Principal Reflections

Steven Covey’s book The 8th Habit has many connections to the life of a building administrator especially in his insistence on character being so crucial.

In the midst of the 1992 presidential campaign, Bill Clinton’s campaign manager, James Carville, put an inspirational sign on a bulletin board at the Little Rock headquarters for the benefit of the campaign workers. One of the points Carville wrote on the sign was “The economy, stupid. “  He knew that Clinton’s chances of winning would be increased dramatically if the campaign kept focused on the perception that Bill will be a president concerned with the economy, unlike his predecessor. Ironically, despite possessing enormous political talent, and achieving success in promoting economic growth, his legacy will always be partially tied to a character problem. Perhaps Carville should have added another point to his bulletin board post: It’s all about character too”.

Covey states that “90% of all leadership failures are character failures.” Who we are is more important than who we appear to be.

As a building Principal, my leadership is centered less on my accomplishments and more on the person I am. This can be a frustrating principle for leaders who long to be judged by performance. Yet, treating my staff with respect, caring about their personal and professional lives, and projecting a positive attitude in meetings and in the hallway reaps greater rewards than any task I can complete. One could draw a parallel to MLK’s famous line from the “I Have A Dream” speech: “I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.”

A good leader celebrates others’ successes.

Covey introduces the idea of an Abundance Mentality (AM) which exists when we are motivated not by success at the expense of others but by mutual prosperity. There isn’t a limited pot of riches that will be dolled out over time but a boundless supply of opportunity for all. Embracing this principle has many positive implications for leaders in public schools, including:

• Principals and their schools can be easily compared to each other via test scores and reputation. Adopting AM can lead to a lessening of competition and a greater sense of collaboration.
• Teachers don’t have a natural route to promotion. An AM perspective is crucial in developing selfless teacher leaders.

Life balance comes from making your values the driving force behind your decision making.

Covey uses the metaphor of Big Rocks to illustrate the need to “keep the main thing the main thing”. If the big rocks of life (family, opportunities, professional development) are put in your container of life first, then the small pebbles (emergencies, micro-issues) do not overtake the more important causes. If the pebbles are placed first, then there’s little chance to get to the more important, Big Rock categories. (On Covey’s web site “The Community”, he has a video that illustrates this point well. Access requires registration). In order for character to be the major player in a leader’s arsenal, it’s necessary to make it a “big rock” and be sure that the details of life don’t choke it out. There’s little patience or energy to prioritize character if a leader is overwhelmed.

The Big Rocks metaphor is a surprisingly accurate portrayal of the dilemma I face every day. I never want details to suffocate what is truly important, yet daily I fight that battle. Living with a holistic and balanced perspective is the key.

Nearly every article or book I read, every movie or TV show I watch, and many conversations I have force me to reflect on leadership. As I read Thomas Friedman’s latest book, Hot, Flat, and Crowded, essentially a call to arms for Americans, I’m reminded of parallels to my world. What does a frog, a pail, and a gas stove have in common?

Educators have to grapple with the notion that the world is becoming increasingly flat.

Friedman’s book The World is Flat, convicted me to become a passionate technologist and evangelize the need to understand modern technology for students, teachers, and parents. Countries, large and small, are playing on a more level playing field and we are missing a great opportunity to utilize the power of our digital natives who live and breathe Web 2.0 technology.

What is the cost of falling behind?

A significant component of Friedman’s research comes from his belief that we are entering the Energy-Climate Era which like the Industrial and Information Revolutions, offer either the opportunity for greatness or the possibility of being left behind. The countries who are able to harness the energy and know-how of its populace will find solutions that will move their people forward. However, when apathy or shortsightedness becomes the rule, we not only trail others who have moved beyond us, but we have cheated perhaps a generation of people.

We can’t let events control the agenda.

Another “engine of this new era” is appreciable population growth. As Friedman suggests in Chapter 2 of his book, I placed my year of birth (1961) into the search on: infoplease.com and discovered that in that year, the population of the world was 3.08 billion. According to the US Census Bureau, as of this month, the World Population is 6.802 billion , a 120% increase during my 48.5 years on earth. Our world was not ready for this exponential leap. Furthermore, the infrastructure of our large cities are taking the brunt of the increase, and they are not prepared, especially in the third world countries that are least able to handle this growth. Not only might this result in a narrowing of resources, it is likely to cause unrest in many regions.

While America’s schools will be impacted by these macro affects, the same tendency that drives America’s shortsightedness exists within our schools as well. A significant reason for this is the lack of resources which force both administrators and teachers to spend 90% of available time on management and 10% on vision and growth. While the opportunities for learning about innovation exist (such as the TED Talks) time is not plentiful. We have a credo in the Hopkinton School District: time, tools, and training. Simply put, if we want to grow as a district, we need to create the time, harness the tools, and encourage the training if we hope to control the agenda ourselves.

We have to fight the inertia to enjoy short term success at the expense of enduring prosperity.

Leaders must react to changes that are inevitable and mostly beyond our control. Likewise, due to greed, parochialism, or laziness, leaders can trade the immediate for the enduring. In sum, the frog in the pail on the stove doesn’t realize the peril he is in because the heat increases slowly and he never thinks of hopping out. At this moment in history, we are the frog and we need the realization, will, and plan to get out of the pot.