Turning Goals into Results for Greater Success — #SH302

Turning Goals into Results for Greater Success — #SH302

by | Jan 5, 2020 | #SH302, Daily Habits, Excellence, Learning to Lead, Motivation, Passion

Success is the progressive realization of a worthy ideal. ~ Earl Nightingale

Conquering Your Demons

The valiant knight stood over the bones of his fallen enemies, having collected them all for the keeping. Seven in total, he slain over the last ten months. He pursued them each, one-by-one, willingly and eagerly, knowing that by conquering them it brought him closer-and-closer to achieving his goals.

But imagine that these enemies are not people, but rather the hopes and desires that we each have, the ones that haunt us at night for fear that we won’t achieve them. The inability to grasp them creates the very obstacles that keep us from making gains toward their achievement. We need but only the slightest doubt in ourselves, and we fall prey to obstructing our own vision of success with relentless hesitation. It’s the knight who never waivers from his mission and who will seek and find his betrayers knowing that conquering them will lead to success.

Goal Setting and Renewal

January is traditionally a month for goal setting, often believed to be a time of renewal. We’re big supporters of this because it helps people to move forward, dismissing what has held us back thus far. But we also know how often goals are not achieved. The failure rate for New Year’s Resolutions is upward toward 80 percent of the time. This means that 8 out of our 10 readers of this post will not achieve their goals. There are ways, though, that we can stay true to our passion and gain access to something we desperately want. So that you can lead better, grow faster, and reach your goals in 2020, we developed the model below. The phases are not meant to be steps, which means that they can overlap and repeat. Follow the model and slay any temptation to surrender to your enemies.

The Phases of Success Through Goal Setting 

The Phases of Success Through Goal Setting

Phase 1: Set One Big Important Goal. Identify one goal that you are passionate about. Start with one thing that eclipses everything else. This is not a lukewarm desire; this is something that wakes you up at night that you need to accomplish.

Phase 2: Bring It to Life. Write your goal down in words. You can use your phone, a journal, or a 3×5 card, but your goal needs to be with you daily so that you can review it in the morning and then again before bed. The only way that a goal is real, beyond a thought or idea, is when you bring it to life by writing it down.

Phase 3: Create A Master Plan. Create a master plan designed with the details about what your goal looks and feels like once achieved as well as the deadlines for each of the moving parts. You’ll know if your goal is big enough when it overshadows other problems that can derail you throughout the day. We all get sidetracked by common problems, even thoughts that creep into our minds. The minute you find yourself thinking back to the goal, you know it’s both important and necessary.

Phase 4: Be Accountable. Get an accountability partner. This has to be someone who will initiate a check-in once per day. It can be as quick and simple as a text, but it has to be daily and you have to respond with an update on your progress toward the first deadline from Phase 3.

Seeking Satisfaction Through Reflection

To help with your goal setting process in Phase 1, we remind you about TheSchoolHouse302 Blockchain of Life. It provides the categories of success that are necessary for happiness and satisfaction in life and work. Use it to reflect as you set your one big important goal and then move forward to Phase 2.

TheSchoolHouse302 Blockchain of Life

Wellness–your fitness, health, energy levels, and overall feeling of wellbeing.

Spirituality— your faith, religion, self-reflection, and a feeling of connectedness to the world.

Family–your relatives who you keep closest in heart and mind.

Friendships–the people you rely on for social activities, fun, and candid conversations.

Work–your role in the organization, your impact on the vision, and your financial earnings.

Growth–your personal and professional development.  

TheSchoolHouse302 Blockchain of Life

That’s this month’s model for turning goals into results for greater success as a leader. Remember, the phases are meant to keep you on track, but they often cycle backward. Keep yourself focused and don’t let distractions and mistakes create restrictions or skepticism. Stay tuned for challenges, nuggets of wisdom, reflection questions, and more. Follow us at dereka206.sg-host.com to join thousands of others who get alerts, resources, podcasts, and more.

