Principal Matters: The School Leader's Podcast with William D. Parker

One of my favorite ways to enjoy a long drive is by listening to podcasts or audio-books. And I especially find biographies a helpful way to learn lessons about life and leadership. Two audiobooks that I’ve enjoyed in my drives may sound like they have nothing in common: Seabiscuit: An American Legend by Lauren Hillenbrand and The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt by Edmund Morris. As vastly different as the stories of a horse and former President can be, I find that both of them are full of similarities in the kinds of challenges, risk, courage, and strategies necessary to achieve goals and dreams. As you think about your own school leadership, how can you take lessons from those around you (both in person and in history) to reflect on ways to keep growing and learning? This week’s podcast is a recording from a webinar series I shared recently on Lessons in Leadership I pull from four different sources: Part 1 – Lessons in teamwork from a champion racehorse Part 2 – Lessons from leaning on one another Part 3 – Lessons in leadership from Theodore Roosevelt Part 4 – Using vacation to reenergize your school leadership You can listen to the entire conversation here or watch the webinar video, but below is a short summary of the points discussed: Part 1 – Lessons in teamwork from a champion racehorse Seabiscuit’s story is really a story of teamwork. Three unlikely men unify around a horse that surprised the world. In the process, you find some common traits that all great teams share. Great teams… * unify around a common cause * turn unlikely prospects into surprising strengths * know success requires risk * value loyalty and trust * translate dreams into actions * build momentum through positive publicity * know lost battles don’t equal lost wars * know great defeats can lead to later victories * know success is contagious * leave great legacies Part 2 – Lessons in growing from leaning on others Just as we can learn from historic examples, we have the same opportunities to learn from others still within our reach. Growing leaders are those who look around them for feedback and examples. By leaning on others, you can grow by: * regularly connecting with your team members * visiting other successful schools or organizations * inviting outside experts into your school * investing time into learning opportunities Part 3 – Lessons in leadership from Theodore Roosevelt The life of Theodore Roosevelt is both fascinating and controversial. Despite his hot temper and boisterous personality, her accomplished amazing milestones. The story of his early life gives examples of principles we should never underestimate in leadership development. Never underestimate the: * power of early education * importance of timeless values * effects of self-improvement * value of Providence * lessons learned from defeat * influence of publicity * outcomes of your focus * modeling of courage Part 4 – Using vacation to reenergize your leadership Finally, as you may be stepping into some much-needed vacation during Thanksgiving and Christmas, don’t forget the importance of rest and self-reflection:

When I was in junior high school, everyone on my basketball team wore Converse high-tops. I’ll never forget mine: they were the color of golden-rod, and I was so proud of them that I never wore them outside the gym because I didn’t want to scuff them up. For a thirteen year-old boy at the time, Converse was the only brand to wear. But a few years later, when Michael Jordan came on the scene during my high school years, Nike soon became the new must-have shoe. Sometimes I think about the brands I like to buy, but it’s easy to forget that schools are also brands. Because schools are learning communities, they are much more than products; at the same time, students don’t just attend our schools, they experience them. When is the last time you thought about the feelings people have when they experience your school brand? Last week I heard a great presentation on school branding from Marlena Gross-Taylor, a Supervisor of Secondary Schools at Maury County Public Schools, outside of Nashville, Tennessee. She is also a dedicated and successful education consultant, speaker, coach, and presenter. Marlena Gross-Taylor Interview A Nashville transplant originally from southern Louisiana, Marlena’s educational experience spans several states allowing her to have served K-12 students in both rural and urban districts. She has been recognized as a middle school master teacher and innovative administrator at the elementary, middle, and high school levels. She is also the founder of #EduGladiators and has been recognized as a middle school master teacher and innovative administrator at the elementary, middle, and high school levels. Her professional development expertise has garnered both state and national attention. Most recently, I had the privilege of hearing Marlena present at the Association for Middle Level Education national conference in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. After hearing her present on “Why You Should Brand Your School,” I asked her if she would join me as a guest for Principal Matters. Listen in, and I know you will enjoy Marlena’s optimism, insights, and practical tips on ways you can promote the wonderful things happening at your school. Branding Your School Q & A: Listen to our entire conversation for great takeaways! Here is a glance at the questions we discussed together: WDP: Why do you believe it is so important for school leaders to think about brand? MGT: Think about yourself as a brand! And think about yourself as a brand. School is also a business. If a business is not reaching its customers, its story will never be told. Schools must take control of their own story. Branding is about marketing. You should be able to tell your school in such a positive light that everyone wants to be a part of it. Here are some platforms schools are using for promoting their brands: Twitter Facebook Instagram Livestream YouTube Periscope WDP: What should school leaders keep in mind about the different stages they will have in branding their schools? MGT: Learn to understand: Awareness Messaging -focused on driving awareness and establishing place in the market–just like Lyft if taking the place of Uber in marketing awareness.

