President’s Day With Woodrow Wilson
On this President’s Day I want to reflect on a president who I have always been very intrigued with. Our 28th President was a successful academic who took a different path to the White House than Presidents before and after. Woodrow Wilson attended college at what is now Princeton University, studied law at the University of Virginia, and earned a Ph.D. from Johns Hopkins University. Wilson is our only President to have a doctorate. He later taught at Princeton, and became president of the university in 1902. As a scholar he was the leading political scientist of his day. As an academic president, he transformed Princeton into a leading university. Wilson was President of Princeton from 1902-1910.
John Milton Cooper Jr. described Wilson this way in his book Woodrow Wilson: A Biography: “Boldness and thinking big marked Wilson all his life, and those qualities helped make him the only president who rose to the top in two professions entirely removed from public affairs.” Woodrow Wilson’s experience as a transformational leader at Princeton is what I believe prepared him for political office. He was “a dynamic reformer” as Governor of New Jersey from 1910-1912. As President of the United States he led the country into and through World War I.
Leaders like Woodrow Wilson advance the cause because they see what others do not and are willing to move toward that vision. As Wilson said, “I would rather fail in a cause that would ultimately succeed, than succeed in a cause that would ultimately fail.” Such work calls for boldness. Wilson also said, “Do not follow people who stand still.” As we come to the end of President’s Day, let’s think about these questions: Are you moving to transform your organization or cause social change? Where do you need to be more bold?
Praying for Chicks!
If you are reading this, you may have thought I was going to be writing about women. Well, you are wrong, but at least I know my hook worked to get you to read this. So, please continue!
Actually, I am writing about a disappointment I had in church this morning. During the prayer request time a young girl stated that her family had just got a bunch of baby chicks to raise and that one was not doing very well. Some in the church giggled and our preacher really did not even acknowledge the little girl. In other words, just brushing it off. The preacher even made it seem awkward and as if he did not know what to say. Needless to say, I was very disappointed and appalled at the missing of a great opportunity to teach a young person about prayer. Let me tell you, as a farm boy, I have done my share of praying for animals of all ages and kinds (sometimes that they would not hurt me).
So what do I think the preacher should have done? Well, take the opportunity to thank the youngster for the prayer request and talk to the congregation about how every prayer is important, particularly to the person making it. Also, make it very clear, there is never a time that God responds to our prayers with this thought: “I just don’t get it.” God has been the “Deer In The Headlights!” Remember a very important part of the New Testament story – God came to earth as a human, lived among us, and was then killed by us. God, a human? Stunning truth. But he remembers. “We don’t have a priest who is out of touch with our reality. He’s been through weakness and testing, experienced it all—all but the sin.” (Hebrews 4:15 MSG) How cool is that!
He has “Street Creds!” God knows how you feel and what you need.
And, this is big time, “he knows what you need before you ask him.” (Mt. 6:8) You don’t have to be perfect in your prayer request. God doesn’t need our counsel or advice. “Before they call I will answer, while they are yet speaking I will hear.” (Isa. 65:24) And, you don’t need others’ approval as to whether a prayer request is important or not. If it is important to you, it is important to God.
This young girl needs to realize that prayer changes things because God changes things. Prayer makes a difference because God is determined to make a difference. Prayer matters because each of us matters to God. I pray constantly during the day. I even pray for things like parking spaces and for meetings to go well. I do not believe there are any stupid prayers. I know there are those that do, but I just don’t believe in a God that would laugh at or make fun of my prayer requests or think them beneath him. I’ve just had too many times of pulling into a full parking lot after saying a little prayer and having a front row, primo parking place open up. I’ve also had too many big favors happen from God that I did not even know to pray for. It’s interesting to me that I really pray for the small stuff and God takes care of the really big stuff that I can’t even imagine.
So, is praying for the health of a baby chick important enough for prayer? YES! There isn’t anything of too little importance for you to ask God! Don’t forget what God said, “I know the thoughts I think towards you…thoughts of peace and not of evil to give you a future and a hope…call upon me and pray to me and I will listen to you.” (Jer. 29:11) Remember, he gets it. He has “been there, done that” for all of us!
