You can cook a Hot Pocket in a minute and thirty seconds. That’s a LOT faster than it took my Mother to cook Sunday dinner. THAT took a long time… food prep on Saturday… making all the cold stuff on Sunday morning, and then after church, the hot food. No microwave here… and the green beans? They had been cooking since Friday. I can promise you they have not invented a Hot Pocket that could rival even one part of our Sunday dinner!
So, you can choose fast… or you can shoot for excellence. Hot Pockets or Mama’s Green Beans.
In school, we often seem to value speed over performance. When we do, we miss some essential steps for excellence. As you are digging in to this school year, don’t forget that jumping right to ‘performance’ may leave you some gaps.
Would you like to have effective collaboration between your teachers? Sure, you have PLCs, but have they developed into communities? You need the connections to get the performance. Maybe you’re in a new position this year or at a new location. You are expected to make a difference, lead instructionally, and improve student performance. Don’t skip steps… remember what you need to do to get the performance you want.
Please refer to the graphic at the top of the page. To get to performance, you need to be able to influence others in what they do and how they do it. However, we are more likely to be influenced by those we trust. Trust comes with time… a relationship… over time. We talk about relationships all the time in school leadership, but we often forget to include where relationships lead (trust, influence, and performance) and from where they come (connections).
THAT’S why it’s so important for you to spend time with those you wish to influence. Time leads to trust… if you want it to work, think green beans… NOT Hot Pockets.
It goes without saying but in case it needs to be said… this only works if you are trustWORTHY. Leadership isn’t manipulation, but its methods can seem a lot like it if your motives aren’t pure. To effectively lead your school, try to be selfless, genuine, and consistent. That’s the kind of leader that teachers want to be around, want to listen to, and who they can trust. It WILL take longer than 90 seconds.
