Helping Teachers Avoid (And Recover From) The Big Miss

Most days I wear two hats: principal and dad. I've been a dad a few years longer than I've been a principal, but some days I'm not sure which is more challenging. Today provides a great example.

When my son - an average golfer - plays in tournaments, I love nothing more than riding along in my cart and watching him for nine or eighteen holes. Because I know nothing about the mechanics of the golf swing, I couldn't offer him advice during the course of play even if I wanted to assist him. I do try to help him with some of the mental aspects of the game off the course, though. Specifically, I draw on my coaching background to help him understand mental toughness and dealing with adversity, among other things.

One of the things he and I have discussed numerous times, based largely on Hank Haney's book The Big Miss, is the importance of what Haney calls **"The Big Miss." Golf is a game of misses. Even pros miss fairways, greens in regulation, and putts, but Haney says the key lies in avoiding "The Big Miss." For example, missing a fairway by a few feet or yards may not necessarily spell disaster for a golfer. Missing a fairway by landing your ball on the fairway of a different hole... yes, that's a "Big Miss" and that's a problem. A "Big Miss" can be problematic in its own right, but a "Big Miss" often causes an undisciplined golfer to make a second mistake while trying to correct the "Big Miss," then another and so on, until an ugly 8, 9 or 10 lands on the scorecard.

As I watched my son make two "Big Misses" on separate holes this morning, I knew I could do absolutely nothing but sit and watch. Even if I had wanted to, even if I had known what to tell him, the rules of golf tournament play prohibit my strolling onto the course and calling a timeout to offer advice. Sure enough, after his each of his "Big Misses," he made costly mistake after costly mistake trying to compensate for the "Big Miss." Do I even need to tell you that those two holes inflated his score like a balloon?

Even when I have on my dad hat, I often have my principal hat on at the same time. The two "Big Misses" and the helpless feeling I had sitting on the cart path today reminded me of teachers and the possibility of teacher-style "Big Misses"  during the school year (i.e. poor choice of words with a student or class, an ill-advised email home, poor preparation and execution of a parent conference, poor judgment with grading, poor execution of a unit, failing to reteach when necessary, etc.). Thankfully, I know reasonably more about teaching, learning and school than I do about golf. As principals, we must. Like other principals, my job centers on making teachers better and helping them avoid not only the "Big Miss" but also costly mistakes that can follow in the wake of a "Big Miss." Principals do this through meaningful professional development, strategic and intentional conversations, suggesting reading(s), encouraging collaboration, providing meaningful feedback after observations, and more. Even with great coaching, though, teachers occasionally suffer the "Big Miss." Principals see "Big Misses" most often from new or inexperienced teachers but, like golfers, no one is immune to the "Big Miss" (principals included).

The major difference between my position this morning and the position of principals is this: while I had no way of calling a timeout to help after a "Big Miss" on the golf course, a principal has the opportunity and, in fact, the obligation to stroll calmly onto the proverbial golf course and do whatever is necessary to help. It goes without saying that if a principal is to coach the teacher out of the jam, he must first be able to identify not only the "Big Miss" but also the mistake that caused it. A principal may need to give a teacher a do-over with no penalty. A principal may need to talk the teacher through what the next step or steps need to be. A principal may need to carry the teacher's clubs for a while (figuratively, of course). A principal may need to spend time one-on-one with the teacher on the fundamentals, the approach, the mental game or some other issue. Truly, there's no limit to what a great principal will do to coach and support a teacher. The important thing is that a principal never sits in the comfort of the cart on the shaded cart path and mark penalty strokes on the scorecard.

**The Big Miss serves as a great analogy for life as well as for golf. The book chronicle's Haney's experiences with Tiger Woods, but Haney offers both golf lessons and life lessons in the book. I recommend it for golfers and non-golfers alike. Great read.

A Few Thoughts for the New School Year

Teachers, if your principal treated you the way you treat your students, what would your school look like?

Principals, if your teachers treated students the way you treat teachers, what would your school look like?

Educators, if students treated one another the way the adults around them treat one another, what would your school look like?

If you haven't already, you can follow me on Twitter at @_nathanbarber.