Let us know what you think of this #SH302 post with a like, a follow, or a comment. Find us on Twitter, YouTube, iTunes, Facebook, & SoundCould. And, again, if you want one simple model for leading better and growing faster per month, follow this blog by entering your email at the top right of the screen.

TheSchoolHouse302 is about getting to simple by maximizing effective research-based strategies that empower individuals to lead better and grow faster.

Joe & T.J.

Knight's Hands

Feedback: Growing Your Teacher Leaders Using a Leadership Development Continuum Model

Feedback: Growing Your Teacher Leaders Using a Leadership Development Continuum Model

by | Dec 1, 2019 | #SH302, District Office Leadership, Education, Feedback, Leadership, Learning to Lead, Principal Leadership, Principals, Professional Dialogue, Teacher Leadership

Feedback

True intuitive expertise is learned from prolonged experience with good feedback on mistakes. ~ Daniel Kahneman

 

Dave is a Teacher Leader

The whole meeting lasted only seventeen minutes, but it felt like three rounds in a cage fight. No, I wasn’t bloody or bruised, I wasn’t even out of breath. I was overheating, and I could feel my pulse in my temples. What’s amazing is that my visceral reaction was over just a few points that I needed to make about Dave’s leadership and his last department meeting, “Dave, this meeting needed a stronger agenda to keep everyone on task…”

 

Teacher Leaders Need Feedback 

The fact is that providing leadership training and feedback to help teacher leaders grow is challenging. Many would argue that giving feedback is actually more difficult than receiving it, and many supervisors struggle to give quality feedback on lesson delivery, let alone teacher leadership.

But, great administrators know where their people are on the leadership development continuum, and they tailor professional development accordingly. Because the idea of growth is often nebulous, it can be reduced to traits and skills that are critical to be an effective leader, but are not always organized and taught in a systematic fashion. As a result, many individuals never fully develop into great leaders. When developing teacher leaders, it is vital to identify the proven leadership qualities and skills that each person must possess, to evaluate their levels in each of the areas, and to then tailor their leadership development to meet their needs. Teacher leaders are typically selected because of their teaching skills, not necessarily their leadership abilities, which means that we must focus on them if they’re going to be effective in the role.

This process of development highlights the differences between a beginner, intermediate, and expert leader, which allows for competency development to occur on a continuum. Great leaders differentiate professional development experiences for their people so as to target their specific needs. General leadership training is fine for novice leaders, but as each person on the team learns and grows, she needs refined teaching to hone and sharpen specific skills.

That’s why we provide the Leadership Development Continuum Model. It allows leaders to differentiate the four types of training that teacher leaders need as they grow from novice to expert. It was originally published in Candid and Compassionate Feedback, but let’s review it’s use here. 

 

Leadership Development Continuum Model 

 

 

Leadership Development Continuum Model

 

 

Four Types of Leadership Development 

 

Foundational: The first level of leadership development is simply foundational. If teacher leaders are getting any type of leadership training, it’s usually at this level. This type of training is universal, which means it will benefit everyone on the team. Example: Book studies.

Key Success Driver: The key to foundational training for teacher leaders is to make sure that it’s on the agenda for every meeting. If 30-50% of your leadership team meetings aren’t spent on leadership development, the rest of the time you spend on initiatives and programs is wasted.

Experiential: The next level of training is far more specialized. Experiential leadership training is designed to provide teacher leaders with job-embedded learning. Most teacher leaders are still spending the majority of their time in the classroom with their “leadership” time during planning periods and after school. Experiential training is the first step to breaking down the barriers of isolation for teachers to learn and lead outside of the classroom walls. Example: Instructional rounds with administrators, specialists, or coaches to include feedback conversation thereafter.

Key Success Driver: The key to experiential leadership development is for the teacher leader to be an eye-witness to the problems-of-practice and challenges that teachers and students face. We must bring the teacher leader to the table to discuss theories-of-action and next steps regarding professional development and feedback for the staff. Providing time outside of the classroom is key for teacher leaders to gain perspective as they learn and grow.