Leading In Two Time Dimensions
“A manager must, so to speak, keep his nose to the grindstone while lifting his eyes to the hill – quite an acrobatic feat” (Maciarello, 2014, p. 53) This quote by Peter Drucker in week seven’s lesson (Maciarello, 2014) really hit home to me as a school turnaround leader. Anyone who works with me or has been around me much knows that this leading is two time dimensions: balancing short-term results with long-term results, is one of the toughest parts of the leadership experience. In takeover and turnaround schools they really don’t give you much time to turn it around – and they shouldn’t. Our kids are too valuable. That being said, however, I have always said it is a real balancing act. What we need to do right now to get the transformational results needed short term are not always sustainable for the long term. I really am leading in two different time dimensions. These two time dimensions, short-term and long-term results, need to be used in concert when planning school transformation. Having led a team that took a school off the “F” list in just two years, I can honestly say this harmonization of long and short-term results was one of the pain points that kept me awake at night.
I guess it is why I have become such a student of strategic planning. This two dimensional leadership is really the essence of strategic planning – making resource allocation today that will affect the future (Maciarello, 2014). It requires deliberately allocating resources to projects that are directed toward securing the future of your organization. Yet, in my case, short-term results are necessary to take a school off the “F” list this year. So, short-term results are necessary, and this necessity may require making trade-offs between short-term and long-term results. You can read a couple of my posts on strategic planning by clicking on Strategy in Action and Top 50 Strategy in Action Indicators.
These trade-offs really cause there to be a need for two different missions, but the two missions must be compatible. There are always trade-offs between actions that serve the present and those that further long-term performance. The missions in these two time dimensions may be different but they must be compatible (Maciarello, 2014). A strategic plan and mission statement must reflect results in the short term as well as results in the long term. In my case, as a turnaround school leader, I must fix the problems of the past but the real job is to commit the organization’s resources to opportunities in the future. Sacrificing either dimension threatens the survival of the organization. The old medical proverb applies here, “It doesn’t help you much if the old woman, the sick woman, knows the surgery tomorrow would save her life, if she dies during the night.” But, it doesn’t help you very much either if she survives the night, and the doctor’s are not prepared for her life saving surgery tomorrow. Thus, the struggle of leading in two time dimensions continues.
“Yesterday’s actions and decisions, no matter how courageous or wise they may have been, inevitably become today’s problems, crises, and stupidities.” ~ Peter Drucker
This quote by Drucker says it all. As leaders it is our job to help our teams commit today’s resources to the future. Two questions that Maciarello (2014, p. 55) posed are very good reflection points for my role as a turnaround leader:
1. Does your organization focus most of its time and effort on problems related to past decisions?
2. How can you free up some of your time and resources to focus on opportunities that serve the future of our unit?
What we do today really matters. We must keep our short-term and long-term strategies in balance. We must fix the problems of the past, but we must also commit the resources, strategically, to the opportunities of the future.
“Never start with tomorrow to reach eternity. Eternity is not being reached by small steps.” ~ John Donne
Reference
Maciariello, J. A. (2014). A year with Peter Drucker: 52 weeks of coaching for leadership effectiveness. New York, NY: HarperCollins Publishers.
Unwavering Steadfastness & Loyalty
Leaders must be strong, don’t they? Also, leaders must demonstrate they are decisive, resolute, and have all the answers. Right?
Wrong? Leaders should strive for clarity, not necessarily certainty. It is extremely hard to operate today with 100% certainty all the time. Therefore, we should strive for clarity. I have blogged about this before. Click here to read my previous post, “Lead With Clarity, Not Certainty.”
Back to the earlier comments I led off with. Leaders should be allowed to change their minds and should not be afraid to consult others for help answering questions. If the team is developed correctly, leaders should be getting input from everyone. Many times the term “unwavering” is used to describe the decisiveness of a leader. I would rather use this term to describe the leaders unwavering loyalty and steadfastness to those she leads and the organization she serves.