Recently, on a trip to Philadelphia, I was sitting in airport gate seating area, which gave me a view of the ground crews prepping planes for departure. Workers were driving baggage trains, pulling fuel trucks in and out, and loading bags on runways into planes. While I watched them, I thought about how many people it takes for you to arrive at any destination. Whether you’re on the road or in the air, someone has to build the vehicles, hire the workers, schedule the routes, write code for mapping programs, or drill the ground for the necessary fossil fuels. But no matter how varied the people or methods for reaching your destinations, you can’t reach the road ahead unless those people or methods are reliable. As you think about leading schools, sometimes you have a clear roadmap. At other times, you encounter situations or challenges that are new or unexpected. Although the methods we use for reaching goals may change over time, many of the essential qualities to finding solutions are “timeless”: virtues like dependability, trust, perseverance, and teamwork to name a few. This week I’ve been a lot thinking about “timeless truths” after a great conversation with Andrew McPeak, a next generation researcher, speaker, and curriculum designer for Growing Leaders. Growing Leaders provides great resources for anyone dedicated to reaching today’s young leaders. Andrew is also co-author of the new book, Marching off the Map: Inspire Students to Navigate a Brand New World that he and Dr. Tim Elmore released this summer. Andrew and I had long conversation about what trends today’s youth are facing. And we discussed how educators can face uncertain times with hope because certain truths still hold true in leading others, no matter how quickly the world is changing. Listen to the entire interview for some great takeaways, but here are some the topics we explored: Lessons from Marching off the Map * How youth are more overwhelmed than ever * What is FOMO (Fear of missing out) and how does it affect youth mindset? * Why most youth say adults have no idea what their life is like—especially when they’re not around * How today’s youth show a strong desire to serve people and solve problems * The potential of this emerging generation to be the greatest generation * How every generation pushes back and how we falsely assume the world should be fundamentally shaped by adult experience * Why relevant and timely people will survive in this brave new world * Timeless doesn’t change. We are not just teaching children, we are training future leaders * How can you find timely ways to teach truths that are timeless * Why educations should “Go Epic!” Experiential—how can they touch, taste, smell, see what they are learning? Participatory—how does their feedback guide what they’re learning? Image Rich—not just pictures but an image for their heart that goes along with their head…stories or metaphors as well as pictures. Connected—instead of artificial connections, give them real face-to-face, empathetic relationships with learning…educators who build relationship * The power or “Mindfulness” and “Metacognition” * How technology is a great servant and horrible master * “Habitudes” and how they are powerful ways to teach leadership lessons * How teaching ethics and values through the use of rich images can form new leadership habits * Why students must learn to lead themselves well * How we shape school cultures by our lessons on timeless truths * How to begin conversation starters that lead to students adjusting habits and...

When I was in college, I was a resident advisor in the dormitory where I lived. My dorm director, Scott Boss, was a graduate student who not only supervised all the resident advisors in my dorm but also taught us leadership lessons. One day Scott was talking to the R.A.’s about ways we could better communicate with the other men who lived on our floors. He said something I’ll never forget. “When it comes to building relationships with others, remember this simple equation: Time Spent = Relationship Built.” Over the years, I’ve tried to keep that in mind as I’ve visited with students, teachers, or parents. In fact, it is one of the reasons I believe parents struggle so much in connecting with their own children: they simply don’t spend enough time together. I believe the same is true for school relationships as well. The problem, however, is not always how much time you are spending with others, but the mindset you have when you are together. These ideas were brought home to me last week when we hosted keynote speaker and author Jimmy Casas at our state principal association’s fall conference. One of the many traits I admire about Jimmy is his ability to be so direct and authentic while also encouraging and inspiring others. From his decades of experience leading schools, he challenged us think about how could move from average to excellence. One word that Jimmy used over and over again was “relationship”. And he reminded us that no matter how many great ideas, innovative lessons, creative schedules, or talented people you have in a school—if you don’t have trusting relationships, you can’t flourish. As I travel my state and present in other states as well, one of the toughest situations I see school leaders facing is how to affect change or build relationships in the short-term. What can a leader do right now when he or she may not have had time to build a long track record of trust? Jimmy addressed this question too. Although long-term changes normally take long-term commitments, he pointed out that a leader can begin influencing change the moment her or she walks in a building. One way he demonstrated this was by asking us to pull out our cell phones. “Think of someone you haven’t communicated with in the past six months,” he said. “Now take a moment and text them—just saying you were thinking about them today.” He gave us a moment to finish, and then he asked for a show of hands as people began texting back. At first a handful of hands went up, and over the next half hour, people raised their hands as they received replies. Jimmy’s point was that each of us had just made someone’s day better. And we had just influenced our own mindset as well. We had just practiced gratitude and helped encourage one person by a quick text-message. It only took one minute. Think about the power of practicing that kind of mindset and communication throughout the small moments of school every day. How Do You Encourage a Mindset of Excellence? As a school leader, you naturally focus on what is urgent or broken. At the same time, if you don’t intentionally look for ways to encourage relationships, you may miss out on opportunities to build a culture of excellence. I know in my own practice as a principal, I had a decision to make every day. I could allow the troubles and challenges to be my main focus, or I could purposefully find reasons to recognize others and celebrate where they were being successful. This doesn’t mean you ignore the facts. Yes, you must confront, protect, and instruct in areas where your school needs better service. But you can become easily overwhelmed with all the normal to-do’s of a day and forget the healthy practices of cultivating an environment excellence. With that in mind, let me share some takeaways on how to encourage a culture of excellence: Five practical ways to encourage cultures of excellence 1. Be in the moment.