Practical: This level of leadership development is geared more toward an advanced or advancing teacher leader. It’s still universal enough in that it can be done within the school, but it’s definitely specific to the person and not just the position they hold. Practical leadership development always involves a coach or supervisor who conducts a focused observation and then provides direct feedback to the teacher. Example: Feedback after observing a department meeting.

Key Success Driver: Typically, when we think of observation and feedback cycles in schools, we focus on instruction, instructional delivery, and planning. But, for leaders to grow, like any other area of skill development, they need feedback. The key is for the coach (outside consultant or administrator) to observe the teacher “leading” and then provide specific written and/or verbal feedback on a predetermined leadership skills (such as clear communication).

Topical: The most advanced leadership development scenario on the continuum is for leaders to attend a session at a conference (or other off-site seminar) on a topic that is specific to her developmental needs. This type of training is reserved for an expert leader who needs specialized training in something that cannot be delivered within the school or district. Example: Attend a restorative practice conference.

Key Success Driver: The key to this level of leadership development is not just that it’s off-site; the conference, course, or seminar must be specific to the needs of the leader or the school. Too often, when we send our teachers to conferences, we don’t provide a specific focus or strand for them to target. And, we generally send teachers to “teaching conferences.” In this case, we’re sending the teacher leader to a leadership conference or seminar with a specific focus on one aspect of their leadership development or expert knowledge that they need in their role.

Great school leaders are focused on developing the best teacher leadership team possible. They know that if the leadership in the school is limited to that of the administration, they’re doomed to failure. It’s not possible to run an effective school with just the administrative team; it takes highly skilled and well-trained teacher leaders and a distributive leadership model.

We’re helping administrators across the country with everything from the development of their team to mastermind coaching to feedback models that work. Don’t hesitate to reach out and contact us.

 

#SH302: Making Better Decisions w/ CARE

#SH302: Making Better Decisions w/ CARE

by | Nov 3, 2019 | #SH302, Decision-Making, Leadership, Learning to Lead

Options Image

Whenever you see a successful business, someone once made a courageous decision. ~ Peter Drucker

Decision-making is a common and routine aspect of life. Wansink and Sobal, of Cornell University, estimate that we make over 200 decisions every 24 hours solely on what to eat. By the end of any given day, we’ve made around 35,000 decisions. Obviously, our decisions range greatly in terms of their degree of importance and impact. Regardless, our every decision is the purest reflection of who we are, what we believe, and what we want to achieve.

Earl Nightingale provides the greatest definition of success, which is “the progressive realization of a worthy goal or ideal.” The threshold between where we are and where we want to be lies in our decisions. The final evaluation of our progress toward success is based on whether our decisions actually reflect our goals. This is true in both our professional and personal lives. To create greater alignment between your decisions and what you want to achieve, we tell TheSchoolHouse302 followers to use more CARE.

CARE

#1. Core Values–Personal values must be clearly defined and written for you to live by. The first key to effective decision-making, especially when you’re working against time, is to stay grounded in your personal and organizational core values. Kraemer argues that values-based leaders use values, principles, and self-reflection to guide themselves and others down the right path. Bad decisions can almost always be traced back to either a lack of clear values or a deviation from them.

#2. Automate Routines–We’ve all heard or read about the famed stories of individuals like Steve Jobs and President Obama who wore the same clothes every day so as to not waste their mental energy on simple decisions. The premise behind this behavior is that we are all susceptible to decision-making fatigue. Successful people view their decisions and their ability to make them as a commodity, which loses value as the day wanes on and we grow more tired. The more you can automate, the more space you have to make better decisions. And, our decisions are at their worst when we’re tired.

#3. Rely on a Trusted Few–In Napoleon Hill’s seminal work, Think and Grow Rich, he stressed the importance of having a Mastermind Alliance. For effective decision-making, everyone needs a group of people who can be trusted to hold you accountable and provide direction. We often make our best decisions after getting sound advice from mentors, other leaders, and friends.

