How Important Is Trust to Those You Lead?

I came across the following thought from Warren Buffett when I was reading through The Coach Approach by John Brubaker. How important is trust to those you lead? I think Warren Buffett answers that question better than I ever could.

Trust is like the air we breathe.

When it's present, nobody really notices.

But when it's absent, everybody notices.

A Few Thoughts from "What Teachers Can Learn from Sports Coaches"

Here are a few thoughts taken from What Teachers Can Learn from Sports Coaches. If you like what you see here, please check out the book. Please feel free to share not only this link, but also these images.

John Wooden's Wisdom Applied to Self-Improvement for Coaches, Teachers and School Leaders

In You Haven't Taught Until They've Learned, John Wooden talks quite a bit about how much he learned early in his career and about how important it is for a coach to continue to learn. The quote below provides a glimpse into Wooden's mind. The quote holds a great deal of relevance for educators today. In particular, the quote holds great significance for educational leaders. The best way to improve a faculty is for each teacher to improve himself or herself. A great educational leader, putting Wooden's wisdom into practice, does not lose sight of the fact that the same principle applies to school leadership. Simple but brilliant.

Variations on "A good course changes what you know. A great course changes who you are."

I recently had the privilege of attending The Innovator's Journey, a collaborative effort of a number of innovators gathered at Olin College to identify qualities and characteristics of innovators' childhoods that might be infused into 21st century education. Perhaps I'll say more soon about that incredible experience, but here I'd like to focus on something I heard while I was there. If I knew who said this, I certainly would credit that person. Unfortunately, I don't, so I won't. Nevertheless, I want to share this powerful idea. "A good course changes what you know. A great course changes who you are." Simple. Powerful. True.

Since hearing this several days ago, I haven't been able to shake the idea. Furthermore, I've spent some time thinking about other iterations of this same idea. These multiple other iterations I share with you here. I hope these will be food for thought for you in the coming school year.

• "A good course changes what you know. A great course changes who you are."
• "A good teacher changes what you know. A great teacher changes who you are."
• "A good coach changes what you know. A great coach changes who you are."
• "A good school changes what you know. A great school changes who you are."
• "A good book changes what you know. A great book changes who you are."
• "A good mentor changes what you know. A great mentor changes who you are."
• "A good leader changes what you know. A great leader changes who you are."
• "A good principal changes what teachers know. A great principal changes how teachers teach."
• "A good principal changes what school does. A great principal changes what school is."

I could keep going. Instead, I challenge you to think about how you could adapt the idea of  "A good course changes what you know. A great course changes who you are." to make it meaningful for you and your teaching journey.

Joe Maddon of the Tampa Bay Rays on the Importance of Focusing on the Process

In my research for What Teachers Can Learn from Sports Coaches, I heard from a number of incredible coaches a pretty clear message about the importance of the process in teaching and learning. Specifically, several of the coaches told me that a key element of their success over the years has been focusing more on the process and less on the results. By focusing on the process (individual and team growth and development) with their players, and by coaching the athletes and teams toward mastery rather than performance (stats, scores and wins), the coaches have been able to improve the quality of individual and team performances. Perhaps that sounds counter-intuitive, but the evidence lies in the national championships and Olympic medals these coaches have accumulated.

I recently discovered a great quote by Tampa Bay Rays manager Joe Maddon (I did not obtain this personally for my book)  that summarizes this approach to process-focused coaching and teaching: "What I'm trying to convince them is, you're not trying to beat the Yankees or the Red Sox or the Blue Jays, you're trying to beat the game of baseball through execution." Maddon nailed it. This approach works equally well for baseball, hockey and soccer, as it does for writing, calculus and second languages. Just as Maddon has led his team into the playoffs and into the World Series by focusing on mastering baseball rather than focusing on beating particular teams, teachers, too, can lead their classes to success by focusing on mastering writing, calculus and language, rather than focusing on test scores.

A Lesson for Educators: John Wooden on Why Joy and Frustration Should Not Come from Scores and Outcomes

"It is difficult for young players to learn - because of the great emphasis on records - but, ideally, the joy and frustration of sport should come from the performance itself, not the score. While he is playing, the worst thing a player can think about in terms of concentration - and therefore of success - is losing. The next worst is winning.”

Legendary UCLA basketball coach John Wooden sums up nicely a concept that has taken hold of me and won’t let go. In my research for What Teachers Can Learn from Sports Coaches, I heard from a number of incredible coaches a theme similar to what Wooden emphasizes in this quote. (It is worth noting that Wooden uses the word performance in this quote to mean the game itself, not the final outcome of the game.) Indeed, in sports today, people have become obsessed with the scores, records and stats, and the joy involved in the performance, the process of mastering the game itself, often is forgotten. The message this sends to youth may be costly because it implies that the outcomes are more important than the processes involved in learning, improving and mastering the skills involved in a sport.

