“What On Earth Am I Here For?”
Thomas Jefferson’s tombstone mentions several of his accomplishments but not that he was president.
It is important, especially as one ages, to think about the purpose of one’s life. The title of this post was a quote from Rick Warren during a keynote address at the Drucker School Alumni Alumni and Friends (Maciariello, 2014). Drucker (2014) believed it was important to ask yourself, “What do you want to be remembered for?” Honestly, in my view the thing that has the most worth of being remembered for is the difference one makes in the lives of people. Drucker believed that organizations should develop people and that the most durable ones do (Maciariello, 2014). Thus, why I am such a believer, as a leader, that we must strategically spend resources and time on developing our staff. I have personally committed a portion of my time to this with our new Focused Leader Academy.
As we age and mature we focus away from ourselves toward the contribution we would like to make in the lives of others. I have heard others ask it this way: “What would you want your tombstone to read?” When I think of this I am always struck by Thomas Jefferson’s tombstone. You would think he would have had President of the United States on it. But he did not want that because it was a personal accomplishment. Authoring the Declaration of Independence and founding the University of Virginia were accomplishments that contributed to countless lives at the times and now millions of lives since, including my own as a proud U.S. citizen.
So, I thought a little about my own tombstone. As of today, I would like for it to read: “14,030.” Leave it to me to have something off the wall like that. Let me explain. In 1963, the year I was born the average milk production per cow in the U.S. was 8,670 pounds per year. Now, 52 years later, the average per cow production is 22,700 pounds. This is a 14,030 pound increase in average per cow milk production in the last 52 years. As an guy who taught agriculture science for 26 years and marvel at the advances in genetics, management, and nutrition, I am in awe of a 14,030 pound increase in average milk production. Therefore, it is my hope that when my life here is over that it can be that I improved, lifted up, and made a difference in the number of lives (former students, staff, teachers, family, and acquaintances) that would be comparable to a 14,030 pound increase in milk production. I would say if others can say that, then my life will have been worth something.
What on earth am I here for? To improve and develop the lives of others.
Reference
Maciariello, J. A. (2014). A year with Peter Drucker: 52 weeks of coaching for leadership effectiveness. New York, NY: HarperCollins Publishers.
Bumping A Disciplined Leader
I’m going to admit that I was not planning to write a post to my blog this morning. Then I got an email from Becky Robinson of Weaving Influence. Here is a sentence from the email:
“It was six months ago that we had the honor of helping promote John Manning’s new book, The Disciplined Leader: Keeping the Focus on What Really Matters. It was a successful launch, and it’s time to revisit this book and give it a quick “bump.” Will you help me?” ~ Becky Robinson
As you know Becky has allowed me to be a part of her extended team to review books and help be a part of book launches. This has been an incredible experience and I appreciate being a part very much. When I saw she wanted to do a “Bump” for John Manning’s book The Disciplined Leader, I immediately jumped into action. Reading The Disciplined Leader and having the chance to get to know John through Twitter – yes, it is a great way to build relationships, I felt compelled to blog immediately.
“Bump” is such an appropriate term when talking about leadership. Just as Becky wants to bump the exposure for John’s book, we all need a bump every so often to keep us on the right track and hone our leadership skills. Working with John Manning I was able to use The Disciplined Leader to do just that. I put author signed copies of the book in the hands of all the participants of our newly formed Focused Leader Academy. This is an employee development and engagement program. The idea is that great minds and great motives still matter. Teachers with school leadership aspirations have the opportunity to become part of a cohort which will take part in monthly leadership training and be part of supervised leadership projects of the school. Cohort size is at least 10% of teaching leaders per year. The Vision is: Leadership will be born out of those who are affected by it. The Mission is: Leadership will appear anywhere and anytime it is needed. Our Theory of Action is: If we empower our teachers through leadership skill development…Then we will have teacher leaders ready to contribute to the success of Hoosier Academies and be an important part of our talent pipeline.
In my opinion, what we are trying to do matches perfectly with the book. The book is organized into 52 lessons. So what we are doing with our year-long program is reading a lesson per week. As you know, I am a believer in the power of blogging as a personal professional growth tool, so all Focused Leader Academy participants are expected to write (most had to create a blog site for the first time) a blog post each week on the lesson. You can follow all our learning, including blog posts, on Twitter using the hashtag #HoosierFLA. I am doing the same thing right along with them. Click here to read my latest post. Some were a little uncomfortable at first, but we just had our monthly session this past Saturday and the overwhelming opinion is that this is an incredible experience. The participants were commenting on how applicable the book is to what is happening in their lives as teacher leaders. I must say that is true for me as well.
