Building a compact within your district

1. Building a compact within your district New York State Association of Small City School Districts 2008

2. Hopefully I have a unique perspective • Two years looking at the research on leadership and organizational development • Twenty-three years as a superintendent • Eighteen in a small city

3. My basic premises • Leaders need to see organizational behavior through multiple frames in order to make sense of reality, and to have multiple leadership strategies at their disposal. • Success in public education is related to the degree that stakeholders embrace the moral purpose of schools. • Significant change requires purposeful relationships. • Such relationships are built on trust. • Trust is the sum of competence and character. • Character is reflected in our ability to make and keep promises.

4. What does the literature tell us about how organizations function? • Bolman and Deal…4 Frameworks of Leadership • Fullan…Change Theory • Goleman…leadership styles • Covey…both Stephen and Stephen M.R. and Bryk and Schneider…relational trust • Marzanno…the power of a purposeful community

5. The unique aspects of a human service organization • Virtually all human service organizations are not for profit. • People who choose to work in this environment have opted not to enter highly competitive careers that focus on significant personal financial gain • People in human service organizations tend to have higher needs for affirmation and support

6. My first question. • Why are so many leaders clueless regarding what is going on in their organization? • Or why did the Secretary of Defense think the insurgency in Iraq was a bunch of dead enders?

7. Bolman and Deal’s 4 Frameworks and a bunch of dead enders

8. My next question… • Do some “styles” of leadership work better than others?

9. Goleman’s six leadership styles • Coercive-compliance…do what I tell you • Authoritative-mobilizes toward a goal…come with me! • Affiliative-harmony & emotional bonds…people first • Democratic-consensus and participation…what do you think? • Pacesetting-high standards…do as I do • Coaching-develops people…try this

10. Of the styles • 2 of the 6 negatively affect climate and thus performance. • One fosters resistance • One fosters burnout • Situational leadership suggests that each of the frames aligns with a specific leadership style

11. Bolman and Deal’s 4 Frameworks and Goleman’s six leadership styles

12. My conclusion:Human service organizations requires attention to all four frameworks and use of all four leadership styles Especially when engaging in the change process

13. and…as we talk of issues associated with… • Reform • Improvement • Restructuring • …all are forms of change.

14. To staff I do not like something about you…the way you look, act, talk, think, perform. What you are doing now, is not good enough. You are inadequate. You are not competent. “Don’t they think we know what we are doing?” To the community What we have been doing with your kids hasn’t worked You have been paying for the wrong thing We have been wasting your money The way your were educated is inadequate What does it say when I say you need to change?

15. Two kinds of change • First order change…change which is an extension of current practice • Second order change…change that requires a rethinking of basic assumptions and or a reordering of beliefs.

16. In order for schools to begin to approach 2nd order change • There must be a moral purpose guiding the change • There must be a high level of relational trust • There must be execution excellence • And all of this must transcend the school house and extend into the community

17. If you can establish these elements… • You have a chance to move out of “survival mode” • To engage in organizational “creation” • And to practice… • Governance and leadership “legacy”

18. What do we mean by moral purpose? • The sense of purpose that binds us together • A sense of being part of something bigger than ourselves • Which bricklayer would you rather hire?

19. Moral Purpose

20. To staff I do not like something about you…the way you look, act, talk, think, perform. What you are doing now, is not good enough. You are inadequate. You are not competent. “Don’t they think we know what we are doing?” To the community What we have been doing with your kids hasn’t worked You have been paying for the wrong thing We have been wasting your money The way your were educated is inadequate What does it say when I say you need to change?

21. To our staff What we do matters deeply in the lives of children and society We can NOT send children out unprepared What we do in the classroom must reflect the very best in practice. What are the ramifications of less than best practice? Do you want to be part of something bigger than yourself? We really can’t leave any child behind! To our community We want to provide the best possible educational experience for all of your children The world requires a more sophisticated graduate There is no place for the uneducated in the global economy Just like medicine our practice should be improving as we learn more about the brain and how children learn We really can’t leave any child behind! What is the moral imperative of school leadership?

22. To staff I do not like something about you…the way you look, act, talk, think, perform. What you are doing now, is not good enough. You are inadequate. You are not competent. “Don’t they think we know what we are doing?” To our staff What we do matters deeply in the lives of children and society We can NOT send children out unprepared What we do in the classroom must reflect the very best in practice. What are the ramifications of less than best practice? Do you want to be part of something bigger than yourself? We really can’t leave any child behind! The impact of Moral Purpose

23. To the community What we have been doing with your kids hasn’t worked You have been paying for the wrong thing We have been wasting your money The way your were educated is inadequate To our community We want to provide the best possible educational experience for all of your children The world requires a more sophisticated graduate There is no place for the uneducated in the global economy Just like medicine our practice should be improving as we learn more about the brain and how children learn We really can’t leave any child behind! And in the community

24. I do not think we emphasize our moral purpose enough. And Jamie’s old employers certainly do emphasize theirs.

25. Its all about relationships • If I ask you to change, and expect you to do it… • We need to have some kind of relationship and… • It has to be dependent on some level of trust. • Trust is the keystone to all relationships.

