Know Thy Impact

I spent 3.5 years, and a lot of money, studying my passion to validate what I already knew to be true-LEADERSHIP MATTERS. School leaders today have been charged with the difficult task of transforming public education to meet the needs of the 21st century, while still being confined to work within a 20th century model, thought-process, and framework. Leaders have to show, prove, and defend why we must do things a different way in order to prepare our students for their future--not our past.

Transformation is hard, especially when you don't know where to begin. Often times when people hear the word transformation, they immediately think about adding or deleting things in order to quickly get to a desired state. It is critical to remember that change is not an event. It is a process. The concept of transformation is huge, but the tenets of the big idea can be chunked into four areas:

• Influence
• Inspirational Motivation
• Individualized Consideration
• Intellectual Stimulation

When the tenets of transformational leadership are practiced consistently, and with fidelity, the collective efficacy of an organization will be strengthened. Transformational leaders seek to have power with people--not power over people. At the crux of transformation are relationships. People don't care how much you know, or what position you hold, until they know how much you care. They certainly won't follow you if they don't think that you care about them as individuals. The purposeful intent of caring about the welfare of our staff members is our responsibility. Our influence is greater than we will ever know. 

Our teachers look to us for guidance and direction. They respect us for the position we hold, but they trust us and follow us for how we make them feel. As transformational leaders, we must also remember that we are charged with motivating our staff. We are to provide the inspiration to encourage and awaken their aspirations. We are to help them believe in things they never thought to be possible, and pull them in to be engaged in things they never thought they could or would do. It is our job as leaders to spark the fire of intellect, peak curiosity, promote and encourage risk taking, and most importantly, celebrate success, and failure. 

Dr. Martin Luther King never said he had a strategic plan. He had a dream, and because of his passion and purpose, he motivated and inspired people to achieve something greater than any individual could have achieved alone. He was a thinker, a dreamer, an encourager, a motivator, and a risk taker who revolutionized the world. 

This is a video of a mother duckling leading her baby ducklings across a very busy freeway. In the video, you will notice that the mother duckling communicates to the baby ducklings before they start their journey to the other side. I believe she communicated her vision for making it across the busy freeway. This was an extremely dangerous trek that involved huge risks, but this did not dissuade the mother duckling. A lesson can be gleaned from this video. As leaders we should model the way, show care and concern, be courageous, be focused, and be determined to achieve our vision.

We cannot forget the significant impact that we have on the lives of the individuals we serve. Children look up to their parents and teachers. Parents trust the teachers of their children, and all stakeholders look to the principal for guidance. While in the trenches, it is extremely important that we know, accept and understand thy impact.

As we prepare to embark on another school year, I want to charge leaders with three statements to reflect upon:

• Don't Talk About It-Be About It. Your actions should reflect your values.
• Go Big or Go Home. Why be satisfied with being good when you can be great!
• Know Thy Impact. Understand  and  accept the responsibility of leadership. Your influence is greater than you will ever know.

Hardwired and Wireless Relationships: The Necessity and Power of Both Types of Connectedness

As I read my Twitter feeds daily, I come across several messages about being a connected educator. Most people immediately jump to the power of social media and its power of connecting others. While social media tools are powerful, and I certainly have benefited greatly in expanding my personal and professional connections because of the use of social media, I want to explore the power of both hardwired and wireless connections.

Wireless

What attracts people to the use of social media? Relationships, Relationships, Relationships. People now have relationships and connectedness at their fingertips.  There are people behind the posts that are shared via social media, and it is human nature to want to be connected with others who seem interesting and inspiring. I have used social media tools to connect personally with old friends, and to keep in touch with family. Professionally, I have used Twitter, Voxer, read blogs and followed others via Instagram to find out what great things are going on in my field. These tools have been great professional development resources for me, and they have helped me grow tremendously.

