Lead Learner Perspectives

Summer is here and for educators it provides a much needed rest time and break.  This sacred time is most important for recharge, getting away and reconnecting that maybe isn’t possible during the school year.  Summer also affords itself more time for leaders, where there are less interruptions, to have more dedicated time for learning and reflective thoughts where ideas can be evaluated. I like to think of summer as providing the opportunity to use the Power of Windows and Mirrors where we look back (mirrors) and reflect to help us learn, adjust and plan a vision to look forward (windows).

Leaders recognize that their ultimate purpose is to help others grow and develop, but they must first grow themselves. Summer is a great opportunity to spend time on the “mirrors” – reflecting on past years experiences, mistakes, learning from failures so it can be applied moving forward to your professional and positional growth.  This reflection can be done individually but like all learning, when we learn with and from others the collaboration impact deepens the learning experience.  Leaders may want to consider how to involve their teams or other like minded individuals in this practice to “reflect-adjust-grow”.  Here are some examples of prompts or ideas I have used to reflect upon the previous work in the year.

Mirrors (reflecting upon past experiences)

Here are questions I use with others that I serve so they can provide me feedback.

• What do I do well leading our school improvement efforts?
• What are areas of this work that need to be improved to support you?
• How can my communication strategies be improved to better inform you?
• What are areas where I have challenged the status quo that have resulted in improved efforts within our school and student learning?
• What are areas that I have blind spots where I am not aware that it is detracting from our efforts?

Learning from my staff, students and parents this late spring with feedback has allowed me to understand what others say I do well, what I do that has a productive return for my school community and what can I do that I can keep getting better at to help others.

I firmly believe as a leader that it is essential to have other like minded educators to learn from and to push my thinking.  If you are part of a professional learning network or have other leaders to collaborate with, consider the following:

• What should I learn from you?
• How has failure shaped you?
• Where do you spend your time and effort to grow as a leader?

Windows (what practices will I put in place moving forward to strive for continuous improvement)

The opportunity to learn from others about my work and for me to reflect upon my own work has allowed me to further develop my core beliefs. This feedback served as “windows” or things that I must continue to implement as part of my work moving forwards. This includes importance of the following skills:

• Importance of humility and vulnerability when working with others
• Inspire a shared effort 
• Model character in decision making and day to day interactions.
• Communication is essential to success

These affirmations allow me to set goals for myself and involve our building leadership team to set school improvement goals for our school. To help clarify and be intentional with efforts even more, I developed a 30 day x 60 day x 90 day plan for my own growth as a leader and also a plan for leading our school. I highly encourage all leaders to set this type of timeframe as it allows you to be intentional with your time and efforts and have a daily focus on your work. 

Educators must remember that creating positive change requires that we must be intentional with our efforts.  Furthermore, leaders need to meet the needs of the people by learning their strengths and help coach your staff so they can stretch and grow as leaders too.  For your building or organization, leaders must continually identify how to see the current reality and prioritize how to be efficient but yet effective.  In many cases, this means you must go outside your comfort zone as a leader and try new strategies to learn and grow.  Combining this with the continued effort of connecting with others at deeper levels to develop trusting relationships provides a focus on positive culture and learning.  It is never too late to change or adapt to create something better. We owe that to our students and staff that we serve. I encourage you to reflect and better understand “The Power of Windows and Mirrors” as a leader and how summer provides a great opportunity for growth.  Comment below or reach out to me at leadlearnerperspectives@gmail.com

Learn

Engage

Adapt

Delegate

Empower

Reflect

Serve

Each school year inevitably gets very busy and this causes educators to lose track of their purpose and impacts their effectiveness. April and May might be the busiest months for educators.  There is much on a leader’s shoulders as we work on finishing the current year and plan for the upcoming year. Time is always in short supply.  There are many tasks but the most important work such as building relationships and culture, supporting staff and encouraging students in their efforts needs to remain the focus. This is the real work and one that leaders cannot lose sight of.  With everything happening,  the question becomes “how do we make it through the busiest times” as both internal and external forces are putting too many demands upon an already busy schedule. This blog post focuses on how leaders can be both efficient with time and effective in leading others.

This starts with a“focus on the things that you can control”.  As a leader, we must prioritize our work and know what must be done now and what can wait (and what may not get done and that is ok).  This prioritization allows leaders to focus on things they can control and truly focus on things that can make a difference in school…..supporting its people.  

When we think of “focusing on things we can control” that specifically includes using the following strategies:

1. Importance of your daily routine.

Leaders must take care of themselves in order that they are at their best for staff and students.  They must also be efficient with their time and effective in how they use their time. 