This is an incredible book! Therefore, if you are needing a “bump” to help you to be the best leader you can be I recommend getting a copy of The Disciplined Leader today. Better yet; buy copies for everyone in your organization today and blog together.
Living By Core Values
This week’s A Year with Peter Drucker (Maciariello, 2014) lesson deals with an area, core values, that I have really come to understand more fully in the last few years. I believe me admitting this really explains where most organizations and individuals are on this. We talk core values. We spend time developing core values. We post core values on the wall. We can say we have core values. BUT, do we live our own core values? BUT, does our organization live its core values? BUT, do our personal core values and the organization’s core values match? BUT, is our organizational strategy driven by our core values? In education we say “student’s first” is a core value. The power of core values is living and making decisions by them, not developing them. We must live this and make decisions based on it. I am proud that we have organically begun to build this into our culture at the school I am currently a part of turning around. It brings me great pride when in meetings, our staff will say, “Ok, what is the best thing to do for the student(s).” And, really mean it! The only way for this to truly become embedded is for all to use core values as the “mirror” (Maciariello, 2014) test for all decisions.
“You become a person by knowing what your values are, what you contribute, and it is outside yourself.” ~ Peter Drucker
Let’s face it, values without the corresponding behaviors are meaningless. Authentic leaders bring organizational core values to life. I told you we were building a culture of using our core values. Here are a few ways we have done this:
- Using our core values to guide us while we execute strategy, achieve goals, and reward results.
- Asking what behaviors express our values.
- Asking what are we doing that undermines or conflicts with our values.
- Tell stories of how values are expressed in daily decisions.
- Evaluate daily behaviors with values statements.
- Define how living by values enables your organization to execute strategy and achieve goals.
Interestingly, as I am writing this I had one of our principals just come in and aske me a question about an end of the semester procedure that affected students who might be coming to us or going to another school next semester. The principal actually said, “We think we should do… Because it meets the test of doing what is best for the students. It is more work for the teachers, but it is best all day long for our students.” My response: “Make it so.”
I am excited to be working in an environment where I can exemplify my personal and organizational goals. I don’t think I have ever been anywhere where my own core values and organization’s core values like they match up in my current situation. To work in an organization that has a value system that is incompatible with your own core values forces you to compromise and a loss of self esteem. In my own case I can pass the “mirror test.” What I do fits well within my value system. The contribution I am striving to make is something I want to devote my life to and something I want to be remembered for. Drucker (2014) taught us if we cannot pass the “mirror test” we must do something about it. Do you pass the “mirror test?” Does your organization’s strategy in action match its own core values; and yours?
Reference
Maciariello, J. A. (2014). A year with Peter Drucker: 52 weeks of coaching for leadership effectiveness. New York, NY: HarperCollins Publishers.
Achieving Your Leadership Potential
Speaker Bosma & I after an Education Kitchen Cabinet Meeting
“From a professional standpoint, tackling something new has the power to build your capacity for success and is a great discipline worth pursuing.” ~ John M. Manning
I try to model this stretching at every opportunity. I remember my doubters telling me I was making a grave career error when I was excited to take on the leadership of a state takeover school that had failed for seven years in a row. Yes, it was an extreme challenge. Yes, it was some of the hardest work I’ve ever done. Yes, there were many days of failing. But, it was the most rewarding and significant thing I have ever done. But, seeing the school come off the “F” was one of the most exciting things ever. But, watching the team of people coming together to change a culture was breathtaking. Here is a case where the buts prevail. I would not go back and change a thing, except all the mistakes I made in the process, of course.
In actuality I followed Manning’s (2015) advice during this experience. I trusted in the power of my learning and viewed that learning as an opportunity to grow confidence. Most importantly, and I love the fact that Manning (2015) pointed this out, we made it fun. We built up what Manning (2015) called the “fun factor” every moment possible.