Steadfastness is a disposition of choice to embrace and pursue a worthy goal or objective, despite obstacles. This steadfastness should not be confused with obstinance or not making changes when it is clear a change in direction is needed or necessary. Steadfastness is also a mark of moral maturity and courage. When challenged or facing obstacles and leadership storms we must use our counsels of wisdom.
Great leaders will step outside of their comfort zones. By exercising their flexibility, the leaders becomes stronger. He recognizes the rewards of the risk. Finally, steadfastness allows great leaders to act calmly in the face of disruption or catastrophe. The unwavering leader is resolved to see things through.
It behooves us, then, as leaders, to work at having the physical, mental, and emotional stamina to be an unwavering leader for those we serve.
Important, Not Urgent!
Peter Drucker was the master of focusing his time on the important, not the urgent. He led a focused life doing what he felt he was called to do. Drucker knew how to work on the truly important issues and abandon all the rest (Maciariello, 2014). We have our own purpose in life that should include balance between work and pleasure. But there will always be a decision to make between the important and the urgent.
In advising leaders, Drucker believed in focusing on their processes of leadership, organization and management, including the development of people, building community, and planning for succession (Maciariello, 2014). A pretty good list of focal points if you ask me. Keeping this in mind it is important to remember: You are responsible for allocating your life.
In this week’s lesson I learned of Harry Hopkins, one of President Franklin Roosevelt’s top advisers during World War II. Because he was dying of stomach cancer toward the end of his service, he was forced learn how to do the important and not the urgent. He was able to cut out everything but truly important and vital matters. Churchill called him “Lord Heart of the Matter” and believed he accomplished more than anyone else in wartime Washington. I have added the book The Hopkins Touch: Harry Hopkins and the Forging of the Alliance to Defeat Hitler by David L. Roll to my bookshelf to read this year.
Drucker believed effective leaders do not start out with the question, “What do I want to accomplish?” They start out with the question, “What needs to be done?” He believed, “If there is any one secret of effectiveness, it is concentration.” We must learn in the midst of multiple demands, to give priority, and the necessary amount of time and focus, to the important rather than to the urgent (Maciariello, 2014).
Maciariello (2014) suggested forming a habit of pausing to distinguish the difference between the important and the urgent demands on your time. In order to determine the decisions and work that is important, you must answer the question, “What do I want to be remembered for?” The answer that you come up with will give your life focus and purpose.
I’ll leave you with a question to reflect on: How Have You Allocated Your Life?
Reference
Maciariello, J. A. (2014). A year with Peter Drucker: 52 weeks of coaching for leadership effectiveness. New York, NY: HarperCollins Publishers.
Flat White Starbucks Experience
“While not every leadership team can reward employees with stock options or health-care benefits for part-time employees, every business leader can treat those individuals with enough daily care and concern to inspire passion and creativity in their work.” This quote comes from Joseph Michelli’s great book The Starbucks Experience: 5 Principles for Turning Ordinary Into Extraordinary. I have read all of Dr. Michelli’s books and I suggest you do too! This morning I had this quote proven to me at my local Starbucks in Lebanon. I am a Starbucks lover both because I love the coffee and I love the experience every day. I have been an avid student of of Starbucks and the leadership examples this great organization gives us.
Now, back to the quote and my experience. Actually it was my baristas experience. My barista showed “daily care and concern to inspire passion and creativity.” I have to begin the story by backing up to the introduction of the Flat White. I had been a Latte’ drinker, but ever since my first Flat White it has become my drink of choice. Made properly it should have a white dot of milk and maybe a design in the top of it. Now, when going through the drive through and being handed the cup with a lid on it I have no way of knowing if it looks as beautiful as it is supposed too. I have been amazed, however, at the care the baristas take at making it properly as I peer through the window and watch. They truly care and are concerned that it comes out right, even though I won’t ever look. Recently, I thanked the barista as she handed me my Flat White out the window for taking care to make it right. She said, “It needs to be done right for it to taste the best for you.” That’s passion! And Starbucks knows how to build this care and passion in their team members.