• Leaders must first recognize the importance of self care and how that allows them to be their best to care for others.  How leaders start their mornings allows them to further learn through reading, listening to podcasts or exercising. This allows them to clear their mind and get ready for the day.  Each person is different but they must have a consistent way to clear their mind and stay sharp in their focus on their work prior to arriving at work each day.
• How leaders organize their time and calendar is very important too.  What can be delegated to trusted staff, what timely tasks need to be tackled first and then prioritize what will give you the greatest return of your time are important strategies to consider.  The more leaders can find ways to  build up staff so they feel valued which in turn allows them to be their best for students is also most important. Leaders must recognize what work must happen when everyone is at school and what can be done after school.   Leaders must prioritize time by determining tasks into the following categories:
  • Important and Urgent
  • Important but not Urgent
  • Not Important but Urgent
  • Not Important and not Urgent 

2. Lead with your feet by being visible.

 It is very easy to get caught up in your office by responding to phone calls and emails.  Some of this is needed, especially on matters that are time sensitive or need privacy to visit with someone. However, leaders can help by being proactive by being visible in the building as this allows conversations to happen with staff, eliminate potential problems and you can model the calm, positive mindset that staff and students need to see.  This is showing your school community that you put others first and your focus is on people – not email.

• This is most effective when leaders are authentic and find ways to make the feedback to staff that is timely, specific, and public.  It is more important to “catch your staff” doing great things than it is to catch them making little mistakes on managerial tasks that don’t impact people or the structures that exist within the school.
• The best way to connect with others is by listening.  In order to listen you must be present in the classrooms and hallways so the dialogue can happen.  You can connect with others by listening, asking questions and seeing what can be applied to your role to help lead your school.

3. Keep a strong and healthy school culture.

       Leading a school is a great responsibility but also brings great joy. However, we must remember it is not our school – we are there to help empower others to help make it “our school.”  This can be achieved by:

• Empower others to help make a difference and help develop solutions to problems.
• Celebrate the successes of our work and embrace our failures.
• Trust the people you work with – you hired them for a good reason and they are leaders too.
• Share your appreciation for the efforts of your staff
  •  An authentic message, email or handwritten card mailed to a staff member can help lift their spirits. 
  • Work with your students to find ways to help thank your staff for their efforts.
  • Leaders set the tone of their building. When you lead with gratitude then others will follow.  A simple “thank you” goes a long way to helping others feel valued.

4. Communication must be adapted to meet the needs of others.

  This means the info you share with students, staff and families can be adapted to each group to meet their needs. Everyone needs proactive communication but also clear and consistent messaging.  Leaders must be purposeful with their communication, and timely in their delivery. If people are busy but yet we want them to read our communication, then consider making your communication:

• Concise 
• Connect back to the work of the school 
• Provide platforms for feedback 

Educators must remember that creating positive change must be intentional efforts incorporated in ways that meet the needs of the people at specific points in the school year.  This is most essential when things are busy and that is when leadership is needed the most for students and staff.  The leadership provides the groundwork for others to provide greater focus to their work moving forward and keeps everyone “rowing the boat in the same direction”. Leaders must continually identify how to see the current reality and prioritize how to be efficient but yet effective.  It is never too late to change or adapt to create something better. We owe that to our students and staff that we serve. I encourage you to reflect and better understand “how to make it through the busiest of times” as a leader by considering the 4 strategies mentioned above. Comment below or reach out to me at leadlearnerperspectives@gmail.com

Learn

Engage

Adapt

Delegate

Empower

Reflect

Serve

Recently we had spring break which provided some much needed time to rest and recharge. Each educator needs that opportunity as it allows them to be their best through the end of the school year. For me, it also provides more time to take longer walks, read and just think.  One of those readings caught my attention and gave me the opportunity to recognize the connection between Leadership and Magnetism.  In John Maxwell’s 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership, he describes the Law of Magnetism as it applies to leadership as “Who you are is who you attract”. In this blog post, we take a closer look at identifying how your leadership traits do influence the quality of individuals and their skillset who choose to join your team. 

As I shared in a recent blog, in my 26 years as an educator some aspects of leadership have become more clear. This includes how some educators, despite good intentions, fall back to average within their role as they believe their impact is minimal. However, there  are also many educators who daily give their best to others and still strive to get better.  If you think about these two types of educators (one is content to simply do the job and the other is inspired to grow and improve) – if you were applying for a job which type of educator would you want to join as a teammate?  Now think about if those two types of educators were in leadership roles and leading organizations.  This is how some schools improve over time while other schools stay the course and remain stagnant. Leadership is a privilege and also an opportunity to impact positive change. We all recognize that any educator can lead from their role, help others and make significant contributions to a school community, but this blog post looks specifically at “who you are is who you attract” as others consider joining your team.

It is helpful and a necessity for leaders to first recognize who they are as a leader and a person. This involves reflection. Ideally, the type of person you are as a leader is the same person they are at home as they have core values that guide their work. To help understand your strengths or areas of leadership, consider the following:  Great school leaders have many tasks on their plates but they choose to an extent how they spend their time and what their focus is on.  Here are some reflective questions to help you think about how you lead the educators within your school or organization:  

1). How do you value others?

2) What are ways you support your educators when they truly need it?

3) How do you spend your time while in school?

4) How do you collectively solve problems?

5)  Is it a priority for you to be in schools and classrooms ?

6)  How do you model collaboration?

7)  What values do you stand for and do the people you support know this?

8)  What are the little things you do for others that help them feel valued?

9)  Would you want to be a teacher in your school or a principal in your district?

10)  How do you intentionally build connections with kids and let them know they are awesome?