Leaders Must Fill In the Blanks for Those They Lead

As busy as educational leaders are in the 21st century, providing feedback to faculty and staff may end up falling down on the list of priorities in the midst of putting out fires daily. This may be especially true regarding faculty and staff who consistently perform well. It would be easy for a leader to think, "She's doing great, so I don't really need to touch base with her this week," or, "He's fine for now so I'll check in with him if things take a downward turn."

This practice presents at least a few potential pitfalls for faculty. When faculty hear nothing from leadership regarding their performance, or when blanks are left by leaders to be filled in by those they lead, faculty may assume something entirely different than what leadership intended by the silence. A solid teacher very easily may fill in the blanks with negative feedback. Conversely, a sub-par teacher may assume that all is well and fill in the blanks with positive feedback. Others simply may wonder why the communication has ceased. "Is everything OK between us?" he or she might wonder. If leadership does not fill in the blanks for faculty and staff with the appropriate information, the blanks will get filled one way or the other. If this miscommunication happens, the blame lies squarely on the shoulders of leadership.

For some time I've tended to manage some of my faculty in the following manner: no news is good news. In other words, if you don't hear from me for a while, keep doing what you're doing. My goal always has been to hire professionals then get out of their way as much as possible except to offer support when needed. For high school faculty in particular, this has seemed to be a good plan and largely has been appreciated by those I lead. As I've been reflecting this summer, however, I've decided I need to adjust my strategy some. Looking ahead to next year and beyond, I will be filling in the blanks regularly for every member of my team so there can be no question about my perception of their performance.

What blanks have you left empty just waiting to be filled in by others? What are the odds your team members will fill in those blanks with feedback that matches yours? It's probably time to fill in your blanks.

Necessary Endings

Just about a month ago, I had the family dog put down. The dog had been sick for some time, and it wasn't getting any better regardless of how much time, energy and money we devoted to treating the dog. It became clear to me what the only course of action could and should be - a necessary ending.

About a month before the dog fiasco, I heard Dr. Henry Cloud speak about necessary endings, a phrase he coined to match a scenario that many others have discovered. Dr. Cloud spoke about necessary endings within organizations and businesses, of course, and not about designer-breed dogs with auto-immune system diseases. The same principle applies, though. A time will come in organizations and businesses when leadership must prune away things that are sick and dying. A time will come when leadership must make a tough call that may be temporarily painful but best for the organization in the long run.

The idea of necessary endings certainly applies to schools. Two examples from my career come to mind, examples from two different schools at different times. Nevertheless, the examples seem eerily similar. In one school, an AP Stats course stumbled along every year, barely making because of low student interest and never producing quality results. In another, a French program consisting of four different classes dwindled every year in both enrollment and quality of results. After much deliberation, leadership decided on necessary endings for both the AP Stats course and for the entire French program.

Were these difficult decisions? Yes, especially if we looked at the scenarios telescopically rather than globally. No, when we considered the human and financial resources being drained only to yield poor results, and when we asked, "What's best for kids?"

If you are in educational leadership, you should be looking for opportunities to prune constantly. Still teaching Lotus 123? Time for that to go. Still teaching keyboarding on typewriters? It's time. Still paying that employee a full-time salary to teach ten kids when everyone else in the building teaches 80, 90 or more? Yep, it's probably time. This concept also applies to faculty and when it's time for some of them to go, but that's a whole different post.

Keep your pruning shears handy and take a look around when you get back to school in August. You won't be able to prune in August for the 2013-14 school year, but you can start planning for the following year.

Leadership Lessons from Lincoln: Timing is Everything

I recently finished the brilliant and monumental Abraham Lincoln biography  Team of Rivals, by Doris Kearns Goodwin, and I feel compelled to share some of the leadership lessons I've taken away from the book. Before I share the first of my lessons learned, I want to recommend the book to anyone who has an interest in Lincoln, the Civil War era, American history or biographies in general. I tackled the book mainly because I was curious about how Lincoln managed a group of high-powered men who often disagreed vehemently and competed for power and for Lincoln's attention, yet successfully steered the nation through the treacherous waters of the Civil War. Because of the huge amount of historical and personal details Kearns included in the book, I'm not sure this is an ideal book for someone interested only in leadership. That being said, I found the book to be rich and rewarding, and I discovered powerful leadership lessons in Lincoln's life as chronicled by Doris Kearns Goodwin.