Wired

The wired relationships that I am referring to in this post are those face-to-face relationships that extend beyond 140 characters, or pictures with captions that others like, or blog posts that receive tons of positive comments. The wired relationships are those people you can get to rather quickly via phone, text, Vox, Google Hangout, Face Time, or face-to-face. The wired relationships have unlimited characters, and include memories you make together, rather than pictures you view as a spectator. You see, wired relationships are not contingent on if the person happens to being using their social media tools that day, or if they are in a place that has wifi. Wired relationships are real, organic, and go beyond the surface level. It is the wired relationships that we turn to when we are celebrating, hurting, struggling, or just want to talk.

Interconnectedness

In my opinion, both types of connectedness are important and have served me well. I have many wireless connections that have become wired relationships. I can speak first hand to the power of social media and how it has connected me with wonderful educators and people across the world. In the same respect, most of my treasured relationships are the wonderful teachers and administrators that I work alongside each day. These are my turn to connections when I have a question or need an opinion. They are my support group and my cheerleaders. The know me beyond 140 characters and pictures, and they choose to stick around.

In a world that is instant and focused on the next best thing, it is important to water and care for the interconnected relationships that we have. Think of social media as planting the seed, it is up to us to water and care for the relationships that take root and grow. Being connected means to join together in way that is so tight, it creates a safety net and a synergistic relationship that leads to making one another stronger. Connectedness is a two-way exercise. There are people around you waiting to connect. Move beyond the 140 characters and foster those interconnected relationships. I guarantee that your connections will be so much stronger.

Are You Purposely Leading?

When I was brainstorming the name for my blog, there were many ideas that came to mind. I wanted a title that would catch readers’ attention and give some insight into what I believe and value as a leader. I am a firm believer that everything needs to be done with a purpose. The work of a leader is too important to waste the time and energy of teachers and students. Because I strive to ensure that everything I do is purposeful and meaningful, purposely leading best describes my position as a leader.

As a leader, one must lead with purpose. That purpose must be defined and communicated to all stakeholders. Leading with purpose does not mean holding all the knowledge and planning the next moves independently. Leading with purpose means helping others grow, allowing others to lead, and being an advocate for all children.

Purposely leading means helping the organization achieve the goals that have been established by being committed to doing whatever it takes to succeed. Without a sense of direction, the likelihood is great that the organization will loose sight of its goals. There is ample research that suggests that school based leadership is a significant contributor to the success of a school. Leaders stir the ship, navigate through the storms, and seek to explore unchartered waters. 

Leaders committed to continuous improvement are intentional and methodical in their planning approach. Situations that occur do not happen by chance or happenstance when a leader is purposely leading. When a leader is purposely leading, all outcomes that occur are part of a bigger plan.

More importantly, a leader that leads with purpose knows that bumps in the road or derailments can potentially occur. 

Leaders, someone placed you in the position that you have because they believed that you had the skills to lead. People are watching and expecting you to lead, so lead, follow or get out of the way! 

When I Become A Principal File

Originally published in TEPSA's Instructional Leadership Journal.
Bell, S. (2013). “When I become a principal file.” Instructional Leader 26(1), 1-2.

File Folders, a photo by Cody Alice Creates on Flickr.

Leading change is a challenging task that involves methodical planning and constant reflection. This is an article that I wrote that was published in the Instructional Leadership Journal, which is a publication of TEPSA. This article gives advice to any campus leader involved in a change effort. I give practical advice, based on my personal reflections from the first year of my principalship. I am currently in my 3rd year as a building principal.

 The conditions for change must be created before any change initiative can begin. It is critical that an organization evaluates what it is doing and determines if it is working before new initiatives are implemented. An experienced gardener will agree that it is important to prune the weeds before planting new flowers (Reeves, 2009). Great advice, right? This is sound advice and I must be reminded of these words daily.  As a new campus principal, I learned very quickly that changing one system, regardless of the significance, could send an organization into mass hysteria.  For some, change is a word that is synonymous with loss. Change represents risk, loss and fear, which are factors that often prevent change from being implemented (Reeves, 2009). Beginning a change process before identifying and communicating what will not change, is sure to cause anxiety.

