2014 Administrative Retreat
Today’s Leaders…face an
unprecedented array of challenges
New Challenge
The Common Core
State Standards bring
changes to:
• Curriculum
• Instruction
• Assessment
• With greater utilization of
classroom data
• With more demand on our
information system
Today’s Leaders Must
Simultaneously…
 Lead change
 Develop talent
 Address complex issues rapidly
 Prepare for a different kind of future…
All during an economically challenging time.
Understanding Two Worlds
 Preparing students for the world of the future
 Articulating what skills, habits of mind, and
dispositions
 Communicating the importance of what students can do
with knowledge
 Understanding the world of the students
 Demonstrating a sense of the unique culture and
community of the students
 Incorporating best practices to motivate and increase
student achievement
- Tony Wagner (2013)
Use Seven File Cards
Think about your role as a leader --What make you an effective leader?
On each card write one element that you
strongly believe helps you to be an effective
change leader. An example might be – Able
to learn well
Sequence Them
 Take your cards and place them in order 1-7
from most important to least critical
 Discuss similarities and differences in your
lists, then why you think there are differences
 Are there any elements you might like to add?
Three Elements
 Inspiring vision of success
 Strong communication skills
 Superior judgment
- John Ryan
Center for Creative Leadership
Additional Elements
 Trust
 Integrity
 Relationships
 Transparency
 Justice and Compassion
 Fairness
 Honesty
“You never find
yourself until you
face the truth.”
- Pearl Bailey
You and Your Moral Compass
 A useful way to think about your “moral compass”
is to think of it like an ordinary compass with True
North representing Integrity, South –
Forgiveness, East – Compassion, and West –
Responsibility.
 These four universal principles are honored in
some form by people of all races and religion,
regardless of gender.
You and Your Moral Compass
Integrity
 Telling the truth
 Standing up for what is right
 Keeping promises
 Acting consistently with universal
principles, personal values, and beliefs
Responsibility
 Taking responsibility for personal choices
 Admitting one’s mistakes and failures
 Embracing responsibility for serving others
Compassion
 Actively caring for others
Forgiveness
 Letting go of your own mistakes
 Letting go of others’ mistakes
What Works
 Look inside yourself
 Your own reflective practice
 Learn to rely on yourself
 Questioning yourself as you learn
- Fullan (2011)
Transforming
“We do not need magic to
transform our world. We carry
all of the power we need inside
ourselves already.”
- J.K. Rowling
“ One’s philosophy is not best expressed
in words; it is expressed in the choices
one makes…and the choices we make
are ultimately our responsibility.”
- Eleanor Roosevelt
Sort Your Cards
Use the Moral Compass as your Framework
Integrity
•
•
•
•
Telling the truth
Standing up for what is right
Keeping promises
Acting consistently with universal principles,
personal values, and beliefs
Connects to:
• Communicates beliefs and values
• Being a good example
• Clear expectations
• Honesty
• Coherent
“The greatest leaders mobilize
others by coalescing people
around a shared vision.”
- Ken Blanchard
Responsibility
• Take responsibility for personal choices
• Admitting one’s mistakes and failures
• Embracing responsibility for serving others
Connects to:
• Fairness
• Motivating the Workforce
• Inspire
Leadership and learning are
indispensable to each other.”
- John F. Kennedy
Compassion
• Actively caring for others
Connects to:
• Empathy
• Passion
• Increased ability to manage change and
persuade others
• Impressive empathy (Fullan, 2011)
Forgiveness
• Letting go of your own mistakes
• Letting go of others’ mistakes
Connects to:
• Confidence
• Creativity
• Risk-Taker
• Promotes Innovation
Reflection
 Take a moment to count your cards under each
element of the Moral Compass.
 What do you notice?
 What pattern do you see? Why?
Moral Compass
Understanding the Moral Compass four
core principles helps you think about
your actions
BEFORE
You make them
Moral Intelligence
The ability to lead with the
four core principles
Moral Intelligence
 Moral intelligence is not just important to effective
leadership – it is the “central intelligence” for all
humans.
 Why?
 It’s because moral intelligence directs our other forms
of intelligence to do something worthwhile. Moral
intelligence gives us the necessary fundamentals for
life’s challenging circumstances.
Moral Intelligence
 Your moral intelligence allows you to better harness all
your resources:
 Your emotional intelligence
 Your technical intelligence
 Your cognitive intelligence
To achieve the goals that are more important to you –
whether on the job or in the rest of your life.
Alignment
Living in alignment means an individual’s behavior is
consistent with their goals and that their goals are
consistent with their moral compass.
“Living in alignment is not accidental. It requires
understanding and building on each component while
maintaining alignment among all components,
especially during pressure points in our work or personal
life.”
- Donald E. Brown
Personal GPS Tracker
Integrity
Compassion
Responsibility
Forgiveness
Sustainability
“Moral intelligence is a
leader’s secret weapon for
lasting personal and
organizational performance”
- Brown, Kinnier, & Kernes
Remember…
Your ACTIONS
Count!
Importance of Leadership
“Research has established that
leadership is second only to
teaching among schoolrelated factors as an influence
on learning.”
-Louis, Leithwood, Wahlstrom, & Anderson, 2010