Two Notes A Day
If you want a way to build relationships with your staff that costs you next to nothing and takes less than five minutes a day then I have the strategy for you. It is guaranteed to move the culture in your building and gain some serious equity in your organization. I love Jimmy Casas and I have mentioned him before. When I was first hired as a building principal I had the opportunity to attend a conference he was keynoting at and heard him speak for the first time. I hadn’t even had a day on the job as a principal, but I knew that culture was going to be a key element in our building’s success. Jimmy mentioned in his keynote that he wrote two notes a day to the staff that were positive and supportive. I immediately knew that I was going to use this idea as soon as I assumed the role in my new position.
I was astounded at how quickly this took off in every building I was a leader in. I wrote these notes on bright colorful notecards and I dated and signed each one. I always found something positive to write about. It could be something they did in the classroom and sometimes I found things that weren’t even school related. It could be as simple as welcoming them back from an illness and telling them how much we missed them. Sometimes I would do it when I knew they were struggling and it would give them a boost or motivation to keep moving forward. I kept a spreadsheet for each quarter to make sure I didn’t miss anyone so everyone got at least one note a quarter. One of the coolest things this created was a culture where teachers did it for students and staff and even for me. I would walk into classrooms and teachers would have my notes taped to their desks or pinned to a bulletin board. People just want to be recognized and appreciated and that doesn’t cost a thing. People will appreciate the time you took to handwrite a note acknowledging their effort. The reason this is so effective is because people don’t do it enough today and it truly is special. Take advantage of that and start right now!
Addition By Way Of Subtraction
We live in a fast paced world where new techniques and tools are being created so quickly that they are oftentimes obsolete in a matter of months. We are constantly being asked to start and add new initiatives and programs to what we already do, not to mention learning how to use all of the new technology at our disposal. One of the biggest criticisms or complaints I have heard from staff members over the years is that we keep adding new things to a growing list of duties that seem already impossible to complete. This creates an immense amount of frustration, anxiety and even anger among staff members who are so overwhelmed and over stimulated by all of the mandates and choices that are put before them each day.
I know from speaking with my staff over the years that they see the value in growth and adapting to new ideas and programs, however there is something that we rarely do when we add new things to their plates. The thing we rarely do is take any programs away. We are always adding something new and never subtracting things that are no longer needed or effective. Something that we must make a conscious effort to do as leaders is to constantly audit the programs, procedures and tools we are using. This allows us to be the most efficient and effective organization possible.
Subtraction can add so much to your life and the culture of an organization. When we free ourselves from the unnecessary things in life we are going to have more time for what is truly important. This stands true not just in your job, but in your personal life as well. It is critical to eliminate all of the extra things we don’t need. You as well as your staff will remove unneeded anxiety, stress and pressure to complete tasks that don’t matter or are outdated. Don’t be afraid to add what works but in doing so subtract what you can to improve your organization and your life.
Without Purpose There Is No Hope
For several years the trend has been to focus on our why. This particularly rings true in the world of education. I know as a school principal I had professional development seminars and activities focused around staff solidifying their why and writing it down and posting it in a prominent location in their classrooms or offices. I’ve noticed recently that people have started to become irritated with the mere mention of our why. So, I began to ask the question: why are people so irritated with the discussion of this topic? To answer this I think we need to look at why we deemed this topic so important for us to cover in the first place?
Delving into the why of a staff member was something I wanted to know as a leader in order to serve our staff in the best way possible. To be more clear, our why is really our purpose. Recently I was in a small group and we were discussing things like regret and how regret can steal our purpose. At that time someone spoke up and said that “without hope we have no purpose.” This gave me pause, and I thought: have people lost hope? If people have lost hope, did it cause our relationship with our purpose to be damaged, therefore making it difficult to talk about? I also think as leaders we got so wrapped up in people knowing their why (purpose) that we didn’t follow through with making it matter and using it to assist our staff.