Recently, my twelve-year-old son, Jack, and I took a long road trip from Oklahoma to West Tennessee to visit my parents. Gran and Grandaddy live in the country–so far out they receive no cell service. It was a weekend of being unplugged. It was also a weekend to be reminded that my life is more than just school leadership. We took long walks to see turning leaves and rambled through the deep woods. Jack borrowed Gran’s shovel and dug out an old spring down the hill from the house–a spring we used when I was his age. Time away is a great time to reflect on life. And reflection is an important part of professional growth as well. As I reflect back on the lessons learned in school leadership, my biggest takeaways often come from trial and error. But experience also teaches you some useful steps for moving forward with more confidence. This week’s podcast is a replay of a webinar I shared with principals a couple of weeks ago about three important areas I have reflected on in chapters 9-11 of my book Principal Matters. These takeaways come from lessons learned from my experiences as an assistant principal and principal. Three Areas to Reflect for Creating Strong School Environments As school leaders, we manage many responsibilities. Three of them include: 1. How to discipline with dignity 2. Remembering why teachers are so important 3. How to maintain sanity during stressful times As you think about those three areas in your own school leadership, let me encourage you to listen to podcast version of the webinar for examples in each area for some valuable takeaways. Part 1: Discipline with Dignity When you provide the direction and the correction necessary for positive student behaviors, you are creating an atmosphere of learning for all. Here are six tips: 1. Set high expectations. 2. Let consequences fit infractions. 3. Be consistent. 4. Be creative when necessary. 5. Be polite. 6. Be specific and document. 7. Serve and teach. 8. Communicate trust. Part 2: Why Teachers Matter Just as important as maintaining a safe and nurturing environment, keep revisiting why teachers play such an important role in the lives of students. In this week’s podcast, I tell the stories of two older men I know who both told me powerful stories of how former teachers spoke into their lives in such a profound way that it changed them forever. One of them said to me, “Will, I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard someone tell me a life–changing story by saying, ‘And then I met a teacher, and it changed everything.’” As you think about your life, ask yourself: what kind of legacy have my own teachers or principals left for me? And then ask: what kind of legacy am I leaving for others? Remind your teachers that as they influence students, they are a part of a mission that lasts far beyond today or this school year. Part 3: Maintaining Sanity During Stressful Times School leaders are not exempt from stress, and when you’re facing a time when the list of to-do’s becomes overwhelming, don’t lose hope. You will never do your work perfectly; however, you can remember some tips that can help you stay focused: 1. Keep a sensible schedule (where you can). 2. Accept you’re not always in complete control. 3. Maintain a “to-do” list. 4. Let others know you need help. 5. Keep your work in perspective. In the webinar version of this presentation, I share some visual case studies on how to strategize during crunch times.

