The Painful Truth about Meaningful Change

This past weekend, we had our 2nd Annual Fall Festival, and boy was it a great event.  We had 2 gyms and a parking lot full of fun and games all in an effort to bring our community together.  It was awesome seeing our school and community united in partnership as a result of several people coming together and sacrificing of themselves to offer a truly meaningful event for the entire community.

One of the events we had was a 3 on 3 basketball tournament, and just like a mid-40's man that still thinks that he's still in his 30's, I joined the tournament.  Now I haven't played competitive sports in 10 years, and on Sunday morning, my aching back and legs reminded me of that.  While I had a great time participating, my body still reaped the consequences of that change.  All choices have consequences, and physical choices have even more painful consequences.

So What Does this Have to Do with Change?
Both of these events have one thing in common.  They both require work, which requires sacrifice, discomfort, and in some cases pain.  Without work, nothing changes, and therefore the status quo remains.  Change can't occur without some level of pain.

The Painful Secret about Meaningful Change
If we aspire to bring about meaningful change to our organizations then we must realize that it requires shaking things up a bit.  You'll have to do things in ways that haven't been done before.  It'll push resisters to whine a little more, and it may cause headaches that you had no idea you would create.

But isn't that what meaningful change does?  It elicits discomfort, albeit temporary, and many times the discomfort exists to ask you just how much the change really means to you.  If it means a lot, you'll push against the pushback, and you'll weather the whining.  If it doesn't mean a lot, then the safety of the status quo will temper your resolve, and soften your commitment.

The painful truth about meaningful change is that it causes pain, no doubt about it, but if you are committed to improving the organization as a whole, then you've already calculated the pain that it'll cause, and you've already set your course for change.  There may be frustration on the front end and blowback on the back end, but the secret to successful change is being steady and strong, for that is what'll ensure the change you bring about means the most to those who, in the end, matter the most.

5 Gifts of a Graceful Leader

Have you ever worked for a graceful leader, someone who is forgiving, dignified and inspirational?  What makes a leader graceful?  How does she develop the qualities that make her outstanding? In this post, I would like to offer my ideas on 5 gifts that all graceful leaders possess, but more importantly share with their followers. 

5 Gifts of a Graceful Leader

Generous

Graceful leaders are generous with their time, their talents, their assets, and most importantly their
understanding. The reason is simple. They are paying forward the generosity that was given to them and forgiveness that was granted by those who cared for them.

Real

In order to be a graceful leader, you must be authentic and approachable. Graceful leaders are abnormally human, and reveal their grace in how they accept and welcome all, especially those who are often overlooked or neglected. 

Accountable

Graceful leaders hold themselves to a high standard and they  openly display their accountability to that standard. With this  philosophy of supernatural honesty, they are able to inspire followers to hold themselves also to a higher standard. 

Commitment

A leader’s work is based on results, but a graceful leader’s work is unwavering discipline and commitment to continuous improvement. Graceful leaders commit to the journey, as well as the people who are a part of the trip, and celebrate progress along the way, while the ungrateful leader focuses on results is uncommitted to the people who achieve them.  

Eternal

Ordinary leaders give up when the going gets today.   Great leaders stop when the goal is accomplished, however the graceful leader is endless in support, constant in communication, persistent in their pursuit for the pinnacle of excellence, and always affirming everyone in the organization. The reason for their eternal effort as a leader is due to their selflessness as a person. 

The Graceful Leader's Super-Secret Gift - Purpose

Average leaders act out of selfishness. Great leaders act in order to see tangible results. The graceful leader however has no purpose to acquire earthly accolades or superficial results.  They realize that these trophies disappear in time, and the awards fade the minute they are bestowed. The graceful leader is in pursuit of something much more important than results, and that is fulfilling his or her God-given purpose and leveraging their talents in order to help everyone discover the purpose for which they have been created.   The graceful leader's legacy is found in the number of people that he has led to accept the grace that is waiting for them to accept.

The graceful leader is in pursuit of not what can be seen 

but that which cannot be seen. 

