Is your Leadership Aligned?

When it comes to leadership, what do teachers hate?  If you don’t know, that might be a problem for you. Better yet, it may be a problem for your leadership, and by leadership, I mean everyone who is leading with you.

Here’s the deal. Followers hate not knowing where they’re supposed to go, what they’re supposed to do, and what they should have already done. Even more they hate getting two different answers from two leaders who are supposed to be on the same page.   Bottom line, teachers hate it when their leaders are unorganized.

We leaders owe it to our teachers and followers to work together to communicate with one voice. We let teachers and followers down when we fail to calibrate our leadership skills, and we create dysfunction when we don't plan for excellence as one leadership team with one leadership vision.  

Leaders must work tirelessly to align their message, their action steps, their communication strategies, and their responses to those who need additional time and support.  We can do the work, but it requires us to drop the ego, define our true mission (helping all teachers and students), and refine our leadership practices around that mission.  When we get on the same page, we stand a much greater chance of helping everyone else, and that fosters confidence in leaders and the school's mission of guaranteeing excellence in every student through every employee every day.

Is your leadership aligned with the other leaders on your team?  Perhaps a better question is this.  Does your leadership team function as a ship or a bunch of canoes rowing in different directions?  The answer to that question could tell you where your leadership needs to grow next.