#4. Evaluate the Impact–UMass Dartmouth offers a succinct 7-step process for effective decision-making. Step 7 is the linchpin for improving our decision-making skills because it requires an assessment of the decision and whether or not it resolved the problem is was intended to address. We get better-and-better at making decisions when we know which ones worked and didn’t work. The process of evaluation tells us what we need to know about impact, outcomes, and future scenarios.

That’s this month’s model for making decisions with CARE. Stay tuned for challenges, nuggets of wisdom, reflection questions, and more. Follow us at dereka206.sg-host.com to join thousands of others who get alerts, resources, podcasts, and more.

Let us know what you think of this #SH302 post with a like, a follow, or a comment. Find us on Twitter, YouTube, iTunes, Facebook, & SoundCould. And, again, if you want one simple model for leading better and growing faster per month, follow this blog by entering your email at the top right of the screen.

TheSchoolHouse302 is about getting to simple by maximizing effective research-based strategies that empower individuals to lead better and grow faster.

Joe & T.J.

 

 

#SH302: Low Level Leadership—Three Surefire Ways to Crush Creativity

#SH302: Low Level Leadership—Three Surefire Ways to Crush Creativity

by | Oct 6, 2019 | #SH302, Creativity, Learning to Lead

Be Creative

Sarah Jenkins was 17 minutes into teaching her lesson when Mr. Simmons, her supervisor, took a seat in the back of the room. Molly, an eager and energetic 7th grader, was reading a short passage: “My parents told me to stay away from Betty, but they had not told me to avoid Andy. He was a bully for sure, but I meant to ask him about the belfry and the taut-wire across the path.” Mrs. Jenkins stopped Molly and proceeded to ask the whole class a few questions. After a few responses, Sarah quickly divided the class into their specific learning stations. The students moved around the room and eventually got to work.

Mrs. Jenkins loved Wolf Hollow by Lauren Wolk. The fact that it dealt with the difficult topic of bullying set the stage to have “courageous conversations” with her students, and it was set in rural Pennsylvania, just miles Northwest of Sentry Middle School located in North Wilmington, Delaware. Throughout this reading, she was using learning stations to ensure differentiated instruction after a short whole class discussion. She broke the reading into chunks and then gave the students tasks for both summarizing and extending their thinking.

Just a few short hours later, Mrs. Jenkins was completely disheartened when she received an email from her supervisor suggesting that the transition to the stations could be less disruptive. His feedback was limited only to the classroom management aspect of what he saw during his visit.

Sarah didn’t necessarily disagree with her supervisor’s comments. In fact, she had already reflected on a better way to move students into groups for the next day. There was no mention of the stations and the quality and rigor of the tasks at each. Sarah planned extensively, and the activities for this lesson were diverse and engaging. She simply couldn’t help but feel resentful regarding the feedback. It was shortsighted and unfair.

Regardless of the organization, whether private industry or education, every leader wants their employees to “think out-of-the-box” as innovators. Schools desire classroom teachers who stoke curiosity and fuel creative thinking for students. Despite their appetite, and the common rhetoric that we value risk-takers, too often the leader’s actions do not align with their thirst for a creative output from employees. In fact, the opposite is true. Instead of supporting imagination and ingenuity, they stifle it. Instead of feedback being supportive, even when it’s corrective, it all too often only communicates a one-sided viewpoint. Instead of choosing to champion creativity, we crush it.

When the leaders’ behaviors aren’t aligned with the desired outcomes, we actually contradict the culture we want. This couldn’t be more the case when we include aspects of worker satisfaction, like engagement, creativity, and decision-making. “On average, fewer than two in 10 employees strongly agree they can take risks to be creative” (Gallup, 2018). For organizations to thrive, we have to support the people who are willing to take a leap. We have to create psychological safety, collaborative environments, and a willingness to take risks. As the leader of your organization, don’t fall into the following three common traps.