In my years of educational leadership, I have learned (sometimes the hard way) that timing can be just as important to the success of a plan, a change, an initiative, a move or an announcement as the thing you're trying to accomplish. Throughout most of Lincoln's political career, his timing proved to be uncanny. Lincoln had a knack for knowing when to announce news, make statements, make changes, make personnel moves, engage in confrontations, remove himself from situations or reveal plans. For Lincoln, patience and pensiveness often paid off in spades, as he pondered each situation and weighed all possible courses of action and their potential outcomes before making his move. Example after example from his life demonstrated that had Lincoln's timing been different, either too hasty or not swift enough, results would have been drastically different. Lincoln's keen timing, I believe, stemmed from his remarkable understanding of humans and human nature; the importance of this cannot be overstated.

Lincoln's example holds relevance for educational leaders in the 21st century because timing matters as much today as ever. There are times when leaders should move swiftly and without hesitation, and times when patience should be exercised. This principle applies to myriad scenarios including new initiatives on campus, curriculum changes, personnel moves, and more. Educational leaders get themselves in trouble frequently by executing good or even great ideas with poor timing. Likewise, educational leaders often set themselves apart as exceptional leaders by timing their decisions and moves wisely.

In my next post, I will examine Lincoln's decision making process, which, interestingly enough, is a process I try to use in my own decision making.

A Quick Thought on Expectations

We've worked very hard to make our school operate based on expectations rather than rules and regulations. This idea applies not only to our students but also to our faculty and staff. Perhaps that is why the following quote really jumped out at me and I felt compelled to share it here.


I'm reading a great little leadership book right now called Get-Real Leadership by Harry S. Campbell. In it, Campbell says, "...if you expect the best from your employees and praise them when they're giving you what you expect, you'll get more of it." This is not a new idea and it's not rocket science, but it is packed with meaning. For example, this strategy means that you must communicate expectations clearly and then provide positive feedback when you see others meeting those expectations. This strategy reminds us that people respond better to affirmation of good behavior than to chastisement for undesirable behavior. This strategy only works when the leader remains actively engaged on a daily basis and remains and visible enough to observe desired behaviors.

How can this idea be put to use in your school, office, classroom, gym, etc.? Let's replace a few key words in the statement and you'll see:

• If you expect the best from your students and praise them when they're giving you what you expect, you'll get more of it
• If you expect the best from your seniors and praise them when they're giving you what you expect, you'll get more of it
• If you expect the best from your department chairs and praise them when they're giving you what you expect, you'll get more of it
• If you expect the best from your mentor teachers and praise them when they're giving you what you expect, you'll get more of it
• If you expect the best from your new hires and praise them when they're giving you what you expect, you'll get more of it
• If you expect the best from your booster club parents and praise them when they're giving you what you expect, you'll get more of it

We could go on and on, but you get the idea. Expectations, communication, positive feedback - what a great combination.

Differences Between Boss & Leader

One of my teachers shared this with me so I thought I'd pass it along. The points are pretty simple but the value of these little nuggets of truth is pretty significant. Enjoy!

Cruise Control or Sense of Urgency

As you approach the final week or weeks of the school year, your year will wind down in one of two ways.

First, you and those around you can set your cruise control to a convenient, easy setting that will allow everyone to coast into summertime. When a school runs on cruise control at the end of the year, classrooms center on videos, parties, study halls and free-for-alls. Kids get out of classrooms as often as possible and wander the halls. Teachers and administrators directly and indirectly communicate to students and to one another, "Whew! We made it to the end of the year! Thank God summer is here." What a waste of valuable time!

Second, you and those around you can take the classroom experience up a notch and teach with a sense of urgency. After all, you are running out of time. When a school operates with a sense of urgency at the end of the year, classrooms remain focused on the tasks at hand: teaching and learning. Teachers fully engage students right up until the last bell rings. Everyone feels as though they have run out of time when class dismisses. Teachers, administrators and even the students covet the final days of the year because the opportunity to learn has an end that's drawing near.