Another area that has been afforded me to take on responsibility in areas I want to develop is the opportunity to serve on the Indiana State Board of Education. It is an honor to serve as Speaker of the House Brian Bosma’s appointee. Being asked to serve the State of Indiana is certainly a responsibility I take very seriously and I view this commitment as something I want and need to do, not something I have to do. This opportunity gives me the chance to explore new horizons, create new relationships and pushes me out of my comfort zone. I truly want to learn new things.
I’ll close with a couple of questions to you: What do you want to learn that will push you out of your comfort zone? What experience should you take on that will give you the opportunity to explore new horizons?
Reference
Manning, J. (2015). The disciplined leader: 52 concise, powerful lessons. Oakland, CA: Barrett – Koehler Publishers, Inc.
Good Leader/Bad Leader
Presenting Dana Smith With Her Copy of “How The World Sees You” by Sally Hogshead
Good Leader/Bad Leader Graphic by Mike Fleisch
“I know from experience that most people are very intelligent – they have figured out how to make things work when it seemed impossible; they have invented ways to get around roadblocks and dumb policies; they have created their won networks to support them and help them learn. But rarely is this visible to the organization until and unless we invite people in to participate in solution-creation processes.” ~ Margaret J. Wheatley, in Finding Our Way: Leadership for an Uncertain Time (2007)
So, after spending the weekend reflecting on how to best share the awesome thoughts and share the knowledge developed by the Focused Leader Academy participants, I sent the following email to our Support Layer the following Monday morning:
Good morning!
I want to share with you the graphic of our first Focused Leader Academy Session last Friday. What I had meant to be a hook to get us started for the day turned into a three hour session. That was a good thing – it might of just been the most incredible session I had ever facilitated. I had called this hook, turned session, “Good Leadership/Bad Leadership.” The idea was to identify bad leadership and good leadership the participants had experienced. Teams of 4 identified bad leadership and then shared out the bad behaviors and then solutions. Then the teams shared out good leadership. It was, to say the least, an incredible learning experience. The attached is a visual of that discussion.
Leaders today face such rapidly escalating complexity, uncertainty, and volatility that to stay relevant we must accelerate our own development. We need to continue our own personal growth so we can navigate the whitewater of all that is education. Leaders set the agenda for the future. The Focused Leader Academy participants were, no doubt, using us as their context for this activity. I can assure you , no names were mentioned. Let’s face it – we exist, as the support layer, to support our teachers, students, and families – period. I then spent the weekend reflecting on the graphic personally. Then I decided this really needed to be shared with you all. If we are honest we will all find places where we are letting those we serve down. I used myself as an example to the group many times during this session. I was happy to be vulnerable because leadership is both a very public and private journey. It is private because it requires personal transformation. It is public because leaders have to learn out loud. So, I would like for you to use this graphic to prompt some reflection on your part and guide some personal improvement and growth. Don’t let yourself be tied to only what is on the graphic. If you think of other areas for improvement, let your mind and reflection travel there too. To that end I want you all to reflect on the graphic and develop the three most critical areas you believe that you need to work on in your leadership journey. I would then like for you to provide these reflections along with three goals for transformation to me by Friday, December 4th. These reflections and goals will only be seen by me. I would, however, challenge you to let yourself be vulnerable and tell those you serve you have reflected on the graphic and present areas you will be striving to improve on to them. This part is not required, but think about the power in doing that.
It would be very easy for us to resist discovering that we still have a great deal to learn. This activity is not for the faint of heart, but for us to obtain the significant culture and performance shifts necessary to for our school to succeed, we all need to do some reflection and transformation. I hope you will set aside some serious time for true reflection and meditation about the promises we make as leaders that we many times don’t even know we are making. These promises are profound and come with high and often unspoken stakes. Understanding and living up to these promises is what will define us as leaders.
Positively,
Byron
As you can see, I wanted this to become a powerful and very personal reflection on each person’s leadership journey. I then decided to take the process one step further and use this as part of our mid-year reflection and coaching. I am studying each person’s reflection and goals and am picking a book, individually selected for them, to read as part of the personal growth experience. The essential question I am asking is: As you read and study the book, think about your own Good Leader/Bad Leader refection and then answer why would I want you to read the book and what can you gain from reading the book? Along with the book I am also developing action steps for each individual in concert with their goals. You will see an example of this shortly.
