Servant Leadership Versus High Accountability

   

  Principals bossing around teachers and trying to control everything is archaic. Developing people, treating them with respect, encouraging their talents and input - these are trends that research has proven build strong schools and organizations. I believe if principals will really listen to their teachers and figure out how to get them what they need, teachers will perform at a higher level, which will improve the classroom environment and increase student achievement. The work required for schools to succeed is more knowledge-based and depends on employees being creative and making good judgments. It's also important for a principal to keep in mind that their younger and often most creative teachers no longer hesitate to quit an unsatisfying job. Research says that today's younger workforce will hold 14-18 jobs by the age of 38.
    How can a principal lead through servant leadership and sleep at night when they have all the pressure of being accountable for the results their school yields to the superintendent, board of education, and community as a whole? The essence of servant leadership is to serve the employees first, and success will follow. This might appear to be the opposite of modern business strategy. Servant leadership doesn't mean that the principal doesn't cast vision for the school and set strategy. It doesn't mean he or she doesn't hold their people to a standard of teaching excellence. In fact, I will argue that your staff wants you to do those things. They want you to lead. But they also want you to include them in developing the path forward for the school. I want to offer some everyday habits principals can incorporate in their daily routines that can have powerful results.

1. Listen. Pay attention to how you interact in face-to-face conversations, large groups, and meetings. How do you communicate with other administrators, faculty, staff, parents, and vendors? How much do you really hear what they're saying? Do you understand what they need? Find meaningful ways to invite feedback and suggestions.
2. Appreciate. Instead of trying to catch people doing things wrong, shift your attitude to look for people doing things right. Tell them about the right things they are doing both informally in conversations and formally in their annual reviews.
3. Respect. Do you offer your employees the tools to become the best they can be? The emphasis should be on coaching as opposed to controlling. The test of true leadership is whether your teachers leave the school better than when they got there. The only thing worse than growing your employees and losing them is not growing them and keeping them. You want everyone growing and changing and improving. This also includes you! That is the only way your school will grow and change and improve. 
4. Unleash. Your people already have power and energy. They can use it or not use it. How can you give them opportunities to use it? Everyone is already showing up and getting paid. Why wouldn't you want each one to make the biggest contribution he or she can make?

This post was adapted from an article in the January 2012 edition of Success Magazine by Emma Johnson entitled, Become a Servant Leader.

3 Traits of a Potential Teacher Leader

   Every school needs teacher leaders. People who are always seeking to make their classroom and their school better. For many years these teacher leaders have served more of a “representative” role as department chairs, association leaders, and curriculum developers. It’s time that principals allow teachers to become real “leaders” that enact change. Teachers have daily contact with learners and are in the best position to make critical decisions about curriculum and instruction. So how does a principal know when they have a potential leader on their staff? How can he or she be sure that this person can be entrusted to carry the ball and enact positive change? Let me stop and paint a picture of what a potential leader looks like.

Three Traits of a Potential Leader

1.       1.  Passion- No trait is more noticeable than passion. In short, these people love what they do. They have a sense of mission that comes from the heart. A sense of pride and enthusiasm that is contagious. These people tend to push the pedal to the metal and make the most of life. They feel that they must use this day to its fullest, it’s dying tick, tick, tick.

      2.   High Energy- Being an educator has never been more difficult and time consuming. The line between work and home is increasingly blurry. Teachers have to prepare lessons, grade papers, evaluate curriculum resources, communicate with parents, develop benchmarks, assess data, tutor at-risk students, gather documentation to support their evaluation, serve on committees, and constantly engage in professional learning in order to stay relevant. All these things require an enormous amount of stamina. Teddy Roosevelt once said, “Ours is a life of action, of strenuous performance and duty. We must live in the harness of striving mightily. Let us run the risk of wearing out rather than rusting out.” The key to high energy is passion. When you love what you do, you have high energy to do a great job. Passion and high energy always go together.

3    3.  Inner Peace- Great leaders always have a certain inner peace about them. It feels good to be around them. I’m not talking about charisma or someone who is naturally outgoing. It is much more difficult to describe. A sense of inner peace may sound counter-intuitive given the demands of teaching. People don’t want to follow chaotic people. Scattered thinking wastes energy and zaps motivation. You can focus and achieve what you want when you are calm. I believe inner peace comes when one is gifted and confident in what they do. When one is not gifted in their current position inner turmoil is the result. Other sources of inner peace include self-confidence and a strong support group. For me, I get inner peace from my faith in God. I know in whatever I encounter during my day, He is with me.