Leadership
The process of winning.
In past posts, I have written about how each challenge in our profession can be viewed as a single competition. Every day, we encounter many of these challenges. Successful principals and school leaders share many of the qualities and characteristics of highly successful coaches. Being successful in each encounter may be the ultimate goal, but much is learned from the process of preparing for each challenge. Today we will take a look at the process of winning.
My contention is that we look at each encounter we face as a specific play in a specific game. It is important to stay focused on that one play and when that one play is over, move on to the next. Instead of focusing on the big picture, break your day down into a series on individual plays and look to win each play. The big picture and ultimately winning the challenge will then take care of itself (Kirchenbauer, 2016).
If one is to believe this concept, it is incredibly important to have laser like focus on each event. One must pay attention to every detail and be highly organized.
Great schools have great principals. Just like great athletic programs have great coaches. It is also important not to lose focus on the idea that great coaches are also great teachers. I will argue that the same is true for great principals; they too are great teachers.
There are several things we can learn from great athletic programs. Let us take a look at them. Namely:
- Hire a great principal. This principal must understand the profession and have a vision for what he /she wants to accomplish at the school. He /she must build a sound game plan. They must be able to find the right staff and nurture and motivate growth within this staff. As Jim Collins wrote in Good to Great, and I paraphrase, you must find the right person and make sure they are not only on the bus but in the right seat on that bus. I had the good fortune of working with the highly successful Dr. P. Roy Vagelos, the former CEO of Merck and Co, who led Merck to the top of the pharmaceutical industry, and in our conversations about leadership, he would tell me to design any program around the right person. A sound philosophy but at times difficult in the public sector. It is also important to understand that great talent alone will not produce wins. It takes a great deal of hard work from many people. The principal must outwork any staff member and be able to motivate the staff to follow. (Please remember past articles. It is all about effort and attitude.) The staff in turn must be able to replicate this process with students.
- Procure the best resources possible. Although this can be difficult at times, a leader must prioritize and make strategic use of the available resources. This applies to talent, facilities, and supplies.
- Attract the best and brightest talent. It is essential that a principal surround him / herself with the very best teachers and leaders. Inexperience should not frighten one off. If you have the right person, it becomes your responsibility to mold and lead that talent. Additionally, in today’s educational landscape, you must keep your brightest students at home. We will cover that topic in subsequent articles. When one combines talented students with talented staff the results can be limitless.
- Produce results. The combination of great leadership, great talent, and great resources must yield great results (Kirchenbauer, 2016).
We will close today’s article with something that Bill Parcells, a Hall of Fame Football Coach, once said and again I will paraphrase. He contends that you are either getting better or getting worse every day. Nobody stays the same.
It is my challenge to each principal and teacher that for each day you are getting better.
References
Kirchenbauer, Larry (2016). Five Lessons for Success from the Alabama Crimson tide. Retrieved from http://www.excalibur.com /five lessons for success.