Analyzing these questions will allow you to understand if you are leading the right way – the way you would want to be led?   In today’s changing school landscape, the leaders of the districts and schools must be transformational leaders. These are leaders who have the following traits of Transformational Leadership.

• Foster Effective Relationships and culture 
• Lead Instructional Leadership
• Embody Visionary Leadership with shared vision 
• Develop Leadership Capacity within others
• Create Sustainable Change

This allows the leader to develop others and create collaborative teams, create systems/structure that supports the work, be able to adjust/pivot if needed and develop strategies to support the vision/work over many years to create the positive change. The types of skills that a leader needs to be a transformational leader may vary from one perspective to another as to which are most important. However, research shows the following skills are most valued/desired by educators within buildings that directly work with students. Furthermore, any person needs a “champion”; someone who believes in themselves and will support and coach them over time so they feel the need to grow and get support to do it. Below are some examples of what transformational leaders “do” for educators. 

What Educators need or want to be part of	What transformational leaders provide
Most people are insecure	Give them confidence
Want a bright future	Give them hope by having them help develop the vision
Need to be understood	Listen to their needs
Want direction or guidance	Walk with them to understand their challenges
Can get emotionally drained from work	Encourage them
Want to be part of something	Ask for their feedback and include them – develop their capacity

Educators want to go to a school or district where they feel valued, get support, can be part of something special and believe they are contributing to a larger purpose. If you go deeper and analyze leaders and “who” they are at their core, there are specific items they value and place as pillars of the work that attract the highest quality of educators.  This includes the leaders valuing:

1. Importance of Trust – They model Character in their work and Competence in their decisions.
2. Teamwork – They lead with Vulnerability (ex. Admit when they make mistakes) and place a high value on communication.
3. Develop a Shared Vision
4. They Connect with others – They connect by being Genuine, take an interest in others, smile often, are humble and lead with humility and positivity.

Leaders recognize that their efforts and work are important to a school. But to create the biggest gains, the leaders must understand how we can be our best and continually improve and this means remembering “who they are as a leader determines the quality of educators that choose to join their team or school”. No single person can make great things happen in schools, it is through the team of people that we develop or hire that can achieve great things. Our work, our time, our efforts and attitudes all matter as it impacts others.  If you want to create a difference then you must be willing to not only lead yourself but learn how to best support your people and attract the very best.  It is never too late to change or adapt to create something better. We owe that to our students and staff that we serve. I encourage you to reflect and better understand what you do matters.   Comment below or reach out to me at leadlearnerperspectives@gmail.com

Learn

Engage

Adapt

Delegate

Empower

Reflect

Serve

As I progress in my journey and role as an educator, things have become more clear.  I observe many educators striving to do their best yet over time leave our profession due to perhaps lack of resources, demands of the job on their time or a desire to have a different impact. I also have observed how some educators, despite good intentions, fall back to average within their role as they believe their impact is minimal. There are also many educators who daily give their best to others and still strive to get better.  These observations have provided me opportunities to have an expanded view around school leadership. I recognize that any educator can lead from their role, help others and make significant contributions to a school community. However, too often many educators, including myself, wait for an invitation from someone before taking initiative or believe they need permission before they can lead.

This blog post considers how anyone can lead from their current role and help drive positive change – because leadership matters and so do the contributions of each individual.  We must remember that our greatest impact is not something measured by awards or titles but rather the significance we have upon others that allows them to find success.  It is also important that we remember “why we do what we do” and how to have an impact during the busiest times or most stressful. Here are some suggestions for educators to remember that leadership matters and strategies to stay focused on what matters most.

3 strategies that maximize your impact

1. Purpose – If you can remember why you went into education then that allows you to develop and stay true to your core values.  These core values help affirm your work and guide your decisions, even when you are stressed or simply have too much on your plate. Remembering your purpose allows an individual to play the “long game”; simply meaning to continually strive to get better and focus on supporting your growth and to help others.
2. Priorities – There have been times when my workload has been simply too much. This has caused me to forget about what truly matters – which are the people we support and work with in our schools – students, staff and families. Keep your priorities at the center of your work as that will allow you to do your job role with the most effective realm and decision making.
3. Passion – I hope every educator has a role that allows them to find joy, use their strengths and feel fulfilled. There is no perfect job and there will be parts of it that you may not enjoy but are essential (ex. Paperwork, reports). However, one must remember that within your job you are responsible for the energy, attitudes and beliefs you demonstrate, so it is most important that you incorporate your passion or joy within your job role. 

