Preparing for a New Leadership Assignment

As a leader, how do you prepare for a new leadership assignment? 


Many leaders know when their next promotion is coming, but few take advantage of this time to prepare. Instead of waiting for an official announcement, start with "phase zero." Use your insider status to become familiar with your new unit's people and performance and to discern the opportunities and challenges of your upcoming assignment. In the weeks leading up to the transition, carve out at least 30 minutes a day for this endeavour. Look through company documents, such as performance reviews and reports on services and operations. Identify problems and develop hypotheses for solving them. Turn to colleagues who have supervised the role, interacted with it, or previously filled a similar one. Ask them questions that will help you understand what to expect for the transition.




Adapted from "Get Ready for Your Next Assignment" by Katie Smith Milway, Ann Goggins Gregory, Jenny Davis-Peccoud, and Kathleen Yazbak.

Being Strategic - The Easy Way

As a leader, are your planning sessions strategic or haphazard? 

Planning fails when it has unclear objectives, too many people, a rushed schedule, and is not strategic. When your school/organization faces uncertainty and needs to develop a strategy fast, do it the right way:

• Define the challenge. Your team can't settle on a path forward unless everyone agrees on the problem you're trying to solve. Once you are aligned, focus on core questions and avoid meandering discussions.
• Identify the destination. Define the future state and how to get there. Don't try to please everyone; make the hard choices that lead to a clear strategy.
• Develop options. Changes in the workplace or broader environment are inevitable. Come up with alternative approaches that will help you to respond to uncertain events.

Adapted from "Six Strategy Insights RIM's New CEO Can Use" by Steve Wunker.

Committing to Continuous Personal Growth

As a leader, how have you committed to continuous personal growth?

Early in your career, you may ask mentors to help you with specific skills. But as you face mid-career challenges, you need mentoring that's tailored to your individual strengths and learning goals. And, you need mentors who can increase your access to leader-learning opportunities. Work with advisers who can help you take the skills you've honed in your current role and apply them to broader challenges in order to increase your effectiveness. Attract these mentors by demonstrating your experience and articulating your eagerness and commitment to continuous personal growth.



Adapted from Guide to Getting the Mentoring You Need (Harvard Business Review Press).

With a Global Clientele, Learn to Master Cultural Norms

As a leader, how do you respond when working with people from a culture that is unfamiliar?

If you find you're working with people from a culture with which you are unfamiliar, as a leader, you have to modify your behavior to fit cultural norms. This can be tough, especially if it makes you feel inauthentic. If you face this discomfort, try these four things:

• Identify the challenge. Pinpoint what's making you uneasy. For example, in a culture that values a top-down leadership style, are you struggling to provide clear directives?  If so, how might you manage that?
• Adjust your behavior. Make small but meaningful adjustments that both reflect the culture you're working with while staying true to your values. You don't have to mimic behaviours, but could you adjust your own behaviours to be more reflective of those with whom you work?
• Learn.  As the leader, you need to learn what the cultural norms are.  Do what you need to do to understand what the cultural norms are.  Understanding the differences helps to build bridges.
• Recognize the value. While you may need to behave in counterintuitive ways, focus on the desired outcomes of your interactions.

Adapted from "Three Skills Every 21st-Century Manager Needs" by Andrew L. Molinsky, Thomas H. Davenport, Bala Iyer, and Cathy Davidson.

Reflections on Leadership as it relates to being a new Parent

How is being the parent of new-born twin boys like leadership?

My twin boys came on Dec 15th and today is the first month after they were born. These boys are behaving so differently compared to my daughter who just turned two a few weeks ago.

I reflected upon leadership in terms of the need for establishing a strong partnership between my partner and me. Throughout the entire last month, it was really a challenging time as my wife and I are mainly the only people looking after the 3 young kids in our household. Non-stop feeding, burping and diaper changing are already programmed in my brain. I am glad that we have a strong partnership in dealing with challenges around the clock.

How do I apply this to school leadership? Once a good partnership is established among staff at school, challenges will be met and shared.

A good partnership is key for successful leadership at school. School leader partnerships involve other stakeholders including school staff, board staff, parents, students and other community members.

To have a good partnership, I thought about the following six key directions:

1) Keeping up good communication skills (listening, expressing, verbal and non-verbal).

2) Respecting all stakeholders.

3) Willing to trust and bring trusted.

4) Keeping up a sense of humor.

5) Sharing the work.

6) Sharing the responsibility for outcomes.

Guest Post from: Benjamin Law (York Region District School Board)

Delegating Tasks to Build Staff Capacity

As a leader, do you delegate tasks to staff in the hope to build their capacity?

In a desire to share / distribute leadership, have you ever delegated a task to a staff member,....and somehow it ended up back on your plate?  Beware of this "reverse delegation."  Staff members who are unsure how to do something may enlist you in doing it for them.  Don't automatically solve problems or make decisions for hesitant colleagues.  Focus on generating alternative solutions together, making sure your colleague maintains responsibility for carrying through with the task.  Don't fall for it when others make statements like, "You'll do a better job with this."  While flattering, and possibly even true, they are often a way to get you involved when you needn't be....and how do you build capacity among your staff...if people feel they can - or should - default to you?

Support your staff members with tasks that 'stretch' them.  Many will discover that they have much more capacity than they realized.  They'll discover that their talents are greater than they realized.  But just in case.....don't be too far away.  They may need some coaching or mentoring along the way.  They'll feel reassured and more willing to take on challenges in the future if they know that you believe they can do it AND you're close by 'just in case'. 

Adaped from: Guide to Project Management (Harvard Business Review)

Improve your Strengths, Not your Weaknesses

As a leader, are you focusing energies on improving your strengths or your weaknesses?

It's annoying to work on our weaknesses: Who wants to spend energy trying to move from slightly below average to slightly above on a particular skill?  Consider focusing on your strengths instead. Make what you're already good at an even greater asset. After all, if you really want to make a difference in your school/organization, it's your strengths that will lead the way.  Of course, it's more challenging to move from well above average to even more above average, but you'll enjoy it more since your strengths are things you likely already take pleasure in doing. And don't worry about having too much of a good thing. Have you ever worked with a leader who possessed too much character or was too strategic? Probably not.  And when it comes to your areas of weakness.  Are you anxious about not having the necessary skill set in the school/organization?  If so, look around.  There is always someone on staff who has the very skills you lack.  Draw on their expertise....and watch them blossom.

Adapted from "Become an Extraordinary Leader" by Scott Edinger.

The Leader as Servant

How do you serve those whom you lead?

"..the leader is the 'servant' of his (or her) followers in that he (or she) removes the obstacles that prevent them from doing their jobs.  In short, the true leader enables his or her followers to realize their full potential."

From: Leadership is an Art by Max DePree
(Published by: Dell)