For me the key to effective classrooms, schools and school districts is leadership. As SCOTUS Judge Potter Stewart said in a decision, “It’s hard to define but I know it when I see it, (he was referring to pornography) can also be used to define leadership.
From sports coaches at the highest levels to restaurant chefs, leadership drives success.
From sports to dance to music the coach is the key to success.
Can you teach leadership or is it an innate ability, in your genes?
In the The Sports Gene: Inside the Science of Extraordinary Athletic Performance author David Epstein explores the nature vs. nurture debate in sports, arguing that while genetics provide a foundation, environment and training are crucial for elite performance,
Malcom Gladwell in “Outliers,” posits his “10,000 hour rule,” the minimum number of hours of training you need to become a top flight athlete.
To avoid being drafted during the contretemps in Southeast Asia I joined the National Guard, six months of active duty. Hundreds of us, eight weeks of basic training, the usual: marching, running, calisthenics, weapons training, hand to hand combat training and a day before the end of basic training I was told I was one of a select group sent to Trainee Leadership School, two weeks of insanity, and I survived, on to an acting squad leader and eight weeks of advanced basic training, at the end, although Airborne looked like fun I demurred and finished my six months.
What did they see in me? Did I actually have leadership abilities?
Jon Rennie at Ohio State University writes,
There are people born with the natural ability to play an instrument, but it takes years of practice and a great mentor to become a master of the craft.
Leadership is the same.
Even if someone is gifted with natural leadership ability, they need practice.
You can’t just send someone to leadership training and expect them to become a great leader. They can certainly learn the basics, but they have the opportunity to lead to develop leadership skills.
Like the violinist, they need to start small and practice leadership under an experienced mentor to gain experience.
The problem with most companies is that they promote people into management with no plan to develop the necessary skills to be a leader. At best, these employees might get some rudimentary leadership training, but most new managers are left alone to figure it out.
Often they are promoted, not because of their leadership potential, but because they were a solid individual contributor. Many of these managers slip back into what they are comfortable with, being a doer and not a leader.
Instead of practicing leadership, they spend their days in meetings, working on emails and doing spreadsheets. They never learn how to become an effective leader. They fail to build a relationship with their teams, establish clear goals and motivate employees.
And the failure of the leader eventually results in poor performance, disengaged employees and high turnover.
AI tells us,
Leadership is both innate and learned, but predominantly developed through experience and education. Research suggests that approximately 70% of leadership ability is learned through experience, mentorship, and training, while only about 30% is attributed to inborn personality traits. While some individuals may have a natural aptitude for leadership, essential skills can be acquired by anyone
A Network leader with whom I worked was a leader, he ran a faculty conference in each of his schools and the conference encouraged interactive discussion, “what’s working? what’s not working, how can we improve it?” At a Staff Development day, before the entire Network he came out on the stage with his guitar, explained a hobby was songwriting and sang a song he wrote, and joked, “You can applaud.” The purpose was to encourage teachers to try something new, if a lesson is not working, try another approach …. take risks. He was leading by example.
On the other hand too many school and district leaders seem to avoid interactive school visits. Spending time at endless meetings, paperwork and avoiding interactions with staff, parents and students.
Another superintendent was a jogger, lived in the district and a couple of times a week his jog ended at a school, usually before 8, he would stand at the door and greet the parents, kids and teachers as they arrived and, frequently before the school leader arrived, a not happy school leader. He took a stroll around the buil;ding with the principal, randomly entering classrooms, chated with the students, wrote a congratulatory letter to the staff to be posted on the bulletin board and spoke with the principal in private. Again, a leader.
What can the new chancellor do to begin to be seen by staff as a leader?
How about mentioning the importance of the governor and the legislature “fixing Tier 6?”
Something like, “There are 50,000 teachers in Tier 6, I fear many will opt for other jobs and prospective teachers will go elsewhere,” no press conference, just a comment that I’m sure will be picked up by the media.
Leadership is earned from the bottom up, by silent votes of those being led, by creating teams, parents and teachers, moving away from the current faux paramilitary top down leadership structure.
Chancellor after chancellor clasped the orb and scepter until the Brutus of her/his era “did the dirty deed,” we sighed, another magic dud bullet, we put our heads down and do what we do, teach as best as we can hoping for a leader who feels our pain and our successes.
How about Elton John to cheer you up? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZHwVBirqD2s
Ed in the Apple: Blogging on the Intersection of Education and Politics Title 