Ways to implement your impact

1. Focus on what you can control and what matters – There are many aspects to my current role that are outside of my control. In fact, very little of what I currently do is something I have direct control over. However, how I work with those details matters. An individual can choose to bring a growth mindset and a lens of support, encouragement, positivity and a strive for continually excellence into your work. This not only helps to motivate others but allows them to see a model of what they aspire to see in a leader and builds a level of trust and commitment from others.
2. Your rise by lifting others – There are many days that are challenging but the key to continual improvement is also finding opportunities to build others up and develop their skill set; as you cannot achieve anything worthwhile by yourself. It takes a team of people who are committed to developing the best school to drive continual change. When you take time to invest your time, energy and efforts into others then you are not only developing their excellence but you are modeling how you want others to be treated. 
3. You make change by small conversations – one at a time.  Change can be positive and in most instances, the most successful and positive change doesn’t happen with 1 big announcement or event. Rather, it is a one on one conversation with an individual where you take time to help them feel valued, supported by listening and helping them through a difficult situation. These incremental , but yet important moments, shape schools as individuals merge their efforts and attitudes to helping each other and building a culture of “we” and taking pride in their school environment. Experts would typically say it takes 2-3 years before you can notice positive change, so as a leader you cannot rush success but rather create the foundation where others can help create the positive change.

Continually reflect:

Anyone can lead and help others. Regardless of your job title or role, any person can be a positive leader and help the school community. However, it takes intentional efforts to grow over time as you must reflect upon your efforts so that you can grow which allows you then to help others.  Here are some guiding questions to reflect upon that help keep your core values at the center of your work, develop a mindset focused on growth and develop priorities that place people at the center of your time and efforts.

• What is the single most important guiding principle for someone in my position?
• How do I best serve others
• How can I best support my supervisor?
• How can I best support students
• How can I make our team invaluable

Keep in mind that leaders must “model the way”: demonstrate the work ethic, servant leadership, communicate priorities and model vulnerability.  This includes:

• Little things may go unnoticed but do have significant impact – Do the jobs that are messy and outside your job role.
• Do things to help people move forward with their careers and growth.
• Adjust to the environment – what works for 1 individual or situation may not work for the next.
• Handle the workload without letting it impact your leadership. 
• Recognize staff who can become impact players. Always important to value everyone and help them feel important, but your most important folks are the ones who you need to invest in the most so that they can multiply their impact on others and you add value to their work.

Leaders recognize that their efforts and work are important to a school. But to create the biggest gains, the leaders must understand how we can be our best and continually improve and this means remembering what we do matters. Our work, our time, our efforts and attitudes all matter as it impacts others.  Now is the time to put intentional practices in place where you give yourself grace, develop your skill set and pour into others.  Educators must remember that nothing is easy. In fact, if you want to create a difference then you must be willing to not only lead yourself but learn how to best support your people.  It is never too late to change or adapt to create something better. We owe that to our students and staff that we serve. I encourage you to reflect and better understand what you do matters.   Comment below or reach out to me at leadlearnerperspectives@gmail.com

Learn

Engage

Adapt

Delegate

Empower

Reflect

Serve

As I progress in my journey and role as an educator, things have become more clear.  This is even true in my new role this year that has presented new challenges and opportunities.  This has provided me a chance to evolve in my thinking around school leadership. I recognize that the impact that I can have within my current role largely depends upon how I can help develop our most important asset – the people within my building. When I reflect upon my growth, I want to learn and grow into a more impactful leader and help others by influencing their thinking, developing their skills and giving them confidence to help influence their growth as a leader. I think this applies in the following ways about developing leadership.

Take aways how your impact can develop people

1. My leadership skills determine many aspects about how the people I work with can develop into leaders. The impact includes:

A. How many staff can develop into leaders 

B. Quality of people (how they treat each other) 

C. The culture of the school 

E. The impact of the school within our district 

So the question becomes “what do I need to do to help others”.  Here are some strategies I remind myself of to ensure that I am giving my best to the staff I work with:

• Be Intentional with the time you spend with staff – Spending time with staff in PLC work, classroom visits and hallways is important. Focus that time on building connections or discussing the work of your school. 
• Find time to reflect with staff about the professional learning so there is a focus on growth – the only way to grow is to reflect about the work that is being done so that there is a focus on learning. This should also focus on data and results.
• Find ways to move your school forward so there is continual improvement – use the reflection to discuss “next steps” so it becomes the norm to focus on growth.
• Focus on strengths of staff and school community – everyone has strengths and also areas that could be improved.  Play to your strengths.  Get to know your staff and how they can contribute to your school so that you bring out the best in your people.
• Model the way – How you as a leader act, spend your time and interact with others will say much about how your staff interacts and responds to others.  You can never go wrong by caring, being humble and being a servant leader. This also starts with listening to staff (and students and families) so everyone feels like they have a vested interest in your school.

2. You attract leaders who you are; not who you want 

Most educators want to work in an environment where they trust their leaders and also know there will be a consistent focus.  As a leader, your character will define how you will be thought of and that causes a ripple effect on how staff treat each other.  Your character starts with integrity and what you model is what people see and emulate.  Character is the foundation of leadership – you cannot lead unless you are a person of high character.

3. You cannot lead people beyond your level of trust and credibility.

Trust is the glue that holds a school organization together. Trust is also the most important factor in relationships.  You build trust be being:

• Consistency 
• Honest communication 
• Being Transparent in your decisions and communication 
• Humility 

Developing trust takes time and it can also be lost quickly.  When mistakes happen, it is important to be honest and admit mistakes or share your thinking. Always remember, that decisions should not be made in isolation so getting the feedback from others to help make the decisions are important.

