Posts
"SC, I surely enjoyed your session today at the Rigor, Relevance and Relationships Conference. It was great seeing you again."
Unfortunately, a name didn't come with this post. But I have seen a lot of old friends at the conference, and even though I didn't get to talk to all of you, just being together again recharges my batteries.
Thank you all.
Thursday, June 11, 2009
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
A Reader Writes... (Fear - Part 6)
In response to the posts on, “Fear,” a reader writes:
“As an additional thought on the two types of principals that we have discussed in the past, I want to add these thoughts about fear. Not only do leaders fall into one of the two camps that have been discussed, but the ‘fear’ in each camp is totally different. Let me explain.
The leader, who is afraid to do something for fear of being wrong, has a fear of personnel consequences, (i.e. to their career, reputation, future, etc.) It is a self-centered and paralyzing fear and is un-healthy for both the leader and the system.
On the other hand is the leader who is afraid to do nothing. Those are the leaders driven to do something, anything, and everything for the benefit of their students. This is a completely different type of fear. While this second type of leader may have the same fears as the first type, they have a greater fear, not for themselves, but for their students. They fear that their students might be shortchanged, or receive less than the best that they deserve. That fear is not self-centered, in fact it completely overcomes the self-centered fear and rather than paralyzing the leader, it frees the leader to take chances, to risk in order to provide the best leadership possible. It is an empowering fear, a healthy fear.
My advice to young leaders is to be aware of both types of fear. Fight the un-healthy fear or you become a coward and an embarrassment to our profession. Embrace the healthy fear. Use it, along with good judgment, and a healthy respect for the negative consequences of reckless or badly planned and poorly executed efforts, to provide your students with a superior education. It is the only way to truly make a difference.
Remember, there is no such thing as a ‘timid leader.’ If you are ‘timid,’ you are no ‘leader’ at all.”
SC Response
Home run! I agree point for point. You especially nail the “timid seat warmer” right between the eyes. Early in my role working for the Commissioner, I was tasked with working with the leadership of a district that was in the ditch. The leader of the “you just don’t know our kids” faction focused entirely on the go slow, don’t ruffle any feathers model of change (this is the modern day equivalent of Nero fiddling while Rome burns).
After having facts and reality knock the legs out of every excuse she had for doing nothing, she said, “Mr. Cain, in a race to Galveston, you may get there first, but I will eventually arrive.”
To which I responded, “Yes, and I will arrive with a bus load of students. You will be lucky to arrive with a car load.”
At the end of the semester, a different Principal was selected to run the race. And yes, the new Principal had to deal with uncomfortable and unhappy staff for a little while, but things did improve and staff did get happier.
Think. Work. Achieve.
Your turn…
“As an additional thought on the two types of principals that we have discussed in the past, I want to add these thoughts about fear. Not only do leaders fall into one of the two camps that have been discussed, but the ‘fear’ in each camp is totally different. Let me explain.
The leader, who is afraid to do something for fear of being wrong, has a fear of personnel consequences, (i.e. to their career, reputation, future, etc.) It is a self-centered and paralyzing fear and is un-healthy for both the leader and the system.
On the other hand is the leader who is afraid to do nothing. Those are the leaders driven to do something, anything, and everything for the benefit of their students. This is a completely different type of fear. While this second type of leader may have the same fears as the first type, they have a greater fear, not for themselves, but for their students. They fear that their students might be shortchanged, or receive less than the best that they deserve. That fear is not self-centered, in fact it completely overcomes the self-centered fear and rather than paralyzing the leader, it frees the leader to take chances, to risk in order to provide the best leadership possible. It is an empowering fear, a healthy fear.
My advice to young leaders is to be aware of both types of fear. Fight the un-healthy fear or you become a coward and an embarrassment to our profession. Embrace the healthy fear. Use it, along with good judgment, and a healthy respect for the negative consequences of reckless or badly planned and poorly executed efforts, to provide your students with a superior education. It is the only way to truly make a difference.
Remember, there is no such thing as a ‘timid leader.’ If you are ‘timid,’ you are no ‘leader’ at all.”
SC Response
Home run! I agree point for point. You especially nail the “timid seat warmer” right between the eyes. Early in my role working for the Commissioner, I was tasked with working with the leadership of a district that was in the ditch. The leader of the “you just don’t know our kids” faction focused entirely on the go slow, don’t ruffle any feathers model of change (this is the modern day equivalent of Nero fiddling while Rome burns).
After having facts and reality knock the legs out of every excuse she had for doing nothing, she said, “Mr. Cain, in a race to Galveston, you may get there first, but I will eventually arrive.”
