LEADERSHIP COACHING: WHO OWNS YOUR CULTURE?
This week’s blog is written by one of our J Casas and Associates leadership coaches - Jim Wichman. Jim currently serves as the principal of Prairie Ridge Middle School in Ankeny, Iowa. Additionally, Jim serves as Iowa’s NASSP State Coordinator, is a speaker and Leadership Coach, focusing on school culture. Be sure to follow Jim on Twitter .
School routines and the disruption of school routines...all part of a normal cadence of the academic year. Yet, the beginning of the school year, conference time, right before a break, right after a break, during the winter months, rainy days, progress report time, and during other out-of-routine weeks, I used to receive feedback about low morale and the climate/culture struggling. In fact, I would equate the unsettling perception of these “different days” to an amusement park ride - you know you’re boarding, but you’re certainly apt to encounter something unexpected.
In my earlier years as a principal, whenever these “conflicts of routine” would surface, I would work to ease the tension by granting an unplanned jeans day or purchasing food for the staff. At that time, my perception was that this was the remedy to the “tough times,” interrupting our procedures. In actuality, I was inaccurate with that response. I recognized a few years ago that those quick fixes were only putting a band-aid on a “wound,” and was only raising morale for a short period of time. What I didn’t know in the infancy of my career were that my efforts to try to save the agony of interruptions were actually a cycle that became our culture. The harder I worked at establishing a culture of support by offering tokens of support, the more my response to these unconditional system days became a culture of complacency. I was not enhancing a culture focused on students and collective efficacy, but instead one of dependency on special days or special treats. Then one day I had a revelation. I would never be able to impact individual morale because staff controls their own morale. However, I could impact the building culture and increase efficiency of our team as a collective unit. That would be the element giving us strength to endure the variables.
I’ve worked diligently to try and earn a reputation of establishing a positive culture and climate. Throughout my career there have been specific moments which have defined and shaped my approach to leadership. One of these moments happened while in my office talking with Alissa, an Instructional Coach. I still recall the words she shared with me that day in a firm tone, “Everything in this school runs through you! You care so much about the people here and are trying to protect them by trying to control the culture. Let go!” I was stunned, but what she was saying was true. After contemplating deeply on this statement, talking with staff, reading more, and reflecting on what I really believed in, I knew it was time for me to morph away from the habitual practices described above. This was about our culture. So in close partnership with my two other building administrators, Alissa, and the building Instructional Leadership Team (ILT) we started the process of taking control of our culture.
Every two weeks, I share out 1 Reflection, 2 Ideas, and 1 Resource for you to consider that I hope will encourage you to explore new and better practices in your daily work. My aspirations are to support you in developing your skills and shifting your thinking so you will invest in your own development and maybe, just maybe, I can inspire you to want to live your excellence so you can bring your best self to school every day!
Thank you Jim for being an example of what it means to live your excellence…every day. Grateful for your contribution today.
Jimmy
WHO OWNS YOUR CULTURE?: 121
1 REFLECTION:
Start with sharing your “Why”
In order to earn true trust, one must be vulnerable. I knew I had to begin to model vulnerability with my staff. I shared personal stories about what drives me in this profession; my passion for education, my convictions, and moments in my life that inspired me to want to be a principal. Each opportunity I had, I would share my “why,” for my work in education. From that moment on, almost every staff member has either shared their “why” with me or they have opened up to me by sharing a story of their own education journey. These stories have been genuine, real, raw, and at times, even overflowing with emotion, but they continue to serve as a reminder to all of us that we shape our culture.
2 IDEAS:
“God, grant me the serenity to accept the people I cannot change,
the courage to change the one I can, and the wisdom to know—it's me!
-- John Miller (QBQ: The Question Behind the Question)
Define your Current and Desired states of Culture
During a building-wide teacher meeting, we read articles that focused on different types of schools, viewed some Ted Talks, and reflected on who and what we really were as a collective staff. At the time we started this journey, our trust for one another was what I would define as “surface level.” So when we gathered teacher feedback on their opinions about our current culture and our desired state, it was done in a discretionary manner. Therefore, we decided to use the article, “Four Types of Schools,” by DuFour and Eaker. Teachers identified which of the four schools best described our school and recorded their rationale for their responses. Our Instructional Leadership Team (ILT) analyzed the responses and organized them into belief statements. Next, they shared the information with the teachers and asked them to define adult actions they would see that would support the determined beliefs they shared. From this process, we created a written, desired state for our students and staff, which ultimately defined how we would operate moving forward. For the first time in my tenure as an administrator, I was a segment of a collective team who defined the culture we wanted for the students and staff. Without using the terms “vision and mission,” our end product articulated our school’s vision, beliefs and adult actions to support the vision.
Let Go and Get Out of the Way
The finished product defines who we desire to be, how we want to operate (every day), and continues to serve as a map to growing and sustaining true trust among all adults in the building. Make no mistake, teachers were skeptical at first, but through the supportive actions of the administration, instructional coach, and ILT members, our staff started to believe in themselves and each other more than they had in the past.
During our PLC meetings teachers would ask questions about how to do something or what resource to use. Our reply was consistent with asking for their opinions and supporting approaches that they believed would best serve our purpose. We made day-to-day efforts to manifest our culture statement. We worked to empower one another to take risks and demonstrate an authentic support for our willingness to take risks to better meet the needs of students. And, not surprisingly, autonomy within our coherent system continues to grow to this day. To check that fidelity, a handful of staff consistently meet with me for the sole purpose of keeping me attuned and adhering to nurturing our culture.
Final Thoughts
The aforementioned actions occurred well ahead of the pandemic, and I am thankful. The work we did as a staff directly impacted the social/emotional well-being of staff when things got really tough when our students were sent home for remote learning due to the pandemic. Our teachers were able to continue on, as a collective group, supporting our desired state (vision) even when conditions were disrupted to the extreme. Taking ownership of our culture has resulted in stronger collegial supports, trust between teachers and administration, and a greater collective efficacy for our students. One teacher even described our culture like a snowball. “The snowball grows as it rolls and gets stronger and stronger. When it hits a boulder a chunk will chip out of the snowball, but if it keeps rolling the chunk will be repaired and the ball will be smooth again.” The teacher identified the boulder as the climate and the snowball as our culture. A strong, healthy culture can endure highs and lows, especially when we stick together as a collective one.
The strongest testimony of our work would be the past five months. The intentionality of our work is owned by all members of the school staff. At the beginning of this blog, I shared the times throughout the year when staff would be negative or “down.” We are well into the school year, in the midst of a pandemic, using instructional routines often acquired the night before, participating in virtual meetings; all within a context of education that requires daily shifts in our instructional delivery model. The Prairie Ridge Middle School staff joined together and in unity, have taken on the challenges and are prevailing. In fact, I feel confident if asked, they might even say our morale has never been better.
When we allow ourselves to be vulnerable we unlock the door for others to see our current reality, but when we open the door, we are able to see our desired reality. And when we are intentional about owning our culture then we can walk through it together knowing this may not be Utopia, but it sure is close.
1 RESOURCE:
Make the Words of Mission Statements Come to Life by Rick DuFour
Interested in having Jim speak at your school? His topics on leadership and culture can be delivered as a Keynote, Presentation or Workshop and can be customized to align with your current school or district school improvement plans. An entirely new presentation can also be created to help you achieve a standard of educational excellence. Contact us at jimmycasas.com to book Jim or one of our Associates today!
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