So here’s what happened at the Lebanon Starbucks today. I pulled up to the window to get my Flat White and the barista was taking a picture of my Flat White (see picture in post). Another team member took my Starbucks Gold Member Card to take my payment and said, “She thought it was the best finish she had ever created on a Flat White and needed to take a picture of it. I was so impressed and excited by this. To me this might be the greatest indicator of passion and attention to detail I have ever seen. Creating excellence to the extent that you want to take a picture. How many of you have ever had anyone at a drink or food establishment take a picture of what they created for you?
It was the best Flat White ever. I really don’t know if it was or if it was just great because my barista took a picture of her artwork. We should learn from this barista and strive to do work that is worthy of a picture. Michelli also quotes a Fortune magazine article where it says, “Starbucks story epitomizes ‘imagine that’ in every sense. When the company went public . . . it had just 165 stores clustered around Seattle and in neighboring states. . . . Skeptics ridiculed the idea of $3 coffee as a West Coast yuppie fad.” What if all of us could say our organizations “epitomized ‘imagine that’?” Let’s all commit trying to imagine greatness for our organizations and those we serve and make sure we take some pictures along the way.
Encouraging Yourself
Today I had one of our team members make the comment to me that she was discouraged and that she just needed to talk herself out of being discouraged. I, of course, had a conversation with her and gave her the encouragement I thought was appropriate.
Then I got to thinking – How do we go about encouraging ourselves. Actually, this made me think of 1 Samuel 30:6 where it says, “King David Encouraged himself.” He did this by how it is put in the Message Bible, “David strengthened himself with trust in his God.” As a man of faith I was reminded that this trust in God is crucial to our self encouragement and knowing that there is a plan for us.
In addition, I believe David teaches us that we need to be proud of ourselves. We must also believe in ourselves. To do this we need to be our own best friend. In other words, we need to talk to ourselves like we would to a friend who needs motivation. In the book What To Say When You Talk To Yourself Shad Helmstetter talks about using patterns – to “erase and replace” our negative thoughts with ones which will build our success.
To do this we can reach out to others who can encourage you. Also, make sure you do not dwell on the negative. Next time someone or a situation deflates you and you are discouraged, remember King David’s example of “encouraging himself.”
Leadership At The Highest Level
During my A Year With Peter Drucker professional growth time this morning I learned that the two leaders that Peter Drucker was most influenced by were President Harry S. Truman and Cyrus the Great. Truman because of his immediate recognition of Israel after being granted statehood by the United Nations and Cyrus the Great for freeing and returning the Jews to Jerusalem. Cyrus and Truman were both men of integrity who had sympathy for the human condition. Drucker believed that integrity, and doing the right thing, is the essence of leadership (Maciariello, 2014).
Drucker did a lot of reading and studying outside the realm of management. He did this because he believed that leadership at the highest level is rooted in history, religion, sympathy, and human reality (Maciariello, 2014). This studying beyond one’s own discipline coupled with enough practical experience to know real challenges was very important to Drucker. He believed the ability to quantify is very important in management, but when leading there are unique events that can only be observed through human perception. “What we can perceive is shaped by what we know and that can be aided by broadly educating ourselves” (Marciarello, 2014, p. 38). Perception can be trained so we can identify unique events as they unfold.
Xenophon said, “Adversity is the test of leadership.” Because this is true we must develop a personal growth plan to broaden ourselves in all realms including the humanities and social sciences. We need to follow Peter Drucker’s example and read widely outside of our own disciplines. Will you pledge, along with me to do this? To this end I have added two books to my “to read” shelf this morning:
Reference
Maciariello, J. A. (2014). A year with Peter Drucker: 52 weeks of coaching for leadership effectiveness. New York, NY: HarperCollins Publishers.
Education: Exploiting Knowledge
“Education will become the center of the knowledge society, and schooling its key institution.” This quote by Peter Drucker in May of 2004 has proven so true as we begin 2015. Week 4 of A Year With Peter Drucker: 52 Weeks of Coaching for Leadership Effectiveness by Joseph A. Maciariello (2014) deals with the idea that education is a key to economic development. As I was reading this week’s lesson I couldn’t help but remember what the late H. Dean Evans, former Indiana State Superintendent of Education, used to say about this related to taxes. I had the honor of working for Dr. Evans, and he would say: “The way to raise taxes is to provide great training and education and then everyone will have great jobs and be paying more taxes.” A pretty basic, but true concept. I realize, however, and he did too, that this is a very complex issue to solve.
