1. Skillful Leader …Classified
SLIDE 1 – TITLE SLIDE
GOOD MORNING
NAME, TITLE, DISTRICT
TODAY I AM PLEASED TO SHARE A PRESENTATION WITH YOU THAT HAS BEEN VERY SUCCESSFUL IN OUR DISTRICT. TODAY’S PRESENTATION HAS BEEN SHARED WITH OUR ADMINISTRATIVE TEAM (BOTH CLASSIFIED AND CERTIFICATED) TO HELP THEM BECOME BETTER SUPERVISORS. THE WORKSHOP IS BASED ON THE BOOK SKILLFUL LEADER.
SUMMER OF 2011 WORKED WITH HR ADMIN TEAM TO DEVELOP A PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM FOR THE PRINCIPALS. WORKED WITH PRINCIPALS TO IMPROVE THE OBSERVATION AND EVALUATION PROCESS FOR TEACHERS USING THE SKILLFUL LEADER PHILOSOPHY.
SUMMER OF 2012 – SURVEYED SUPERVISORS OF CLASSIFIED TO GET THEIR SUGGESTIONS ON TRAINING TOPICS FOR BUILT A TRAINING CALENDAR BASED ON THEIR INPUT, MY KNOWLEDGE OF THEIR WEAKNESSES AND THE SKILLFUL LEADER PHILOSOPHY. INTRODUCED THE TRAINING CALENDAR TO THE ENTIRE ADMIN LEADERSHIP TEAM IN AUGUST OF ROLLED OUT THE FIRST TRAINING SESSION IN OCTOBER.
TODAY’S WORKSHOP IS THE FIRST WORKSHOP THAT WAS PROVIDED TO THE CLASSIFIED MANAGEMENT TEAM IN OCTOBER.
Introduction to the Skillful Leader
Tony Signoret
Director, Certificated Human Resources
Palm Springs Unified School District
Friday April 5th, 2013

2. Skillful Leader …Classified
Confronting Mediocre Performance
“If the employee is performing poorly, I can better deal with that than I can deal with an employee who is just doing their job.”
(modified - Confronting Mediocre Teaching - pg.7)

3. Skillful Focus Introduce Skillful Concepts Identify Mediocre Employees
Complete Skillful Reflection
Complete Skillful Roadmap
Workshop Modules - Collaborative Skillful Analysis and Support (Professional Learning Community)

4. “More information, means more credibility” (p. 72)
Skillful Terms
Leniency Effect & Halo Error
Tentative and/or Mixed Messages
Evaluator Impressions
Evidenced Based Narratives
“More information, means more credibility” (p. 72)

5. Skillful Leader Concepts
Mediocre Employee
Debilitating Beliefs
Unpromising Practices
Confront Institutional Mediocrity

6. Identify the Mediocre Employee
Excellent employees & Incompetent employees share one quality - They are easy to identify
Rate Employees - Handout 1 (Part One)

7. Identify the Mediocre Employee
Common Characteristics
They have satisfactory attendance and are pleasant to others
But they are very unorganized and miss deadlines
They assist with school or department activities outside of their job duties (Sports, Parent Activities, Staff Events, etc.)
But they spend too much time socializing during work hours
They possess necessary job knowledge to complete tasks
But they are not accountable, and will blame others when they cannot meet a deadline

8. Identify the Mediocre Employee
Common Characteristics
They appear to care for students
But they show favoritism to certain students
They possess excellent technical skills
But they can be rude to others
They demonstrate initiative while completing tasks
But they do not practice the proper rules of safety

9. Identify the Mediocre Employee
Mediocre Performance (defined): Of moderate or low quality, value, ability or performance. The inability to provide reliable, high quality work on a consistent basis.
Skillful Profiles
Get in groups of 4 – 5
Read the Skillful Profiles
Discuss the characteristics of the Mediocre Employee
Rate Employees - Handout 1 (Part Two)

10. Identify the Mediocre Employee
Do not point fingers:
All of us must own the problem of Mediocre Employees
Supervisory Shortcomings
Individual Employee
Performance
Problems
Institutional Deficiencies

11. Skillful Leader …Classified
A skillful leader is good at pointing fingers. When things aren’t going well, he/she will point their finger at himself/herself first. When things are going well, he/she will first point their finger to others.

12. Debilitating Belief #1 - Diminished Expectations
Debilitating Beliefs
Debilitating Belief #1 - Diminished Expectations
“What can you expect? She’s been like that for 20 years.”
“He’s just a couple of years away from retirement, we’ll just ride it out.”
“They all like her, there’s no way the union and staff will back me if I make her change now.”

13. Debilitating Beliefs
Debilitating Belief #2 - Diminished Aspirations for Achievement and Opportunity
“Remember we’re just a support department and our jobs don’t pay much. We can’t attract high quality employees...”
“If I could just clone ‘Mrs. Jones’! She’s one of a kind, you can’t expect everyone to be at her level.”