In my last post on this quote, I focused on the importance of the process. Here, I want to shift my focus to Wooden's idea that "the joy and frustration of sport should come from the performance itself, not the score." Wooden's wisdom shines here. The reason any young person should take up a sport is because he or she loves it, not to win games or accumulate stats. Winning is nice, an enjoyable by-product, but it should be neither the sole measure of success or joy nor the motivation for engaging in sports. For Wooden, true joy lies in mastery, or in progressing toward mastery. Through the process of learning and trying to master a given sport, a young person can learn myriad life lessons including but not limited to dedication, perseverance, grit, growth mindset, and how to deal with winning and losing with class. Of all these, I believe Wooden would have valued growth mindset the most, because it lines up so well with this quote. That the potential to grow and improve in an endeavor, i.e. mastery of the golf swing or the jump shot, lies within a player is a notion that lines up perfectly with Wooden's philosophy.

A great coach or coaching staff can instill in athletes a love of the process, or the "performance" as Wooden refers to it. When an athlete come to love and find joy in the performance, he or she will see the struggles involved in trying to master the sport as part of the growth process. USA Wrestling Coach Brandon Slay told me, "I have to get my guys to enjoy the process of going through the drills." He wants his athletes to be able to say, "At the end of practice when I’m totally drenched in sweat, and every muscle in my body is killing me, I love it. I’m a warrior and I got to do something I love to do." He went on to say, "The more that they love the process, the more meaningful those drills in practice are." Wooden would have loved this. This philosophy implies, then, that coaches should emphasize and praise growth and improvement and not just the score and winning. Otherwise, athletes receive mixed signals or the wrong message altogether.

Let's not forget the frustration Wooden mentions in this quote. For some this may be counter-intuitive, but Wooden means that the frustration of sport should come not from losing or from the score. Rather, frustration should come in the process, the growth and the development. For anyone who ever has attempted to master a golf swing, frustration abounds. This frustration, though, is both natural and healthy, especially in the context of a growth mindset. With a growth mindset, an athlete attempting to master a skill or sport can use the frustration as motivation to continue working toward mastery. After all, with a growth mindset, an athlete has control over his or her own growth and improvement. This philosophy implies that coaches should make sure, as much as possible, that an athlete's frustration centers not on the score and losing but rather on the growing pains of player development.

Simply put, the lesson for educators is this: as education leaders, we must help our students shift their thinking so their joy and frustration lies not with scores and grades but rather with the growth, the process of learning and their journey toward mastery. In the classroom as in sport, according to Wooden's philosophy, the driving force behind instruction and learning should be growth, mastery and the process rather than the grades, scores and outcomes. Grades and other quantification of learning should not be the source of either students' joy or frustration. Good grades and high test scores, like wins in sport, should be merely a byproduct of mastery, growth and the process, not the motivation behind what happens in classrooms. With the current landscape in education focused so much on tests and testing, and therefore on grades and scores, Wooden's approach appropriately applied in classrooms runs opposite that mindset. Thankfully, there appears to be a shift beginning with educators at the grassroots level that would have made Wooden proud.

Anson Dorrance on the Importance of Reading for Professional Growth

In my research for What Teachers Can Learn from Sports Coaches, I heard over and over from some incredible coaches how much they value reading as a means for personal and professional growth. Perhaps none of the coaches I interviewed talked about reading more than Anson Dorrance, Women's Soccer Coach at the University of North Carolina. His list of accolades truly is too long to list, so I will just mention that he has won the NCAA national championship in women's soccer 22 times (no typo, twenty-two). He attributes is own personal growth largely to his voracious reading. If he can grow through reading, how much can you and I grow?

Don Meyer Quotes That Have Meaning for Coaches and Teachers Alike

In my research for What Teachers Can Learn from Sports Coaches, I discovered numerous quotes from successful coaches on the topics of teaching and learning. Below are a handful of thoughtful quotes from the late Don Meyer, who is widely known as a master teacher. Some of the quotes below appear to be about basketball only. However, each quote below holds significant meaning for the classroom and the classroom teacher, for teaching and for learning.

It is foolish to expect a young man to follow your advice and to ignore your example.

You have to learn things in every game... the games have to be the ultimate learning experience.

Your program must have an overriding purpose, which is clearly visible, which teaches lessons beyond winning.

Treat everyone with the utmost respect, and most of all have patience when you teach.

Every situation is an opportunity for growth.

Our example isn't the main thing in influencing others, it's the only thing.

It's not what you achieve, it's what you become.

Attitudes are contagious. Is yours worth catching?

Shout praise and whisper criticism.

A rock never shines because it absorbs light, but a mirror will because it reflects it. Are you a rock or a mirror?

Be who you are... everybody can spot a phony.

What you accept in victory, you must accept in defeat.

Words of Wisdom for Change Agents

If you're a change agent and you're feeling a little uncomfortable with the risk you're taking, you're in good company. Because most people resist change at all costs, you're in the minority as a change agent. Consider these words from Niccolo Machiavelli: "It must be considered that there is nothing more difficult to carry out, nor more doubtful of success, nor more dangerous to handle, than to initiate a new order of things." Your uneasiness should not be a deterrent, though. If you've done your research, weighed all the options, and believe the direction you're heading remains the best or appropriate direction, then Godspeed to you.