Have you ever wondered what it would be like if you walked into your child’s room at home, looked around, gave him a quick nod, and then left him a walk-through-form listing the pros and cons of your short visit? None of us would ever think about building relationships by practices like that with our family. But what about our school family? As principals, sometimes we may be unconsciously practicing routines that strain instead of strengthen school relationships. This week’s podcast interview with author and leadership consultant Justin Baeder will give you a lot to think about in the ways you approach instructional leadership. His new book, Now We’re Talking: 21 Days to High-Performance Instructional Leadership, explains how principals can maximize time with teachers, optimize schedules for more time in rooms, and develop deep conversations about teaching and learning. Justin is a former elementary teacher and principal from Seattle, Washington, an award-winning education leader, and the founder of Principal Center —an organization dedicated to helping school leaders. He is also the host of the Principal Center Radio podcast. Questions we discuss: 1. How do principals increase time in classrooms in the midst of so many other demands? 2. What difference do principals see in feedback when they spend more time seeing instruction? 3. What are some habits or life-hacks that can help principals be more efficient on tasks “non-instructional leadership” tasks? 4. What does Justin mean by “cycles,” and how can principals use them to rethink the way they do classroom visits? Listen in to this week’s conversation for these takeaways: • Understand how daily classroom visits can help you make informed decisions that foster rich relationships with teachers, improve professional practices, reduce stress, and increase student learning. • Discover how to conduct classroom visits that foster high-performance results and high-quality instructional leadership. • Take part in 21 days of action challenges toward making classroom visits a daily practice. • Gain tips for streamlining your inboxes, staying organized, and prioritizing work so you have time for daily classroom visits. • Learn how to rethink the way you use email and strategies for emptying your inbox. Let’s Wrap This Up As you think about your own time as instructional leader, you may find yourself wondering how you can ever increase more time in classrooms. Join over 10,000 principals who have taken part in Justin’s challenge, and see if you can increase your influence on student outcomes. Bonus Question When Justin and I finished our interview, I kept recording our final few minutes together and asked him what was something that surprised him in his research while writing his new book. His findings on the lack of research surrounding common walkthrough practices may surprise you. Listen till the end for some valuable final thoughts. Now It’s Your Turn How deep are the conversations you are having about instruction? What is one step you can take this week to increase time with teachers? How can you practice some of Justin’s ideas on reading emails, for instance, to increase time with students and teachers? Sign-Up For Free Updates and Ebook When you enter your email address below, you will automatically receive my newest posts and a free Ebook, 8 Hats: Essential Roles for School Leaders.

When I was a boy, I loved to walk the garden where my grandparents grew summer vegetables. My grandfather had an interesting way of planting tomatoes. He would dig a deep hole, scatter a small handful of fertilizer in the bottom of the hole, and then place a tomato plant in while gathering the rich soil around the plant till it was secure. Then he’d water the plant and place a bucket over it. He would alternate times when the plants were covered or open to the sun until they were well established and ready to start blossoming. Creating a strong environment for learning involves a lot of care and attention. In addition to being instructional leaders, school leaders have to be aware of how we are cultivating the soil of our schools. Sometimes this requires consistently managing various demands, dealing with difficult conversations, and planting seeds of positive school culture. This past week I hosted a webinar for principals over chapters 6-8 of Principal Matters: The Motivation, Courage, Action and Teamwork Needed for School Leaders. In this conversation, I want to give a few tips and thoughts that may help keep these challenges in perspective. If you have time to listen to the podcast version of the webinar, you will hear these points with examples. Here are some takeaways that may be helpful as you think about your own work in school leadership: Part 1: Managing Demands As you walk through a school, you will find teachers, students, and staff rely on you for more than just supervision or observation. People are looking for problem-solvers. In my first year as an administrator, I carried a notepad with me and tried to write down notes on every conversation I was having for follow-up. I soon discovered I was spending more time do follow-up than I was helping others find their own solutions. In some ways, I was fishing for them rather than teaching them to fish. With that in mind, here are four takeaways to keep in mind when managing questions or demands: 1. Give up your “Savior” complex. (It takes a team to lead a school.) 2. Share follow-up. (If it’s important, have them write it down.) 3. Teach others to find solutions. (Learn to “shift the monkey” as Todd Whitaker teaches.) 4. Set timers for time consuming tasks. (Your value does not equal an empty inbox. Sometimes mundane tasks like emails or reports can go faster as timed tasks.) You cannot lead alone. And the sooner you realize you need a team, the better. It is easy for leaders to fall into the trap of believing their job is to save the day. That kind of mentality will lead to burnout. Instead, shift your mindset so that you approach the complex problems of your school with the idea that it will take everyone on your team to find solutions, create strong environments, and reach new goals. Part 2: Dealing with Difficult People It’s easy to remember hard conversations—especially ones where people lose it emotionally. No one ever learns to perfectly manage difficult conversation. But there are some ways you can shift your mindset so you learn to better manage them. Here are six tips to keep in mind: 1. Make sure you’re not the difficult one. 2. Seek to understand before being understood 3. Be firm but friendly. 4. Change your posture and use humor when appropriate. 5. Agree to disagree. 6. Consider bringing parties to the table.

