Timeout for Leadership-your one-minute leadership idea

Tip Sheet #39

He passes the eye candy test.

 Last week I wrote about the five-tool player and hopefully you have been able to apply this concept to your school or place of business. This concept presents some interesting discussion points and I wish it was easy to quantify these It is difficult if not impossible to do this.

Today, I approach a much simpler Moneyball concept. A candidate enters your office for their interview.  You immediately have an impression of this person.  Namely, does he or she pass the eye candy test?  Does he or she have the looks?  Is there any substance there or is he or she just playing the part?  It is great when everything comes together.  Your candidate has the five tools that you want and he or she looks like not only a player but a champion.  And the icing on the cake may come six months later when you realize that this person does in fact have what it takes to be a champion.  In teaching, if the candidate does not have the looks of a champion, the students are apt to scuttle any chance of success.  Students have a remarkable way of undermining any teacher who does not look the part.   I never wanted to believe this until I was burned by this on several different occasions.

Now that you have identified the talent that you want and have actually hired that person, it is essential that you nurture it.  You must help that person grow.  It is a rarity when that talent will be able to grow all by itself.  It is time that you apply both tender loving care and that kick in the butt when needed.  It is critical that you be able to read this person well enough that you come to know when he or she needs that arm around the shoulder or when that person needs a dose of tough love.  Once you understand what makes them tick you are well on the way to developing that champion performer that you seek.

I tend to judge how successful I have been if there is always a talent pool ready, willing and able to fill the next in-house position when that vacancy exists.  Is your talent promotion ready?  For me, I always hoped that I had a pool of viable, legitimate candidates to move into a vacant vice principal’s position when one came up.  Over the course of my career I had mixed results with this notion.  It seemed as though it was always feast or famine.

Upon reflection, I do not think I did a good enough job developing this pool of talent.  I needed to provide more leadership opportunities to staff.  I needed to promote the importance of school administration.  It easy to rationalize that the job is not as attractive as it once was and that teaching salaries have caught up to administrative salaries.  People view administration as a thankless job.  This may be true, however there are tremendous rewards for moving up the ranks in school leadership.  For me, the most important aspect of this was your ability to implement your own vision for the school along with impacting the lives of an overwhelming number of students that pass through your hallways. For me, these thoughts mad it attractive for me to leave the classroom.

Each principal or superintendent must consciously work on the transition of leadership in your school or district.  If all is working well, this can be a seamless move.  When it is not, it can become quite a mess.  Without a transition plan it will not matter if you have five tool players that actually pass the eye candy test.

Do not wait until it is too late.  Start grooming your five tool administrators now!