Colleagues,
Yesterday I worked with school leadership teams on developing individualized professional development plans for each teacher in their respective buildings. The result of this work is that when school starts in August, members of the leadership team will be focused on supporting the growth and development of each teacher in their building. Wow! If bettering people leads to better outcomes, where will these schools be a year from now, after a year of focusing on growing their people? One interesting part of the work was determining teachers’ levels of potential and performance. In other words, we asked if a teacher had high or low potential, and if they had high or low performance. The interesting part of this work was the different ways that leaders arrived at their answers. In other words, not all of the leaders used the same criteria. In fact, it took some effort to actually gain clarity on what criteria indicated what level of potential and performance. Do you have explicit criteria for assessing the potential and the performance levels of the people you serve? If you don’t have clear criteria, then how do you know where to begin in helping them grow? Spend a few minutes thinking about the performance and potential levels of some of your people. How are you deciding what levels people are? Would other leaders arrive at the same conclusion? Having clear criteria is a foundational step for helping your people grow. Do good and be well, Frederick
0 Comments
Colleagues,
There are five things that go into strategic leadership. There are the four pillars, which we talk about frequently:
The fifth thing is something that I assume but probably don’t talk about enough. It is so fundamental that it is on my business card: “Leading strategically, every day” Strategic leadership is as much about a mindset as it is about core principles. I could be great at each of the four pillars, but if I’m not executing every day, how much difference will I really make? Maybe that’s why I do a daily email instead of a weekly one. It keeps me focused on executing – on helping you be just a tiny bit better each day. I guess the logical next question is “what keeps you focused?” Every day? If you have a good answer, please share it! Do good and be well, Frederick Colleagues,
One of the four pillars of strategic leadership is focusing on growing people. It might be the single most important pillar. Better people = better organization. Most leaders do invest in helping people grow, but many organizations do not have a system for growing people consistently and methodically. Taking a systems approach means that we build structures, identify resources, and use the right people to systematically help every person in the organization to grow. Does your organization do that? If so, please let me know. If not, why not? Do good and be well, Frederick Colleagues,
Recapping:
Before sharing the third epiphany, I want to disclose something that is deeply personal and for which I carry regrets. I have always encouraged my colleagues and students to put family first. I proclaimed that I did, and I did my best to attend all of the kids’ events and special occasions. However, I passed on so many opportunities to make memories with my kids, or to be there before they needed me. This doesn’t make me an awful parent or person, but it does mean that despite my proclamations, I valued professional excellence above taking the extra time to be more present for my kids. Epiphany 3: My choices reflect my values. If epiphany two is liberating, epiphany three is downright scary. It is easy to proclaim a value, but what we choose to do and not do speaks more loudly than our words. Here is a reflective activity for you this weekend:
Do good and be well, Frederick Colleagues,
Yesterday I shared my quandary about spending time with my son Lance when I have so much other stuff to do. I cited the first epiphany – that we will never have enough time. The second epiphany is that I choose where to invest my time. If I cannot do everything, then some things are going to be left undone. Which ones? That’s my choice. I find that liberating! Choosing doesn’t mean I can just ignore whatever I want or do only what I like to do. It means that I have power over my life and the things that I do (or do not do). That power means that I can evaluate all of those tasks and I can choose which ones are the most critical and how much of my time I will invest. Is that kayak rolling session with Lance more important than prepping for next week’s trainings? That’s a tough call. Is the session more important than installing an irrigation system for my raised beds? That’s a no brainer. Considering that laundry list of to-dos, I get to choose which ones will get done, and that is liberating. But what criteria do I use for choosing? That’s epiphany three. Do good and be well, Frederick |
Categories
All
Archives
April 2024
|