I’ve been reading an excellent book by Tim Elmore and Andrew McPeak, Marching Off the Map: Inspire Students to Navigate a Brand New World, and it has sparked a lot of thought. The first half of the book is what educators know intimately: the changing cultural trends in technology, relationships, politics, and information – and how these affect the ways students learn, think, grow, and behave. Did you know, for instance, that the average attention span of today’s youth is 6-seconds? It is a challenging mission to reach children so pressed by distracting images, not to mention the social/emotional or intellectual challenges or issues students bring with them each day. Elmore covers many current trends and data on how youth today face challenges we adults never knew at their ages. Changing Winds The second half of the book is more application. Elmore and McPeak explore the question: How do we adjust and adapt so that as leaders and teachers we remain timely and timeless our work with others? In chapter five, Elmore uses a great analogy in the story of his niece who sails. She has been sailing all her life, and never once has he heard her complain about the wind or weather. She simply adjusts and adapts to meet the changes. I’m not a sailor, but when I was in high school in college, I spent my summers diving for mussel shells in the Kentucky Lake area near our home in West Tennessee. Diving was a job that also required a lot of dependence on the weather. When I would dive, I would attach my line to the boat because I did not float and swim like a tank-diver. Instead my air tank was in the boat, and I would be attached to it by an air hose and rope while crawling along the bottom of the lake searching for shells. If the winds were low, my task included pulling the boat along with me. If the winds were high, the boat would often pull me along instead. The wind often dictated which terrain, depth, or direction would be chosen. Often when people face resistance or change, they react as Tim Elmore explains: 1. Complaining about the state of our present reality 2. Giving up and leaving the journey all together 3. Adapting Adapting doesn’t necessarily mean compromising on what we believe is essential and true. Instead it means we stay open to learning, to growing, and to innovating. Sometimes our schools can be like boats in an ocean or lake. We are responsible to navigate the channels ahead, but we have no control over the weather or unexpected challenges. I am becoming more convinced that adaptability is a common strength in all examples of great learning, teaching, and leading. And as I visit schools across my own state and as I travel throughout the country, I have realized that adaptable school leaders seem to have a combination of innovation, entrepreneurship, and organizational leadership. Two School Leadership Examples #1 Guthrie High School Let me give you some examples close to home. A couple of weeks ago, I visited the Guthrie High School, just north of Oklahoma City. Principal Chris LeGrand and Assistant Principal Dusty Throckmorton gave me a tour. With approximately 1,000 students, Guthrie is a combination of bedroom community for Oklahoma City as well as a community of many working-class families. The buildings are older but well-maintained. As traditional as their school appears, the learning options there are far from traditional. Yes, students have the core subject offerings, electives and Advanced Placement offerings you would expect from a high school. But they also have many offerings for students interested in non-traditional options. For instance, Guthrie offers college courses on campus with adjunct professors who travel to the high school to teach.

A few days ago I was at airport security when I ran into a parent from my previous school. We exchanged pleasantries, and I asked him about his children. As we said goodbyes, he commented, “We miss you.” I thanked him, and as I walked away I couldn’t help but be grateful. In my new role as a director for my state principal association, I often think about the joy of leaving work I enjoyed to do work I also enjoy. And when you give yourself to a school for more than a decade, you leave behind a lot of your heart and soul. Ten years gave me time to make a lot of mistakes. But it also gave me time to plant my roots deeply and enjoy watching others grow. In order to lead so that your pros outweigh the cons, you have to maintain serious focus on your targets. Last week I hosted a webinar I’m doing on my first book, Principal Matters: The Motivation, Courage, Action, and Teamwork Needed for School Leaders. This past episode was about the importance of staying focused, understanding motivation, and making each day count. An easier way to remember that is three M’s: Mindset, Motivation, and Modeling. Whether you are just stepping into a position as a school leader or you have been serving in your role for a long time, you never outgrow the need to reflect on how your service is influencing others. I’d like to encourage you to think about these three areas and do a quick self-assessment with three takeaways from each. If you’d like more illustrations for each of the following areas, I encourage you to either watch the webinar video recording and slides of the presentation, or listen to the audio version via this week’s podcast: Part I: Mindset No matter how long you’ve been in leadership, you always face the tension of two competing pressures: one, creating the best environment for your school or organization; two, finding solutions to the pressing issues at hand. So often the immediate needs are what consume the most time and energy. They can’t be ignored. But if they are your only focus, then you lose sight of the first priority: creating the best environment for learning and growing. So how do you stay focused on the positive outcomes so important? I like to remind principals of three easy ways to stay focused: 1. Get out of your office. 2. Turn difficulties into opportunities. 3. Treasure positive moments. Part II: Motivation When you think about what drives you to keep serving others, you need to look at the motive behind your actions. I think a lot of leaders fall into traps when they fail to reflect on what is driving them to make decisions. Author and minister Timothy Keller points out that most people are motivated by either fear or pride. So many of the small and big decisions we make can be influenced by our fear of what others think or by our egos. Keller says there is a third alternative: beauty. When we become captivated by the wonder and amazement in improving, redeeming, healing, or helping others, we have a deeper purpose. Here are three quick questions to reflect on about your motivation: 1. What motivates you to do your best work? 2. What meaning can you tie to even the most mundane tasks? 3. What is something you want to learn more about? These kinds of questions help push you forward in your thinking, and keep you fresh in your outlook. Part III: Modeling Robert Smith is the author of a book,