It Began With A File

After my first year as an assistant principal, I knew that I had chosen the correct career path. I began recording thoughts and collecting articles that would help me make a successful, smooth transition to the principalship. I thought I had all of the answers and I felt that as assistant principal, I had the role of the principal all figured out. With my “When I Become a Principal File” in tow, I embarked on my first journey of the principalship.  Professionally, I live by the mantra, “when you learn better, you do better.” Every learning leader that learns something new wants to immediately put it into action. I was so excited when I entered my first year as a principal. I finally had the opportunity to lead and put into action all of the ideas that I had tucked away in my “When I Become a Principal File.”  I learned very quickly that it was going to take time to implement my wonderful ideas, and that there was a possibility that some of those ideas would have to remain in the file.  In fact, after the first week of attempting to put my mark on the campus that I inherited, I remembered a piece of wisdom that was shared with me that I placed in that file. I was advised that it would take three to five years before I would begin to see my mark on the campus. All of the members of my new staff did not share my same zeal for change, and I learned quickly that it was wiser for me to go slow in order to move fast. 

Rearrange The File

After I regrouped and realized that I was going to have to rearrange the thoughts in my file, I began to observe and ask questions. From my questioning, I gained a great deal of knowledge of where the campus had been and what the people within the organization valued.  From this simple task, I learned that inquiry should be a practice that is used continuously on a campus that values continuous improvement in students and teachers. Questions should drive the course of the organization and questions should continue to be asked to gain new knowledge.    

Circle of Concern Versus Circle of Influence

 Another tidbit that I gleaned from “the file” was the notion of the circle of concern versus the circle of influence. If leaders spent time dissecting the most pressing issues facing their schools that was within their control, they would probably discover that the most rigorous problems faced in education have simple solutions. I realized that I needed to focus on the areas that I could directly impact, which were human resources, time, collaboration and professional learning (Reeves, 2009). Coming to this realization helped me to focus my efforts and energies appropriately, and were the first steps in helping me develop a vision for my campus. Because the above-mentioned key factors have the greatest influence on student achievement, I began to look and analyze the previous human resources decisions that were made prior to my tenure in relation to campus data. That information, coupled with the information I gathered from classroom observations and walkthroughs, gave me valuable insight into the staffing decisions that needed to be made for the upcoming school year.  I also gathered data from the staff to determine professional learning needs, as well as, organized the master schedule to allocate time within the school day to provide job-embedded professional learning opportunities, with a focus on building shared-knowledge among the professionals within the building. Organizations do not change without changing the people involved in the organizations.  Leaders should have clarity and focus if they plan to implement change successfully.  Members of effective organizations see a relationship between their growth as a professional and student achievement (Reeves, 2009).  

Make the Plan then Work the Plan          

Education is a goal-oriented profession.  Implementing change requires unrelenting focus on a clearly-defined goal (Reeves, 2009). Although there have been a number of research-based strategies identified to improve organizations, access to endless student data that guides change efforts, and a plethora of successful schools to model, there is still a significant implementation gap. Often times change efforts began as an erratic process in response to an unsuccessful event or circumstance. Change is usually reactive and the reasons for change are often not explored at a deep enough level to truly make a significant difference.  Another nugget of knowledge that I tucked away in “the file” is that the focus of the principal, and a true tenet of continuous improvement, is the importance of sustaining change. Members of the field of education are notorious for jumping on the bandwagon and trying the latest fad. Leaders focused on continuous improvement must make well-informed changes.  Sustaining change involves celebrating the short-term victories while continuing to create a culture of commitment that will exist long after the leader that implemented the change process has departed (Reeves, 2009). 