I have to tell you, this has turned into a great process. In fact, so great that I have one of the reflections I would like to share with you, with Dana’s permission of course. Dana Smith is our Title I Grant Coordinator and does a terrific job and continues to grow exponentially in her leadership skills. Her reflection, as you will see, shows a great deal of thought and study:
Leadership Reflection
Since I have been involved in the field of education I have had the privilege of working alongside some amazing leaders. I have witnessed firsthand what attributes leaders possess that have a positive impact on the culture of the school and I have seen what attributes can negatively impact a school. In my experiences as an educator, I continue to learn and grow each day and figure out who I want to be as a leader and lead from where I’m at. As I continue to reflect on what kind of leader I want to be, I think about the attributes that one needs to possess in order to create a positive school culture. One characteristic that leaders must possess that I believe is an absolutely necessity is to have a sense of humor! My current role is the most challenging position that I’ve held since I’ve been an educator and continues to challenge me each and every day. This position has pushed me beyond my comfort zone many days and may have resulted in a few curse words (I have apologized to my office mate a couple of times!). There have been days where I have pooped my pants multiple times and had to invest in Depends–okay, this may be an exaggeration, but you get my drift! Being able to laugh on these days has been invaluable. Some days, you just need to take a break, take a breath, and laugh.
Another key attribute that good leaders must possess is the ability to establish relationships with others. I have invested time in establishing relationships with my fellow co-workers because I know that I need to have a support system that will lift my spirits on the days where I feel as if I’ve pooped my pants several times! I also want to be that person to lift others’ spirits. I feel that others associate me with being a person filled with energy and positivity. I want to continue to be that person that others associate with positivity and spread that positivity to others when they need it. I would say that this attribute of establishing relationships with others has become a priority to me throughout my educational career. I think that many times we can get so caught up in the work that we’re doing and we don’t take the time to establish relationships with others. This may sound simplistic, but I have learned that it’s okay to take breaks from what I’m doing to get to know others. What I have learned from others during conversations has been invaluable. We all have our gifts and I feel that one of my gifts is my positive nature. I need to use my gift and spread that positivity to others. The relationships that I have formed with my fellow co-workers, I wouldn’t trade for the world! I am a firm believer in that we have to gel as a leadership team and build relationships with one another in order to form solid relationships with staff and build mutual respect for one another. Positive relationships formed with the leadership team are key in contributing to the culture of the school.
As mentioned above, an extremely important attribute of a good leader is the ability to establish relationships. I have thought a great deal about how to establish relationships. The following includes some of my thoughts:
1. Develop trust with one another. Value opinions of others and listen to what others have to say. Staff should know that there are always going to be differing opinions, but they need to know that their voice has been heard.
2. Laugh with one another! Sometimes you just need to laugh!
3. Communicate, communicate, communicate! I have always prided myself with being a great communicator. In our world, communication is of the utmost importance! Staff need to feel that they can come to you with questions and that you will follow-through. Some questions are easier than others to answer and will take more time. If you are communicating with your staff appropriately, then this will nip many issues before they begin!
4. Work your a$$ off! I feel that I have always been a very dedicated and hard-working individual. When others see you/know that you are working hard, others respect that. I would do anything to support our team and individuals on our team! I think that others know this and respect this! This is key in establishing relationships!
One quality that is essential in good leaders is that a good leader must be passionate about their role, passion is contagious! In my early years as an educator, I had the privilege of attending an awards banquet at the end of the year. At the awards banquet, retirees were honored and gave speeches. It was amazing to me that after being involved in education for 40 + years, these teachers were still passionate. I vowed to myself that I would carry my passion for education with me throughout my career in education. I always remember why began in the field of education and why I want to remain in this field. As I mentioned above, I feel that others associate me with having a positive nature. I feel that I possess my positive nature because I am so passionate about what I do. I have the ability to put things into perspective and realize that things could always be worse. Passion for what you do will carry you through on challenging days!
3 Goal Areas
1. Something I need support with is building my confidence as a leader. I have always struggled with my confidence and I have always been very critical of myself. I think confidence is something that builds over time and that my confidence has grown considerably in my current role, but there is still growth that needs to occur. You always do a great job with providing me with encouragement and letting me know that you trust what I do, so please continue to do that.
(Confidence)
2. I feel that I communicate very well in writing because when I write I have time to think, reflect, process, and edit my thoughts. I feel that I need to work on articulating my thoughts better verbally, for example when I present. I have always struggled with speaking in a group setting because I feel this is an area where I am not naturally gifted. This really stems from the first area that I would like to work on, confidence.