4. You cannot lead people beyond your level of commitment

People notice when leaders are present, what part of the school day and at what activities. Staff notice, so do the students and families. It doesn’t mean that one person must be at everything in a school but what it does mean is that you must be willing to invest in your school and find ways to support all facets of the school community. The amount of time is not as important as the quality of the interactions you have with the students in those endeavors, meeting families and making sure you support the staff that are leading those activities.

Leaders recognize that their efforts and work are important to a school. But to create the biggest gains, the leaders must understand how we can be our best and continually improve and this means over time developing our people to their full potential. Now is the time to put intentional practices in place.  This takes an investment of time, energy and effort and pouring into others.  Educators must remember that nothing is easy. In fact, if you want to create a difference then you must be willing to not only lead yourself but learn how to best support your people. This creates the greatest gift a leader can provide to an organization.  It is never too late to change or adapt to create something better. We owe that to our students and staff that we serve. I encourage you to reflect and better understand your role so you can leave your legacy. Comment below or reach out to me at leadlearnerperspectives@gmail.com

Learn

Engage

Adapt

Delegate

Empower

Reflect

Serve

The new year is upon us and provides everyone with lots of opportunities.  What type of opportunities depends upon the person. For some, it will be a chance to set new expectations, possibly start over in some facets of their life or even think about the bigger picture and their impact.  As I reflected over break, for me the new year brings a refocus and opportunity to ensure I am grounded on trying to be my best so I can help my staff and students to be their best. Sometimes people may refer to this type of thinking as “what is your one word” but I rather see it as a focus area for the upcoming year.  I choose three simple letters that I hope will allow me to meet my core values and help others within the context of my day.  Those three letters are JOY.

Leaders must always find the right balance within their work and their life. This is ever more important as we get ready to start 2nd semester as it allows continued growth of my work and our school. More importantly it provides a “focus” to my day and role.  The right work may differ to some extent within a school/district and it may vary to some extent for a person based upon their level of experience.  From my perspective, if I can find JOY within my work and interactions with others it will allow me to contribute to the following:

• Build Culture – Culture is the most significant factor influencing the success of a school.  Culture drives expectations and beliefs and that leads to the behavior of the staff.  As leaders, we help decide that culture by our modeling, our passion, optimism and purposeful tasks. As Simon Sinek shared, “Leadership isn’t about being in charge. Leadership is about taking care of those in your charge.”  If I can lead from a place of joy then that will allow me to best  support, encourage and develop the staff so the culture becomes the positive driving force behind school change.
• Set the vision  – Leaders must continually set the vision for our growth as well as the school community and the staff we support. If our vision involves bringing a positive and growth mindset that we model in our interactions with others, then that allows others to also take risks in the classroom that propels growth that best supports students. If we operate from a lens of finding joy within our work, then we can best learn, engage others within the work, adapt, delegate to others as there is trust, empower others, reflect together upon our work and serve the professional needs of others. 

How I intend to find JOY within my work role includes the following:

• Stay positive and build connections
• Be honest with my limitations – involve others (teamwork)
• Be organized and look ahead for upcoming tasks to limit stress
• Lean on others and stay connected with colleagues
• Keep kids/staff as the center of our decisions
• Be Patience-Calm-flexibile

Leaders recognize that their efforts and work are important to a school. But to create the biggest gains, the leaders must understand how we can be our best and continually improve. Now is the time to put intentional practices in place.  This takes an investment of time, energy and effort and pouring into others.  Educators must remember that nothing is easy. In fact, if you want to create a difference then you must be willing to not only lead yourself but learn how to best support your people. This creates the greatest gift a leader can provide to an organization.  It is never too late to change or adapt to create something better. We owe that to our students and staff that we serve. I encourage you to reflect and better understand your role so you can leave your legacy. Comment below or reach out to me at leadlearnerperspectives@gmail.com

Learn

Engage

Adapt

Delegate

Empower

Reflect

Serve

In a school leader’s role there are many complexities to the role that have changed in recent years. These challenges impact a leader’s work and how someone responds will determine the impact staff can have with students. Ultimately, it will determine the levels of student learning with your school.

The complexities that have greatly increased in recent years include:

• Difficulty finding teachers
• Increased frequency of unfilled para roles and unfilled subs
• Student attendance issues
• More frequent student behaviors
• Lack of time for staff to implement new strategies into the work
• Changing staff mindsets from fixed to growth mindset where growth is the priority
• Student learning and SEL vs Student Achievement levels
• Outside forces of society impacting our work/focus as school leaders
• Technology impact and social media 
• Family involvement

Leaders can move their school forward by focusing on what matters most – the people within the school and helping each person become their best version of themselves and focus on growth.  Leaders must focus on both what they can control and what matters most.  In the book by Barry Posner and James Kouzes book The Leadership Challenge, the authors discussed researched proven strategies that help organizations move forward and leaders to be their best.  This work is most essential as it allows the following:

• Transform values into action
• Transform vision into realities 
• Change obstacles to innovation
• Go from isolation to solidarity
• Go from risks to wins 

Here are the 5 strategies leaders can incorporate into their work of leading schools that helps the leader to be their best and having the greatest influence. 