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.

Preach it! Teach it!

One of my brightest young teachers shared a powerful quote with me this morning that seems to me pretty germane to educational leadership. "When we make a declarative statement, we can only do four things with it: we can restate it, explain it, prove it, or apply it." This quote, from Haddon W. Robinson's Biblical Preaching: The Development and Delivery of Expository Messages, got him thinking and it's had me thinking all morning. I believe this statement has tremendous value not only for teachers but also for administrators and other educational leaders. I challenge you to approach the upcoming week with this idea framing each and every one of your declarative statements in the classroom, in the halls, in your office, in the workroom, or wherever you make a difference in the field of education.

My New Mantra

I recently read a line in Colt McCoy's book, Growing Up Colt, that hit me like a ton of bricks. The line from the book, now my new mantra, may not be the most profound quote you've ever heard, but it rang true with me in such a way that I shared it with my administrative team yesterday.

In the book, Colt McCoy explains that his parents' philosophy of bringing up their kids was to prepare their kids for the path, not to prepare the path for their kids. That is exactly the message we're trying to send parents at our school right now: the role of the parent is to prepare the child for the path, not to prepare the path for the child.

True story: thirty minutes after our admin meeting, our counselor shared this with a helicopter mom. I assure you, it won't be the last time we use this line. Read it once more and let it resonate: the role of the parent is to prepare the child for the path, not to prepare the path for the child. Thanks, Colt.

Make Your Halftime Adjustments Now

Once a coach, always a coach... With my coaching background, I often look at my faculty as a team and the school year as a game (chronologically speaking). If this is the lens through which I'm viewing the school year currently, I find myself at halftime. In my coaching days, I reflected on the first half on the way from the sideline to the locker room where I then would recap and debrief the team before laying out the plan for the second half of the game. Once I reached the locker room, I shared my assessment, communicated my adjusted game plan and offered both constructive criticism and encouragement to my players. This is a good plan for educational leaders, too.

I was taught that one of the signs of a mature and competent coach is the ability to make appropriate halftime adjustments. In leadership as in sports, making halftime adjustments is a multi-step process and is vital to the success of an organization. First, a coach must assess and analyze the first half based on his observations, the statistics, and feedback from players. Second, a coach must decide what adjustments need to be made to improve his team's performance in the second half. Finally, a coach must communicate clearly to his team so his players understand his vision for the second half. An educator, likewise, would do well to assess his first semester performance, as well as his team's performance, to make adjustments for the second semester, and to communicate the plan to his team so everyone is on the same page.

To quote James Baldwin, "Not everything that is faced can be changed. But nothing can changed until it is faced." This certainly is germane to the idea of halftime adjustments in a school or other organization. If things in a particular area of your school, department or classroom have not been at an appropriate level of excellence, those things will not get fixed without someone making an adjustment. That someone must be you, the educational leader. Don't be stubborn and allow issues to go uncorrected or unaddressed. Waiting until the next game, or school year, to address those items that need to be addressed, will be harmful to your team, your players and your organization. Remember, you're the coach and your responsibility is to make your team better. Period.

Alright, everyone in... "Team" on 3!

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.

Change or Growth: Your Choice

I came across an interesting quote last week: Change is inevitable but growth is optional. Since I read it, the quote has resonated with me for an entire week. I keep thinking that we, the educators, communicate this to our students through our actions and often through our words on a daily basis. We certainly expect our students not only to change but also to grow. I wonder, though, how often we, the educators, tell ourselves this and apply this to our own lives and to our professional journeys. Surely we hope the adults in the school buildings where we work will be different at the end of the year than at the beginning, and surely we hope the difference is due not only to change but also, and more importantly, to growth.

I presented this idea to my faculty this morning as their thought for the week. Consider challenging those around you with this idea, too.

Educational Leadership Thought for the Week

Coach Nick Saban's father was a lifelong educator. On his headstone is inscribed the following epitaph: No man stands so tall as when he stoops to help a child.

Educational Leadership Thought for the Week

As I did some research this weekend for a project, I came across a quote that really hit home with me. I'd like to share the quote, attributed to Bob Nelson, with you.

You get the best effort from others not by lighting a fire beneath them, but by building a fire within.

This a powerful thought for anyone in a leadership position: administrators working with faculty, teachers working with students, coaches working with players. I encourage you this week to build the fire then fan the flames within those you lead; your impact will be far greater with this method of leadership than if you light the fire beneath them, hold their feet to the fire, etc.

Martin Luther King, Jr. Speaks on Education

While searching recently for quotes about education, I found one by MLK. This being Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, I'll post the quote and share it today.



“The function of education is to teach one to think intensively and to think critically... Intelligence plus character - that is the goal of true education.” MLK



Well said, Dr. King.