If the second approach to the end of school seems far-fetched, idealistic and unrealistic, perhaps you need to rethink your expectations of students, teachers and/or administrators. I have been in schools where learning ended a week or two before the arrival of summer. I also have been in schools where the last day of classes seemed no different than a day in September, January or March. The way the end of the year goes depends both on how the year has gone up to that point and on the expectations that are set for all in the school building regarding how the year will wind down.

I wish each of you a final week or two filled with a sense of urgency to learn, to teach and to lead. 

Profound Objectivity Through One Simple Question

Last week I spent the better part of a day at the Chick-Fil-A Leadercast, watching and listening to people like Tim Tebow, John Maxwell and Andy Stanley speak about leadership. Specifically, the speakers addressed making choices in positions of leadership.

Perhaps the most significant nugget (no pun intended) I took away from the whole experience came about five minutes into the morning. Andy Stanley presented a simple question to the audience for us to use when we're facing a choice or decision that requires clarity and objectivity. My colleagues and I have been returning to this question for more than a week, talking about its gravity and its brilliance. Here's the question, from Andy Stanley, to ask yourself: If I were no longer in my current position, what would my replacement do?

Just chew on that a moment.

This question brings instant objectivity and should make tough choices not so tough. This question can be applied to myriad situations in the lives of all educators - administrators, coaches, department chairs and classroom teachers alike. What should I do with that coach or teacher who isn't getting the job done? What should I do with next year's reading list? Should I keep using the same yellowed notes and mimeographed worksheets I created in 1983? If I avoid the issue and the uncomfortable conversation, will the problem go away?

If I were no longer in my current position, what would my replacement do?

If I had heard nothing else all day long, this one thought would have made the whole day worth the time I spent away from school. I challenge you to begin to examine things in your world through this lens.

Take Harvard Business Review With You Every Day

One of the tools I have found invaluable and inspiring during the time I've spent as an administrator is the Harvard Business Review. Though not written for educators, the high-quality articles about management, leadership, innovation and more, have been regular reading of mine for some time. I recently discovered a few new ways to enjoy and benefit from HBR - HBR apps for my iPhone.

The first app is a somewhat random app called HBR Stats. This cool little app provides "facts and figures offering a quick, sometimes quirky perspective on our world and the business that happens in it."

The second app is HBR Tips. This app "offers quick, practical management tips and ideas."

These nifty apps provide countless anecdotes and useful bits of information. I highly recommend them. Additionally, if you are in educational leadership, I recommend adding the Harvard Business Review to your weekly or monthly reading regimen. You might also want to browse the list of HBR book titles for additional reading.

Friendship: An Unhealthy Relationship in the Workplace?

In my last post, I presented a dilemma in the form of a question: how far can a boss take a relationship with a subordinate before the relationship becomes unhealthy? This almost certainly is a challenging question for any person in a management/leadership position who banks on relational skills as his primary means of influencing those around him, and especially for an educator.

In Being the Boss, by Linda Hill and Kent Linebeck, the authors make no bones about this dilemma: a boss must not and cannot be friends with subordinates. Why not? A friendship can cloud a manager's judgment when it's time to make a tough decision. A friendship can allow both the manager and the subordinate too become too comfortable, too at ease and too relaxed, thus leading to poorer performance as well as an inability to be honest with one another about performance and/or expectations.

As much as it pains me to agree with the authors, I have to agree with them on this point. Interestingly, the authors provide no advice on how to accomplish this. The trick is to build relationships in which subordinates feel the manager cares for their personal and professional well-being without getting wrapped up in their lives and personal affairs. I'm not sure there is a manual for this. Based on my experience, I believe this requires judgment and discernment on the part of the manager. I believe it is the manager's responsibility to know where the line is with each individual and to gauge the appropriate depth of the relationship with each. One of the most tempting pitfalls managers must avoid is sharing confidential information with, venting to (about work) and confiding in subordinates. This can be especially tough for educators in leadership positions.

The bottom line is this: no matter how much an educational leader depends on relationships to be an effective manager/leader, the line between him and subordinates must remain intact, and he must work constantly to build strong relationships that don't morph into friendships.

Leading or Bossing?

I have heard and read numerous times that rules without relationship leads to rebellion. I certainly agree with that whether the context is the workplace, the school building or the classroom. The area of specific concern for us is the school building which also happens to be the workplace. I came across a quote recently by Mary Parker Follett that lends some credence to this mindset. Follett once said, "The test of a [manager] is not how good he is at bossing but how little bossing he has to do."