1. Model the way

Leaders establish the principles of how

• People should be treated.
• Work towards excellence.
• Set the example of how people act, interact and behave.

In other words, a leader leads by example and how someone acts, interacts and behaves impacts the climate and culture. 

2. Inspire a collective vision

Leaders believe they can make a difference but recognize they cannot do this alone. We must see the work through the eyes of others. Leaders create an image of what the school can become and then through their influence, connections, and listening they enlist the help of others to make this happen. This will breathe life into the vision and get people excited to see the possibilities for the future.

3. Strive for continual improvement

The leader searches for ways to improve, takes risks and generates small wins to build momentum in the positive change. Things to remember include:

• Leaders make things happen – so you must be action oriented and take initiative.

• Innovation requires more listening and greater communication than routine work.

• Leaders are the most passionate learners.

4. Shared leadership 

Leaders must foster collaboration by building trust, facilitating relationships and developing others’ capacity as leaders.

Leaders develop trust by:

• Demonstrate competence in your role
• Lead with character and model vulnerability
• Make Communication a priority
• Be Transparent 

Leaders empower others by:

• Be firm with principles, flexible with practices
• Ask questions, don’t give answers
• Help others develop confidence in themselves
• Give feedback and positive affirmation when appropriate 

5. Connect back to the heart

Leaders express pride in their school and leadership is truly a “Labor of Love”. There will be many challenges but we must remember that we are working with people and if we  treat each staff member like a “10” then they themselves will believe in themselves and help contribute to the work and be happier as well. To this end, you must value people, magnify their strengths and develop a culture of “people – not programs”.

Expect the best in others by:

• Show them you believe in themselves
• Be clear about your expectations
• Give Feedback
• Personalize recognition 
• Get close to people – get to know their strengths 

Leaders recognize that their efforts and work are important to a school. But to create the biggest gains, the leaders must understand how to lead during complex times as our roles have greatly changed in recent years.  Now is the time to put intentional practices in place.  This takes an investment of time, energy and effort and pouring into others.  Educators must remember that nothing is easy. In fact, if you want to create a difference then you must be willing to not only lead yourself but learn how to best support your people. This creates the greatest gift a leader can provide to an organization.  It is never too late to change or adapt to create something better. We owe that to our students and staff that we serve. I encourage you to reflect and better understand your role so you can leave your legacy. Comment below or reach out to me at leadlearnerperspectives@gmail.com

Learn

Engage

Adapt

Delegate

Empower

Reflect

Serve

Our lives are busy, challenging and each of us have different hurdles we must face. We have choices in life, and we each choose our perspective, mindset and how we respond to situations.  An educator is a rewarding career but also very demanding as we pour so much of ourselves into others, yet rarely do we have the time and energy to do much for ourselves. We understand that it takes time and effort to help others as this gives us great satisfaction and serves our purpose.  This takes long hours and endless pursuit to improve. It may not be easy, but we have that choice.  I am THANKFUL to each of you for your role and how you contribute to schools and our society.

This blog post shares the importance of Gratitude and how that mindset provides the fuel for the inner drive for leaders and school communities.  As a school leader – consider “what aspects do you take time to reflect and celebrate, with both your staff and you personally that moves your school forward”?  Specifically, we will look at how you can build the mindset of Gratitude within your school and within your professional growth.

Gratitude within your school

The most important thing a leader should do is impart positive change within a school. This starts and always comes back to school culture. Within a school culture, if leaders can develop and foster an atmosphere of gratitude where everyone feels seen, valued and heard then staff and students will make their school experience their very best as they will have  a vested interest. What we celebrate and how we celebrate others is important.  From my perspective for our school, the celebration includes:

• The “intentional steps” our staff takes to transform our classroom instruction from a traditional model to creating engaging student experiences focused on ensuring high levels of learning for students. 
• The school climate we have created is based on our interactions with each other through positivity and kindness that promotes a school community where students and staff feel they belong.
• A shared vision that is modeled by staff throughout the building that places an emphasis on “what is best for kids”.
• A strong partnership with the parent and school community that is established by being visible, accessible and communicating in a clear, consistent manner.
• Empowering our staff to help lead professional learning and be the change agents within our school.
• Creating opportunities for students to lead within our school day and giving students a voice in their school by listening to what they think is working and what needs changing so we can improve.

Most importantly, it is important  to recognize that staff are willing to take risks and grow. This growth process at times means we fail or make mistakes, but we learn from our experiences and that opportunity gives us greater insight into becoming stronger educators. We have reflected with staff and this clarifies the importance we place on the work and focuses our journey with a shared vision.

Gratitude within your personal growth

Overall to move forward with your growth, at various levels you need to:

1. Find a mentor who can push you and give feedback
2. Build strong connections to those people who value you and make you better 
3. Develop others 
4. Change is the greatest growth accelerator – ask yourself what you need to change about your current learning and growth process. Recognizing what needs to change for your growth can best be identified through conversations with others.

How you show gratitude within your personal growth is to focus on what you can control by:

• Put others first and focus on the best in people
• Empower others to help make a difference
• Trust the people you work with….you hired them for a good reason – they are leaders too.