(Verbal articulation)
3. I am an individual that doesn’t like conflict and I am definitely a people-pleaser. I need to work on speaking up when I don’t agree with something and understand that conflict doesn’t necessarily need to have negative connotations. Everyone will never agree with every decision that is made, and it’s okay to question why decisions are being made and offer thoughts/constructive criticism.
(Expressing thoughts/opinion)
4. I reflect on a daily basis on my drive home from work. I actually don’t mind my drive to and from school because it provides me with time to reflect on the day. I would like to work on getting my thoughts in writing and possibly starting a blog or utilize some sort of medium as a tool for reflection. I believe that good leaders constantly reflect and I need to be more purposeful and get my thoughts in writing when I reflect.
(Reflection)I feel that one reason I have been successful in my current role is because of your support. I couldn’t ask for a better mentor (I know you don’t like the word “boss”, so I thought mentor might be better!) to help me navigate through difficult situations and show me what it means to not just be a good leader, but to be a great leader. We share many of the same philosophies about education and also share a similar sense of humor. Thank goodness we share a similar sense of humor! I’m not inserting these thoughts because I’m trying to get “brownie points” or be a “brown-noser.” I think you know we well enough to know that is not my intent. I operate with the simple belief that if someone is doing something good, you tell them! I also think it’s important for you to know that you have been an integral part in my journey as a leader and an integral part in creating a positive culture and environment at Hoosier. I am truly thankful to work alongside you!
First of all, thanks Dana for allowing yourself to be vulnerable and letting me include your reflection in my blog. That shows great leadership in and of itself. How can a reflection like that not pump you up as a leader? After studying Dana’s reflection it became very clear what book I believed would be best for her. Because she wants to build confidence and know how to best handle conflict and other leadership situations, I believed Dana would value greatly from reading How The World Sees You: Discover Your Highest Value Through the Science of Fascination by Sally Hogshead. What Dana needs to grow is exactly what Sally teaches us through the reading and the Fascination Advantage® online assessment. I am including a picture of my archetype at-a -glance page of my report from when I went through the assessment and read the book.
Presenting Dana Smith With Her Copy of “How The World Sees You” by Sally Hogshead
The other piece to the puzzle is that I have asked each of these leaders to share their thoughts about the Good Leader/Bad Leader discussion with the teams they serve. Additionally, I am planning a panel discussion of our Support Layer at our January Focused Leadership Academy session as a followup to all of the books read and action steps. It will be exciting for our teacher leaders to hear about the professional growth journeys of these support layer leaders. This has turned into a great professional development experience.
The thing I am most excited about is that this process has given us an activity for mid-year discussions, professional development, coaching, and mentoring that is so much more valuable than the normal old sit down and talk sessions that prove to be of little value. I can’t wait to blog about our developments in January based on our panel discussion and others completing their books and action steps. Stay tuned, we have leaders under construction!
I would close with these two questions: Can you think of another book that would have been valuable to Dana? Do you have other ideas for making this an even more powerful professional growth experience?
Leadership is Responsibility
This week’s entry in A Year With Peter Drucker (Maciariello, 2014) deals with integrity in leadership. By posing the question “What do leaders stand for?” (p 369), Maciariello (2014) posits that leadership inspires trust and commits leaders to viewing the world as it is and not as they wish it to be. This is why core values are so important. I believe that the organization needs strong core value and then individual team members must be selected that have core values that match and compliment the organization’s. What a leader stands for is much more important than specific personality traits.
“By the way, the [great] CEOs I have known – and I have know quite a few – did not see themselves as supermen. They built a team. They were team leaders. ~ Peter Drucker
Effective leaders go to work on the priorities of the organization rather than those tasks they thought were going to dominate their tenure. In my world as a school leader it has been very important to have core values about what is best for students. I have had the opportunity to see the school’s and teachers’ core values develop organically in this this past year. Education is not unlike many industries in that it is so complex and ever changing. In fact, it is probably more complex and fluid. Leaders therefore must be continuous learners and surround themselves with experts in areas necessary to solve present and emerging problems. 
