50 Tips and Tactics to Support
Courageous Leaders:
What Extraordinary Leaders Do Differently
Jim Grant
Georgia Compensatory Education
Leadership Conference
Session #2
February 24, 2014
Savannah, GA
Big Picture Outcomes
Three Workshop Goals
You will:
1. learn common sense tips and tactics
to help you lead by influence.
2. learn 50+ inspirational tips, stances and
strategies that will help define what
extraordinary leaders do differently.
3. learn ways to distinguish yourself
as an administrator by becoming a
courageous outlier.
1.
2014 School Challenges:
Policies, Practices, Mandates, and Trends
Challenges include:
__ 1. ongoing/drastic budget cuts.
__ 2. the adoption of Common Core State Standards.
__ 3. overreliance on high-stakes testing.
__ 4. an increase in the volume of curriculum content.
__ 5. an escalated (shoved down) curriculum.
__ 6. the adoption of a “purist version” of
Response To Intervention (RTI).
__ 7. the new principal/teacher evaluation initiative.
__ 8. the federal pay for performance mandate.
2.
2014 School Challenges:
Policies, Practices, Mandates, and Trends
Challenges include:
__ 9. dramatic changes in the way today’s parents
raise their children.
__ 10. an increase in the number of children who
are living in poverty.
__ 11. an increase in the number of children who
have been traumatized.
__ 12. an increase in the number of children with
special needs.
__ 13. a dramatic increase in the number of
students who have poor mental health.
3.
Common Sense Leadership
Tips, Tactics, and Stances
Extraordinary leaders:
1. define themselves
(see slide 4A).
2. have a 21st century mindset
(see slides 4B-C).
3. have grit (see slides 4D-E).
4. have a career NOT a job!
5. are NOT heavy handed.
4.
Character Traits Associated With
Extraordinary leaders
Courageous leaders:
have common sense.
are tenacious.*
are creative.
create a vision.
have integrity.*
are resilient.*
are collaborative.
are risk-takers.
are effective.
have persistence.*
are change agents.
have enthusiasm.
have self-confidence.
are passionate.
are knowledgeable.
are highly motivated.
are truly courageous.*
have self-responsibility.
have a strong work ethic.
are flexible.
hold themselves accountable.
are outliers.
*performance grit traits.
4A.
21st Century Mindset
Persons who have a 21st century mindset:
__ have an optimistic perspective.
__ are always up to a challenge.
__ identify their own strengths and
eaknesses.
_ believe they are evolving and always have
omething to learn (lifelong learner).
__ stretch themselves when learning new things.
__ have the persistence and effort to learn
something over a longer time period.
__ try doing things they couldn’t do before.
__ view “good failures” as learning opportunities.
__ are known for their reliability and commitment.
Based on the work of: Carol S. Dweck, Angela Duckworth, Paul Tough, et al.
4B.
21st Century Mindset Effect
A 21st century mindset will:
__ reinforce your optimism.
__ strengthen your perseverance.
__ help you thrive during
challenging times.
__ reinforce your belief that
you can change and grow.
__ boost your tenacity and effort.
__ foster the adoption of grit traits.
__ stiffen your resolve when faced with
setbacks, challenges, and disappointments.
__ strengthen your resilience.
__ solidify your determination and effort
to be reliable and fully committed.
Based on the work of: Carol S. Dweck, Angela Duckworth, Paul Tough, et al.
4C.
What is Grit?
Grit could be defined as a collection of
hardy, timeless character traits that
emanate from a 21st century mindset.
These traits enable one to persevere in the
face of setbacks, adversity, and
disappointments in the pursuit
of long-term goals.
Firmness of mind or spirit…
unyielding courage in the face of
hardship or danger
~ Merriam-Webster
23.
4D.
Performance Character Traits
Grit qualities may include, but are not limited to:
___ self-control (willpower).
___ persistence.
___ tenacity.
___ resilience.
___ hard work.
___ delayed gratification.
___ perseverance.
___ open-mindedness.
___ optimism.
___ conscientiousness.
___ social intelligence.
___ courage.
Based on the work of: Angela Lee Duckworth, Laura Pappano, and Paul Tough, et al.
4E.
Extraordinary leaders:
6. know when a staff member is in distress,
and they take the time to understand the
root causes (see slide 5A.).
7. engage in face-to-face communication
(see slide 5B).
8. teach the younger generation of educators
to first get the lay of the land.
9. take the time to reconsider their
positions.
10. are coaches NOT critics (see slide 5C).
11. deal with “bus” issues while fostering
team building (see slide 5D).
5.
Understanding Human Distress:
What’s Going On In The Person’s Life?
bulimia
separated
homeless
harassed
depression
obese
pregnant
abandoned
No transportation
substance abuse
sleep deprived care giving for
an elderly person
feeling poor
5A.
55 percent of the emotional meaning of a
message is expressed through facial,
postural, and gestural means.
38 percent of the emotional meaning is
transmitted through tone of voice.
Only 7 percent of the emotional meaning
is actually expressed with words.
Source:
Stephen
Nowicki
and Marshall
Duke,Nowicki
1992
Source:
Helping
the Child
who Doesn’t
Fit In, Stephen
and Marshall Duke, 1992
5B.
