Disparate Directions = Desperate Divisions

The chaotic political dynamic in Albany (and many other states wresting with fiscal concerns and policy initiatives - Common Core and Accountability measures) between the Governor and the state legislature (and lobbyists, as well as the constituent groups they represent) routinely inhibits progress because state budget items and formulas differ vastly among the state's 700 school districts. 

- United we stand, divided we fall.

Attitude + Aptitude = Altitude

If altitude, how high you reach in your role at school, is interpreted as your potential, then determining your altitude is the result of the attitude you bring to that equation, plus the aptitude nurtured by your employer via professional development opportunities.

I have always followed the advice of Southwest Airlines, where their human resource department states that they "hire for attitude, and train for altitude." Given the inevitable changes in education - technological, political, economic,... - it does little good to hire someone on the basis of possession of a skill that may be ephemeral and soon replaced by the next new thing. Rather, hire those people who genuinely display the attitude your organization values (cooperation, communication, compassion...), demonstrate a commitment to life-long learning, and exhibit at least average levels of achievement. 

The employer is responsible for cultivating these ingredients in pursuit of individual and organizational success.

Selling and Buying Ideas

In Daniel Pink's great book, To Sell is Human, he asserts that we are all salespeople beyond those we usually associate with selling products. That is, we regularly try to persuade others to buy our ideas in every-day, simple negotiations, from which restaurant to go to, to which movie to watch. Teachers are purveyors of ideas that they attempt to sell to learners on a daily basis, in exchange for the time and energy of the learners.

I believe in Pink's contention of an expanded view of what selling is about. Not just products, but processes as well. If you accept this premise, then I recommend the following two books - 1. Selling the Invisible: a Field Guide to Modern Marketing, by Harry Beckwith. and, 2.  Buy-ology: Truth and Lies about Why We Buy, by Martin Lindstrom.

Beckwith speaks to people who are tasked with selling the abstract -  like life insurance or an education - concepts or experiences that are not something you could touch, see, smell, or hear. Contrast intangibles with something real and present - like a car. You can sit in the car, smell the newness, feel the seats, hear the engine, test drive it and now right away whether or not it's worthy of your investment. You can't see education or life insurance in the moment. These two examples of the intangible are long term in nature and without a score or rank at the end of the day. Beckwith's book is a valuable resource.

Lindstrom offers an interesting read that is replete with examples or summaries of research studies, unburdened by rich detail and endless footnotes. He presents evidence of why and how people are influenced, often times at an unconscious level, prior to making an investment, be it monetary or time.

Combining these three books have served me well in exercising leadership designed to sell education to consumers who will not truly be able to determine the scope and value of a product they have invested in for years to come. If you indulge your professional curiosity you will acquire many practical ideas that can be employed in enlisting people in the mission of a school.

Optometrists, Dentists and ... School Culture and Empowerment?

Most people experience anxiety whenever they are administered routine diagnostic tests by their physician. The fear of having results point toward cancer is a significant contributing factor in the nervousness of patients. How many of us exhibit similar levels of anxiety when visiting their optometrist or dentist? And, what does all this have to do with school culture and empowerment?

Typically, we imagine the most dire prognosis discovered by an optometrist is the need for stronger glasses or, with a dentists, perhaps a new cavity. However, an eye exam from an optometrist can yield information that can hint at diabetes, autoimmune disorders, hypertension, high cholesterol as well as cancer ("Ocular melanoma can develop in the cells that make pigmentation in the eye. Your eye exam can also help detect skin cancer." www.yoursightmatters.com) A dental exam similarly can produce findings pointing toward types of cancer ("A dentist may find some oral cavity and oropharyngeal cancers or pre-cancers during a routine exam." www.cancer.org)

It's not my intention to offer a lecture on health, although it is a good idea to regularly schedule appointments with your dentist and optometrist. Instead, I want to call attention to these medical professions that are often overlooked in the detection and fight against cancer - and draw an analogy with members of a school staff that are likewise discounted when constructing or maintaining the culture of a school (a negative culture can seem like an organizational cancer). 

Terry Deal has written extensively on the subject of organizational culture (most notably his landmark text, Corporate Culture: The Rites and Rituals of Corporate Life). His work is a rich and timeless resource that I can reliably turn to when confronted with an issue of impact regarding the climate of a school. In particular, his book, Managing the Hidden Organization: Strategies for Empowering Your Behind-the-Scenes Employee, offers considerable points of interest in how members of the support staff can be cultivated as key factors in the shape and direction of the school environment. Ignoring or discounting the importance and potential of staff members who are not perceived, by virtue of their status designated by a chart of the school's hierarchy, as contributors to the culture of the school, ensures that the future of the organization will be limited. 

Members of what is commonly referred to as the support staff (kitchen workers, custodians, para-professionals, secretaries, bus drivers...) often have a school-wide set of responsibilities that provide them a view of, or interactions with, potentially all children. As a result, that vantage point supplies valuable insight to the operation of the school. Bus drivers are usually the first and last school staff member to see children each day. Kitchen workers come face-to-face with nearly all children during every meal, extending them an opportunity to see children, in a less formal and guarded setting that can expose the needs and feelings of children. The same can be said of secretaries and monitors and the many other roles that comprise the "Behind-the-Scenes" staff - essential to the function of a school, but too often neglected in terms of their opinions on the school culture.

By tapping the reservoir of all school employees and providing proportionate representation in matters of professional development activities and school decision-making councils,... the school can be enriched through the empowerment of all support staff members.