To which I responded, “Yes, and I will arrive with a bus load of students. You will be lucky to arrive with a car load.”
At the end of the semester, a different Principal was selected to run the race. And yes, the new Principal had to deal with uncomfortable and unhappy staff for a little while, but things did improve and staff did get happier.
Think. Work. Achieve.
Your turn…
A Reader Writes... (Fear - Part 5)
In response to the posts on, “Fear,” a reader writes,
“Yes, I guess you could call me a psychopath; a psychopath for school improvement. :-)”
SC Response
I know this writer of this comment. He is aggressive, obsessive and just crazy enough to try anything once. And those are his good qualities. This is exactly why Brown and Brezina picked him out from the crowd early, as someone to watch and support. And he has made all of us proud, earning not one but three promotions in less than a year. From administrative intern, to middle school AP to high school AP.
And for the record, he absolutely frightens those dusty, retired on the job, central office types. This again, is another one of his good qualities.
Think Work. Achieve.
Your turn…
“Yes, I guess you could call me a psychopath; a psychopath for school improvement. :-)”
SC Response
I know this writer of this comment. He is aggressive, obsessive and just crazy enough to try anything once. And those are his good qualities. This is exactly why Brown and Brezina picked him out from the crowd early, as someone to watch and support. And he has made all of us proud, earning not one but three promotions in less than a year. From administrative intern, to middle school AP to high school AP.
And for the record, he absolutely frightens those dusty, retired on the job, central office types. This again, is another one of his good qualities.
Think Work. Achieve.
Your turn…
Tuesday, June 9, 2009
State of the Blog - The Last 100 Posts (200 and Counting)
Good morning, Lead Your School readers. This is the 200th post to the column, so I think this is a good time to review our progress and preview some upcoming improvements.
First, the review:
The 1st post was on Monday, February 16, 2009.
The 100th post was on Tuesday, April 14, 2009.
The 200th post is today, June 10, 2009
It has taken 115 days to reach the 200 post milestone.
The 200 posts are more than 111 pages of single spaced text.
The Top 5 key words have been: Leadership (42); Hyper-monitoring (18); Book Recommendation (17); Data Use (15); E. Don Brown (15).
There have been 89 reader comments. Thank you, and keep it up. As this blog is becoming more of a dialogue, I think it is much more interesting for all of us.
There are 120 e-mail subscribers. Thank you!
There have been over 3,400 site hits.
All of this is incredibly exciting; especially when you consider that just 115 days ago, every number was 0.
Now for the preview of things that are coming soon:
Soon there will be a link to the Lead Your School campus support website. You can visit the site at http://www.leadyourschool.com/. The site is still in early development, but there are resources there (or will soon be there) that you may find helpful. These including my personal book study notes that I have shared with principals for years. I’ll post a couple each month to keep it fresh. I will also upload the audio files from presentations that I have conducted.
A Little Blatant Self Promotion:
First, if you like the site and you haven’t signed up for the e-mail subscription, please do. I find that it’s much easier to write to people than it is to write to web hits.
Second, if you like the site and find it useful, tell three other people. Again, this blog is much more interesting as a dialogue.
Finally,
Thank you so much for reading and responding. Who knows what we will discuss in the next 100 posts.
Think. Work. Achieve.
Your turn…
First, the review:
The 1st post was on Monday, February 16, 2009.
The 100th post was on Tuesday, April 14, 2009.
The 200th post is today, June 10, 2009
It has taken 115 days to reach the 200 post milestone.
The 200 posts are more than 111 pages of single spaced text.
The Top 5 key words have been: Leadership (42); Hyper-monitoring (18); Book Recommendation (17); Data Use (15); E. Don Brown (15).
There have been 89 reader comments. Thank you, and keep it up. As this blog is becoming more of a dialogue, I think it is much more interesting for all of us.
There are 120 e-mail subscribers. Thank you!
There have been over 3,400 site hits.
All of this is incredibly exciting; especially when you consider that just 115 days ago, every number was 0.
Now for the preview of things that are coming soon:
Soon there will be a link to the Lead Your School campus support website. You can visit the site at http://www.leadyourschool.com/. The site is still in early development, but there are resources there (or will soon be there) that you may find helpful. These including my personal book study notes that I have shared with principals for years. I’ll post a couple each month to keep it fresh. I will also upload the audio files from presentations that I have conducted.
A Little Blatant Self Promotion:
First, if you like the site and you haven’t signed up for the e-mail subscription, please do. I find that it’s much easier to write to people than it is to write to web hits.
