Encourage Pushback

As a leader, do you encourage ‘pushback’ from your staff?  Deference to authority is deeply engrained in most of us. As a leader you need to resist this tendency in your staff. If people automatically defer to your judgment, you may miss out on valuable thinking and critical feedback. Try to make it easy for people to speak up, and remember to actively ask for their opinions. When talking about current or future work, give some initial thoughts, but then ask for help fleshing out ideas. Recognize people who speak up and thank those who challenge your thinking. Most importantly, try not to react immediately if you start to feel threatened, or you risk shutting down the discussion.  This takes courage and confidence but if you want great results and you want to build capacity in your staff, this becomes an essential part of your leadership toolkit. Adapted from "The Dangers of Deference" by Ron Ashkenas.

Focus and Creativity Matter

If the following is true.....

Leaders in sustained, successful organizations focus on a small number of core priorities, stay on message, and develop others toward the same end, making corrections as new learning occurs (Fullan, 2011).

.......how, as a leader, do you:

• sustain the focus?
• stay on message?
• develop others?
• make corrections as new learning occurs?

Leadership Matters

A thought for your holiday Monday......


Leadership is second only to classroom instruction among all school-related factors that contribute to what students learn at school.


 (Leithwood, Louis, Anderson, & Wahlstrom, 2004)

Getting Feedback as a Leader

As a leader, how do you get feedback on how well you're doing?  No leader improves without feedback from multiple sources. But getting people to be honest about your performance isn't always easy. Be sure to give your staff (students, parents, clients, customers) a way to supply you with the candid information you need to improve.  A simple Stop/Start/Continue process will work.  You can do it by asking these three questions:

• What should I stop doing? Ask which behaviors stand in your way of success.
• What should I keep doing? Inquire about what you do right, and should continue to do.
• What should I start doing? Once you've stopped unproductive behaviors, you'll have more time and energy for new behaviors.

Adapted from "Three Questions for Effective Feedback" by Thomas J. DeLong.

Evidence and Logic in Decision-making

Many leaders rely on gut instinct to make important decisions, which often leads to poor results. On the contrary, when leaders insist on incorporating logic and evidence, and include others in the discussions, they make better choices and their organizations benefit. Here are three ways to introduce evidence-based decision-making into discussions in your school or organization:

1. Ask for evidence. Whenever anyone makes a compelling claim, ask for supporting data. Don't take someone's word for it.  Equally, be sure to provide your evidence/data if you are promoting something.
2. Examine logic. Look closely at the evidence and be sure the logic holds up. Be on the lookout for faulty cause-and-effect reasoning.  Invite colleagues to question the evidence and the logic.
3. Encourage experimentation. If you don't have evidence, create some. Invite colleagues to conduct small experiments to test the viability of proposed strategies and use the resulting data to guide decisions.

Adapted from: Harvard Business Review on Making Smart Decisions.

Supporting and Encouraging Differentiated Instruction

Guest Post from Trish Yeates, Crosby Heights P. S. (patricia.yeates@yrdsb.edu.on.ca)

LEADERSHIP AND DIFFERENTIATED INSTRUCTION

LEARNING FOR ALL K-12 reminds us that “all students learn best when instruction, resources, and the learning environment are well-suited to their particular interests, strengths, needs, and stage of readiness” – that is, the most effective instruction is Differentiated Instruction, adapted to student interests, learning styles and readiness to learn. Although differentiation occurs in the classroom, between students and teachers, leaders have a role in supporting this key strategy for student success. Tomlinson and Demirsky-Allan write about the need for leadership in their book LEADERSHIP FOR DIFFERENTIATING SCHOOLS & CLASSROOMS (2000):

“An individual classroom teacher, without any system or school support, can take steps toward differentiating instruction in his or her classroom. Many teachers have done so. Even within a single classroom, however, moving toward a philosophy of accommodating academic diversity and individual needs generally constitutes a change. The likelihood that a teacher will be able to make such a significant change—even within the confines of his own classroom—is greatly enhanced by accompanying change in the school culture as a whole. At the very least, a sense of support and approval from the administration goes far to encourage classroom change. More powerful support is provided by alterations in the organizational structure that are catalysts for classroom changes. Therefore, the task of the school leader—whether a school administrator or central office staff member—is to design systemic strategies that encourage teachers to implement differentiated instruction in the classroom and that support teachers in honing the skills of differentiation.”

This passage begs the question: what are we doing as leaders to support and encourage Differentiated Instruction in our own schools? If our moral purpose is grounded in the belief that EVERY student can achieve high standards (given the appropriate time and supports), then at the core of the role of every leader should be providing support for teachers to differentiate instruction in their classrooms. 

The tough part is knowing just how to do this. Tomlinson and Demirsky-Allan suggest that the key element in supporting Differentiated Instruction in schools may be having a firm commitment, tied to a clear vision and purpose. After that, leaders need to give the gift of time – time to collaborate, partner, learn, plan, and reflect.

In your school, is there a culture supporting differentiated instruction? Is there a clear vision and purpose, helping to ensure that teachers have the time and supports needed to differentiate for all of the students in their classrooms?

Reflection

This blog exists as a way for leaders - in any type of organization - to read a short piece and then to reflect on it.  My hope in providing these short pieces of writing is simply to stimulate the metacognitive level of leadership.  As I was reflecting on the blog, it occurred to me that the blog is designed for leaders to reflect on their practice.  However, I have not yet asked leaders how they stimulate reflective thought in others.

So.....as a leader, how do you stimulate reflective thought in those you lead?  If there is value in reflecting on our work as leaders, how do we support those with whom we work in reflecting on their practice?  There is ample research evidence to support reflection as a growth process for learning.  Do we, as leaders, know how to stimulate reflective thought in others? 

A few favorite questions that stimulate reflection are:

• If you were to do it again, how might you do it differently?
• What do you believe you did that led to such a successful outcome?
• Why do you think he/she might have reacted like that?

If you have some suggestions for great questions that stimulate reflective thought, please post them in the Comments section for this posting.