Timeout for Leadership-your one-minute leadership idea

The Principal Coaching Clinic #16

What is your message?

Last week I wrote about your personal success formula.  Please never forget Ed’s 4 Es, (Expectations, Enthusiasm, Empowerment and Environment).  I think they will help guide you on your journey.  Today I want to talk about your message.  What are you selling about your product?  And for my fellow principals, your product is the education of your community’s students.  Principals and superintendents of past generations did not have to think about this.  Please do not kid yourself, today you must market and sell your school!

In the age of public charters, vouchers and public magnet schools, in addition to aggressive private and parochial schools, without a great message many public schools, especially urban public schools may be doomed.

Today, I want you to think about your ambassadors of your message.  For me, my ambassadors were supposed to be everyone that worked in the school system.  If those that work in the system can’t trumpet the positives, your job of selling your school will be significantly hampered if not doomed. 

And if your staff cannot be these ambassadors your job will be extremely more difficult. It is essential that your school is a “no whining zone.”  Any complaint, bitch, or concern has to be shared behind closed doors.  Yes, you must clean your own dirty laundry.  Because if you don’t, your own staff will sabotage you within the community.  If you don’t believe me, visit your youth soccer fields on a given Saturday.  Or go stand in the parking lot of the most popular grocery store and you will hear the stories.  And yes, most of these stories will be highly embellished if not lies.  Therefore, it is essential that you get out in front of your message.  Your message has to resonate more strongly when confronted with the stories of a disgruntled soccer mom or dad.

The negative message especially troubled me, as the principal, when it came from a fellow administrator.  What does that say about the system when an administrator is running it down?  Not too much.  I know that if I was a parent readying my child to attend your school, and heard this constant negative banter, I would think twice about sending my child to your school. 

I was especially moved by an article I saw this past week in my news feed outlining the graduation speech of a high school valedictorian (CBS News).  For brevity, I will summarize.  After thanking so many adults in the school for being “invested in her education and well-being,” she then went on to point out how so many of the adults failed her.  She sarcastically thanked:

• The adults for teaching her to fend for herself.
• The adults for being unavailable to her and her parents.
• Her counselor for having absolutely no role in any of her achievements.
• Staff for being negligent with sharing scholarship dates.
• Staff for giving her the “run around” on some simple tasks.
• The teacher for coming to work regularly intoxicated who taught her the dangers of alcoholism.

When probed more deeply about her speech she went on to say that most people only heard the negative and she thanked the staff in the beginning of her speech who went well “above and beyond” for the students.  Of course, people only will remember or point out the negative, but be that as it may, I took a great deal form this young lady’s message. I lived through the good and bad of what she talked about.

Everyone must deliver the positive message 24 /7.  You are always on.  If you cannot say anything good, say nothing because you never fully appreciate the damage that you cause.  You must be especially careful in these times when everything is recorded.  You cannot slip up and have a down moment.

Everyone in your school builds this message.  Do not forget to coach up your support staff.  These are the people the public usually sees first and remember that you never get a second chance to make that good first impression.  The principal or the leader CAN DO something about it.  Do it.  I also recall a secretary who constantly went above and beyond to help the students and I know that for many of my former graduates, she was the most important adult in the building.  Good for her.  Kudos to her.   This positivity helped battle the negativity that flowed from others.

The “dark side” is strong.  The “dark side” will pull otherwise good people into this sphere of influence.  By building a great culture and packaging a clear and consistent message you are more apt to keep your staff focused doing the right thing. 

May the force be with you.

 Note well:  I was blessed to have so many teachers, coaches, paras, secretaries, custodians, safety officers, fellow administrators,and others who went well above and beyond.  For you I am grateful.  Thank you.  Please stay strong—for the students.  KUDOS!