That's a pretty powerful statement. Also powerful is what Follett doesn't say but rather implies: without some level of established relationship between boss and subordinates (for lack of better terms), bossing becomes the default mode of management and/or leadership. However, this presents an interesting dilemma for managers, supervisors, division heads and heads of school: how far can one take a relationship with those who work with him and for him before the relationship becomes unhealthy? I'll explore this a little in my next post.

Advertising to Attract Teacher Applicants: Part 4 - Recon Missions

One of the best ways to advertise teaching positions actually involves no traditional advertisement at all. I call this method of seeking to fill faculty openings "recon missions." How does it work? Simple.

Recon Missions - Let's say you have a need for an experienced tuba instructor for the following year. Now let's imagine the State Tuba Instructor Convention is being held in a city to which you could travel without a huge expense or inconvenience. If you or someone trustworthy from within your tuba department (ideally your tuba department chair) could register for and attend the tuba convention, the recon mission becomes realistic... if you choose to accept it.

Such conventions, conferences, state clinics, and the like, often are abuzz with news of which tuba instructors are leaving which school for which other opportunities, which tuba instructors are looking for a change of scenery, which tuba instructors are looking for new challenges, etc. The goal of the recon mission is to find out which instructors are the best and which might be the right fit for your department and/or school. If said tuba instructor is available and attractive (as a candidate of course), you should make contact. After making contact, the rest is up to you.

Often at such gatherings there are job boards placed in a central location. These job boards usually have a space designated for job openings and for job seekers. These job boards may be a great way for you to publicly post your position or to find candidates looking to change jobs.

The upside to recon missions is your ability to work quietly, to operate in stealth mode, if necessary. You can mix and mingle, network, meet new people and reconnect with old colleagues while keeping an eye open for possible candidates to fill your vacancy. Also, you have a better chance of landing a real tuba instructor rather than having to wade through applications from unemployed percussionists and strings players who simply need a job.

The downside to recon missions is that if you don't score some business cards or resumes at the convention, you may need to advertise in a different way, thus incurring additional expense. Additionally, the timing may not always be right. Some conventions are held in the fall or winter. In that case, though, you still would do well to attend in order to put your feelers out in anticipation of future openings.

It's worth noting that many of the best districts and best independent schools have people on staff whose responsibility it is to attend as many of these conventions and conferences as possible for the purpose of recruitment and recon.

Advertising to Attract Teacher Applicants: Part 3 - craigslist

The idea of using craigslist to advertise for a teaching position may not surprise you. However, you might be surprised at the number of people who are surprised when I mention that I've posted job openings on craigslist. I recommend this approach for advertising to attract teacher applicants.

craigslist - This is an easy way to reach many, many people. Depending on your location, you actually may reach more people by advertising on craigslist than by posting in the local newspaper's online classified section. The first time I used craigslist to post a teaching position was about six years ago. At that time, craigslist hadn't exploded and only computer geeks and tech-savvy job hunters knew to check craigslist for postings. Believe, that has changed in recent years.

The biggest upside to using craigslist to advertise teaching positions is that you get maximum bang for your buck. Some ads on craigslist will be free and some will cost a whopping $25, depending where you live and which local craigslist you use. A great feature about craigslist is that you can set the ad to hide your email and have applicants respond via craigslist. This is very helpful if you don't want your inbox full of spam. Another plus is that craigslist won't constrain you with a word count and price per word like an online newspaper classified ad. You'll get great value from craigslist.

The downside to craigslist is essentially the same downside as a newspaper's online classified section: tons of junk. While I tend to think it's a good problem to have, others may not want to sort through a stack of cover letters, resumes and applications in search of a handful of great candidates.

Next time you need to fill a teaching vacancy, give craigslist a chance. The $25 you spend hardly will be a big gamble and you're almost guaranteed to get an inbox full of email from interested parties.

Advertising to Attract Teacher Applicants: Part 2 - Classifieds

The tried and true method of listing job openings in the classifieds still has a place, even in the 21st century world of digital media. In fact, perhaps listening job openings in the classifieds makes more sense than ever in the 21st century world of digital media. Posting your open faculty positions in the classifieds may be just what you need to do in order to find the right applicants. As you'll see below, though, using the classifieds to post your openings has a price.