I am in my second year as principal, and there are some expectations that are new for my staff. They are still learning about me as I am learning about them. It is normal for an organization to push back when change is being implemented, and in some situations, the force of that push may determine if the change efforts will continue.  In my experience, I have learned that being persistent and consistent along with aligning all decisions to the vision of the organization is so critical in continuous improvement. I have to remember that persistence is the key and change is not an event but a continuous process. When I can answer every question or request by tying it back to the shared vision, it moves me out of the way as the sole decision maker. Changing mindset is a significant task and persistence is critical in order to see change fully implemented. As a leader, I must remember that if I stay the course and keep my eye on the vision, then I will ultimately gain the prize.

Reference

Reeves, D. B. (2009). Lead change in your school: how to conquer myths, build commitment and get   results. Alexandria, VA: ASCD.

Hungry Hippo Learning

I have been on an intense learning journey for the past 2 weeks.  I attended #iste13 and I was inspired and ignited by several key presenters. (@gcouros, @s_bearden, @kleinerin, @web20classroom, @kylepace, @adambellow , @MsLaidler, @MsMagiera) Through my tweets and my following of #iste13, I was also connected with educators from all over the world. This connection has led me to the discovery of twitter chats that I can now participate in thanks to @cybraryman1. If you are looking to connect with educators that are on fire about learning, there are a wealth of chats to keep you busy for more time that the day allows.  My world of learning has been opened up and I LOVE IT! 

While I gained a great deal of excitement about the new learning opportunities that I was about to experience, and the sessions gave me the fuel that I needed to begin creating and curating my content, I still needed that last push to SHARE. According to Google, the search engine that knows all, to share means:

Noun A part of a larger amount that is divided among a number of people, or to which a number of people contribute.

Verb Have a portion of (something) with another or others: "he shared the pie with her".

Googled on 7/13-Search words: What does share mean?

The last push that I needed to get me to take the plunge and share the thoughts swirling around in my head was a blog post by @Shelley_LaCroix entitled "Something to Say." You see, I don't know Shelley personally, but the content that she created and shared was the push that I needed to start blogging. (Thanks, Shelley!) Anyone that knows me knows that I certainly have plenty to say. After reading Shelley's blog post, it was at that point that I stopped what I was doing, picked a template for my blog, figured out how to add the Twitter widget and began my first blog post. 

In the middle of writing this post, my kids wanted me to play a game with them.  So I stopped my post and gave them the attention they were seeking. They insisted that we play Hungry Hippo. After several rounds of playing by the "rules," my kiddos wanted to have some fun and put all of the balls in the center. They just wanted to have a free for all to see which hippos could get the most balls. As you can expect, they began working feverishly to get their hippo to eat the most balls, and their approach was erratic as they moved with haste. I, on the other hand, was more methodical in my approach. I knew there was a great deal to digest and that I did not want to ingest more balls than my hippo could swallow. When the mouth of the hippo gets too full, the balls just come right out and are eaten by another hungry hippo. 

This reminded me of all the learning that has filled my brain from #iste13 and #tcrwp. With the wealth of information that was shared, it can become overwhelming when determining how to implement new ideas.  I just reviewed all of the copious notes that I took at #iste13 and #tcrwp and decided what I was going to digest this school year. There is so much out there that I have decided that the best way to sift through it all is "a little at a time." Thanks to @teachkate and @ichrislehman for that reminder at the close of #tcrwp. 

I am grateful for the people that I have been connected with through Twitter. If you have not found your PLN on Twitter, you are cheating yourself of a wealth of knowledge, support, and growth. I know that I am on my way to becoming even better than I was before I got this fire burning in my belly. Starting a blog is like yelling to the world I am committed! I am committed to learning, growing, sharing and changing our wonderful profession by joining forces with other like minded people.  I believe that the restructuring of our system is a grassroots effort that will happen one schoolhouse at a time.  The only way that I can lead my schoolhouse is by being connected with others and sharing when I have "something to say."