Three surefire ways to suppress creativity and manage people to mediocrity: 

  1. Don’t pass judgement without supporting and celebrating the work. Sarah’s supervisor focused on one need for improvement without honoring the other great aspects of the lesson, which deflated Sarah regarding all of the other thinking and planning that went into what he saw when he was there. Instead, he should have used a 3:1 or even a 5:1 ratio for specific praise to corrective action. He needed to build psychological safety, but he destroyed it. 
  2. Don’t over-prescribe recommendations based on the limited scope of what can be observed in short blocks of time. Unfortunately, Sarah’s supervisor focused on only one aspect of her lesson. It’s as if he didn’t see anything else that happened before, during, or after the time he was there. Instead, he should have asked reflection questions to prompt dialogue about what he didn’t see and what she already knew needed to be improved. He needed to collaborate, but he shut her off from wanting to share. 
  3. Don’t limit risk-taking by overlooking new ideas and efforts. Sarah’s boss totally overlooked the station work and the rigorous tasks. Instead of rewarding the risk that she took with a new idea in the classroom, he simply ignored it. We need more rebels in our organizations, not passive compliance.

Choose to Champion Creativity, Not Crush It

Creativity Chart

That’s this month’s model for organizational creativity. Stay tuned for challenges, nuggets of wisdom, reflection questions, and more. Follow us at dereka206.sg-host.com to join thousands of others who get alerts, resources, podcasts, and more.

Let us know what you think of this #SH302 post with a like, a follow, or a comment. Find us on Twitter, YouTube, iTunes, Facebook, & SoundCould. And, again, if you want one simple model for leading better and growing faster per month, follow this blog by entering your email at the top right of the screen.

TheSchoolHouse302 is about getting to simple by maximizing effective research-based strategies that empower individuals to lead better and grow faster.

Joe & T.J.

#SH302: Low Level Leadership–Three Surefire Ways to Disengage Your People

#SH302: Low Level Leadership–Three Surefire Ways to Disengage Your People

by | Sep 2, 2019 | #SH302, Engagement, Learning to Lead

Supervisor

Twenty minutes went by before Jan even realized that she was staring blankly at her computer screen. She thought to herself that it wasn’t always like this. In fact, there was a time when she was excited to come to work. But things changed. A few of her colleagues moved on and new regulations restricted creativity, but the biggest factor in her disengagement was her new supervisor. Each day she was consumed with nothing but uncertainty, isolation, boredom, and neglect. The negative aspects of work-life were stacking up, creating an atmosphere of disconnect and withdrawal.

Jan’s boss is a poor leader, and he alienated people with his behaviors. The sad truth is that Jan is not alone in how she feels about her manager. According to Gallup only about a third of U.S. employees are engaged. There are tons of reasons why employees are disengaged at work and we can’t saddle all of them on the leader, but there are three surefire ways to guarantee worker disengagement, and they can plague any organization if we’re not careful.

  1. The first, and probably the most common problem with low level leaders, is that they don’t celebrate their people. Poor leaders ignore the accomplishments of others and treat everyone as a commodity. Instead of lifting people, they use them for their own success, take credit for any and all achievements, and hold them back from being recognized.
  2. The second and equally damning behavior is when low level leaders create uncertainty for the team. Bad leaders deliver vague goals that are then coupled with high expectations. They want results but convey very little direction. Instead of relying on clear values, they constantly convey new objectives.
  3. The third, and toughest habit to break, is when low level leaders micromanage the people they supervise. They take away their ability to make decisions, to manage their time effectively, and to act with confidence. Instead of unleashing talent by empowering people, they paralyze them by second guessing their every action.

Leaders don’t wake up and decide to be ineffective. In fact, we believe that many leaders are simply unaware of just how much their actions actually stifle the people they lead. The remedy is to recognize when your leadership is low level and how you can shift your actions toward engagement. The following Employee Engagement Chart demonstrates the key behaviors associated with low level leadership and how each has its own countermeasure so that you can climb out of the valley of disengagement once and for all.