I started to realize that I never clearly defined the importance of talking about our purpose. Our staff knew their purpose, however that purpose had been damaged by the circumstances before them. COVID took a toll on their purpose, the tremendous demands put on our staff to be and do all things, people blaming them for things beyond their control and the struggles of their own lives beat up their purpose. As a leader I know I didn’t use the information I received to help our staff because I was also distracted by the things mentioned above. It’s also important to note that I wasn't clear enough with staff about why it was important to revisit that purpose. It wasn’t because I doubted them or thought they had lost their way, it was ultimately because I wanted to better serve our staff. I know as a leader I wanted them to know that things would get better. I didn’t clearly realize that I was trying to express hope for the future that we were going to come through these trials and tribulations. I believed in them and had hope because of their purpose. If I just would’ve come right out and said that it would have made our relationships with our purpose a bit better in the face of tough times.
Sometimes as people and as leaders we can stray from our purpose because we become distracted by all of the other noise around us. The outcome of the battles we fight each day can pile up especially when we aren’t always successful. We don't do it intentionally but it happens and it becomes harder and harder to maintain hope in the face of these distractions. As leaders now more than ever it’s important that we give and help people hold onto their own hope by making sure we support their purpose and reassure them that we are here for them. Be that servant leader that is fully committed to serving your staff. Have a great week and remember when your commitment is greater than your feelings you get results.
Support Over Change
As a leader, I started to reflect on all of the times that I had an opportunity to make an impact on people who needed to improve in their position. I specifically thought about how I approached those situations with people when they had things that they needed to work on. As a young leader I made plenty of mistakes and one of the biggest mistakes that I made in that process was my approach to helping those I was in charge of leading.. When I was focused on changing those people I was truly missing the mark when it came to what my job really was as a leader.
You see when we tell people they need to change the narrative becomes about their deficiencies however, if we talk about providing support it can become an entirely different experience. The narrative then becomes I see your potential and I want to be a partner with you in being the best you can be in all that you do. We should never be afraid of change, unfortunately we live in a world where people can be paralyzed by the very thought of making even the smallest change. So, why not reframe how we look at things instead of changing people, why not provide people with the opportunities, support and tools to improve. I would much rather be approached that way than immediately being told “Hey, you need to change.” Some people may feel that you need to be more direct or blunt when you want to see people do things differently, but I don’t think it necessarily has to be that way; it's not about avoiding an issue. It’s not about tip-toeing around the issue. It’s just about providing people with an opportunity and the appropriate mindset.
Something I’m a big believer in is positive self talk and how much of what we say to each other really matters. If I talk to people from a positive place I’m going to get much further with that person than I would’ve if I focused on them needing to make a change. I’ve said this before in other podcasts, blogs and daily messages that what you say and how you say, it matters just as much if not more than the message you are trying to send. This approach also helps us focus more on the standards of our organization and on our expectations rather than on the deficiencies of those we are leading. Ultimately at the end of the day like my good friend Ken Williams says “the standard is the standard” and that’s where we all need to be. This makes it more about the organization and less about the person. My call to action this week is for you not to be a change agent but to be an agent for support. Have a great week and remember that when your commitment is greater than your feelings you get results.
Being Conscientious
Every six months I try to take some time and focus on what my core beliefs are regarding leadership. Yesterday I was taking time to do this, looking over old journals and notes of things that had influenced me, and helped me gain clarity. I was thinking about how important relationships are when you’re a leader. One thing that I’m a big believer in is making sure that you’re continually growing and a great way to do that is through reading. I’m currently reading a book called Be Exceptional by Joe Navarro. Joe was talking about the things that he believed were the most important parts and pieces to being a great leader and one of the things that he mentioned was the importance of being conscientious
In reading what Joe was talking about, I started to think about all the things that I do as a leader for others that would be considered conscientious, and then it dawned on me. We make leadership much harder than it needs to be. Sometimes instead of thinking about all the things that we should do as a leader when it comes to relationships we should simply focus on being conscientious. When we take time to be actively and genuinely conscientious, our relationships with others will naturally grow and improve. In being conscientious, we are giving people the respect, empathy and attention that they deserve and oftentimes crave. Being conscientious doesn’t have to be hard. It doesn’t have to be difficult. It just has to be doing what’s right.