By using this mindset you are developing your influence and impact with others. This is how you grow as a leader and modeling servant leadership increases your role as a leader. 

Leaders recognize that their efforts and work are important to a school. But to create the biggest gains, the leaders must have a mindset of gratitude and have that be the foundation of their work. Now is the time to make this shift in mindset and put intentional practices in place.  This takes an investment of time, energy and effort and pouring into others.  Educators must remember that nothing is easy. In fact, if you want to create a difference then you must be willing to not only lead yourself but pour into developing others and it starts with gratitude.  This creates the greatest gift a leader can provide to an organization.  It is never too late to change or adapt to create something better. We owe that to our students and staff that we serve. I encourage you to reflect and better understand “The impact of Gratitude” so you can leave your legacy. Comment below or reach out to me at leadlearnerperspectives@gmail.com

Learn

Engage

Adapt

Delegate

Empower

Reflect

Serve

The school year is in full swing and you are busy, extremely busy. All educators have the desire to do their best and be their best for others.  The days may seem long but the weeks go by so fast and before you know it the school year will be in 2nd semester.  Leaders recognize that many people have ideas and plans on improving but very few actually make improvements that are action oriented. Why?  Most individuals, despite good intentions, get bogged down in the “busy” of the work and lose sight of moving forward over time. Yes, there will be moments, even days, where you must attend to a situation that demands your time, effort and attention. But the best leaders recognize that it is their daily habits and the consistency of their work that allows them to grow over time. “Now is the time” shares some simple strategies or ideas to keep in mind that allows you to focus your time, effort and energy on things that matter most – Improving yourself so that you can help others improve too. 

Student learning is the foundation of the work we all do for students despite many of us having different roles within schools.  To help each student learn at high levels, there are some key attributes educators can incorporate or be mindful of that will help each of us be our best for kids as “Now is the time” to strive for continual growth and excellence.

I will focus on this important work from both a lens of 1) within your role and 2) the time you are not directly working within your role so that you can maintain a mindset focused on growth.

When you are within your work role:

• Focus on what you can control – In many situations there will be problems or challenges that may range from lack of budget, schedule constraints, lack of enthusiasm……but leaders focus on finding solutions and not focusing their time/efforts on things that they have no control over.
• Model the behaviors you want to create within your classroom/school – When striving for excellence, others will look at the leaders and see how they handle stress, conflict, interactions with people – so how you model kindness, positive intent, empathy and a focus on kids will resonate with people.
• Gather energy from interactions with others – Leading can be draining both physically and emotionally.  Leaders who lead with humility and find ways to show gratitude when they interact with others get energy and strength from those individuals. In those interactions, they are strengthening the relationship which builds greater momentum.
• Be a learner – Leaders continually find new ways to learn from others.  This may be through social media such as Podcasts, Voxer Chats, Twitter or Facebook.  But it also includes reading books and listening to others through conversations.  It’s the mindset that they continually want to improve that is most important and is seen and noticed by those they lead.
• Inspire others and their behaviors through influence – Leaders recognize the most impactful thing they can do is Influence others by supporting them, encouraging their growth and providing feedback along the way.  
• Develop leaders through shared vision – Leaders recognize that the “smartest person in the room is the room” and strive to help others realize that when they work together there is no limit to what can be accomplished.
• Create sustainable change – Leaders know that they cannot do it alone; the most powerful thing they can do is create leaders who can carry on when they are not there so the organization continues to run at high levels in their absence.

When you are not within your role:

Having a life work balance is important for many reasons. When you are away from your work may provide the best opportunities for growth and reflection when you are doing things not related to your role. This includes:

• Find time to rejuvenate – Yes, perhaps the most important thing to grow is finding time to get away from our work for periods of time.  Why?  This time away allows us to find balance in our lives and if leaders do not fill their cup, then they will not have anything left to lead  for students, staff, parents  or the school.  It may be vacations, fishing, spending more time with the family – whatever it is, those times allow us to not only relax (which is so essential) but also to find time to do deep thinking that may not be available during the busy time of year.
• Find time to reflect – Reflection may be the most important aspect of growth for a leader.  We learn by doing but it is most impactful when we reflect upon the work we tried to implement.  The following reflective questions from George Couros and Connected Principals resonate for me:

1. What did I do well this past week/month?
2. Where do I need to grow?
3. What things will I challenge myself moving forward that will make me a better leader?
4. How will all of these answers impact our school community?

In summary, when you have a mindset of “Now is the time” to improve and grow you can be more intentional with the time within your work role and time when you are not directly leading within your role.  By having an intentional focus, you can find ways for you to grow and move your school forward.  Leaders will find that if they embrace an open culture it will stimulate more ownership among staff and students. Over time, this will allow you to narrow the focus of your school and the school improvement efforts.  This will challenge each other to think about past practices and why those were used, how did it benefit learners and are there other options to consider that would better serve our learners? Then you can Focus on strengths of staff and maximize their impact with your school community.

