A Reader Writes... (More on PLC's - Part 1)

In response to the 6/9/2011 post, “More on PLC’s,” a LYS Principal writes:

It occurs to me that teams, or PLC's, are useful for keeping faculty focused on the goals and direction established by the instructional leader. It is also clear to me that PLC's are useful for monitoring student progress and keeping student performance on track.

On the other hand, I think PLC's can be a very dangerous instrument if improperly used. For example, some people view PLC's as a way for teachers to own and direct the school and student outcomes. I am partially OK with that, as long as a tight and firm instructional leader keeps the school moving in a well-defined direction. Sadly, it is clear from discussions with many school leaders that they view PLC’s as a way to remove themselves from the instructional decision making process. I find this to be a very dangerous idea.

Another common theme that I hear repeated by central office types is that a PLC will keep the school moving in the right direction even when the principal changes. This line of reasoning positions the principal as a passenger on the vessel, not the captain of the ship. Interestingly DuFour is very clear about the need for strong leadership and NEVER mentions the PLC as a tool for leadership continuity. The tools for continuity are best found in the works of Maxwell and Collins, not DuFour.

DuFour is a great speaker and has great ideas. I have heard him present and I have read virtually everything he has written. But there is a lot of bad implementation and poor leadership practice that is justified through the flippant use of his name.

SC Response

I remember a discussion that I had a number of years ago with a principal who was trying to implement a nationally know PLC model. She asked what was the “trick” LYS schools were doing. Because based on the “less important” metric of student test scores LYS schools were getting better while her hard working school continued to flounder. When I told her that LYS schools understand that leadership practice is the catalyst for school improvement, she immediately cut me off and said the principals are the problem with schools. As principal, her job is to make sure that her PLC’s meet and empower them to enact the ideas and solutions that they develop.

All I could do is smile and wish her luck. Sadly, luck didn’t work because the school was closed the two years later (after the principal was fired).

PLC’s are powerful tools if:

1. The PLC work is focused

2. The PLC members have the capacity to engage to meaningful work

3. There is an understanding that the PLC operates (with no irony intended) under the illusion of democracy.

Absent any one of the above three criteria ensures that the amount of activity versus the amount of progress is never commensurate.

Think. Work. Achieve.

Your turn...

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Upcoming Event / Presentation Schedule

June 16, TASSP - Conference Breakfast, hosted by E. Don Brown (LYS travel tumblers for the first 1000 attendees, last year we ran out)

June 16, TASSP – Book Release Event for “The Fundamental 5”

June 16, TASSP – The Fundamental 5

June 16, TASSP – Tech Tools for the 2.0 Principal

June 17, TASSP - PowerWalks

June 18 - TASB Conference, Fort Worth

A Reader Writes... (Yes, I Know the Hours are Long - Part 23)

In response to the 1/5/11 post, “Yes, I Know the Hours are Long – Part 19” a LYS Superintendent writes:

Sean,

Perhaps a better a way to say “leadership is a form of manipulation” is to quote John Maxwell’s Second Irrefutable Law of Leadership: “The true measure of leadership is influence – nothing more, nothing less.”

Keep up the great dialogue!

SC Response

You are absolutely correct, thanks for the assist. I’m kind of embarrassed that I missed that, especially since I am a Maxwell fan and his book (which you quote), “The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership,” is on my list of top ten books for all school leaders.

People are often surprised by the amount of work that LYS does directly with teachers. Their statement usually is, “We thought you just work with people in leadership roles?”

Our answer is, “You are correct. We work with leadership, both formal and informal.”

This is in line with Maxwell’s teachings. If a teacher isn’t a person who occupies a position of influence, then who is? And if influence is the currency of leadership (which we both agree, it is) that means at the very least, every teacher occupies an informal leadership role. Instead of trying to minimize this fact, we embrace it. Hence, Lead Your School.

Think. Work. Achieve.

Your turn...

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A Reader Writes... (Four Books)

In response to the post, “Four Books,” a reader writes:

“I would love to see the other books that make up the Top 10!”

SC Response
The rest of the top ten list is somewhat fluid and situational. Also, my list is more leadership and system focused. This doesn’t mean that I don’t value books on instruction, I do. I read a lot books on instruction, but they are generally content or grade level specific, which limits their value to the broad spectrum of the profession. So, here are all of the books on my current list of Top Ten books for school leaders.

The First Five (posted previously)

1. Results Now, by Mike Schmoker.

2. Corp Business, by David H. Freedman.

3. Good to Great, by Jim Collins.

4. The Tipping Point, by Malcolm Gladwell.

5. Classroom Instruction That Works, by Robert Marzano.

The Best of the Rest (6-10)

6. The Moral Imperative of School Leadership, by Michael Fullan.
You actually should read everything that Fullan writes, but if time is a factor, this is the one to start with. I do have one small problem with Fullan. He’s too smart. He understands the nuances that drive expert leadership and does a world class job of explaining this (perhaps better than anyone). Unfortunately, the smart/lazy manager type can use Fullan as justification for their repeatedly inane actions (or inaction).

7. How the Mighty Fall, by Jim Collins.
Yes, it is a business book, but Collins lays out the doom loop that district after district is currently stuck in. Fortunately, he tells us how to get out of the loop and even prevent it. Unfortunately, most senior leadership doesn’t care and isn’t listening.

8. Who Moved My Cheese, by Spencer Johnson, M.D.
The modern classic. I only appreciated it after I read it the second time. First, you have to have tried to manage significant organizational change for the first time and made a mess of it; than you are ready understand what Dr. Johnson is really teaching us.