“Values, like nutrients that sustain an organism, also sustain an organization.” ~ Joseph A. Maciariello
Maciariello (2014) uses two of our great Presidents to drive home his points in this entry. Both Abraham Lincoln and Harry Truman are lauded for the strong individuals they surrounded themselves with. I would add that it was the set of strong, well developed core values that gave both of these great men the ability to do such a great job of selecting their cabinets and generals. By understanding their own core values and truly living them, Lincoln and Truman were both able to navigate the selection of individuals whose own core values were the same. When we study the history of the times of these great men we find that even in personnel struggles, those Lincoln and Truman struggled with had like core values. These men had to lead in extraordinary times and certainly were not doing the normal day to day tasks of most Presidents – at least at that time.
“It is also the business with these values, the business that believes it exists to contribute rather than just to take, that will weather adversity. In good times, values may look like an ornament. They may be treated – and frequently are – as something we can indulge in as a “nice little extra.” It is in times of adversity, in times that try a man’s soul, that values are a necessity. For if the right values are absent at such times there is no incentive for human beings to walk the extra mile, to make the extra commitment, to do the hard work of rethinking strategy, of trying new things, of rebuilding.” ~ Peter Drucker
This quote by Peter Drucker (Maciariello, 2014, p372) really sums up why I am so blessed to have been a leader of a high school and now a school corporation in turnaround mode. I have truly experienced why core values are so important. As Drucker said, core values become ornaments in good times, but a necessity in adversity. I have learned why it is important to not let core values only be words on a page. All decisions, in good times and bad, must match a leader’s personal core values and the core values of the organization.
At the end of the lesson Maciariello (2014) poses the question of “What are the espoused values in your organization?” (p 373) The word espoused means what do we say we intend to do. I like that Maciariello used this word because what we say and what we do are many times two different things. If the core values are just espoused then they are just ornaments, probably posted on a plaque somewhere – fair weather values. So, my question to you is; Are your and your organization’s core values just espoused, or are they real guides that are used everyday to make the important strategic decisions of your organization?
Reference
Maciariello, J. A. (2014). A year with Peter Drucker: 52 weeks of coaching for leadership effectiveness. New York, NY: HarperCollins Publishers.
Who’s In My Way? ME!
Lesson #9 was another great one in The Disciplined Leader by John M. Manning. If you have not gotten this book yet, you need to. If you get it you can follow allong with with the weekly posts about Manning’s (2015) lessons by our Hoosier Academies’ Focused Leader Academy participants. On Twitter we use the hashtag: #HoosierFLA. Amazingly, this week’s lesson went write along with a discussion topic from our last session. We called it “Leaders Framing Themselves as Victims.” Manning (2015) positions it as leaders needing to “Get Out of Your Way.”
“You are the master of your attitudes and the driver behind your habits.” ~ John M. Manning
This leadership topic really underscores the need for a new kind of leader in this century: the authentic leader. Our future leaders were very critical of leaders who always make everything be the fault of someone else or the reason she is ineffective. I believe this is another form of getting in your own way. It’s easy to fall in the trap of making ourselves out to be the victim. However, those we serve see right through it. Nevertheless, the victim stance is a powerful one. Some leaders fall into this trap because of how we are wired to view victims. The victim is always morally right, neither responsible nor accountable, and forever entitled to sympathy. Read that last sentence again. Do you want those you serve to believe that’s how you believe about yourself? I hope not!
One thing that really speaks to me, as a leader, is the idea of taking 100% responsibility for my own life. It is too easy to quickly assign blame and pull out all the excuses as to why something did or did not happen. Again, those we serve pick up on this immediately. Here’s what I’ve learned – We relinquish all power when we go there. Not owning up to our actions—this takes away our part in doing anything different. We simply remain stuck while we continue to complain and feel miserable in our status quo of negativity. But we first must take charge of ourselves and decide we are capable of doing, being, and acting differently. Assigning blame and making excuses keeps us victimized. We don’t have to do anything different because it’s not about us; it’s about someone or something else. We’re simply the recipient. We have to decide it’s up to us and not pass along our power to the blame and excuse game.
I also believe that becoming authentic is another key to getting out of your own way. Authentic leaders frame their stories in ways that allow them to see themselves not as passive observers but as individuals who learn from their own experiences and the reality she is in. Leaders who are authentic also work hard at developing self-awareness through persistent and often courageous self-exploration. Great leaders, as Manning (2015) points out, take responsibility in the area of personal growth. This is one of the most important leadership lessons – professional & personal growth must be just that, personal. We must own it ourselves. To get out of our own way, we must take responsibity for ourselves. It’s the first step to being authentic and disciplined. I have blogged about this before when I was teaching in a post titled, “Autonomy – Professional Growth Must Be Personal. Click here to read it. 
