A Reader Submits... LYS Followers?

A LYS reader shares this:

I was at an ESC meeting recently when I heard some non-LYS principals discussing “LYS Followers.”

LYS Followers???

I don't know of any LYS “followers.” I go back to the early years of LYS and I don't consider myself, nor have I ever been accused of being, a "follower". With LYS, I found a group of like-minded school leaders who were able to coach me to better put my ideas and philosophies into effective practice.

The reason the LYS concepts are so clear and prevalent now is because trail blazing principals like Owens, Marchel, Laird, Lesa Cain, Montelongo, Gibson and Seabolt implemented the concepts early on. Mistakes were made, lessons were learned. I am sure Sean Cain, Brown, and Brezina, will tell you they learned as much from our feedback as we ever learned from them.

Just because a principal has heard the message but doesn’t do anything different, doesn’t make them an independent thinker. It simply means that they value the status quo more than student performance (now, who is the follower – because that is not leading). There is a difference between simply attending church and being a true believer. The core of the LYS Nation are not simply believers, we are zealots, bent on improving our schools for our kids.

SC Response

Nothing I can add to this one except for, “Amen.”

Think. Work. Achieve.

Your turn...

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A Reader Submits... LYS

An old school LYS’er submits:

“You know that you are working at a high level when you are in the trenches modeling and demonstrating the tools and practices that will take schools and school leaders to greater levels of success.

Leadership is honed in the field. There is not enough adversity and accountability at a central office desk to push you to the next level. We leave too much untapped leadership potential on the table due to risk avoidance and ego protection

I know of no organization equal to LYS in its focus on student performance and holding school leaders accountable for actually leading. This focus translates into success for all stakeholders in school communities, now across the country (globe?). The LYS Nation has the privilege of reading this blog daily, which means we train and improve ourselves daily. The blog lets us tap into the collective wisdom of present and past great school leaders who have hands on experience in implementing cutting edge practices in instruction and operations.

I’m sick of PLC’s who write a school vision to follow at the beginning of the year and then file it away and continue business as usual. I believe that we, the LYS Nation are becoming the new breed of PLC’s. We team, we have effective dialogue, we act, and we hold ourselves and our teams accountable. We are the new change agents and we will improve student performance not by staying in the comfortable middle but by doing what is right for students, right now.

I’ve worked for and with Sean before, I’ve heard him tell hostile crowds, “You may be smarter then me, but I will out work you.” I’ve watched him re-build schools that everybody else had written off as lost causes. Like him, I’m a risk taker. You have to be when you choose to work in tough settings.

Everyday, I can’t wait to read LYS daily news. It helps me to perform at a high level as a school leader. To be an LYS’er you must be willing to work hard, change on the move, believe all learners can achieve, and hold all stakeholders accountable. That is message you get when you read LYS. I think that some people are intimidated by the blog because it makes them question who they are and what they do. But I welcome those questions. Cain, Brown and Brezina have all coached me and have helped me become the leader I am today. Pay attention to what they say and use their tools and solutions. And don’t be afraid to question them whenever you get a chance.

Thanks for LYS!! Think, Work, Achieve, it is the effective way!!!”

SC Response
Wow. The only thing I want to add is that LYS isn’t about me, Brezina and Brown. It is about the network of school leaders (both formal and informal) that are out there trying to make things better not because they have to, but because they want to. I have learned much more from the LYS Nation than I have been able to share. The blog is the vehicle to keep us connected. Even when we move to different parts of the country knowing that the blog maintains the links between the Boyd’s, Marchel’s and others of their timber, makes it easier to keep pushing forward.

Thanks for the kind thoughts and keep pushing. Each new success that you have paves the way for the rest of us.

Think. Work. Achieve.

Your turn...

A Reader Writes... (Brown Wisdom)

In response to the comments relating to, “Brown’s Wisdom,” a reader writes:

“Let's not fool ourselves; most principals are NOT the main advocates for students even though they should be. In most cases they are caught up in political mumbo jumbo, employee issues, and district office garbage that consumes most of their advocacy time. I am sure glad Sean can say it like it is and refocus the leaders who really want to be advocates.”

SC Response
I do agree that most principals are not the main advocate for students, which is why the system is generally designed for adult comfort. If the person who occupies the advocate’s role does not engage, that is the logical result. However, I think the reasons for not embracing the role are varied. Here are just a couple (feel free to share others):

1. There are bad principals that shouldn’t have received their job. Just like there are bad teachers, bad superintendents and so on. Some people just aren’t cut out for the job, even though they interviewed well. These principals are the "Unwilling and Unable."

2. There are some principals have been beaten down to the point that all they know to do is hunker down and go with the flow. These principals are the "Injured."

3. There are some principals that just don’t know that they should put students in front of adults. These principals are the "Uninformed."

4. There are some principals that haven’t had the right mix of mentors to help them develop their ideas and professional character. These principals are the "Unlucky."

I may be the luckiest school leader ever, my personal list of mentors includes: Dr. Richard Hooker (the early godfather of Texas school finance); Bob Brezina (who LYS readers know); Wayne Schaper Sr. (the godfather of Spring Branch ISD, TASSP and UIL); Fred Richardson (TASSP president); Harlan Yetter (Principal); E. Don Brown (who LYS Readers know) and Dr. Shirley Neeley (Commissioner, Texas Education Agency). If I don’t do right, there is a long line of people who are still more than willing to remind me why we really do this job.

5. There are some principals who are working on a figurative island, who have no one to bounce ideas off of and shore themselves up with. These principals are the "Isolated."

Again, I can not be any luckier. The following are just a few of the active Principals that I get to have serious conversations with, more than once each month: John Montelongo (HS Principal); Justin Marchel (MS Principal); Leslie Thomas (ES Principal); Barbara Fine (ES Principal); Jerry Gibson (HS Principal); Mike Seabolt (HS Principal); and Lesa Cain (ES Principal). That’s a network of a lot of powerful brains that are linked for one purpose, their students outperforming your students.

I was taught early in my career (and didn’t understand until much later) that the two most important people in the system are the Superintendent and the building Principal. The organization focuses on the Superintendent (and central office) because he or she is the source of power. The organization overlooks the Principal (and the campus), even though he or she is the source of service.

My goal (or agenda) is to shift the focus of the organization from the Superintendent and central office to the Principal and the campus. This means that the Unwilling and Unable Principal will no longer have a place to hide. And that every other Principal and campus leader will have at least one external source of support as they fight the good fight. One person is a lonely voice, two people are the genesis of a team.

Think. Work. Achieve.

Your turn...