The administrator’s role is
to be a coach Not a critic.
It isn’t enough anymore to think of the
administrator’s role as simpy identifying
ineffectual teaching and documenting it.
Coaching is about
helping people improve
their performance.
5C.
Are There Any Bus Issues?
Is the right person ln
the driver’s seat?
Is everyone on the bus?
Is everyone on the right bus?
Is everyone in the right seat?
Does someone need to get off the bus?
Are there too many seats?
Do you need to add a seat (s)?
5D.
Extraordinary leaders:
12. ask the right question(s).
13. know the first rule of holes!
14. understand The Possibility Effect.
15. know fair isn’t always equal.
16. know that zippers and people don’t
respond to force.
17. know if they hear hoof beats, NOT
to look for Zebras!
(old medical saying).
6.
Extraordinary leaders:
18. have a “meteorologist” side
(see slide 7A).
19. know when to back up their tractor!
20. understand “innovation fatigue” and know
when it’s time for a “Popeye moment”
(see slides 7B-C).
21. know that “luck favors a prepared mind!”
22. live by The Brahmin Code!
7.
Pay for Performance
Common Core State
Standards
Increased
diversity
Increased in ELL & SPED students
ELs know that taken together co-occurring policies,
practices, and education fads tend to potentiate!
ELs know that multiple co-occurring policies, practices,
and education fads can create a “perfect storm.”
7A.
Got Change?
Major Reforms 2014-2015
__ Adoption of Common Core State Standards.
__ Change to a new tests that align with state
standards.
__ Adoption of new curriculua to align with
Common Core State Standards.
__ Change to another new math program.
__ Adopt a new teacher evaluation system.
__ Adopt a new principal evaluation system.
__ Agree to comply with the federal pay for
performance mandate.
__ Adopt a “purist version” of
Response to Intervention (RTI).
7B.
When is Enough, Enough!
Many of today’s teachers and
administrators are suffering from
“innovation fatigue.”
Lesson Learned…
ELs understand “innovation fatigue.”
They know when enough is enough!
7C.
Extraordinary leaders:
23. know there is a time and place for a…
“Walter Cronkite moment!”
24. know the No.1 reason
why “smart people fail ”
(see slides 8A-B).
25. trust their feelings of cognitive
dissonance.
26. practice the Wake-Up-Call Effect.
27. question the concept of “Multitasking.”
8.
Do you know why
“smart people fail?”
Cognitive
Emotional
Social
Physical
The Whole Person
8A.
Leading From The Middle
Central Office/School Board
(The Source of Commands)
Principals lead from the middle!
Teachers
8B.
Extraordinary leaders:
28. strive to fix the things that are wrong.
29. stay in touch with the trends
(see slides 9A-B).
30. know that sometimes rules need
to be broken.
31. look you in the eye when talking to you.
9.
Emerging Future Trends
1. The number of children with learning
disabilities will continue to increase.
2. Change in parenting styles will take a
toll on the way schools do business.
3. E-textbooks will rapidly replace
hardcover books.
4. Life factors and circumstances will
redefine the family as we once knew it.
5. Blended learning will continue to take
root and will redefine brick & mortar
schools.
6. The Implementation Dip Effect
associated with testing and state
standards will catch school
officials off guard.
9A.
Emerging Future Trends
7. The “Purist” form of RTI will continue to
under-serve at-risk students as well as a host
of other unintended consequences.
8. Child poverty will continue to rise, thus creating
unprecedented challenges to schools.
9. The obesity epidemic will create health problems
that impact schools in a multitude of ways.
10. Tight school budgets will NOT abate for several
more years.
11. Too much digital media as well as an
overreliance on technology will create
unintended consequences.
12. The pay for performance initiative will have
unintended consequences.
9B.
Extraordinary leaders:
32. know that patience is a virtue.
33. understand diversity, i.e., developmental,
racial, socioeconomic, etc. (see slide 10A).
34. recognize the signs of a teacher who has
“retired.”
35. never get into fights with ugly people!
10.
Extraordinary Administrators
Understand Diversity
Factors and circumstances that create student
diversity include, but are not limited to:
__ 1. health/well-being.
__ 8. trauma.
__ 2. family circumstances. __ 9. home language.
__ 10. learning disabilities.
__ 3. poverty.
__ 4. poor nutrition/obesity. __ 11. learning profile.
__ 5. environmental toxins. __ 12. stress/anxiety.
__ 6. various cultures.
__ 13. chronological age.
__ 7. prematurity/
low birth weight
__ 14. gender.
10A.
Extraordinary leaders:
36. never give up!
37. know the key to teacher buy-in.
38. know the “first secret ” to lasting
change (see slide 11A).
39. take risks.
11.
THE PROCESS OF CHANGE
Understanding Teacher Buy In
Turn-n-talk to your colleagues and rank
the above 3 steps in order of progression.
11A.
Extraordinary leaders:
40. are trained “elephant spotters”
(see slide 12A).
41. don’t mistake motion for action.
42. know the First Law of Horse Back Riding.
43. trust, but verify!
