Posts
In response to the post, “Brezina Coaches,” a reader writes:
“It is hard to grow in any capacity without coaching. We all grow as leaders by reading this blog, but our organizations need more than this blog, they need personal coaches. This is where Lead Your School comes in. Lead Your School can provide the honest coaching your organization needs to grow. And no, I am not an employee. I am a real leader in a real school.
SC hits on another point. Coaching and teaching often points out inadequacies. This is not always a comfortable process. I have received some real honest feedback from E. Don Brown that was not comfortable to receive at the time, but I am a better leader now than I was even just 6 months ago.
SC is a better leader now, I have seen him grow. But I bet you some of the coaching he has received from Brown and Brezina has not always felt good. The point is we all need coaches, even our organizations, just to make sure we face our inadequacies. Even though it is not fun.”
SC Response
I believe that exceptional performers search for answers both internally and externally. If you are not reflective, your ability to improve will be greatly limited. And if you don’t have an objective person, that you trust, standing in your blind spot, your ability to improve will be greatly limited.
As the writer points out, every coaching interaction is not a “feel good" situation. This is becuase an effective coaching relationship requires a great deal honesty and significant give and take. As such I believe that there are two critical elements in selecting a coach.
1 - The coach should not be your supervisor. A truly honest coaching dialogue requires the sharing of questions and weaknesses. Your supervisor may mentor and support you, but providing him or her with a running list of your inadequacies is rarely a good career move. I am a product of external coaching. If not for Wayne Schaper and Harlan Yetter, I may not have survived my first year as a principal. Instead, my first year was so successful that it fast tracked me for promotions (not my goal, but a nice fringe benefit). In fact, I believe you should have the ability to fire your coach. If your coach isn’t making you more effective, get another one that does. Just try firing your boss.
2 - Select a coach that you trust and has experiences that will be beneficial to you. If you don’t trust your coach, then why are you wasting your time? And beware of the coach that has little practical experience. I once had “coach” from a service center come to advise me on a personnel issue. The advice seemed good and then I asked an innocent, yet crucial question. I said, “How did this work for you on your campus?” The response was, “Oh, I was never a principal.” After she left, I called Harlan Yetter. His advice was similar, but his actual prior leadership experience gave me the confidence to act.
If you are a supervisor, either provide an external coach for your key people, or give them the budget to get their own. When Brezina promoted me, I realized that much of my success was the result of the coaching I received. As such, one of the first things I did was hire Wayne Schaper to coach my principals as he coached me. There were just three rules. 1 – He would meet with each of my principals at least once a month. 2 – The content of those meetings would be confidential between him and the principal. 3 – A principal could replace Wayne with a coach of their choosing. Wayne never shared one conversation with me and not one principal replaced him.
I often sum up the power of a coach this way, “You can fool your mama, you can buffalo your boss, but you can’t B.S. your coach.” Dr. Mike Laird sums it up this way, “Your boss provides directives; your coach provides suggestions.”
Think. Work. Achieve.
Your turn...
Saturday, September 26, 2009
Friday, September 25, 2009
A Reader Writes... (Leadership / Lonely)
In response to the posts addressing the lonely nature of leadership, a reader writes:
“If this is your first school turn around, hang in there and hold on. October and November, in my experiences, are the months when the push back starts to really build. By Christmas it can be incredible.
Stay the course. During the first week of my first high school turn around job, I met this character sent by the State Commissioner of Education. He says to me, “You know you're going to get fired, don't you?”
Needless to say I was caught off guard. He continued, “You can do nothing, let the school remain as it is, get no results, and they will fire you. Or, you can do what is right for kids, turn the school around, and you will make so many teachers angry that they will fire you. The only difference is what happens to you after you get fired.”
Later that same year, E. Don Brown points out to me that a primary reason for a school board to exist is to listen to the complaints of teachers. As usual, he was right (which I verified, the hard way). Acknowledge the push back, work to not gratuitously cause push back, and don't give in to the push back. The only way I know of to fight hard core push back is to be a constant communicator of your vision. Even this will seem like aspirin for a gunshot wound, in some cases.
By the way, Cain was wrong. I didn't get fired. A bigger district hired me before they had the chance.”
SC Response
There are times that the only “win” is the ability to dictate the terms of your defeat. A diet of “moral” victories becomes stale, but it also provides just enough nourishment to try again (often in a new setting).
One of the many things that set the great leader apart from other leaders is the understanding of role and purpose. There are times that the correct long term play is utter short term ruin. The great leader doesn’t shy from that situation or decision. There is no “Remember the Alamo” if Travis does the prudent thing and abandons the fort to fight another day. When the choice is the betterment of your students vs. your current position, I won’t fault you if you take the easy path. But, I also won’t hail you as a hero.