Second, if you like the site and find it useful, tell three other people. Again, this blog is much more interesting as a dialogue.
Finally,
Thank you so much for reading and responding. Who knows what we will discuss in the next 100 posts.
Think. Work. Achieve.
Your turn…
A Reader Writes... (Brezina & Fear Part 4)
In response to the posts addressing “Fear,” and specifically, Brezina’s comment, a reader writes:
“Well said. Fear is always a negative reaction to something. The only positive way it is used is to defend yourself such as installing a home security system because I fear having my house broke into, or I had better shoot the enemy first out of fear that I will be shot. However, in the education world, ‘prudence, determination, will power, and the drive to be successful and achieve’ have little to do with fear and more to do with accomplishment and rewards.”
SC Response
I like your comment, but I don’t always see fear as a negative. For me personally, fear spurs growth. I often do things that invoke fear because that is where I find I grow the most. I ski the diamond slopes to push me past the brink of my abilities, to force myself to be mentally and physically tough, and to make me a better skier.
When Brezina hired me for my first principalship, I was way too young and way too inexperienced. I was the second youngest adult on the campus and for the first semester, on the inside, I was scared everyday. That forced me to over work, over read, over prepare and over think everything I did. And that made me a better principal and better leader.
If you don’t experience a little fear every once in a while, that probably means that you are playing it a little too safe, or you never went to a Brezina budget meeting.
Think. Work. Achieve.
Your turn...
“Well said. Fear is always a negative reaction to something. The only positive way it is used is to defend yourself such as installing a home security system because I fear having my house broke into, or I had better shoot the enemy first out of fear that I will be shot. However, in the education world, ‘prudence, determination, will power, and the drive to be successful and achieve’ have little to do with fear and more to do with accomplishment and rewards.”
SC Response
I like your comment, but I don’t always see fear as a negative. For me personally, fear spurs growth. I often do things that invoke fear because that is where I find I grow the most. I ski the diamond slopes to push me past the brink of my abilities, to force myself to be mentally and physically tough, and to make me a better skier.
When Brezina hired me for my first principalship, I was way too young and way too inexperienced. I was the second youngest adult on the campus and for the first semester, on the inside, I was scared everyday. That forced me to over work, over read, over prepare and over think everything I did. And that made me a better principal and better leader.
If you don’t experience a little fear every once in a while, that probably means that you are playing it a little too safe, or you never went to a Brezina budget meeting.
Think. Work. Achieve.
Your turn...
Monday, June 8, 2009
A Reader Writes... (Fear - Part 3)
In response to the post, “Fear,” a reader writes:
“I simply don’t trust anyone who is not afraid. The person who is claims to be not afraid is either not truthful, is a psychopath, or has not experienced enough real, tough situations to have enough sense to be afraid. All three of those scenarios make the person dangerous to be around. Fear is what keeps us sharp, keeps us caring, and keeps us moving.
I have served in a variety of uniforms over the years and I never met anyone in those intense situations who was not afraid. The trick is either you can let the fear consume you and distract you from your mission or you can harness that fear as it will make you more intense and methodical. As Cain said, focus your fear. Be afraid that maybe you are not doing enough. Let that focus you to re-examine data and systems to verify you are doing the best you can for your kids. Keep preparing, planning, re-examining, and modifying as needed. And remember, the very best plans never survive first contact with the real world situations.”
SC Response:
Spot on. And your close is almost identical to the close I’m using in one of my current presentations, “You must adapt your plan and plan to adapt, because the World plays defense.”
Think. Work. Achieve.
Your turn...
“I simply don’t trust anyone who is not afraid. The person who is claims to be not afraid is either not truthful, is a psychopath, or has not experienced enough real, tough situations to have enough sense to be afraid. All three of those scenarios make the person dangerous to be around. Fear is what keeps us sharp, keeps us caring, and keeps us moving.
I have served in a variety of uniforms over the years and I never met anyone in those intense situations who was not afraid. The trick is either you can let the fear consume you and distract you from your mission or you can harness that fear as it will make you more intense and methodical. As Cain said, focus your fear. Be afraid that maybe you are not doing enough. Let that focus you to re-examine data and systems to verify you are doing the best you can for your kids. Keep preparing, planning, re-examining, and modifying as needed. And remember, the very best plans never survive first contact with the real world situations.”
SC Response:
Spot on. And your close is almost identical to the close I’m using in one of my current presentations, “You must adapt your plan and plan to adapt, because the World plays defense.”
Think. Work. Achieve.
Your turn...
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