Listen, Learn, Lead... Leading for the Future

I am finishing up my leadership program and this summer I will complete my last three courses, after which I will have earned my degree and all the credentials needed to apply for a position as an Assistant Principal. However, (as has been the case throughout my program) I am still searching for that 'best' way to lead a school and a staff during one of the most challenging times in the history of education in my state; a time with national educational reform focused on college and career readiness, state legislation pushing the boundaries for "Accel"-leration, a new teacher/ administration evaluation framework, and a district strategic plan seeking to address some of the greatest challenges facing our students, especially for our most fragile students. Don't get me wrong, these are all good things for education and for students, but with all of these changes it will require a level of change not seen in our schools for decades. One of my professors in this program, the former deputy superintendent for my district, answered my questions about how we should go about making a cultural change in challenging times with this response: "when you figure out the best way to do that, you should write the next book on reform, it will be a best seller." Intellectually I understand that there is no "right way" to accomplish wide scale change but that doesn't stop me for looking for it.

So when I heard General Stanley McChrystal's TedTalk speech in class on Thursday night, I began to think that he may have the secret that I have been looking for... The title of his speech "Listen, Learn, Lead." In his speech he talked about the need to  develop a shared purpose, about how leaders need to be willing to engage in "reverse mentoring" and what I thought was most significant, was how leaders need to allow people to fail without letting them become failures. His speech caused me to reflect, and as is often the case, this reflection lead me to the blog you are reading now.

This is my take away from the speech... at least my reflection based on my take away.

Listen:

Throughout my program I have carefully listened to those way more knowledgeable than myself. Advice from years of experience and study...

      "If people are not following your procedures or working up to your expectations, its because they are either deficient or defiant. I assume they are deficient and provide training. If they still don't do it they are defiant. So I document them into compliance or out of a job." Words from a very,no nonsense director in my district

       "Remember the three T's: Truth, Trust, and Transparency." From the coordinator of a Charter Program services.

   "You can't do this job alone, you are going to need all the help you can get." My Community Partnerships teacher and a Director in the district.

         "Make sure you have a clear plan in place to manage all operational procedures, so your are proactive instead of reactive. There will be plenty of things that come up that will require you to react, don't add to that by not managing the things you should have already taken care of..." Her least favorite word...Procrastinate! Former Deputy Superintendent.

       "The secret to leadership.... relationships,relationships, relationships." Dr. Smith- Center for Leadership and Learning.

Learn:

Learning is essential as we transition into a new era of educational reform. As a leader I need to not only be a life-long learner myself, I need to encourage those around me to do the same. More importantly perhaps is the need to constantly reflect on my actions, learn from mistakes, be humble enough to admit them, and take action to correct them.

Shared Purpose:

There has never been a time in our history when it was more important for leaders to create a shared sense of purpose. With the diversity that exists in our societies, people bring with them a wide range of experience, as well as, family and cultural influences that create the basis for their perspectives. Unless we can create a shared purpose, our efforts can, at best, be loosely aligned to our priorities and at worse, can be contrary to our priorities. Identifying what is really important to us, all of us, for our children, for our society, for our future is key to establishing a shared purpose.

Reverse Mentorship:

This is an interesting notion that recognizes the fact that as leaders we will have those we lead that have expertise in areas in which we do not. We need to be willing to reach out to those individuals and learn from them, have them share their expertise with our organizations, and celebrate their contributions. Often leaders, especially new leaders, are intimidated by those within our ranks that have skills that we do not have. I need to be willing to embrace opportunities for reverse mentoring.

Allow people to fail without becoming failures:

This was perhaps the most profound of the comments General McChrystal made in his Tedtalk. In order for people to be willing to take risks, the leader has to create an error tolerant environment. People have to trust their leader in order to be willing to take such risks. I have been very lucky to have a mentor in my leadership program that has created such an environment. As a result, I have tried some things that have been incredibly successful, and some things that have not turned out the way I had hoped. My mentor did not allow me to let those failures make me feel like a failure. Instead we used it to help me reflect, some of the greatest growth I have made towards becoming a leader has been the result of these reflections. To me this is perhaps the best lesson my mentor has taught me... I'm not perfect and that is OK!

Today's leaders are going to face challenges never before faced by educational leaders.  If we hope to meet these challenges now and into the future, we need to listen, learn, and lead from the heart, as well as, the head.

Enjoy General Stanley McChrystal's speech for TedTalk.