Think. Work. Achieve.
Your turn...
“If this is your first school turn around, hang in there and hold on. October and November, in my experiences, are the months when the push back starts to really build. By Christmas it can be incredible.
Stay the course. During the first week of my first high school turn around job, I met this character sent by the State Commissioner of Education. He says to me, “You know you're going to get fired, don't you?”
Needless to say I was caught off guard. He continued, “You can do nothing, let the school remain as it is, get no results, and they will fire you. Or, you can do what is right for kids, turn the school around, and you will make so many teachers angry that they will fire you. The only difference is what happens to you after you get fired.”
Later that same year, E. Don Brown points out to me that a primary reason for a school board to exist is to listen to the complaints of teachers. As usual, he was right (which I verified, the hard way). Acknowledge the push back, work to not gratuitously cause push back, and don't give in to the push back. The only way I know of to fight hard core push back is to be a constant communicator of your vision. Even this will seem like aspirin for a gunshot wound, in some cases.
By the way, Cain was wrong. I didn't get fired. A bigger district hired me before they had the chance.”
SC Response
There are times that the only “win” is the ability to dictate the terms of your defeat. A diet of “moral” victories becomes stale, but it also provides just enough nourishment to try again (often in a new setting).
One of the many things that set the great leader apart from other leaders is the understanding of role and purpose. There are times that the correct long term play is utter short term ruin. The great leader doesn’t shy from that situation or decision. There is no “Remember the Alamo” if Travis does the prudent thing and abandons the fort to fight another day. When the choice is the betterment of your students vs. your current position, I won’t fault you if you take the easy path. But, I also won’t hail you as a hero.
Think. Work. Achieve.
Your turn...
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
A Reader Writes... Common Assessments
In response to the post on starting common assessments, a reader writes:
“Here is how our district got started on the common assessment piece this year. First, our assistant superintendent of curriculum went to the TASSP conference and heard Sean Cain speak.
Second, he heard the results and believed that common assessments are critical to measuring instructional data and trends that will drive critical immediate adjustments to instruction to improve overall TAKS results.
Finally, the vision was born and he returned to our district and gave a very clear district wide directive: Every teacher in the core areas will give assessments every three weeks and measure their data within their departments. Then, our assistant superintendent in his infinite wisdom, had every teacher reveal their weak objectives and struggling students and they had to present a plan on how they were going to address that weak objective or struggling population, ASAP.
It is simple, but Sean is right. It takes work on the part of the AP's, data must be crunched and analyzed properly, and teachers are not willing to air out their past failures. When our district achieves this, look out! We are going to be recognized this year at the very least.
LYS readers, Sean knows what he is talking about. It is simple, but takes fortitude to follow through with.”
SC Response
Like many best practices, the use of short-term common assessments is deceptively simple.
1. Students take a test over what all the teachers taught.
2. We look at the results to determine what the students learned and what they did not.
3. We determine if a particular practice is effective or not effective.
4. We adopt the effective practice(s)
5. We re-teach what the students did not learn as we continue to teach new material.
6. Teachers sing "kum-bye-yah", administrators beam, and all students pass the state assessment test.
The reality is that the initial stages of implementation are difficult. There is little trust that the data will be used appropriately; no one wants to admit that there are areas in which they are not proficient; the tests are marginal; the test results are poor; the pace of instruction is uncomfortably fast; and change becomes a constant. No one is happy. But push through it, within 2 to 4 test cycles, things will get better. And by the end of the first year, teachers can't imagine how they survived without the immediate feedback and support.
Think. Work. Achieve.
Your turn...
“Here is how our district got started on the common assessment piece this year. First, our assistant superintendent of curriculum went to the TASSP conference and heard Sean Cain speak.
Second, he heard the results and believed that common assessments are critical to measuring instructional data and trends that will drive critical immediate adjustments to instruction to improve overall TAKS results.
Finally, the vision was born and he returned to our district and gave a very clear district wide directive: Every teacher in the core areas will give assessments every three weeks and measure their data within their departments. Then, our assistant superintendent in his infinite wisdom, had every teacher reveal their weak objectives and struggling students and they had to present a plan on how they were going to address that weak objective or struggling population, ASAP.
It is simple, but Sean is right. It takes work on the part of the AP's, data must be crunched and analyzed properly, and teachers are not willing to air out their past failures. When our district achieves this, look out! We are going to be recognized this year at the very least.
LYS readers, Sean knows what he is talking about. It is simple, but takes fortitude to follow through with.”
SC Response
Like many best practices, the use of short-term common assessments is deceptively simple.
