I recently heard someone say, “It is not my job to get people to believe in me but for people to believe in themselves.” This got me thinking about leadership in education. Often, we hear about a school’s reputation based on its principal or leaders. Because there is so much credit put on the leader of the school, we often find ourselves teetering on a feeling of job security and happiness. I like to imagine that the best leaders lift-up their staff and present the idea that good teaching is universal. Regardless of who is in the leadership seat, the school community and faculty should feel at ease with everything they are working towards whether there is a leadership change or not.
With that being said, have you thought about taking on a leadership role? I had the pleasure of meeting a retired army colonel who served before and after 9/11. She reminded me of some of the basic rules of leadership that I think sometimes get forgotten. Here are the valuable Top 5 Rules of Leadership:
5. BUILD RESPECT
I like that the implication is that our leaders should build respect not just expect it. It is easy to get frustrated while leading a group of people because the trust and motivation might take a little time. The key is to try and be patient while presenting your authentic self. Be clear about your expectations and the strategic plan that is laid out so that everyone knows where the school is headed.
4. PROMOTE BUY-IN
I am going to change the wording on this one a little. I think we should promote investments. Instead of leaders feeling like they need to sell, sell, sell, why not think of leading people in a way that makes them want to invest in the product. Teachers put in a lot of their own personal time to grading, attending extracurricular events, tutoring, and planning. They have already bought into education, but let’s now help educators feel like their self-investments, professional education, and time is a valued investment. The turnout would hopefully be happier teachers and longer retention.
3. CREATE SYNERGY IN A PRODUCT
Number 4, promote buy-in (investments), goes hand-in-hand with creating synergy in a product. In this case, education or the educational facility is the product. Can you describe your brand (school)? And is your answer aligned with what other employees would say about the brand? Furthermore, all stakeholders should feel that their efforts combined with everyone else results in a bigger win for the students. Good leaders delegate and release those responsibilities with everyone understanding the big picture or narrative of the school.
If you want to hear more about marketing, or branding, check out the Story-Driven Entrepreneur podcast episode 3: “The Importance of Storytelling in Business”. John DeLancey uses Disney as an example of storytelling to create details and experiences for a business.
2. THANK PUBLICLY
A little recognition goes a long way. Teaching is exhausting. We embrace the crazy every day all while remaining professional and strong for our students. Even though we don’t teach expecting a thank you or reward, we need to hear that what we are doing makes a difference. I talk about the little things in my Inspiration #4: “The Little Things” if you would like to read more about ways to make the day-to-day job easier.
- HANDLE CRITICISM
This is #1 because if a leader has followed the first 4 rules, it is easier to accept criticism. Keep in mind that we all need positive criticism in order to grow and learn. Hopefully, we all want to be lifelong learners. So, if a leader needs to give criticism, it is always best practice to do it in private. Even if the critique seems small, we don’t know how a person might receive it. Delivering the criticism probably goes back to if the leader already built respect so that the person being assessed knows that the criticism comes from a good place; we want to feel like we all can learn to polish our practice. With that being said, the employee or team member will hopefully already feel invested in their job and willing to put more in. The brand and goals are clear so that the teacher can see how these changes or modifications will benefit the students.
Most importantly, the teacher should hear from their leaders about the positive things often so that when there is some criticism or hard conversations, there is a respect and understanding that this is just best practice. The narration changes so that the conversation during a critique or assessment is seen as valuable.
If you are looking to put yourself out there for a leadership role, I think you should do it. I highly recommend reading Dare to Lead by Brene Brown. She provides free reading guides and exercises to go with the book.
https://brenebrown.com/I am going to end this inspiration with a quote by Theodore Roosevelt that Dr. Brown opens with in her book: “It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly…who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly.”
See You Real Soon,
Erin
Join our inspirational community…
[fluentform id=”1″]