This past weekend, NASA broadcasted the final transmission of the spacecraft, Cassini, as it plunged into the atmosphere of the planet Saturn that it had orbited and monitored for the past 13 years. Cassini’s mission actually began in 1997. It took six years for it to reach Saturn, an its exploratory orbiting mission began. The spacecraft was originally slated to complete a 3-year mission of orbiting, but the technology proved to be so reliable that it remained working far beyond original plans. From 900 million miles away, this spacecraft took over 400,000 photos as well as transmitted data back to Earth about Saturn’s moons, rings, and atmosphere. The end of Cassini is also another hallmark moment for what amazing feats can be accomplished through human engineering, science, technology, and teamwork. As I listened to interviews with NASA scientists, I was struck by the overwhelming sense of purpose and wonder they felt in being a part of making history. It was impressive to hear the stories of these dedicated teammates who have worked together for two decades to accomplish the impossible. For most of us, twenty years is a major time commitment. And I’m sure that even with the galactic implications of their work, these scientists and engineers sometimes found some of their tasks tedious, complicated, and sometimes mundane. The work we do in school leadership may seem vastly different than space travel, but as you look at the way you are serving schools, do you ever ask yourself how you maintain perspective to stay focused through the harder, more challenging parts of the tasks involved in leading a school community? Most principals I talk to relate how difficult it can be to manage the multiple demands, the problem solving, or the conflict resolution that can sometimes feel almost overwhelming. At other times, the work can be amazingly fulfilling. How do we learn to find contentment and joy in our work whether it is a season of challenges or a season of achievement? How Do You Find Meaning? The other day I heard a great TedTalk presentation by Emily Esfahani Smith, called There’s more to life than being happy. As young college graduate and successful psychologist, Smith explained a crisis she faced soon after beginning her new career. In many ways, she was achieving the American dream, but she found herself constantly fighting a sense of frustration and lack of fulfillment. As a psychologist, she decided to find out why. So, she began interviewing hundreds of people to explore what traits were common among people who seem truly fulfilled. The results are published in her new book, The Power of Meaning: Finding Fulfillment in a World Obsessed with Happiness. 4 Common Traits Found in People with Strong Meaning Smith said she discovered four common traits in people who have a strong sense of meaning in their lives: 1. Belonging People who have a strong sense of meaning feel intrinsically valued and loved by others. Knowing that you are loved by someone else and that they choose to love you changes the way you interact with others. Having a strong bond with others gives people a deep foundation for leading and serving those around them. 2. Purpose Without something worthwhile to do, people flounder.

This past week I hosted a webinar for principals as a part of a book study over Principal Matters: The Motivation, Action, Courage and Teamwork Needed for School Leaders. In 2012, after being named Oklahoma’s Assistant Principal of the Year, I was asked to share ideas with new or aspiring leaders in graduate classes, workshops and conferences. And I was being asked a lot of the same questions about the pressures, challenges, and strategies involved in being a school administrator. So, I decided to start blogging about those issues. Eventually these same ideas became topics for my first book. Four years later, I am finding those questions still being asked by school leaders. So this semester’s book study webinar has become another way to answer questions you may also be asking. Questions like: * How do you lead through difficult times? * How do you stay inspired with never-ending challenges? * How can you lead in a way that doesn’t result in burning out? * What are some practical steps you can take to invest in personal growth as a leader? I’d like to encourage you to listen in to explore examples of courage from others, discuss how to hold onto inspiring moments in your work, and see a “wheel of life” illustration that may help you find a stronger sense of balance. Or check out a video of the webinar and slides from the presentation. Thanks for taking time to invest in your own leadership growth, and thanks again for doing what matters by serving your school communities! Sign-Up For Free Updates and Ebook When you enter your email address below, you will automatically receive my newest posts and a free Ebook, 8 Hats: Essential Roles for School Leaders. Let’s keep learning together! #mc_embed_signup{background:#fff; clear:left; font:14px Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif; } /* Add your own MailChimp form style overrides in your site stylesheet or in this style block. We recommend moving this block and the preceding CSS link to the HEAD of your HTML file. */ Subscribe for free weekly updates and receive free e-book! * indicates required Email Address * First Name Last Name (function($) {window.fnames = new Array(); window.ftypes = new Array();fnames[0]='EMAIL';ftypes[0]='email';fnames[1]='FNAME';ftypes[1]='text';fnames[2]='LNAME';ftypes[2]='text';}(jQuery));var $mcj = jQuery.noConflict(true); Principal Matters–The Book! School leaders are very busy, so each of the twenty-four chapters is designed as a quick-read and followed with take-action questions for follow-up or reflection. If you want practical ideas on understanding your purpose, managing school teams, dealing with challenges, and leading with courage, action, motivation, and teamwork, go