26. Trust exists on multiple levels • Competence. Do I know what I am doing? • You can not lead if you can not manage. • Competence is capability and results… • It is demonstrated every day by execution • Character. Can you believe I am doing this for the right reasons? • Character is integrity and intent.

27. One never takes trust for granted • An effective leader is constantly engaged in relationship building… • Constantly engaged in building moral purpose… • Constantly linking relationships with moral purpose. • Constantly demonstrating competence through execution excellence.

28. By definition… • One is in the survival mode when there are serious unresolved issues of trust

29. Build Trust Inspire Trust Nurture Trust Maintain Trust Self trust Relational trust Organizational trust Community trust Social trust How do Board’s of Education and Senior Executive Leadership…

30. The link to community is all about trust The is no change without relationships. There are no relationships without trust.

31. Trust

32. Build Trust Establishing dignity as a core value Treating people with kindness and courtesy Loyalty to the absent Transparency AND confidentiality Accepting, even welcoming dissent Acting in the common interest Apologizing Making and keeping promises Compromise Trust Stripping people of their dignity Acting unkindly Gossip…talking behind people’s backs Undue secrecy Acting in self interest Labeling people as enemies “us vs. them” mentality Denying mistakes Breaking promises Behaviors that…

33. More than any single behavior, trust is established by… • Doing what it was you said you were going to do… • Making… • and keeping • PROMISES

34. What are the essential promises you are willing to make to… • Each other • Your staff • Your community

35. Be careful… • We must not promise what we ought not, lest we be called on to perform what we cannot.  ~Abraham Lincoln

36. Think it through • Those that are most slow in making a promise are the most faithful in the performance of it.  ~Jean Jacques Rousseau

37. Follow with commitment • Unless commitment is made, there are only promises and hopes; but no plans.  ~Peter F. Drucker

38. And execution • It is an immutable law in business that words are words, explanations are explanations, promises are promises but only performance is reality.  ~Harold Geneen

39. Therefore… • As a taxpayer, what promise are you willing to make to me… • As a parent… • As a teacher… • As a student… • What will you promise me?

40. The four promises every school board ought to be able to make to its community… • A promise about safety • A promise about instruction • A promise about stewardship • A promise about how we treat each other

41. Safety involves… • Security against outside threat • Safe and orderly environment

42. Instruction • Highly competent staff • Tried and true methods • Appropriate program • Never giving up on children

43. Stewardship • Good solid business practices • Maintenance of investments • Prudence in expenditures

44. How we treat each other • Polite, open interaction • Transparency • Listen • Inclusive • Create a culture where the inherent dignity of each individual is valued

45. Think about making the four promises • The benefits of the conversation • The chance to engage the community and staff • And most importantly, • The moral compass you provide for yourself

46. In the end…as leaders we are one of three stages… • Survival, where trust and competence is not firmly established • Creation, where we can engage in 1st order change and establish the vision • Legacy, where the organization achieves moral purpose

47. The legacy leader… • Is known for the leaders she has helped develop • Has light footprints • Takes the lead in tough issues, lets others forge forward in easier issues • Sees herself as a servant to the moral purpose of the school • When making and keeping promises, “It is not the oath that makes us believe the man, but the man the oath.”  ~Aeschylus

48. For further information… • My conceptual framework is base on the work of several scholars • There is high quality training that essentially implements this scholarship • Franklin Covey implements the work of Stephen Covey • Gary McGuey does foundational work in building capacity for inspiration among teachers • Links follow for both.

49. The Challenge of Greatness 4 Disciplines of Execution - Click Here The xQ (Execution Quotient survey) - Click Here The Four Imperatives of Leadership - Click Here Leading at the Speed of Trust - Click Here Leadership Modular Series - Click Here The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People – Click Here Short video link – Click Here Click Here for more information regarding the Organizational Greatness process FranklinCovey Client Partner Bret Davis Cell: 610-213-4791 Office: 610-630-5634 Fax: 610-630-5635 bret.davis@franklincovey.com We help Education Organizations build the culture that produces great results

50. The Inspirational Teacher workshop www.theinspirationalteacher.com garymcguey@theinspirationalteacher.com Leadership is communicating to people their worth and potential so clearly that they come to see it in themselves. This is the objective of the Inspirational Teacher process. By modeling principles, respecting, listening and building relationships, we challenge students to aspire to and attain higher expectations, thereby developing future leaders.