Principal Bootcamp

Accelerated Strategies to Influence and Lead from Day One

Brad Johnson

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2020
• ISBN:
  9781000203400
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Pedagogía
• Subtopic: Liderazgo en educación

This book shows principals how they can accelerate their impact and make a difference from day one. Speaker and author Dr. Brad Johnson offers new and experienced principals authoritative advice on how to succeed in key areas: understanding the best leadership traits; developing positive relationships with staff; building a dynamic team culture; and creating a unified vision. Each chapter includes inspiring stories and practical examples for leaders in all types of school districts. Using these strategies, you will learn how to immediately maximize your influence over yourself, your staff, and the entire school culture.

1

Influencing Yourself

The Call to Duty

If you ask most teachers why they got into teaching, most will share the story of a teacher or teachers who profoundly influenced them. I have had several amazing teachers throughout the years who greatly influenced me. But the person who had the greatest influence on me was actually my high school principal, Mr. Kent. He had already been the principal for years before I attended the high school, so he already had time to build a strong school culture with staff, parents, and community and trust me it showed! What I remember most was how calm and laid-back he was as principal of the school.

He would greet students and teachers as they entered the school each morning. He would take time to talk and listen in the hallways and the cafeteria. He would stop into classes just to see what was going on without a teacher evaluation in sight. Not that I would have recognized a teacher evaluation form, but he usually just had the two-way radio (yes, this was before cell phones) in his hand. He seemed to know every student, every parent, and connected with his teachers in a very caring way. He never seemed to be too stressed, even though I know some of the students, parents, and yes probably some teachers caused him to turn gray prematurely.

But what I remember most happened when I scored in the 99th percentile in every subject of the high stakes testing we took back then. Yes, we had them back then too! Besides a certificate and award for the accomplishment, he actually used his own money to purchase a watch for me. Now on a principal’s salary, it was not a Rolex, but I treasured that watch for many years as if it were a Rolex. It showed that he really cared and he was one to celebrate successes!

Years later, when I took my first administrative role, I recalled how he created such a family type culture and I knew that was what I wanted to create as well. I almost felt like it was a call of duty to move into leadership and make the positive impact on others as he had done for so many years. Mainly because I remembered him telling me during my senior year that I was one of the most talented students he had ever had and that I needed to use those talents to reach my fullest potential. Although I haven’t heard from him in years, I hope that our paths may still cross again one day, so I can let him know the influence that he had on my professional career.

Unfortunately, most principals today don’t get years to put their imprint on a school like Mr. Kent was able to do. Gone are the days where a principal has years to build relationships, community, and a vision for the school. Instead, principals are hired to come in and make an impact immediately. With the expectations of making AYP, Race to the Top, and emphasis on high stakes testing, there is much more pressure on principals and all educational leaders to perform immediately. In fact, the turnover rate of educational leaders throughout the country is two to five years, depending on your position. With this type of turnover, how can anyone be successful?

What makes it even harder for a principal is that they’re in a tug of war trying to balance the demands and expectations of the district and the needs and support of their teachers. In fact, I would say that being a principal might be one of the toughest and loneliest jobs in the world. Especially when you consider there is very little job security on top of everything else.

Because of the short window to perform, it is difficult for principals to take time to instill a vision, develop relationships, and create a positive culture. In my many interviews and own experience, I estimate that it can take up to three years to create a positive culture. However, principals typically have a year or less to make this kind of impact. Principals are thrown in the deep end of the pool and rather than a life vest, they are thrown an anchor and expected to keep everyone afloat! The catch-22 is that while principals need the relationships, positive culture, and clear vision to be successful, they aren’t given the time to effectively develop them. Hence, we are not adequately preparing and supporting principals to succeed. Principals don’t need more training in things like budgets, schedules, or even curriculum. In fact, you probably have staff with more experience and expertise in those areas. Principals need more development in actual leadership skills.