Engagement

That’s this month’s model for employee disengagement/engagement. Stay tuned for challenges, nuggets of wisdom, reflection questions, and more. Follow us at dereka206.sg-host.com to join thousands of others who get alerts, resources, podcasts, and more.

Let us know what you think of this #SH302 post with a like, a follow, or a comment. Find us on Twitter, YouTube, iTunes, Facebook, & SoundCould. And, again, if you want one simple model for leading better and growing faster per month, follow this blog by entering your email at the top right of the screen.

TheSchoolHouse302 is about getting to simple by maximizing effective research-based strategies that empower individuals to lead better and grow faster.

Joe & T.J.

#SH302 — The Three Cs of Motivation: Clarity, Consciousness, and Commitment

#SH302 — The Three Cs of Motivation: Clarity, Consciousness, and Commitment

by | Aug 4, 2019 | #SH302, Daily Habits, Learning to Lead, Motivation, Organizational Growth, Planning and Preparation, Reflect

Carpe Diem

Good, better, best. Never let it rest. ‘Til your good is better and your better is best. ~ St. Jerome

Knowing ourselves and what it means to give our “good, better, best” for any given task is not easy. This understanding requires a deep level of self-awareness, which is only gained through self-reflection. In ancient Greek writings, “know thyself”  comes as a command to look inward. Hobbes uses the Latin translation, nosce teipsum, referring to the need for humans to study themselves to find out more about what influences our inner thoughts and what motivates our actions. This level of consciousness is necessary for us to improve in all facets of life, allowing our good to get better and our better to be best.

But even with this deep level of personal awareness, we can get trapped by the fact that knowledge alone is not a motivator. Something else from inside of us must crave change. Real improvements are drawn about by the desire to live a life in pursuit of the best we can be. Not a better you, but the best you. In fact, it has been said that hell is only your future realization regarding all that you could have accomplished in life but didn’t. The thought that so many people are disengaged with life and work, unmotivated to do their best (upward toward 70% of the workforce), is dispiriting. It’s downright unproductive and wasteful.

The world is desperate for us to be more and give more, for us to follow our dreams and lift from within. Whether it is in service to others, building a business, innovating in a new space, or challenging the status quo, every ounce of us–our intellect, spirituality, physical being–will fall short if our motivation is inconsistent or frail. Regardless of the reason–fear, rejection, doubt, or discomfort–the key is to find that magical point where we are truly motivated to accomplish what we want from every moment of every day.

Undoubtedly, a climatic event or situation can cause this to happen. Richard Rohr describes this as the coming of our second selves. It occurs when we experience something so powerful that our outlook and attitude toward life is immediately altered. But outside of such a drastic scenario, motivation is the result of what we call The Three Cs of Motivation: Clarity, Consciousness, and Commitment. Using these three Cs can help you find your motivation and stay consistent so that you can achieve your goals. 

Motivation Model

Regardless of the area in your life where you need greater motivation, whether that be parenting, starting a business, teaching in the classroom, or leadership of any kind, these three Cs are the foundational elements to get you moving.

#1: Clarity of Purpose–The first step is always to identify what you truly want to achieve, your why.

#2: Consciousness of Ourselves–The second step to reflect on your strengths and weaknesses. This allows us to see where we can take advantage of our natural abilities, and it helps to forecast any potential pitfalls or missteps.

#3: Commitment to Accountability–The third step is to hold yourself accountable, both by having the will to continue after you fail and by systematizing a way to ensure that you stay consistent.

That’s this month’s model for motivation. Stay tuned for challenges, nuggets of wisdom, reflection questions, and more. Follow us at dereka206.sg-host.com to join thousands of others who get alerts, resources, podcasts, and more.

Let us know what you think of this #SH302 post with a like, a follow, or a comment. Find us on Twitter, YouTube, iTunes, Facebook, & SoundCould. And, again, if you want one simple model for leading better and growing faster per month, follow this blog by entering your email at the top right of the screen.

TheSchoolHouse302 is about getting to simple by maximizing effective research-based strategies that empower individuals to lead better and grow faster.

Joe & T.J.