Teach Boldly

Years ago, I was blessed to be in a position to hold seminars with groups of educators designed to discuss and build leadership skills both informally and formally, internally – for the individual and externally for the school. As we discussed leadership skills and qualities, we would talk about new tools being put in our toolboxes as leaders. This year in Teach & Serve, I have decided to talk about many of those tools.

PERSEVERANCE 

I can never settle on the following question: is February a longer month in a school year or is March. I know that March actually is longer, but March is typically broken up by Spring Break. The question is which month feels longer.

It’s a toss up.

Spring in a school can feel like it will go on forever, that there is no end, that it is a series of 17-day weeks. 

Yet we all persevere.

One of the tools of a leader every day – every week, every month – is to model perseverance. Leaders get tired like everyone else. Leaders have a lot to do like everyone else. Leaders need a break like everyone else. But leaders are expected to be strong, tireless and persevering. 

And they should be.

Processes can be long. Change can take forever to grab hold. Committees may meet ad nauseum. A leader must possess some stick-to-it-ness to guide the school forward. 

Unfortunately, the leader is not allowed to throw up his hands in frustration. When that happens, everyone’s frustration is magnified exponentially.

Leaders should persevere and their experience should tell them that all things do come to an end.

When I was a freshman in high school, I wanted to be in our school plays and I received a role in the first production for which I auditioned. The play was Up the Down Staircase, a drama about an idealistic English teacher who finds that her preconceived notions of what it means to be an educator are going to be challenged, significantly, by forces beyond her control.

To say I had a crush on the senior who played Sylvia Barrett is something of an understatement. I adored everything about her but, of course, never told her that. She was so far out of my league we were not playing the same sport. 

Perhaps it was my crush or her performance that made me really like Ms. Barrett, the uncompromising character she portrayed. Barrett was cool-headed, calm, righteous and made a terrific impact on her students (including Harry A. Kagan, the brown-noser I played – I had 3 lines). 

As I look back on this play and I consider that I teach English and advocate for students and am happy to challenge things by going up the down staircase (and I note that I sign my name – formally – with my middle initial), I am aware of what an effect this experience had on me… Ms. Barrett, I am grateful. 

We never know the influence we have… While culture tends to promulgate the “those who can, do, those who cannot, teach” idiocy, there are hundreds of examples of brilliance and impactful teachers in reality and in pop culture. Every-other-week this year, I will share my brief reflections on Smart People Doing Smart Things be they in literature, in film, in music or in real life. Many will be teachers, but not all. Many will be fictional, but some will be real. All will be inspiring. Welcome to IntelliPop!

Years ago, I was blessed to be in a position to hold seminars with groups of educators designed to discuss and build leadership skills both informally and formally, internally – for the individual and externally for the school. As we discussed leadership skills and qualities, we would talk about new tools being put in our toolboxes as leaders. This year in Teach & Serve, I have decided to talk about many of those tools.

FAIR DOESN’T MEAN IDENTICAL

Leaders are called upon to make many, many judgements in the course of their work. At the end of any given day, a leader can look back at all she was asked to consider and not be able to enumerate the decisions made. From choices large and small, leaders are expected to apply the rules and regulations of the school to everyone in their charge. 

In all of this, they are expected to make fair decisions and to treat everyone equally.

“Equally” is the challenging word here.

Leaders must be fair. They must apply their judgment fairly. They must treat people fairly. This does not, however, mean they must treat people equally. 

“Equal” has a different meaning than “fair.” “Equal” means the same thing happens for everyone. “Fair” means the most right thing happens for everyone.

Leaders are faced with decisions that involve varying circumstances and different people. They are faced with decisions that defy cookie-cutter approaches. The right choice in one case may be the exact wrong choice in another. Leaders who hold themselves entirely to the notion that every choice they make is a precedent for the next one, that they will come to the same conclusion in every scenario are doing it wrong.

Being fair is critically important in every circumstance. But not every circumstance calls for the same decision.

Years ago, I was blessed to be in a position to hold seminars with groups of educators designed to discuss and build leadership skills both informally and formally, internally – for the individual and externally for the school. As we discussed leadership skills and qualities, we would talk about new tools being put in our toolboxes as leaders. This year in Teach & Serve, I have decided to talk about many of those tools.

SEEK OUT OPINIONS 

People are not simply going to offer their opinions when decisions are to be made or when the school is at a crossroads. Yes, leaders can send surveys and convene meetings and call focus groups together, but in a healthy school culture, those approaches are out of the ordinary.

What is ordinary in healthy cultures is that the leader seeks out the opinions of others and that people know their opinions count. Those being led know that the leader wants to hear from them and wants to engage them because the leader is practiced at saying things like “what do you think would happen if…?” The leader is practiced at asking questions and listening for answers. The leader wants others’ opinions.

Paramount in a culture that seeks out opinion is the understanding that not all opinions are equal and not opinions can be acted upon. A leader who illustrates that she values opinions sets the correct context around them and everyone understands what that context is. 

Valuing others’ opinions is another tool a leader uses to show that she or he is not a ruler, but a collaborator.

For a great many years, I played guitar (poorly) and sang (marginally well) in a cover band called The Facultones. It was primarily made up of a group of teachers from the high school I worked at and we played parties and Christmas celebrations and student activities and graduation parties and all kinds of things.

It was an absolute kick in the pants. I loved almost every minute of playing in this band. I got to know more colleagues incredibly well. I got to make music with people far more talented than I. I got to experience the synergy of doing something together. I loved the decades I spent in this band.

Later, I wrote a fictional history of the group (very fictional) and self published it through amazon. Believe it or not, last I checked, it was on DEEP discount there!

The camaraderie and the fun of The Facultones influenced me as a young teacher and the memories of the fun and camaraderie sustain me as a veteran educator.

Find yourself a group like The Facultones.

We never know the influence we have… While culture tends to promulgate the “those who can, do, those who cannot, teach” idiocy, there are hundreds of examples of brilliance and impactful teachers in reality and in pop culture. Every-other-week this year, I will share my brief reflections on Smart People Doing Smart Things be they in literature, in film, in music or in real life. Many will be teachers, but not all. Many will be fictional, but some will be real. All will be inspiring. Welcome to IntelliPop!

Years ago, I was blessed to be in a position to hold seminars with groups of educators designed to discuss and build leadership skills both informally and formally, internally – for the individual and externally for the school. As we discussed leadership skills and qualities, we would talk about new tools being put in our toolboxes as leaders. This year in Teach & Serve, I have decided to talk about many of those tools.

ACT DECISIVELY

I point out immediately in this post that this tool is not decision making. Decision making is certainly an important tool for a good leader. There is no doubt about that. Leaders need to be able to weigh circumstances, judge them and make determinations. For sure.

However, the tool under consideration here is acting decisively.

It is often easier to make the decision than it is to carry out the decision. Making the decision can be the easiest part of the leadership process. Acting on the decision is where leadership truly comes to the fore.

Decisions are not always universally agreed upon and those that are challenging are often the hardest to implement because the community can be split on them. It is easy behind closed doors with a group of administrators to say “yes, even though it’s unpopular, we are moving in this direction.” It is harder to actually get up and move in that direction.

Leaders who act decisively are likely to engender respect from those they lead. Moving the organization ahead with clear direction is not always easy. Developing this tool serves a school well.