That’s why Principal Bootcamp was written, to meet the needs of educational leaders in a high pressure, high expectations world. Leadership bootcamps are commonplace in the business world where key strategies are implemented at an accelerated pace to prepare leaders to lead from day one. This book is designed to provide you with the key strategies needed to connect with your staff, create a strong vision, and school culture from day one. In most instances, you may not even have a year to create such a culture, so these strategies will help you improve at an accelerated pace.

Becoming a Person of Influence

Before you can influence others in your leadership capacity, you first have to understand what kind of leader you are because this will determine how you influence others. In fact, you cannot have influence over others until you have influence over self. When you become self-aware of how you lead, how you connect, and yes how you influence, then you are on your way to being an effective leader.

I have often said that education has good administrators but poor leaders. This is not a knock on principals but it is reflective of how we train our leaders for their role. Unfortunately, while education has made an effort to adapt to 21st-century learning, leadership has remained relatively unchanged since the industrial revolution. In fact, educational leadership was built upon the transactional (rewards versus punishment) leadership style that was developed during the industrial revolution, which is what most management or administration concepts are based upon. Since leadership influences culture, motivation, morale, and most aspects of school functioning, the fact that it has remained relatively unchanged could be a factor in why there are so many problems such as low teacher morale and high principal turnover.

Interestingly, the most commonly used leadership style is the transactional style. This style of leadership is based on the management style developed during the industrial revolution. This style focuses on setting objectives and goals for the followers, as well as the use of punishments/rewards in order to assure compliance with these goals. Unfortunately, this is also the least effective style of leadership but the one most closely aligned with the role of an administrator. When we think of ineffective leaders (and we have all worked for them at some point!), their hallmark was probably a compliance style of leadership because it is how they were trained. Even many programs are designated as education administration instead of leadership. This doesn’t mean that transactional leadership is necessarily bad but because the focus is on controlling, organizing, and short-term planning, it is insufficient in maximizing the potential of the leader or the followers.

This style used by most administrators is effective in short-term and non-complex situations, relying on a system of reward and punishment to motivate followers. This style of leadership does not encourage innovation or creativity and is not effective in long-range planning in which input from staff is necessary.

While this style is common in schools, partly because there is such pressure to make quick changes, such as raising test scores, principals aren’t given time to develop into effective leaders. Leaders cannot transaction their way into effective leadership or creating a positive culture for their staff. While not all transactional leaders are ineffective, this is definitely not the most productive or effective leadership style as it depends on influence of compliance. The hallmark of this style is usually “do as I say, not as I do.”

Fortunately, your leadership style is not fixed. So, even if the administrator or transactional style is the one you are most accustomed to, doesn’t mean that you can’t change. In fact, most effective leaders have developed and grown into the Servant or what I call selfless leadership style, and you can too! This is the least common leadership style, but in many respects is the most effective and enduring leadership style. Becoming a selfless leader means that you empower your staff. The way to empower your staff is by focusing on their needs. To empower others literally means to give up some of your own power.

As a selfless leader, you must love to see people develop and thrive. I believe that when you operate out of a selfless leadership mindset and honestly help people grow personally you win their hearts. When this occurs, you have people who follow because they are committed to you and your vision and are not simply following to be compliant. This is what makes a dynamic team culture! As we leave this section, here are a few key traits that differentiate having an administrator (transactional) mindset and a selfless leader growth mindset. As you study the traits of the selfless leader, think of ways that you can begin implementing them. Choose to develop into a selfless leader!

Administrator	Selfless Leader
♦ Focus on systems/structure ♦ Influenced by control/compliance ♦ Maintains status quo ♦ Does things right ♦ Holds followers accountable ♦ Manages ♦ Asks how and when ♦ Imitates ♦ Eye on bottom line ♦ Short term focused	♦ Focus on people ♦ Influence by inspiring trust/commitment ♦ Creates new status quo ♦ Does the right thing ♦ Accountable to followers ♦ Leads ♦ Ask what and why ♦ Originates ♦ Eye on horizon ♦ Long term focused

Understanding your role as an influencer is the beginning of becoming an effective principal and creating a dynamic school culture! The key to a high performing school is an effective school leader. You cannot administrate a school to excellence, but you can lead a school to excellence. And let’s be honest, becoming a selfless leader is not easy, or everyone would be one. It’s also something that can’t be faked. People know if you are being genuine or not. So, even though it’s more work, it is worth the effort when you have a staff that trusts you and are committed to you. That is a staff that can accomplish great things!

