8 Traits of Rocking PLCs!

I love Fridays because every so often I receive a #FF from John Gunnell (CLICK HERE), Wisconsin principal and moderator of #wischat (click here) (Sundays at 8p CST). What's unique about his tweets is that he always says that his PLN rocks like a specific song from the cool band. So it got me to thinking,

"What band does your PLC rock like?"

For me there lots of bands to choose from.  I could consider bands that had awesome one-hit wonders like the Violent Femmes, but that would be like a PLC that had one good result. I could pick a band that had a platinum selling album or two like Whitesnake, but that would be like a PLC that was good until the band changed lead singers. 

I Wanna Rock!!! (Shameless Twisted Sister Plug)

I want my PLC to rock like a band that never quit rocking as long as it was focused on making music together. For example take Chicago (25 or 6 to 4). That band put out over 20 albums (Hard to Say I'm Sorry/Get Away) and had multiple people in and out of the band over the three plus decades that it was together. Another great band to consider being like would be Van Halen (Jump Video).  They rocked the mic from the day their music hit the air. Frontman, David Lee Roth left the band and pretty much told them that they would be nothing without him. Sadly, he underestimated the power of the band's mission and vision when a new frontman, Sammy Hagar, took his helm.  Van Halen (sans Roth) (Love comes Walking In) climbed to even greater head-banging heights because the band's success was its SMART Goal, not the members' individual accolades. 

I want to rock like that.

If you want your band to rock like Van Halen or Chicago, you must commit to building and more importantly maintaining the focus of your band. 

Here's 8 Traits of a Rocking PLC!

1. Purpose - PLCs always have a focused purpose for working and learning together. 
2. Product - Members leave with a product directly tied to that focus. 
3. Goal - All kids, high levels of learning.
4. Norms - Rules for how to become and stay cohesive. 
5. Interdependence - Deep-rooted understanding that there are no frontmen. Everyone's an expert, and everyone's a star. 
6. Celebration - The regular nourishment teams need to keep them moving forward through difficult times. 
7. Failure embracement - The understanding that from time to time the team will fail because that is where real learning occurs. 
8. Continuous Learning - The goal of high-performing teams is growth not results. 

I Love Rock & Roll!!!

If you can get your PLC to function like the band, Chicago, the work that you will do will be like "Saturday in the Park".  If you can commit to kids and one another at the deepest and highest levels, your PLC will rock like Van Halen and attain results beyond your wildest "Dreams"

#RockOn