9. The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership, by John C. Maxwell.
Maxwell is a former pastor. He writes about church leadership. In many ways, church leadership is a better model for school leaders than business leadership. Violate the Irrefutable Laws at the peril of your organization and you career.

10. Slot number ten is filled by a number of books, that depending on my mood, interest, or need of the person I’m working with, that I might recommend. Some of those books include:

33 Strategies of War, by Robert Greene for strategic and tactical planning.

The Federalist Papers, by Hamilton, Madison and Jay. If you are trying to lead an organization of more than three people who have competing self interests, you might find this worth reading.

It’s Called Work for a Reason, by Larry Wingate. Admittedly a pulp book. But sometimes we have to get over ourselves, cut thru the BS and admit that we have a job to do and how hard we tried doesn’t matter if we’re not successful. Just looking at the title ought to give you a little boost when the going gets tough.

His Excellency, by Joseph J. Ellis. Think you have leadership all figured out? If this study of George Washington doesn’t convince otherwise, you must be pretty darn good.

Think. Work. Achieve.

Your turn...

A Reader Writes... (Urban School Myth - Part 2)

In response to the posts relating to, “Urban School Myth,” an old school LYS Principal writes:

“It is always good when Brezina likes a post.

Of course, I know there are scores of problems that make the job of education exceedingly difficult. I also believe that many of those problems are self inflicted. In rural schools, we talk about not having the resources needed to compete with those big city schools. In the big schools, both urban and suburban, we look around and ask ourselves, "What resources are they talking about?"

The urban school myth is but one of a collection of excuses I have noted that educators use to explain away the lack of student success. While working in a large urban district, I made the mistake of discussing my thoughts concerning this particular myth with an assistant superintendent who hid behind the urban school mantra. After presenting the case and laying out the facts, you would not believe her response. She looked at me and said, "Well, you do understand we are not a true urban school. We are an inner city school."

What? That’s the best you can come up with? If you can't logic your wait out of a corner, just restate the excuse using synonyms? At that point, I realized that my skill set in this particular non-LYS district was a waste of their money and my time."

SC Response
Let me start with your “self-inflicted” observations. During my career as “school-district-state plumber,” the sad truth was in most cases the problem is easy to pinpoint, all you had to do was hold up a mirror. That’s both bad news and good news. The bad news being that we are at fault, but the good news is that we can do something about it. If we work, at full speed, on the things that we can control, the uncontrollable (myth) problems solve themselves.

Up until the mid-2000’s, the resource issue was a valid excuse. The rural schools had no infrastructure support. Not because they didn’t want it, but because it didn’t exist. Now you can buy infrastructure (scope and sequence, data processing, etc), and it becomes more affordable every year. If you are in Texas, you need to thank two people for making this possible, Dr. Shirley Neely (Commissioner of Education) and Dr. Nadine Kujawa (Aldine ISD Superintendent). Nadine and Aldine ISD stepped up and gave a cohort of struggling rural school, their scope and sequence, for essentially free. Or as the Aldine leadership team told me, “Let them know, as far as we’re concerned, they are Aldine now.”

Shirley used Aldine and the subsequent success of rural school cohort as the lever to force the ESC’s to step up and better fulfill their purpose. Jump to 2010 and now you have C-Scope and C-Cap, two excellent and evolving curriculum sources that weren’t worth the paper that were then printed on, just six years ago.

Now that tools are readily available, at every campus in every setting, the critical variables are the adults and the quality of leadership (or lack thereof). One of the Maxwell’s Fundamental Laws of Leadership states that a subordinate leader will not work for a leader of inferior skills (in the long run). When you can’t attract good leadership candidates from the outside, nor retain good internal candidates, you have to seek out and address the root cause. This brings us back to the mirror.

Think. Work. Achieve.

Your turn...

An Audience Member Asks...

An audience member from a recent “Be the Shepherd: What Every School Leader Should Know about Leading Change,” presentation that I gave, asks:

“Sean, I attended your "Be the Shepherd," workshop and appreciated the insights and rubrics you put before us. I am a bit confused on one point and hope that it is just because I missed a key part of the puzzle somewhere before, during, or after your presentation...as follows:

I originally decided to attend your workshop because of the title itself and my particular vested interest in "shepherding" as a key and critical model for successful leadership. I have taught from that perspective in the classroom, for non-profit organizations, and for administrator certification courses. I was hoping to broaden and deepen my understanding of this model. Strange that I only heard in the last minute of the presentation the urging to "be the shepherd."

As a communications instructor in my past, I know that the ear focuses on what the mind expects. If the ear doesn't hear the expectation the mind either becomes critical or absent. I was neither. However, can you explain the intent of the title as it related specifically to the presentation and is there another workshop that you offer which more specifically deals with the shepherding model as one for successful leadership?"

SC Response
I don't think that you missed anything. The presentation was meant as an introduction to the coaching and leadership practices and beliefs of the Lead Your School organization. We believe that there is a moral obligation that we have to fulfill, if and when we assume leadership roles. Or in other words, “Be the Shepherd.”

I also have been taught that when you present you should lead with your second best material and end with your best material. For the presentation that you attended, I wanted the audience to leave with at-least the awareness that their leadership is bigger that just their self interest, again, “Be the Shepherd.”

I think we are on the same page with the understanding that non-profit leadership can be significantly different from for profit and para-military leadership. John Maxwell does an excellent job of describing this when he talks of "Church Leadership." Coercion can only take you so far, or to paraphrase Covey, "volunteers" are more productive than "employees."

As far as your question of follow-up; every group training and individual coaching session that we lead focuses on the need to place the needs of others above self. For us it is as simple as this - that is what coaches and shepherds do.

Think. Work. Achieve.

Your turn...