Leaders recognize that their efforts and work are important to a school. But to create the biggest gains, the leader must develop people to their fullest potential. Now is the time to make this shift in mindset and put intentional practices in place.  This takes an investment of time, energy and effort and pouring into others.  Educators must remember that nothing is easy. In fact, if you want to create a difference then you must be willing to not only lead yourself but pour into developing others.  This creates the greatest gift a leader can provide to an organization – impact others. Leaders focus on specific strategies and so their efforts help support and develop others as leaders. It is never too late to change or adapt to create something better. We owe that to our students and staff that we serve. I encourage you to reflect and better understand “Now is the Time” so you can leave your legacy. Comment below or reach out to me at leadlearnerperspectives@gmail.com

Learn

Engage

Adapt

Delegate

Empower

Reflect

Serve

The school year has started and educators are working harder than ever to be their best for kids.  We all have hopes and dreams for our students so that they can find success and happiness.  To allow this to occur, it can be helpful for educators to take a step back and think about our roles in a larger context.  Our schools overall have the fundamental purpose to help students learn. The question we each need to answer: “are you ready for student learning”?

Student learning is the foundation of the work we all do for students despite many of us having different roles within schools.  To help each student learn at high levels, there are some key attributes educators can incorporate or be mindful of that will help each of us be our best for kids so we are ready to support student learning.

1. It starts with us

Each educator is a leader as the impact we have upon young people is significant. We have a great opportunity daily to create positive change for students that helps each student learn. To achieve that end goal, we need to recognize that being a leader means we must continually learn. The new learnings may be about instructional strategies, content specific, PLC concepts or how to incorporate SEL components within our work. The bottom line is that if we are learning then we are growing and that allows each of us to be our best for kids.  The continuous learning mindset allows our students to see and value learning.  Our young people will do what they see us do – what we model to students as far as trying new strategies to improve our classrooms or improve our school matters.

2. Focus on purpose and lead with passion

Each educator went into this profession for a specific reason. In most cases it is because along our journey someone took an interest in us to help us be successful or motivated us to reach our potential. It is important we remember our purpose:  to help connect with kids and create classrooms and schools where kids feel connected and valued. If this occurs then learning at the highest levels can occur. It takes intentional work to create these classrooms and schools and must happen daily. If we each lead with our passion to make a difference then students will feel and see that impact which will help them feel connected and ready to learn.

3. Add value to other leaders, multiply value to others

Professional learning is a significant part of the growth of an educator. How can we include other educators in that professional learning is important so we are learning from each other and sharing best practices. This allows you to find like minded educators who also want to grow and improve. We must be willing to take an intentional approach to supporting other educators so they improve and grow as an educator. This will not only help them but also develop your influence and increase the effectiveness of your school.

4. Names matter as does someone’s voice

Students need to feel included and a part of something bigger than just a classroom. Classroom teachers and building leaders need to get to know the names of each student. We tend to overlook the significance of saying someone’s name in the course of a busy day but that is how you can make them feel included and a part of something bigger. Just as important is finding time and ways to listen to students – they have positive ideas and creative ways that can make a classroom or school better.

5. Begin with the end in mind

For classroom teachers, Focus your instructional work on what we want students to be able to demonstrate, know and be able to transfer over time to different settings. The curriculum standards are very important and educators must begin their unit planning by asking themselves what would the end of unit assessment or products look like based on key essential standards. This allows the right instructional work to be the purpose of an educator’s classroom lesson plans which then leads to focusing on developing quality lessons. The individual lessons need to have students at the heart of the work where the kids will be doing relevant work through rigorous activities. Teachers should also measure student learning with formative assessments and use data to adjust instructional practices to determine which students need differentiated learning opportunities. 

For building and district leaders, we must ask ourselves, do our teachers know what we want our classroom learning to look like that allows for high levels of student learning?  It is always important to be clear about our focus and then design quality Professional Development that models the type of classroom learning experiences we desire in each classroom.  This should involve following your district’s strategic plan so PD is aligned and has systematic ways to be incorporated over time that keeps the focus on what matters most – school culture and student learning.  Also include teacher voice in the planning of the PD and have teachers help lead some of the work as their voice matters and their expertise is some of the best PD.

Leaders recognize that their efforts and work are important to a school. But to create the biggest gains, the leader must develop people to their fullest potential as “you grow as a school community by growing your people”.  This takes an investment of time, energy and effort and pouring into others and the focus should be on student learning.  The greatest thing a leader can do for someone else is give them confidence; the confidence to step outside of their comfort zone to grow in their skill set.  Leaders do this by seeing what people can become and working/motivating them to learn and develop over time.  Educators must remember that nothing is easy. In fact, if you want to create a difference then you must be willing to not only lead yourself but pour into developing others.  This creates the greatest gift a leader can provide to an organization – impact others. Leaders focus on specific strategies and so their efforts help support and develop others as leaders. It is never too late to change or adapt to create something better. We owe that to our students and staff that we serve. I encourage you to reflect and better understand “Are you ready for student learning” so you can leave your legacy. Comment below or reach out to me at leadlearnerperspectives@gmail.com

Learn

Engage

Adapt

Delegate

Empower

Reflect

Serve