Leadership, after all, at its core is all about influence. If your influence is because of your position or title then you create a culture where teachers are compliant out of fear or duty. If your influence is about connecting, empowering, and supporting, then your followers will be committed. The first step in creating a committed staff is to make a shift from an administrator mindset to a leader mindset.

Bring Your Assets, Not Your Agenda

When you lead through the lens of a selfless leader, your whole perspective changes. You are no longer focused on what you can do for self, but what you can do for others. This doesn’t mean that you don’t have an agenda for the school, but it means that you aren’t driven solely by a personal agenda. Case in point, I had an educational acquaintance who recently passed away. He was the principal of a middle school for many years and he was simply known as Mr. Z! One of the teachers recounted how Mr. Z would let the teachers bring their children to school each morning, so they would not have to rush to drop them off, or have their children waiting in their own school so early in the morning. He would then drive the students to the neighboring elementary school every morning and drop them off on time. While this was extra work for him, he didn’t see it that way. He saw it as helping out his amazing staff. He put their needs first. He didn’t have an agenda; he was simply using his assets to help out those he led. Think of the impact he had for teachers to remember his kind actions all these years later.

Many people who seek out leadership roles often have a personal agenda. They want to move up the ladder of success. In the business world, they call it climbing the corporate ladder. In the military, officers are trying to move up through the ranks. Moreover, in education, many are seeking the climb from the school level to the district level or what is often called the ivory tower or crystal palace. First, let me say that there is nothing wrong with being ambitious. If your desire is to be a principal and move up a superintendent one day, then there is certainly nothing wrong with following your dreams. However, if your focus is just on your personal agenda, you will never fully realize your ability to influence your staff and help them improve as staff or potential leaders.

Since this is called leadership bootcamp, a relatable story to this topic would be a conversation I had a couple of years ago with Captain Mike Abrashoff. He took the worst ship in the Navy, the USS Benfold, and made it the highest ship in the Navy during his tenure as Captain of the ship. In discussing his own rise in the military, he discussed how officers in the military are always looking for ways to advance their career. He said if you were at a formal gathering with a large crowd, someone may be talking to you but they were also scanning the room looking for someone of higher rank to go schmooze with because they were always looking for opportunities to get ahead. Having this attitude will make people feel like they are just pawns in your game rather than people you value and have their best interest at heart. This can lead to low morale, division of you versus them, and create a toxic environment.

From day one, let your faculty know that you are bringing your assets not your agenda. This means you use your assets to help your staff improve, develop, and succeed. So, what are your assets? Your assets in this case are your leadership strengths. Whether you are aware of them or not, everyone possesses talents and strengths. Some are more noticeable, like charisma, dominant size, or even high intellect. However, some of the greatest leaders have been introverts, small in size, and often had higher EQ (emotional intelligence) than IQ. For some leaders it may even be that you possess a certain positivity. I think we all can agree that we would rather work for someone who is positive and encouraging rather than someone who makes the Grinch look like Mother Theresa.

The key is to determine what talents and strengths you possess, develop them, and maximize them in your personal and professional life. And let’s not forget that every expert in any field was once a novice, but they developed their strengths to excel. Take advantage of not just your assets, but your position as a leader to help those you lead. What is the purpose of leadership after all if it’s not to help those you lead improve their own situation in some capacity? Use your assets to lift up those you lead, to bring them to a new level of leadership, service, and success in their own career.

Reporting for Duty

Now that you have a better awareness of your leadership style and your focus...