Time-out for Leadership-your one-minute leadership idea.

Tip Sheet #61

Is your self-image important at work?

Several weeks ago, on these pages, I wondered if people owned a mirror in their homes.  I pondered this because I was, quite frankly, sick and tired of watching people come to work looking like a pig.  Of course, this is one man’s opinion but nevertheless I know that if I felt this way, others quite possibly would feel the same way.  In education,your appearance is important.  How students perceive you is extremely important. First impressions last.  However,today’s companion article is not about outward appearance.  It is about what is happening on your inside.  How do you perceive yourself?  How do others perceive you?  Are you seen as a winner?  Or are you viewed as a loser and someone to avoid?

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To be successful in a school you must carry yourself with confidence.  You have to act like a winner.  Before you set foot in your school, you have to be prepared to play like a champion.  I assure you that you do not have to be 6’4 and 275 pounds to do this.  This confidence comes from within.  Until this confidence becomes second nature, you may have to psyche yourself up on a daily basis.  This may sound corny, but I have asked people to develop a little mantra to repeat to themselves as they prepare for work.  No matter what that personal mantra may be, it must somewhere include the concept that, “I am a winner, and I am a champion.”  Very likely, if you believe it, others will also believe it.

If you look like a champion and then believe that you are a champion, there is a high likelihood that you will perform like a champion.

It is critical that your students see you in that light.  For the principal, it is important that the teachers see you in that champion’s light. It all works well, when it is a two-way street.  For example, as I principal, I felt as though I was a champion and I gave the school community a champion’s effort everyday.  But did my faculty and staff see me in that way?  Now that is a good question.  A question that a confident principal will not be afraid to ask his or her staff.  Likewise, if I was a teacher, I would be concerned with not only how my students perceived me, but I would be concerned with how my principal and administration perceive me.  This is important because positive opportunities for growth will more likely go to those that the principal feels possess that winner’s qualities.

It would amaze me when a faculty member would lament that they were never given any special opportunities or chances to shine and grow.  They perceived themselves as a real contributor and high performer.  From the principal perspective this could not have been further from the truth.  These people that I speak of were consistently negative, constant complainers, and royal pains in the butt.  And yet they would be incredulous that opportunities did fall into their laps. A revelation that only recently came to me is that the “pains in the butt” do not know that they are pains in the butt. It is important to for these people to know how they are seen by you and colleagues.

And now, Mr. or Ms. Principal it is incumbent upon you to work with that person on a developmental plan to improve that person’s self-image and ultimately how others see them.   And I can guarantee you that this will not be an easy task.  You must enter in these crucial conversations with evidence armed to illustrate why these folks are viewed as such pains and what they can do to correct it.  Another guarantee is that correcting this will be a long arduous process.  Correcting a pedagogical flaw is easy.  Correcting a personal issue will be difficult.  But at the end of the day it is your job to make everyone a contributor. 

JUST DO IT!

I hope you noticed the banner change on the web site today.  My first book is now available.  Edukate Me, is a handy little survival guide for all new school employees. Pick up a copy.  It is an easy read yet it contains some very valuable information.  Thanks.