The lesson this week started with a story about E-Veritas Trading Network in Manila, Philippines. Bottom line is this company trained knowledge workers to develop an entire electronic trading system to deliver quality and safe food to their people at a low cost they could afford (Maciariello, 2014). In other words, they created human capital within people at the bottom of the economic and social pyramid so they could develop rapidly and escape poverty. There is evidence all over the world that through education and management training, those at the lower levels of the social and economic pyramid can be lifted up. People globally can be helped to be sheltered from corruption from being involved in small-scale local economic activity.
For another example we can look to South Korea. Within 25 years after the Korean War, Korea became a highly developed country. They did this by using the universities and colleges of the United States for management education of their people. Then when their students returned home all of that knowledge was shared and assimilated into their businesses and economy (Maciariello, 2014). Maciariello argued it is much more effective and efficient to provide resources for educating present and future leaders of a developing country than providing financial aid (Maciariello, 2014).
This concept is equally true domestically in our own country. It is no secret and is widely accepted that the practice of investing in employee development is the most beneficial practice an organization can partake in. This is why the habit of continuous learning is so important. We must be teaching our students how to learn, because the practice of continual learning will be very important to their generation. It is interesting to me how education and knowledge acquisition has really jumped to the forefront of American politics. This jump has even surpassed over the importance of property and capital acquisition that dominated the Age of Capitalism.
Two questions that need to be answered for learners of all ages, whether P-16 or adult professional, are: What mix of knowledge is required for everybody? and What is “quality” in learning and teaching? Can you imagine if we could come up with these answers in a way that everyone can agree on? Interesting, many businesses and organizations have. Maybe at the P-16 level there needs to be more autonomy to evaluate what quality looks like for the students served.
I was moved by this 1993 quote from Peter Drucker: “No country, industry, or company has any ‘natural’ advantage or disadvantage. The only advantage it can possess is the ability to exploit universally available knowledge (Maciariello, 2014, p. 32). Think about how much more universally available that knowledge is today than when Drucker wrote that. Have you and your organization made learning a lifelong habit? It is never too late to start. Don’t forget the two questions that must be answered for all learners in the previous paragraph and I would add a third: How do the individuals in your organization and you yourself learn? We all learn differently so make sure to differentiate for those differences. Have a great week!
Reference
Maciariello, J. A. (2014). A year with Peter Drucker: 52 weeks of coaching for leadership effectiveness. New York, NY: HarperCollins Publishers.
Effective Leadership: The Alternative to Tyranny
It is hard to believe we are already beginning week three of the new year. It seems like just yesterday we were toasting in the new year. As I was reading lesson three of my 52 lessons on Peter Drucker this morning I first thought it was going to be a pretty quick read and a quick reflection. Boy, was I wrong. I ended up reflecting through my educator lens and found myself reflecting deeply about what we need to do to truly accomplish my vision of providing a quality education for every student. As a believer that every child can learn, this is a very important mission to me.
This week’s lesson in Joseph A. Maciariello’s book, A Year with Peter Drucker: 52 Weeks of Coaching for Leadership Effectiveness, dealt with the three fundamental questions from a functioning society of organizations. I must remind you of Drucker’s belief that “management is a human activity (Maciariello, 2014).” Drucker’s three fundamental questions revolve around satisfying needs of human beings. It should also be noted that Drucker also recognized that we now need an enormous number of managers and leaders so we have to organize their development. “Effective leadership and management of society’s organizations is therefore the alternative to tyranny and the remedy for preserving responsible freedom and equality of opportunity (Maciariello, 2014, p. 20). Therefore we must lead responsible autonomy of our organizations so our team members are able to fulfill themselves.
Drucker’s First Question
“What is our business?” In other words, what are we trying to accomplish? What makes us distinct? When thinking about these questions I began to think about how our customers in education to answer these questions. We know that our customers (students) want to be college and career ready and we know that society wants them to be responsible citizens. But more importantly we need to look more closely at what makes our individual schools we lead distinct.