The other night I was invited to visit a university classroom with sixteen educators who are working on graduate degrees in educational leadership. I listened to each of them present vision and mission statements related to their work with students. It was obvious they had a strong understanding of the road ahead–they understood the “why” of school leadership. I was encouraged and optimistic thinking about the future of our schools in the hands of these potential leaders. At the end of the evening, I was asked to say a few words to the students. I wanted to give them both a reality check as well as some encouraging reminders. So, I broke the conversation into two parts. Part I: Five things you should know about school leadership. And Part II: Five reasons why you will be strong school leaders. If you know someone preparing for a move into administration, these takeaways may be helpful for them too. Or they be good reminders for veteran admins who need a perspective check as well. Part I: Five things you should know about school leadership 1. You will fail. I know this doesn’t seem encouraging, but I think it is important to realize that leadership comes with lots of challenges. I often tell new admins to imagine the most challenging moments from their classroom experiences—the day when you had a major conflict with a student you go home thinking about the rest of the evening. Now multiply that ten times a day. Every day is different, but so many of them include resolving conflicts that are larger or more complex than what you encountered while teaching. Or at least those conflicts are yours to manage on a larger, school-wide scale now instead of for one classroom. The sooner you admit that you will not always do it perfectly the better. Failing doesn’t mean you are a failure. It means you do your best with the information, policies, and relationships as you see them. Over time you become better at resolving conflicts. If you’re committed to constantly growing, you will keep trying new ideas or practices. No success comes without some failure. So be courageous and accept you won’t do the work with perfection. 2. When you do fail, learn from it and take the next best step. Knowing you will not always be perfect doesn’t mean not being professional or decisive. When you have good policies, procedures and people, you will have the best structure for managing a school like a good classroom. But when you make the wrong call, take a breath, assess what can be done differently the next step. And then keep moving forward with new knowledge in hand. For instance, I remember one time when I accused a girl for a theft from a locker. The incident had happened after school in a dark hallway, and her description matched some sketchy footage from on our school camera. But as I probed further, I realized I had the wrong kid. We eventually found the right one, but it was humbling when I realized how I had made the innocent student feel like a criminal in the process. Of course, I apologized to the student and her parents, and they forgave me. But I have kept this lesson in mind over the many more years I had to deal with other crazy situations. If I gave up on working with students because I’m not perfect, I would have never kept serving after my first year. 3. Never stop being a learner; you never figure it all out. Earning a degree or moving into a new position never means you have arrived at a final destination. And practicing something for twenty years doesn’t mean you know it all either. It’s okay to admit when you don’t know the answer to an important question, but it’s even more important to know how to find answers to questions you have. Just as we want our teachers and students to be life-long learners, we can’t give others the impression that we know it all. This doesn’t mean you don’t demonstrate confidence, assertiveness,

Last week I heard a presentation by Will Richardson, educator and author, who shared stories about new ways students are interacting with learning today. Here are three examples he shared: * He talked about Nate Butkus, a 7-year-old boy who has started his own science podcast. * He shared the story of a young man in India, Siddarth Mandala, who is beta-testing self-protecting “shock” shoes for women to protect them from rapists. * He showed photos of students who are building tree-houses in their school cafeteria to replace traditional furniture. The common thread among all of these students is the new ways they can learn today: their abilities to find resources, access information, and see examples that feed and inform their passions. If we are living in a new world of learning where students constantly have access to create, design, connect, and produce inside and outside of school, Richardson asserts we must rethink three areas: beliefs, contexts, and practices. Here’s are three questions Richardson explores: * How does this change our beliefs? We must be willing to rethink what we believe is effective learning; we cannot simply base this on tradition. Instead of making “student-driven learning” an elective or encore period, let’s completely design school around their passions and interests. * How does this affect our contexts? Research shows that more students are actively disengaged rather than engaged; and technology often places us in “echo chambers” where we only access information from others with whom we share common interests. We must rethink how to keep students engaged in learning that is truthful, discerning, and meaningful. * How does this influence our practices? We must become “skill” centered instead of “content” centered if students are to demonstrate mastery. We must move from the ever-increasing world of assessments for knowledge toward a world of application for learning. If students are really learning, they should be mastering new skills, not simply memorizing information they can easily access via a Google search. Another Example of New World of Learning Richardson’s presentation reminded me of a former student of mine, Jesse Haynes, who is now studying at the University of Tulsa. As a college communications major, Jesse’s professors have allowed him to begin podcasting as an independent study. Last year his podcast, The Others, a fictional narrative of a man stranded on a tropical island, hit over 1 million downloads. Jesse did not wait for a college degree to pursue his passions or reach a million listeners with his content and creativity. Instead he combined his degree plan with his passion, and he’s already practicing and applying those skills now. Jesse’s examples as well as the ones Will shared point toward an important question for each of us to consider even in our own professional or personal growth: Whose permission do you need to produce, create, design, or share your ideas? This is our new reality. People are longer just relying on traditional classes or ...