Newspaper classifieds - Perhaps no other method of advertising job openings has been used in the past more than advertising in the classified section of the local newspaper. The bad news is that few people under the age of 40 actually pick up a real, old-fashioned paper newspaper. The good news is that most newspapers now post their classifieds online for all the world to see, no subscription required. (Actually, if your newspaper doesn't post their ads online, you probably don't want to advertise there anyway.) The younger generation of job seekers, not to mention some older job seekers, certainly will browse and search online classifieds sponsored by the local newspaper.

The upside to using traditional classifieds is that you probably will reach a huge pool of applicants, especially in large urban areas. You're putting your information exactly where people look who are seeking information like yours. Chances are you will have a mountain of responses when you advertise in the classifieds. Additionally, a candidate seeking to move to your city from another part of the state or country almost certainly will browse the online classifieds of your local newspaper.

The downside to using traditional classifieds is that you may end up culling dozens or even hundreds of completely useless resumes and applications to find a handful worth interviewing. Especially in today's economic situation, those people just looking for a paycheck (as opposed to those seeking a career in education) respond to practically every ad hoping eventually they'll score an interview. Another potential drawback is the cost-prohibitive limit on words and/or lines in your classified ad, as well as the time limit on how long the ad will run. Be strategic and efficient with your text to get the most bang for your buck.

If you use this method to advertise your job openings and fill your position before your ad expires, be sure to cancel it. If you don't, you can bet you'll be sending plenty of additional form letters informing applicants you've offered the position to another candidate.

Advertising to Attract Teacher Applicants: Part 1 - The School or District Website

Now is the time of year we in educational leadership begin the search to replace teachers we've non-renewed, teachers who have retired, teachers who have gotten married and moved away, teachers who will be staying home with a new baby, etc. Whatever the reason for our vacancies, the vacancies must be filled. I'm going to offer some practical advice in the next several posts concerning how to advertise to find the right teachers to fill your vacancies. With each post, I'll discuss a few of the most obvious and some not-so-obvious ways and places to advertise, along with some pros, cons and comments for each.

School or district website - The most obvious place to advertise a job opening, and perhaps the place you should begin, is with your school and/or district website. If an industrious prospective applicant is browsing your website, you would be well-served to have your opening(s) posted. Once you write the posting (and proof it to be sure it has conveyed exactly the level of excellence you're seeking) and submit it to the webmaster (who then will make it magically appear on the website), you need to take a few minutes to browse the website and be sure the posting, along with application instructions, is easy for a first-time visitor to find.

The upside to posting an opening on your school/district website is that you should have total control over what is said. In other words, there should be no word limits or cost considerations for your posting. Additionally, a prospective applicant doesn't have to go somewhere else online in order to investigate your school or district - they are there already.

The downside to posting an opening on your school/district website is that prospective applicants from out of town or who have never heard of your school or district may have difficulty finding your school or district online in the first place. Another issue is the quality of your school or district website. If the quality of your school or district website is poor, prospective applicants who do find your site may have second thoughts about applying.

The bottom line is this - if you have a teaching position available for next school year, start the advertising process by posting the vacancy on your school or district website. If you want the best applicants, however, do not settle for your school or district website being the only place you advertise your available teaching position.

Patience Is a Virtue... Especially When Hiring Teachers

If you've been paying any attention to local news, regardless of where you are, you've noticed thousands of teachers will be unemployed next year due to cuts in funding for public education. While I wish this were not the case, there may be a silver lining for those of us in a position to recruit and hire teachers. Many districts across the nation will be keeping tenured and veteran teachers and non-renewing teachers who simply lack the years of experience necessary to keep their jobs. Very soon the market, so to speak, will be flooded and the market will be a buyer's market. In other words, with thousands of teachers seeking employment, there will be myriad applicants from whom to choose. many of these applicants will be from public school districts and many will be from higher education. The trick will be to be to wade patiently through the piles of applications soon to flood principals' desks. There will be outstanding, experienced teachers and young, rising stars alike applying at your school soon.

In the next week or so, I'll present some ideas for ways to advertise for teaching positions that are slightly more creative than posting openings only on your school website.