Your Education Association is your Lifeline

How has the medical profession made tremendous gains in health care over the last 100 years?  It’s simple. The medical profession has excelled thanks to medical associations that serve one purpose, improving the medical profession in order to improve the quality of life for the patients it serves. Without medical associations working in conjunction with practicing physicians who are constantly raising the bar, healthcare would not be anywhere close to where it is today.

So let’s apply this to school. Education organizations exist for one purpose and that is to improve the learning outcomes for all students by improving the effectiveness of the educators who work toward those outcomes.  In essence, they exist to improve the quality of life for the students it serves. 

Administrator organizations exist to teach administrators how to improve in their abilities to lead schools. Teacher organizations exist to support teachers and provide them new and improved ideas to strengthen instruction, and school board organzaitons exist to teach board members how to provide better oversight to the schools they’re responsible for.   

At the end of the day education organizations are lifelines for educators. They improve education, and they grow educators. The fact of the matter is this. If we care about being a lifeline for all kids, then we as educators must have our own personal lifeline. That personal lifeline is the education organization. We must not only join an organization, but we should be an active part of that organization. If you’re involved in learning from your organization, it’ll make you better at what you do, which in turn makes you better for the kids you serve. And that’ll make that organization a stronger lifeline for educators because you’re breathing life into the organization. 

The Secret Weapon All Excellent Leaders Possess

What’s the secret to  becoming an excellent leader?  Some think it’s organization. Others think it’s communication, and some could even argue that it’s how you serve. While those are critical skills leaders need to excel, there is a secret weapon that the very best leaders possess. Can you guess what it is?

Here are a few clues. 

What you Learn - So often we think that being a great leader is about what you know, and sure
there’s some truth to that, but there’s something better than knowledge and that is the desire to grow as both a person and a leader. 

Ingest - Great leaders protect their mind like a healthy person would protect their diet. They ingest truth, and they do that by protecting their minds from mind pollution. In other words, they don’t get pulled into the trap of fake news, rumors, gossip, and trash that basically exist to prevent them from getting better.  

Simplicity - Great leaders want their organization to be lean in the work they do; therefore, they seek to simplify all of complexities within their organization. They eradicate ambiguity by always looking for a better way to make the system more efficient and effective. 

Discipline - Great leaders don’t do everything. In fact they control what they do by only doing things that are essential, and they protect their time by not wasting it on useless actions and unproductive conversations.

Own the Truth - The truth is often a bitter pill to swallow, but excellent leaders own it no matter what. Even if it costs them friends or political capital, standing up for what’s morally and ethically right is more important than acquiescing to what’s convenient or easy. 

Model Humility - The best leaders are humble, and they model their humility by listening, asking questions in order to learn, and accept feedback, for they recognize the fact that they will never reach their optimal performance.  They constantly learn from others so they can get closer to it however. 

Have you figured it out?

Excellence leaders possess wisdom. 

Wisdom is not intellect, it is a selfless ambition to be your best self for the people you serve. It is a relentless commitment to the truth, and a tireless hunger for continuous improvement. Finally wisdom is not revealed by what you know. It is however it displayed how you show it. 

Is your School’s College and Career Initiative a Dream or a Reality?

In schools and all over social media, the emphasis grows more and more everyday for college and career. The big push for tech integration, #FutureReady, collaboration, individualized learning is all in an effort to inspire every student to pursue education beyond high school, and it makes sense. We have to prepare every student for a college and career ready future. Without it, students are almost guaranteed a challenging life with greater chances for poverty and improsonment.

The reality is that our schools should have an authentic emphasis on College and Career, and the reason is obvious.    The more education you get, the higher wage that you can earn, and the lower employment rate you will find.  Check out this graphic from GoGrad.org of data collected by the US Bureau of Labor Statistics.  A picture is worth a thousand words, and this graphic can be summed up in 1 tweet.

Your Education is Your Future!!!

Source: GoGrad.org

Is College and Career a Priority?