“If you don’t know what your barriers are, it’s impossible to figure out how to tear them down. So carve out the time to reflect on what’s blocking your potential. If you struggle figuring it out, get feedback from others you trust.” ~ John M. Manning
Manning discussed the need to get rid of the barriers that prevent us from getting out of our own way. I would pose this question to you in closing, as a way for you to begin to take responsibility for your own leadership journey: What are your top internal barriers to making changes? In other words, the behaviors that get in your way, such as losing focus, victimizing yourself, rationalizing, overreacting to criticism, and others.
Reference
Manning, J. (2015). The disciplined leader: 52 concise, powerful lessons. Oakland, CA: Barrett – Koehler Publishers, Inc.
Finding The Extraordinary You
“While understanding what makes you unique can give you a leadership edge, realizing what’s extraordinary about you is even better—those unique traits that are particularly special to you. Consistently work to emphasize, develop, or leverage these abilities and you’ll eventually carve out a clearer, greater leadership advantage.” ~ John M. Manning
This week’s lesson in The Disciplined Leader (Manning, 2015) reminded me so much of the work of Sally Hogshead’s work in How The World Sees You. She, like Manning, taught us that what makes us unique also gives us an edge. There is something extraordinary about each and every one of us. Hogshead argues we need to be more of who we are. This means using the archetypes that give us the biggest advantage. Manning (2015) posited if you want to change and grow, you need to believe this about yourself.
“Edge starts with self.” ~ Gene Simmons, KISS, in an interview with Jay Leno
Manning (2015) provided some great ways for us to develop our “edge.” Here are a few:
- Examine what you love to do – Greater understanding will give you the ability to align future activities to your passions, resulting in even more satisfaction.
- Determine your best skills – what skills you have that do make you effective and different. Your best skills are whatever you’ve learned to do really well in life.
- Know your true gifts.
Interestingly, we had a discussion about leadership mantras this past week during a Hoosier Academies Focused Leader Academy session. I asked the group if they were going to imitate me to someone else what would you do or say. They overwhelmingly and imidiately said three things: everything is great attitude, when asked how I’m doing I always say, “I couldn’t be any better” or “If I was any better…” and always saying “Make it so” to ideas. Of course, they were able to poke fun with some of my mannerisms, too. But, what we found was this was a pretty accurate way of identifying different leaders’ edge. A big part of my edge is my enthusiasm and positivity. I am attaching a graphic we did during this session.
Graphic Facilitation by Mike Fleisch
Manning (2015) reminded us we must stay true to the “real you.” My challenge to you in this post is to identify your edge and then develop your skills by using your gifts and passions. What would those on your team say is your leadership mantra?
Reference
Manning, J. (2015). The disciplined leader: 52 concise, powerful lessons. Oakland, CA: Barrett – Koehler Publishers, Inc.
Values Define Your Unique Leadership Identity
Leaders know what they value. They also recognize the importance of ethical behavior. The best leaders exhibit both their core values and their ethics in their leadership style and actions. Your leadership ethics and values should be visible because you live them in your actions every single day. People know what to expect if leaders have identified and shared their core values, living the values daily – visibly will create trust. To say one sentiment and to do another will damage trust – possibly forever. As Manning (2015) pointed out in The Disciplined Leader it is not only important for leaders of lead according to their values, but the leaders core values must also align with the values of the organization they work for. Our unique leadership identity is made up of our core values. As a leader, choose the values and the ethics that are most important to you, the values and ethics you believe in and that define your character. Then live them visibly every day at work. Living your values is one of the most powerful tools available to you to help you lead and influence others. Don’t waste your best opportunity.
