is very selfish and is always in it for himself. He will help others, but only if it benefits him also. In essence, he gauges success only by his own accolades. 

Duck Dynasty

The Robertson clan in my opinion is awesome. With their family values, massive beards, and entertaining show, who wouldn't enjoy watching them. Their family dynamic is fantastic, but this mask has nothing to do with them personally. The Duck Dynasty mask is that of the latest leadership fad. This leader buys into the latest and greatest leadership principle and thrusts it upon the organization without their input. Sadly, the organization won't have to worry for long because this leader will have a different mask next year when the next new idea comes to town. 

Dracula 

This is the one of the most popular costumes of all time and one of the most traditional leaders of all time. The Dracula leadership mask lures people in and then sucks the life out of an organization. With every last minute email sent in the middle of the night or every mandate or directive that controls rather than empowers, Dracula sucks the creative juices out of every member of the organization. His constant search for power kills the lifeblood of the community and drives the people away to safety in another place of employment. 

The Politician

The voice of reason is what every organization needs from its leader.  Speeches of a new day and opportunity invigorate enthusiasm. But when the organization never sees prosperity following the political talking points, the organization grows increasingly deaf toward the rhetoric. This mask uses words to start a fire, but it burns out faster than it began due to lack of substance, specificity, and most importantly follow-through. 

The Perfect Mask

The challenge for all leaders is to stop looking for a new mask and embrace the mask that they were born with. People don't follow unique masks for long. They follow character, confidence and commitment, and they continue to follow leaders who elicit meaningful action and positive results.  If you want to find the perfect leadership make, start by taking off the mask of insecure bravado. Quit following the fads or leadership fashions of others, and follow the most important leadership organ you have, your gut. Your staff will find that as the best Halloween treat of all. 

Leadership Lessons from a Parked Car

Today, I am sitting in my wife's nice car. It has all the bells and whistles. It is sleek and comfortable just like the commercial promised it would be. But here's the deal. No matter how elegant my car is, it alone can't get me from point A to B. 

Here is my Point

The latest and greatest tools don't achieve results. The newest resource will not improve your current reality. The latest gadget can give you a greater sense of confidence or status, but it won't get the job done. At the end of the day, there is only one way that tools make substantial change. You have to take your tool out of park and put it into drive. 

So how can we put our tools in gear?

Dedicate Time 

If you want a tool to help your organization, you have to engage others in meaningful study about the tool and understand how it must be used to improve results.

Realize that People Matter

It's people not products that get results. If you have weak people and strong tools, you will always get weak results. In the end your people matter.

Inspect for Fidelity

Tools that are not implemented appropriately will not work.  If you want your tools to work properly, you might want to read the directions on the box and ensure that they are followed.  

Value Effort

In order for a tool to work, it needs someone to use it correctly. If you've spent all this money on a new tool, you might want to invest your time in sincerely recognizing the efforts of the very people who devote their time in becoming proficient operators of the tool. 

Embrace Failure

Anytime you implement a new resource, people will make mistakes trying it out. Leaders must create a culture that embraces mistakes during the implementation of a new resource.  Failure is a natural part of experimentation and creativity.  Leaders who fail to embrace failure will ensure the tool's failure all together. 

My car is great, and I like it. At the end of the day it is a completely useless tool until I crank it up and put the transmission in drive. Resources and tools are no different. Absent of a proficient and productive driver, a resource is just another car sitting in the parking lot. It may look attractive, but it is completely unproductive.  Resources that work have competent people that jump into the driver's seat and steer the tool down the road of hard work. 

Drivers Make the Difference 

 There are whole lot of organizations with a whole lot less resources but still get better results.  The difference isn't the number of cars in the garage, but the number of committed people in the house. 

How well do you drive the resources in your organization?