1. Students take a test over what all the teachers taught.
2. We look at the results to determine what the students learned and what they did not.
3. We determine if a particular practice is effective or not effective.
4. We adopt the effective practice(s)
5. We re-teach what the students did not learn as we continue to teach new material.
6. Teachers sing "kum-bye-yah", administrators beam, and all students pass the state assessment test.
The reality is that the initial stages of implementation are difficult. There is little trust that the data will be used appropriately; no one wants to admit that there are areas in which they are not proficient; the tests are marginal; the test results are poor; the pace of instruction is uncomfortably fast; and change becomes a constant. No one is happy. But push through it, within 2 to 4 test cycles, things will get better. And by the end of the first year, teachers can't imagine how they survived without the immediate feedback and support.
Think. Work. Achieve.
Your turn...
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
Big Gains
I was recently sitting in a district planning meeting. The topic, chronically poor student performance.
The assistant superintendents made a compelling case on the need to go slow, how Rome wasn’t built in a day, and how with steady progress over 3 to 4 years the scores could get all the way up to marginal.
Performance gains are self fulfilling prophesies. If you believe it will take 3 to 4 years to get to adequate, it will. If you believe it will take a year, it will.
Huge gains are possible and darn near automatic, if you adhere to the science of improvement. But even more exciting is the fact that the further behind you are, the bigger the gains you can make. The crisis schools that I work with generally make 20 to 50 point gains in a year.
So my advice to you the LYS reader and leader, the deeper the hole you are in, the more ambitious and aggressive you should be. Be great, not marginal.
Think. Work. Achieve.
The assistant superintendents made a compelling case on the need to go slow, how Rome wasn’t built in a day, and how with steady progress over 3 to 4 years the scores could get all the way up to marginal.
Performance gains are self fulfilling prophesies. If you believe it will take 3 to 4 years to get to adequate, it will. If you believe it will take a year, it will.
Huge gains are possible and darn near automatic, if you adhere to the science of improvement. But even more exciting is the fact that the further behind you are, the bigger the gains you can make. The crisis schools that I work with generally make 20 to 50 point gains in a year.
So my advice to you the LYS reader and leader, the deeper the hole you are in, the more ambitious and aggressive you should be. Be great, not marginal.
Think. Work. Achieve.
Your turn...
Look Sharp, Not Shabby
I was recently on a campus that is having a number of community based issues. I was there to provide some problem solving support. As is often is the case, a number of the sources of contention are self-inflected (though invisible to those closest to the problem). One issue is that there seems to be little respect for the staff by the community. A problem that the staff is perpetuating everyday, without even realizing it.
On this campus, there are staff members who greet the students as the parents drop them off in the morning. This is a good practice. Unfortunately, the staff dresses very casually - shorts, sandals and un-tucked t-shirts. This is not a good practice. When we present ourselves as day-care workers, we often get treated as day care workers.
This is not to say the staff is not qualified, they are. This is not to say that the perception is fair, it probably is not. However, the perception of quality, leads to being treated as quality. Is a Rolex a better watch than a Timex? The answer can be debated, but there is no question which one gets treated better.
My advice to the campus, dress for success. I always preached to my staff that the community did not understand curriculum nor could they recognize good instruction from poor instruction. But, they could judge how we looked and that influenced their initial opinion of everything thing else we did as a campus.
My mother would always tell me that actions speak louder than words. My grandfather would remind me that clothes make the man. Things to consider as you look in the mirror and scan the staff every morning.
Think. Work. Achieve.
Your turn...
On this campus, there are staff members who greet the students as the parents drop them off in the morning. This is a good practice. Unfortunately, the staff dresses very casually - shorts, sandals and un-tucked t-shirts. This is not a good practice. When we present ourselves as day-care workers, we often get treated as day care workers.
This is not to say the staff is not qualified, they are. This is not to say that the perception is fair, it probably is not. However, the perception of quality, leads to being treated as quality. Is a Rolex a better watch than a Timex? The answer can be debated, but there is no question which one gets treated better.
My advice to the campus, dress for success. I always preached to my staff that the community did not understand curriculum nor could they recognize good instruction from poor instruction. But, they could judge how we looked and that influenced their initial opinion of everything thing else we did as a campus.
My mother would always tell me that actions speak louder than words. My grandfather would remind me that clothes make the man. Things to consider as you look in the mirror and scan the staff every morning.
Think. Work. Achieve.
Your turn...
Sunday, September 20, 2009
Readers Write and Brezina Coaches
The following were submitted after the post addressing the “loneliness” of leadership.
Reader #1 writes,
“SC, use spell check (lonley).”