Bottom line, the role of leadership is to add value to other people and the true measure of leadership is influence, thus a great leader must have the ability to change the attitude or behavior of others. Therefore values must be aligned to key decision making. Organizations must also determined what the core values of that organization will be. We have really been working on this becoming a part of the DNA and culture of the schools I lead. This has to be so much more than just words on a paper. I was so proud this past week when I was meeting with some members of our team to make some decisions and one of them referenced our core value of putting students first. In fact, she said, “You know, this is a pretty easy decision if we truly want to put students first ahead of the adults this decision will affect.” She even pointed to our graphic we are using to represent our vision, mission, and core values. I thought, “Wow, it does not get any better than this! We are truly changing the culture and really using our core values, not just printing them on a page.” We all need to use this example to guide us to use our core values to proactively and consistently guide our personal and organizational decisions.
Students Are At The Top of Our Core Value Structure!
- Living the values
- Teaching the values
- Recognizing the values
- Hiring new people based on the values
- Reviewing people based on the values
- Letting people go based on values
In this week’s entry, Manning (2015) also reinforced points 5 & 6. Many CEOs don’t make it because their core values don’t match those of the organization they lead. My goal for the organization I lead is to clearly communicate and integrate our school’s core values with all the processes and operations of our school. This should result in higher employee engagement and making sound decisions based on our #1 core value of putting students first. This also plays into another important leadership point of making sure that all team members understand his or her role in carrying out the vision, mission, or strategic plan of the organization. Understanding, living, and making decisions based on the core values of the organization goes a long way to making this possible.
“Disciplined Leaders regularly reference their values in critical decision making and rely on them when they are stuck between “a rock and a hard place.” They use them to establish specific direction and get confirmation about those choices they’ve made.” ~ John M. Manning
For me, as a leader I must continue to developed my leadership style around my personality and values, and in the end, actions are consistent with what I truly believe. As Goethe said: “Things that matter most must never be at the mercy of things that matter least.”
References
Hyatt, M. (2012). Platform: Get noticed in a noisy world. Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson.
Manning, J. (2015). The disciplined leader: 52 concise, powerful lessons. Oakland, CA: Barrett – Koehler Publishers, Inc.
Knowing Your Mission & Purpose
A Graphic Representation of Our Organization’s Study of our Mission & Vision. Thanks Mike Fleisch!
We are working on this very process right now in the schools I lead, Hoosier Academies. I have attached some visuals of our work in this area thus far. It is our desire that this process go so much further than just having words. We want our mission and vision to truly represent the shared purpose of all stakeholders in putting students first. By doing so, we can then budget on purpose, structure on purpose, staff on purpose, program on purpose, and strategic plan on purpose. We must know our mission because not everything is in life is worth doing. Without purpose it is hard to discern what is worth doing. In week 45’s lesson in A Year With Peter Drucker (Maciariello, 2014), five reasons for being purpose driven:
1st Draft of Our Graphic Study of Our Mission & Vision
- Purpose builds morale.
- Purpose reduces conflict in organizations.
- Purpose provides vision.
- Purpose allows concentrating.
- Purpose provides a system of evaluation.
Drucker (Maciariello, 2014) posited that a theory of business needed three parts to be successful. First, there needed to be defined assumptions about the environment of the organization. Second there must be a specific mission. Drucker put this so well, saying, “The assumptions about mission define what an organization considers to be meaningful results – they point to how it envisions itself making a difference in the economy and society at large.” (Maciariello, 2014, p.353) Finally, core competencies define where an organization must excel in order to maintain leadership.
One of the main reasons we are going through this process right now was driven home by the fact that a mission must be tested against reality. Our schools had not taken a look and really studied it’s mission and vision since the start of the schools. No mission lasts forever. Also, we have to remember what Drucker (2014) taught, “Knowledge is a perishable commodity.” (p. 355) We must not procrastinate if our mission and vision are obsolete or no longer match our purpose. Additionally, we must rethink the assumptions and core competencies on which our mission and vision are based and update the premises on which our organizations are operating. I always have to remind myself and our team to stay focused on the things our organization must do extremely well in order to succeed in carrying out our mission. You will notice in the graphic representation of our mission and vision we chose to use a Jenga theme (I will be doing a post dedicated to the process we are using with our Graphic Facilitator, Mike Fleisch, later). We really think in the case of a school this is such a great way to look at our purpose, vision, and mission using because we have the student at the top, but if any other area fails it brings down the tower and does not allow us to carry out our core value you of putting students first. We must support those areas of required excellence by offering continuing professional development and education.
Reference
Maciariello, J. A. (2014). A year with Peter Drucker: 52 weeks of coaching for leadership effectiveness. New York, NY: HarperCollins Publishers.
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