Leadership is... Nurturing our human resources

Leaders Nurture Others

Leaders Understand -- (It’s all about relationships) Listen – take the time to listen. One thing often overlooked in leadership is the ability to listen. Listening is so important to those under your supervision. “Tips for Becoming a Better Leader” » John R. Wooden, June 2008

Nurturing Others is -- (all about relationships) Care – show you care. A very important part of leadership is to make those under your supervision feel you care for them – not just for the job they do, but you genuinely care for them personally. You just can’t tell them you care, you have to show it.

Nurturing Others is -- (all about relationships) Be patient – think of the time it takes for a seed to mature into a plant - good things take time. And that’s the way it should be. We don’t want it that way, but that’s the way it is.

Nurturing Others is -- (all about relationships) Win respect – you have to have the respect of those under your supervision. You can’t obtain that respect unless they know they can depend on you. You earn respect by giving respect.

The Six Secrets of Change: What the Best Leaders Do to Help Their Organizations Survive and Thrive by Michael Fullen Secret One: Love Your Employees

A report from McKinsey & Company focusing on the top-performing school systems in the world provides the central reason why we must value employees...

Leaders understand -- We must value employees as much as customers (children and parents), because...

Leaders understand -- “The quality of the education system cannot exceed –- the quality of its teachers.” Barber & Mourshed, 2007

Leaders Show they Value Employees George Bernard Shaw observed, “The difference between a flower girl and a lady is not how she behaves, but how she’s treated.”

Secret Two: Connect Peers with Purpose Peer interaction is much more than mere collaboration; it is the social and intellectual glue of an organization.

Leaders Connect Peers with Purpose Leaders direct and guide teachers to work with and learn from each other.

Leaders Connect Peers with Purpose Through Professional Learning Communities, leaders – create the conditions for effective interaction and intervene when necessary.

Secret Three: Capacity Building Prevails Leaders develop a culture of capacity building.

Leaders Build Capacity Seek talented people, and then help them develop, individually and collectively.

Leaders Build Capacity Seek people who are individually talented and also system talented – that is, they work well with others and keep developing cultures of purposeful collaboration.

Secret Four: Learning is the Work Learning on the job, day after day, is the work.

Leaders lead learning The goal is to define best practice – those elements essential to success. Then take care that everyone does those tasks well -- using the known best methods.

Secret Five: Transparency Rules The first reason transparency rules is that it’s going to, whether we like it or not. The second reason it rules is that transparency is a good thing.

Effective organizations embrace transparency Leaders share and use data to measure and evaluate progress, and to guide improvement, including...

Transparency Rules When data is presented in a nonjudgmental way, considered with peers, and used by staff for internal and external accountability, it becomes a lever that moves both individuals and the group to higher performance.

Secret Six: Systems Learn How do systems learn? First, they focus on developing many leaders working in concert. Second, they are led by leaders who approach their work with humility and faith that effectiveness can be maximized under any circumstances.

Leadership for Learning A cooperative system where employees and evaluators work together in an interactive process to identify needs and seek solutions together.

Leadership for Learning An opportunity for the evaluator and the employee to analyze, confer, share, formulate, and experiment together.

Leaders –Nurture Emphasis on a successful working relationship between the evaluator and the employee.

Leaders –Nurture Evaluators will take a positive approach to the process in a manner that encourages mutual growth and provides support for that growth.

Leaders –Nurture Employees can expect an evaluator to be open and honest, and to listen to their concerns, and to elicit their input and self evaluation of their performance.