The other day, a principal friend emailed me this question: >>Will, I’d like your thoughts on something I grapple with: that is the importance I place on staff approval of what I do or present…the need to be liked I know is crazy and irrational, but how do you deal with the knock back, hearing a negative comment or ignoring the nay-sayers etc.? (function($) {window.fnames = new Array(); window.ftypes = new Array();fnames[0]='EMAIL';ftypes[0]='email';fnames[1]='FNAME';ftypes[1]='text';fnames[2]='LNAME';ftypes[2]='text';}(jQuery));var $mcj = jQuery.noConflict(true); Principal Matters–The Book! School leaders are very busy, so each of the twenty-four chapters is designed as a quick-read and followed with take-action questions for follow-up or reflection. If you want practical ideas on understanding your purpose, managing school teams, dealing with challenges, and leading with courage, action, motivation, and teamwork, go HERE to pick up a copy for you or your team. Messaging Matters Harness the power of messaging to create a culture of acknowledgment, respect, and celebration. Written specially for leaders, this title is divided into three parts, helping readers to maximize their role as chief communicators with students, teachers, and parents and community. Each chapter includes suggestions for using digital tools to enhance messaging and ends with reflection questions and practical next steps.

I’ve noticed a group of principals trending on Twitter lately using the hashtag #dadsasprincipals. And my friend Daniel Bauer recently interviewed a group of these dedicated dads at last month’s National Principal Conference. You can hear their talk here. These dads have picked up on the #momsasprincipals movement they saw happening among their female colleagues, and they wanted to encourage one another as dads to stay as invested in their own children as they were to the ones in their schools. I’ve been thinking a lot about fatherhood this week because my oldest daughter just went to college. Eighteen years ago, I was standing by her hospital crib when she been delivered prematurely. She was six and half weeks early and weighed a healthy 5lbs, 11 ounces. But she struggled to breathe, so nurses asked me to push her cart and follow them to the NICU. Here they moved her into a crib with a ventilator and connected her to wires and leads. For the next two weeks, my wife and I spent our days at the NICU or the “NIC-unit” as the nurses called it. At first, we could only stroke her and hold her little hands. Then she was able to try nursing. Eventually, they gave Missy a room where she could sleep in the same room with Emily at night. It was Thanksgiving Day when we brought her home. My wife’s family had spent so much time out-of-state visiting her in the hospital and helping us prepare for her arrival, they had all returned to their homes to give us space. We forgot that it was Thanksgiving so I ran to the store and we had a simple dinner and just basked in the joy of having our first baby safely home. During the two weeks of her hospitalization, the hardest part was sleeping at night without her there. It’s odd how I could live my whole life without knowing I would someday have an Emily to love, but the moment she was born, I could no longer imagine a world without her. We had bought a CD of Michael Card’s Sleep Sound in Jesus. So, we’d play it at night as we held one another and prayed for her. This week our 18-year old went to college. It was a delight to see her filling the house with shopping bags and watching her organize books and clothes. The night before she left we gathered all four kids in the living room. I brought out a bottle of sparkling grape juice, and we all made toasts to Emily, and then we prayed for her. The next day, her mother was the hero of the day when we moved her in, and she helped her unpack and settle in. We are so proud of her for the full-academic scholarship that allows her in the school’s honors program. But the last few days have been harder than I imagined they would be. It’s a different feeling than I’ve ever had before. I know she will come home again for breaks or long weekends. I know we’ll have her home for the holidays and talk her into vacation getaways. But there is more than an empty bed in our home. I’ve tried to compare it to finishing one of the best books you’ve ever read. You turn the page, and it’s over, but you still want more. And you find yourself grieving that you don’t get to be there for stories of the characters that must keep going on. And I’m having all these memories of Emily. The nights we snuggled in the blue chair to read books. Playing with her in her first kiddie pool. Watching her play sports. Peeking into her classrooms at school. Driving to games together with her face paint and lucky blanket. Having her there after a school event to lay her head on my shoulder or tell me she was meeting her friends at IHOP. Hearing her sing in church.