12.
Focus on Schools Helps Finns
Build a Showcase Nation
The Finns long ago decided that seven is the right age to
begin school, so in every grade the children are a year older
than they would be in the United States. Six-year-olds have
kindergarten (and a high percentage of Finnish youngsters
come to school from state-run-day-care-centers, which are
also generously staffed and supported). But according to
Raili Rapila, a kindergarten teacher in Arabia, there is no
pressure to begin reading before first grade. Three of ten in
her class are readers, she said, but all ten love to be read to
often, every day. “social skills and learning to play are more
important than reading” for the six-year-olds, she said.
Robert G. Kaiser
Washington Post Staff Writer
March 24,2005
12A.
Extraordinary leaders:
44. know The Law Of The Farm.
45. know nothing is ever the way it looks.
46. first define the problem.
47. say the Serenity Prayer every day
(see slide 13A).
13.
God grant me the
serenity to accept the
things ITurn
cannot
to your neighbor. Tell him the
change, change
thefact you learned in
most important
this presentation.
things I can, and the
wisdom to know the
difference.
Reinhold Niebuhr, Theologian
13A.
Extraordinary leaders:
48. stand united.
49. can spot a red herring (see slide 14A).
50. include teachers in the decision
making process (see slide 14A).
51. DO NOT stay silent.
14.
Red Herring
A fallacy in which an irrelevant topic
is presented in order to divert
attention from the original issue; by
leading attention away from the
argument and to another topic.
Teachers NOT Included
“How can any reform succeed when teachers,
who are responsible for putting the reforms
into practice in the classroom, aren’t
included in the equation?”
~Harold W. Stevenson
14A.
Extraordinary leaders:
52. know everything takes longer than
expected.
53. contact federal and state lawmakers.
54. find their “Murphy” side (see slide 15A).
55. are optimistic (see slide 15B).
15.
Understanding The Power
of
“Negative Thinking!”
Extraordinary leaders know too much
positive thinking can inadvertently
blind us to pitfalls, obstacles, and
challenges!
15A.
42.
The Courage to
Be Optimistic
A pessimist is one who makes
difficulties of his opportunities;
an optimist is one who makes
opportunities of his difficulties.
~Reginald B. Mansfield
15B.
Extraordinary leaders:
56. know denial is a powerful force.
57. create solutions.
58. trust their “radar screen.”
59. know people tend to be different in an
economic down turn.
16.
Extraordinary leaders:
60. don’t procrastinate!
ELs live by Elvis Presley’s business motto
(see slide 17A).
61. know why some folks just can’t
understand something.
62. temper data with common sense.
63. watch their time!
17.
T C B
This is the logo on Elvis Presley’s private jet
as well as his bronze grave marker.
Taking Care
of
Business In a flash
17A.
Extraordinary leaders:
64. assess their workload and pace on a
regular basis.
65. plan on plan B.
66. know the detrimental effects of
political correctness (see slide 18A).
67. are themselves…
because they know everyone else is taken!
18.
Ultimate Dishonesty…
Political Correctness!
Political correctness tends to highjack
common sense and logic!
ELs know political correctness can be a
form of suppression and intimidation. PC may
be a deceitful way to censor, restrict, and/or
avoid honest discussion acknowledging reality.
Sometimes “politeness” can have
unintended consequences.
Politeness is the slow poison of collaboration.
Dr. Edwin H. Land, Inventor
Land Polaroid Camera
18A.
Extraordinary leaders:
68. create a caring school culture (see slide 19A).
69. don’t wait for things to happen.
70. know a sound education trend from
a passing fad (see slide 19B).
71. are aware of the consequences of the
Hansel and Gretel Effect.
19.
The principal is in charge of
The
Teacher
“climate
control!”
I have come to a frightening conclusion. I am the
decisive element in the classroom. It is my
personal approach that creates the climate. It is
my daily mood that makes the weather. As a
teacher, I possess tremendous power to make a
child’s life miserable or joyous. I can be a tool of
torture or an instrument of inspiration. I can
humiliate or hurt, humor or heal. In all situations,
it is my response that decides whether a crisis will
be escalated or de-escalated, and a child
humanized or de-humanized.
Haim Ginott — 1972
19A.
Sound Concept or Education Fad?
The 3-Way Filter
Is the education innovation/practice/policy:
Yes No
educationally sound?
good for kids?
doable?
When ELs check NO to the last one,
they DON’T do it!
19B.
Extraordinary leaders:
72. are aware of the John Henryism Effect
(see slide 20A).
73. agree to the spirit of compromising.
74. fully understand The Nomad Principle
of administration.
75. know…
If You’re Riding A Horse And It Dies, Get off!
20.
The “John Henryism” Effect
“John Henryism” starts when you’re responding to
stresses beyond your control by working extra hard;
despite your hard work, the stresses keep you from
succeeding, pushing you ever harder.
Adapted from: John Rothman
THE COST OF WINNING
The mighty railroad worker, John Henry took
on a new steam-powered hammer in a contest.
He won, but the effort killed him!
Reachable Goal
“Striving is good for you only
when success is possible.”
Joshua Rothman
20A.