Our Indiana state constitution also recognizes the importance of this distinctness. In our most recent Education Kitchen Cabinet meeting, Speaker of the House Brian Bosma reminded us of the language referring to education. It is important to pay particular attention to the statement, “by all suitable means.” We have a constitutional obligation to make our delivery of knowledge and learning to our students distinct and effective. Here is a copy of what the state constitution says:
Indiana Constitution – Section 8 – Education
Section 1. Knowledge and learning, general diffused throughout a community, being essential to the preservation of a free government; it should be the duty of the General Assembly to encourage, by all suitable means, moral, intellectual scientific, and agricultural improvement; and provide, by law, for a general and uniform system of Common Schools, wherein tuition shall without charge, and equally open to all.
I know in my case what makes the school I lead distinct is the fact that I lead a school system where students are able to be fully online or have the option to go to our hybrid schools (face to face two days a week and online the other three). What also makes us distinct is that we have a 67% mobility rate. We have to embrace the fact that in many cases we are a short term solution to many of our students. This mobility may be because of health issues, bullying, learning needs, or students who have special circumstances such as being an Olympic gymnast. For many students we are the only available choice in a state that embraces school choice. I believe we are beginning to make progress because we have begun to answer the question of what our business is and what makes us distinct. This realization has only come about because of really asking and listening to our customers (students) about what they believe we should be trying to accomplish for them. We have a long way to go, but are making progress.
It should also be noted that when I was a principal of an urban state takeover/turnaround school that I had to realize that what we were trying to accomplish was to turn around a culture and facilitate the learning of our students to provide credit recovery and catchup academic growth (only 19% of our students were on grade level when taking over). I believe we were able to successfully take the school off the “F” list because we accepted that the students we served made us distinct and we embraced it. To be successful we must accept and embrace the population we serve.
Second Drucker Question
“What are results?” This is a much easier question for a business that sells a product. It is a much tougher, some would say impossible, question to answer in education. While I believe in accountability, I believe this accountability needs to look different based on the distinctness of the organization discussed earlier around the first Drucker question. Recently I have been reviewing Indiana House Bill 1009. This bill has been dubbed the Freedom to Teach Act. It allows a school entity to establish freedom to teach zones, schools, or districts. I am a believer and supporter of this bill, but I also wonder if we should not take one more step and deregulate the accountability (results) piece. Since the plan has to be approved, why not have the school develop, as a part of the plan, an accountability plan. This accountability plan could then be developed based on the distinct characteristics of the school. I must repeat what I said earlier. Every school has distinct populations of students they serve as well as distinct ways of serving their students.
Make no mistake, I believe there will need to be consistent pieces to accountability, but the percentage weightings may be different. Also, there would be different metrics that might be necessary to measure based on the distinct differences of the schools. I am not proposing a specific plan or answer in this post, just proposing that we need to think about this.
Third Question of Core Competencies
“What are your core competencies?” or “What do you have to do with excellence?” To me core competencies are the foundational skills, behaviors, knowledge, and expertise required to be an effective leader in the industry. These competencies assist in providing a common understanding of your organization’s leadership and team member’s roles, responsibilities, and expectations. The core competencies of all organizations need to be integrated into all aspects of the organization, or school in my case.
As a school or organization we need to make a significant contribution to the perceived student/customer benefits of our product and/or service. We must complete this statement: Our students/customers are choosing us because _____________. We need to strive to be difficult for competitors to imitate (if they can or will be able to at all). Our core competencies have to be something our competitors wish they had within their own business or could offer to their students/customers.
Final Thoughts
Our organizations are organs of society. We must integrate the interests of our organizations with the public interest. In education we must find a way to accurately answer the question of what results should our organization be delivering? And, more importantly, is it doing so? These questions are much tougher for social sector institutions than for business organizations. We must continue to strive to find the most accurate indicators of progress for schools and the students they serve.
Reference
Maciariello, J. A. (2014). A year with Peter Drucker: 52 weeks of coaching for leadership effectiveness. New York, NY: HarperCollins Publishers.
Byron's Babbles 
leave a comment