INspect what you EXpect

I had the opportunity to sit down with a former head of school this week and dialogue about school leadership. Among other things, we talked at length about expectations, how to communicate expectations and how to hold others accountable for meeting expectations. In the course of the conversation, he said (with the emphasis on the first syllable of each word), "We must INspect what we EXpect."

I had never heard this before but I found it significant. As I mulled this over, I began to realize this applies not only to heads of school or division heads working with faculty but also it applies to teachers working students, administrators working with students, coaches working with players, and the list goes on. Obviously this is not a new concept but I think the short statement speaks volumes and carries significant weight for educational leaders.

Daniel Pink's Drive: You Gotta See This

Rather than post another of my takes on Daniel Pink's Drive, check out this amazing animation instead. It is just under 11 minutes but it is worth your time, especially if you can't pick up the book right away.

Hopefully this video will encourage you to add Drive to your reading list.

A Lesson from Daniel Pink's Drive: Don't Empower... Give Autonomy

As an educational leader I have been doing everything within my authority to empower teachers who work with me. After reading Daniel Pink's Drive, I realize I am doing this all wrong. Beginning next year, I will no longer seek to empower teachers. Rather, I will seek to give my teachers autonomy. Splitting hairs, you say? Daniel Pink would disagree. Let's take a look.

The whole reason I have sought to empower teachers in the classroom and in the greater school community is that I have always tried to hire professionals to a job then provide support for them. In my mind, empowerment for teachers translated into giving teachers freedom and authority. However, according to Pink, empowered individuals never will be as motivated to do a job or task completely, thoroughly and with excellence if they simply are empowered. Why? Empowerment allows my teachers to do things their way only up to a certain point and entirely within the parameters I set for them. This may sound great at first, and it probably is relative to many schools, but it isn't quite enough. After all, I may know good teaching but I don't know Physics or Calculus or Latin.

From this point forward my goal is to grant autonomy to my teachers. Pink argues that for a person to be motivated completely, he or she must have autonomy over four things in his or her work environment: Task, Time, Technique, and Team. without reinventing the wheel, allow me to explain (you should read the book for full details).

Task - If I give a teacher a task and set parameters, he or she will seek to do the task and probably will do it well. If I give a teacher autonomy over the task and I get out of the way, he or she not only will do it well, but also will invest more time, energy and creativity in the task because with autonomy comes ownership. Besides, the parameters I would set probably would be determined by the limits of my own knowledge and experience.

Time - If I require a task to be completed by a particular date and time, practically none of my teachers would take issue with it. If I give a detailed timeline including checkpoints, some teachers likely will work only in the small increments required to complete the task. However, if I assign a task and a deadline and give a teacher autonomy over his or her time, that teacher is far more likely to invest a great deal of time in the task (especially if I have granted autonomy over the task). Do I care if the teacher works in erratic chunks of time including marathon sessions as the deadline approaches? As long as the deadline is met, I absolutely do not. Some of my best work has been generated that way. This is a concept that is causing fits for many baby-boomer leaders and managers who have been brought up and trained to work by a schedule, put in x amount of hours each day, etc.

Technique - If I simply empower teachers to teach a particular way, I am short-changing them and their students. However, if I can give my teachers autonomy over their technique, their pedagogy, I am setting them free to explore new and better ways of teaching, to seek creative new ways of doing the same old thing. By granting autonomy over technique, I will be tapping into what really motivates human beings to excel.

Team - While I can't completely turn teachers loose to choose their own teams in all aspects of daily life at school, I can find some ways to grant teachers autonomy over some of their team assignments. Grade levels and departments obviously must be determined by a division head or director. However, committees, duty rotations, football game gate workers, and more, could be chosen by the team members themselves. After all, who knows better than the team members which teachers will work best together and be most productive?

I hear the cynics now... "Yes, but, you are giving your employees way too much credit." To the cynics, Dan Pink and I both would say two things. First, we are looking for and expecting the best from those who work with us. Second, to grant autonomy to those who work with us, i.e. teachers, certainly requires a higher order of faculty. How do we achieve that higher order faculty? That's a conversation for another day but the short answer is better training of the teachers we have and better hiring to replace those who leave us.