14. Debilitating Beliefs
Debilitating Belief #3 - Inappropriate Problem Definition and Goal Setting
Deciding there is only one way to solve a problem - and that one
way is too difficult to do
“I wish I could fire them all, but I can’t”
Firing is an inappropriate and unrealistic first response to dealing with mediocre performance:
Instead think: “What are the different ways in which we can make it clear that every employee must perform.”

15. Debilitating Belief #4 - Negative Assumptions About Costs and Benefits
Debilitating Beliefs
Debilitating Belief #4 - Negative Assumptions About Costs and Benefits
Supervisor’s fear of fracturing relationships and endangering collegiality - leads to ‘backing off’ or ‘looking the other way’
Fear of staff being ‘devastated’ or ‘destroyed’ if presented with information indicating areas of need for improvement
Afraid of the potential loss of long-time social and professional friendships because recipients will be angry
Fear that staff members will respond with anger, thus disrupting the positive climate of the department or school

16. Debilitating Beliefs Help Promote Mediocrity
Think of a Debilitating Belief that has affected you. Share your experience.
Diminished Expectations
Diminished Aspirations for Achievement and Opportunity
Inappropriate Problem Definition and Goal Setting
Negative assumptions about Costs and Benefits

17. Unpromising Practices
Unpromising Practice 1: Transferring Problems
Tailoring Job Duties - hand picking duties based upon the employee’s weaknesses or another employee’s strengths
Transferring Staff - moving the ‘weak links’ to different desk, area or department

18. Unpromising Practices
Unpromising Practice 1: Results? Short-term solutions carry Long-term consequences
Tailoring job duties places the burden on the remaining staff
Transferring staff temporarily minimizes damage, yet mediocre performance continues

19. Unpromising Practices
Unpromising Practice 2: Basing Evaluations on Limited Data
Evaluating based on 1 or 2 events or observations all year
Using general/interchangeable feedback terms from one evaluation to the other:
“Mrs. Smith creates a comfortable working environment.”
“Mr. Jones enhances the library experience.”
“Mrs. Gomez is a real veteran security officer.”

20. Unpromising Practices
Unpromising Practice 2: Results? - Promotes Mediocrity due to vague, tentative and ‘insecure’ writing
Avoid Evaluator Impressions - ‘Nutshell Summaries’ based on limited to nonexistent data or facts; hearsay or assumptions
Utilize Evidence-Based Narratives - Provide clear narratives of the observation supported by evidence; follow with examples or models of the kind of practices you’d like to see.
More information means more competence & credibility

21. Unpromising Practices
Unpromising Practice 3: Assigning Inappropriate Weight to Unrelated Duties
Socially Active: Friendly; Collaborative; Brings doughnuts; Distributes Birthday Cards; Coaching; etc.
Accessible: Always available to provide help with tasks that are unrelated to the position.

22. Unpromising Practices
Unpromising Practice 4: Allowing written evaluations that contain Mixed Messages and/or Inflated Performance Ratings
“The Officer’s warm rapport and quickness to respond makes for a safe environment. While students love the attention, it would seem that they are reluctant to assist when they are called upon as witnesses to skirmishes. You might want to try to a different approach. This will add to the delightful way in which you motivate youngsters.”

23. Unpromising Practices
Unpromising Practice 4: Results?
Mediocrity is protected by poor, tentative writing and mixed messages!
Inflated performance ratings communicate that everyone is “excellent”
Be directive and establish clear benchmarks for improvement

24. Confronting Mediocrity
Eliminate Debilitating Beliefs & Unpromising Practices with:
The Three C’s
Conviction
Institutional belief that EVERY employee must be held accountable for their performance
Adopt the norm of excellence
Taking steps to improve employee performance will make a difference

25. Confronting Mediocrity
Competence
Determination to develop supervisory competence (invest the time in professional learning communities)
Ask hard questions
Avoid fluff - Use Evidence Based Narratives

26. Confronting Mediocrity
Control
Create adequate structures, processes and resources to support evaluators who are charged with confronting mediocre performance
The Three C’s: Conviction, Competence & Control

27. Skillful Reflection & Road Map
Skillful Reflection - Handout 2
Select one Mediocre employee from your list of employees (handout 1)
Complete handout 2
The Skillful Road Map - Handout 3
Develop your Skillful Road Map to Confront Mediocrity

28. Review: Skillful Terms
Evidenced Based Narratives
Structured feedback based on clearly stated narratives supported by evidence; followed with examples/models for improvement
Leniency Effect & Halo Error
Something unrelated to the essential job function that encourages the evaluator to boost the overall appraisal

29. Review: Skillful Terms
Tentative and/or Mixed Messages
Poorly written feedback that lacks clear directives, examples and benchmarks for improvement; ‘warm fuzzies’
Evaluator Impressions
‘Nutshell Summaries’ based on limited or nonexistent data/facts
More information Means More Credibility
Collecting & using evidence drawn from a variety of resources or incidents increases an evaluator’s competence & credibility

30. Be A Skillful Leader
It is an immutable law that words are words, explanations are explanations, and promises are promises. But only performance is reality.