If we want our kids to believe in college and career, we must first recognize that over 50% of our students are kids of poverty, and many of them don’t see college as an attainable option.  Schools that excel the most in preparing all kids for college go far beyond the superficial college day of wearing college shirts and take purposeful steps to acquaint students with all of the options at their disposal. 

They talk to their students often about college, take entire grade levels of students on college tours, and prepare all students for college entrance exams. Furthermore, they show their students the financial benefits of performing well on ACT and SAT tests, and inspire them to believe that academic excellence is their proverbial lottery ticket. 

Is college and career a dream in your school, or is it your school’s reality?  The answer to that question is not in your head. It’s in the heads of the students you hope will pursue college after graduation.

Give Feedback that'll have your Teacher’s Back

Feedback can challenge leaders, and frankly it is something that many leaders can struggle with depending on the people that are needing feedback. How do you know just how much feedback to give?  How do you know when to push?  How do you know when to affirm?  There's so many directions feedback can take you, and some of those places aren't that good.

Here is the reason why feedback perplexes leaders. When a leader tells an employee something from a position of unilateral leadership, that’s not feedback. That’s advice. That’s an opinion. That’s a directive. That’s actually one person‘s perspective, but it’s not feedback because feedback is the result of collaborative teamwork not a leader’s job description.

So what is feedback?

Think of feedback is something you give back. It’s something you come back with to help someone get better. In other words feedback is act based on a relationship with a solid foundation, and it can’t occur with out something very important first. The prerequisite that I am referring to is growth goal based on trust and mutual understanding. 

Think of it in this way.  Feedback is essentially food for thought. It brings people to the table as opposed to pushing them away. It fills their confidence, but it also makes them hungry for growth.  It quenches their thirst while simultaneously causing them to develop a new thirst for knowledge.

In order for feedback to work we must have a common goal that both the leader and a follower agree is necessary to work toward. Without it, feedback will be perceived as a blindsided comment or judgment. It’ll be what the leader perceived as helpful advice but for the receiver it’ll came out of left field which could lead the receiver to have fear and resentment rather than trust and teamwork. Feedback without a goal that both people share actually prevents feedback from working.  

Feedback feeds growth, and leaders who care about the health of their employees don’t start with feedback. They start with a goal and feed the employee with strategies, questions, and suggestions to reach the goal.  In its purest form feedback feeds not only the follower but the leader and his skill set in helping or better yet feeding the follower as he works to reach that goal.

Feedback always has the teachers back, and that’s a fact. 

5 Alternatives to Asking New Teachers How They’re Doing

How are you?  How are you doing?  How’s it going?  How’s the job?  How are you liking the job?  These questions don’t help new teachers. The reason is simple. They don’t convey that you sincerely want to know how they’re doing, and they really don’t make teachers feel safe enough to tell you their cold, hard truth.  In short, we'll always be told, "I'm fine", and that's not what we need to hear.

The fact is this. Every new teacher in your building, even veterans in the profession, are struggling with something whether they want to admit it or not. The reason you don’t know what they’re struggling with is because they don’t know you well enough to tell you what holds them back, and perhaps, we may not really want to know the truth.

So what can leaders do that will identify our teachers' needs, and let them know they can trust us.

Instead, ask these 5 Questions.

1. What is one thing that is really hard for you to get accomplished right now?
2. What words, acronyms, or catch phrases do we use in our school that you need more information, clarification, or explanation?
3. What is one thing that is elevating your stress level right now?
4. What is one thing you wish we had prepared you for in our new teacher orientation?
5. What is a support you had in your old school or that you’ve seen before that you wish we had here?

#DoubleDogDare Question 
What is one thing I do or say that is really confusing you or even frustrating to you?

New teachers aren’t always "doing good". They are struggling with something that returning teachers aren't necessarily struggling with. Our job as leaders is to close their gap as fast as possible and remember that superficial “how’s it going” questions just wont cut it. If our number one priority is to ensure that every teacher finds their excellence, then we must move transform the helplessness of “how are you” into the service of “how can I better help you”.

Drop a comment with a question that you ask your new teachers.