I’ve always felt like one of my most important philosophies when it came to leadership was keeping it simple. It doesn’t matter what I’m trying to do, the more simple you make things the easier it is to follow and the more likely you are to have success. We all can become overwhelmed by leadership especially when we think about all the different things that we do as leaders, particularly when it comes to our work with others; however, if we live by some basic guidelines like being conscientious leadership doesn’t have to be overwhelming. It just becomes a matter of doing what's right for others.
My call to action for you is to consciously focus on being a more conscientious leader this week and in the weeks to follow. I’m willing to guarantee if you make being conscientious your focus not only will leadership become easier, but it will also be more satisfying and make those around you more likely to work harder to achieve the goals you have for your school or organization. Have a great week and remember when your commitment is greater than your feelings you get results.
My Attitude My Effort
We spend a lot of time focused on what we can’t control. The number of things that are beyond our reach can be insurmountable to think about. Each day we are confronted with so many things we can’t control the attitude of others, the weather, people showing up late to work and the internet being down. These obstacles and bumps in the road feed into our feelings and can even derail or significantly alter the effort we put into our day. Why is it that we allow these things to take up space in our minds and distract us from our mission?
I used to think it was a lack of mental toughness on my part or a desire to always be in control that made all the variables outside of my own reach an obsession. This would make my life miserable depending on how much I was facing on any given day. It could get so bad that the mere thought of things not going my way would put me in a tailspin before I could even really get my day started. It took a lot of reflection to realize that a lot of the time I was obsessed with the uncontrolables in my life was because I wanted to do a good job and I cared deeply for the people around me. The success of those I was working for and with meant something to me. I wanted people to be proud of where they worked, who they worked with and what they did.
When I had the opportunity to lead a school building for the first time I went back to my earliest days as a coach and remembered something I always told my athletes. “There are only two things you can control in this world: your attitude and your effort.” I realized that I wasn’t following this advice. My happiness and effort shouldn’t be determined by the things I couldn’t control. When we focus on the things we can’t control we spend our time chasing something we can never catch. My attitude can bring a positive light to people but worrying about their attitude can’t improve the situation I’m in. My effort works in much the same way. When I lose focus of my effort and start to do the jobs of others my work suffers and suddenly it's not enough.
You will hear me a lot about keeping things simple. We make life way too complicated when all we have to do is slow down and focus on the basics. If we start with having a positive attitude, not only will it lift us up but it will naturally lift up the other people around us. Effort works in the same fashion. When people can see that I work hard it makes it more difficult for them not to put forth a better effort. By raising the bar and focusing on what I can control, those other things beyond my control will stand to improve because I’ve kept the focus on leading myself and others in a more positive way.
Where Does Leadership Begin?
For most of my life I have been a leader. I’ve led student organizations, teams, classrooms, buildings and people in private industry, but it wasn’t until later in life that I really considered where leadership begins. Most of us think we become a leader as soon as we are in charge of a group of people but it starts much earlier than that and we don’t even know it is happening. As soon as we are able to start making the most basic decisions in our lives we are starting our journey in leadership. We don’t realize that we are collecting valuable information on making good and bad decisions and collecting a database of what works and what doesn’t. We are also very aware of the people around us who are trying to lead us down the appropriate path in life and those that aren’t. The data we collect is very simple and can be categorized into a chart as simple as what we like and don’t like.
It wasn’t until I was in my mid 40’s that I realized I had failed to take charge as my own leader. I had been leading others for over 20 years at that point, but had neglected to lead myself. I started to reflect on how I got to a point in my life where I was struggling with my physical and mental health weighing in at over 600 pounds uncomfortable in my own skin and ashamed of myself. I took an honest inventory of how I was leading others and had to consider the difficult reality that by putting them first I really wasn’t giving them my best. I was neglecting myself to the point that I wasn’t able to function at a level the deserved from their leader. We are all born to lead in some capacity. There are people that may not like to do it, others may not realize they are doing it, and some people just need to have their eyes opened up to the potential they have to change their lives and the lives of those around them.