SC Response
Got it. Fixed like it never happened. Thanks.
Reader # 2 writes,
“I totally agree that leadership is lonely and very stressful at times.”
SC Response
Yes, but when your team accomplishes something great, it makes it all worth it.
Finally, one of my coaches (Brezina) sends this,
“Here is real growth. You handled it like a professional, telling it like it is without killing anyone, good job.”
SC Response
I shared this, because when I’m on your campus and you feel like I’m being a little too honest, know that I get as good as I give. Though it sounds like a compliment, what is understood, is that prior interactions have not always gone as well.
Think. Work. Achieve.
Your turn...
Reader #1 writes,
“SC, use spell check (lonley).”
SC Response
Got it. Fixed like it never happened. Thanks.
Reader # 2 writes,
“I totally agree that leadership is lonely and very stressful at times.”
SC Response
Yes, but when your team accomplishes something great, it makes it all worth it.
Finally, one of my coaches (Brezina) sends this,
“Here is real growth. You handled it like a professional, telling it like it is without killing anyone, good job.”
SC Response
I shared this, because when I’m on your campus and you feel like I’m being a little too honest, know that I get as good as I give. Though it sounds like a compliment, what is understood, is that prior interactions have not always gone as well.
Think. Work. Achieve.
Your turn...
A Reader Writes... Leadership is a Calling
In response to the post, “It’s a Small World,” and the subsequent comment, a reader writes:
“SC,
In actuality, Moses did get to see the Promised Land as he was lead to the top of Mount Nebo. But, what he did not get to do was to actualize personally the fulfillment of the promise given to him for his descendents. That opportunity was not afforded him because as a leader he took all the responsibility upon his shoulders for the success and failure of those he was leading. He stepped into a position that was not for him. Under the pressure of being number one he became the one left behind. You would think that he would have learned that lesson from his leadership training in Egypt where today pyramids are only markers of past failures not modern successes. You would think he would have learned that lesson in his field training where he was mentored by one who would always be greater than him.
The success of leadership in any organization is not who will be number one but how well do we actualize the promise that not "one" will be left behind. We cannot build our hopes on the shoulders and backs of others for the simple reason that they were never meant to be strong enough to bear the burden of our success (or failure.) When we begin to define success as a vertical achievement we may experience the same decline and fall known in another biblical illustration called "The Tower of Babel." Their failure was because they desired to raise themselves above the rest without building first the kind of foundation that would support the effort. Perhaps too many schools are struggling today under the weight and pressure of exemplary schools simply because they want to build vertically for themselves instead of laying a broader and more stable foundation for everyone. The task is too great for one person and too important for it to focus on clambering for the pinnacle.
The lesson from Moses may be "the one left behind is the one who forget the team effort." I agree with you that we can certainly learn from the past and not duplicate failures or spin our wheels on past successes. I would press each of us further to remember the goal of our leadership and not focus on leadership as the goal.”
SC Response
Leadership isn’t a job, it’s a calling. CL, great post!
Think. Work. Achieve.
Your turn...
“SC,
In actuality, Moses did get to see the Promised Land as he was lead to the top of Mount Nebo. But, what he did not get to do was to actualize personally the fulfillment of the promise given to him for his descendents. That opportunity was not afforded him because as a leader he took all the responsibility upon his shoulders for the success and failure of those he was leading. He stepped into a position that was not for him. Under the pressure of being number one he became the one left behind. You would think that he would have learned that lesson from his leadership training in Egypt where today pyramids are only markers of past failures not modern successes. You would think he would have learned that lesson in his field training where he was mentored by one who would always be greater than him.
The success of leadership in any organization is not who will be number one but how well do we actualize the promise that not "one" will be left behind. We cannot build our hopes on the shoulders and backs of others for the simple reason that they were never meant to be strong enough to bear the burden of our success (or failure.) When we begin to define success as a vertical achievement we may experience the same decline and fall known in another biblical illustration called "The Tower of Babel." Their failure was because they desired to raise themselves above the rest without building first the kind of foundation that would support the effort. Perhaps too many schools are struggling today under the weight and pressure of exemplary schools simply because they want to build vertically for themselves instead of laying a broader and more stable foundation for everyone. The task is too great for one person and too important for it to focus on clambering for the pinnacle.
The lesson from Moses may be "the one left behind is the one who forget the team effort." I agree with you that we can certainly learn from the past and not duplicate failures or spin our wheels on past successes. I would press each of us further to remember the goal of our leadership and not focus on leadership as the goal.”
SC Response
Leadership isn’t a job, it’s a calling. CL, great post!
Think. Work. Achieve.
Your turn...
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