TregoED Sandy Wozniak, Author at TregoED

The How and Why of Investing in Leadership

March 13, 2018

“As decision-making shifts away from the federal government, it is more important than ever that our nation’s schools be led by individuals who possess the skills and technical prowess to design and adopt school improvement strategies that truly make a difference for kids.”

Alison Welcher
U.S. Senate Education Committee Testimony

Beyond the Ripple Effect

When you talk to school leaders, many times they express that they wanted to become education leaders to “make a difference” – and being a leader allows them to increase the number of lives that they can impact. Theoretically, the higher you go up the chain, the broader the impact. Great leaders recognize that building the capacity of their district and building staff, can increase the impact exponentially as they increase the good thinking and build trust, transparency and support in both directions. It’s more than the ripple effect, it ensures that those ripples do not lose energy as they move away from central leadership.

So why does that happen?

There is substantial research evidence that shows that school leaders are a powerful driver of student outcomes.

According to New Leaders and Key Findings of Rand Studies

Everything that happens in schools — setting high expectations for students, helping teachers grow and improve their practice, engaging families and communities, everything — depends upon the caliber of our nation’s 90,000 principals.
The principal is responsible for 25% of a school’s influence on student learning.
97% of teachers list school leadership as essential or very important for their career choices — more than any other factor.
The student achievement at a school led by a high-performing principal is 20% higher than with an average-performing principal

So, how can districts/states capitalize on this data?

Quite simply -Invest in Leadership- their own and that of those who work with them:

Learn and apply proven methods for utilizing data effectively to identify true cause of the problems they face, prioritize actions, make clear, defensible decisions.
Ensure that your school leaders have the same tools and skills needed to be included in district decision making and problem solving as well as effectively include those with the statistically highest impact (teachers) in the decision-making and problem solving at their level.

Using a common language and proven processes can help leaders achieve the goal of making a positive difference in the lives and maximize their potential impact across the community. How will you invest in your leadership?

Anything Worth Doing is Worth the Risk of Doing Poorly

March 5, 2018

No doubt we have all experienced the (sometimes shocking!) blowback that can arise when people are unhappy with decisions that are made or problems that have arisen. Community outrage, walkouts, public smear campaigns, etc. can make anyone a little wary of putting their neck out – even for the right thing. This wariness can lead to fear of imperfection – fear of doing the right thing if we can’t be guaranteed great results, smooth sailing, or no conflict. Fear of imperfection leads to immobility. In the back of our minds, we hear the old adage “Anything worth doing is worth doing well.”

The lies that bind us

This is the one of the lies that bind us: if we can’t guarantee to do something well, it isn’t worth doing at all. But what price do we pay for believing it? What does this belief keep us from accomplishing – or even trying? What do we not do or accomplish because we are afraid of imperfection – afraid of failing, not succeeding or even just making a mistake?

The impact of action immobility

It is easy to observe the impact of failures. But what if we could measure the impact of things not attempted or accomplished? What if we measured the opportunity cost of not doing the important things – not just the impact of not doing them well? Sometimes the price of progress is living with imperfection.

As daunting as the unknown can be, we aren’t a victim to it – we can take active steps to maximize the success of a change or new initiative. We can make a well-considered choice that is aimed at the right objectives, involves the right people, examines a range of reasonable alternatives, and assesses the risks. We can develop and manage a reasonable plan for implementation. But even with all of this, we can’t avoid all bumps in the road.

Avoid the fear of imperfection

There is little excuse for sloppy thinking, implementation, or half-baked action. However, even well-intentioned and thought-through changes come with problems. Let’s not forego progress because we fear imperfection. A wise man (our founder, Benjamin B. Tregoe) liked to say: “Anything worth doing, is worth risking doing poorly.” Progress is priceless!

Stop Chasing – and Start Shaping – Consensus

January 29, 2018

Let us not seek the Republican answer or the Democratic answer, but the right answer. Let us not seek to fix blame for the past. Let us accept our own responsibility for the FUTURE.
– John F. Kennedy

As we watch the events unfold around budgets and legislation in Washington, there are lessons to be learned for us all. When the stakes are high and contentious, consensus is not something that just magically appears. Rather it is typically the result of hard work, diplomacy and compromise.

How can we lead the way to consensus in our own work?

Tackle the conflict – Avoiding or ignoring conflict does not make it go away. It may be tempting for some to proceed as if the conflict didn’t exist. However, this often only heightens its pressure and intensity. Keeping the lid on the proverbial pot only increases the likelihood the contents will boil over. Pent-up pressure needs an escape or release. When conflict is acknowledged and actively addressed, compromise is more possible.

Respect the “opposition” – people who feel disrespected or marginalized are more likely to get increasingly frustrated – and entrenched in their position. Consensus begins with acknowledgement and understanding.

Acknowledge the compromises – Consensus usually involves compromise from all “sides” – no one is likely to get 100% of what they want. Emphasizing how people “lost” or “caved” does not pave the way for successful future negotiations. Rather than belittling people, consider recognizing them for their willingness to compromise for the greater good.

Find common ground – Finding points of agreement on goals and objectives helps reinforce shared vision and interests. Rather than reinforcing and exacerbating differences of opinion, focusing on common goals provides a starting point for building consensus on how to get there.

Think long-term – the environment for consensus that we create today sets the stage for future negotiations. If we disrespect others’ points of view or strong-arm others to consensus, it makes future compromises more challenging. There will undoubtedly be the need for future compromises. Laying the groundwork today provides lasting benefits for tomorrow.

When leaders treat conflict and stakeholders with respect and dignity, leaders are more likely to engender trust and cooperation. Stakeholders need to be heard and understood and be an active part of the process of determining how common goals will be achieved.

3 Things District Leaders Need to Achieve “The Dream” of Equity

January 19, 2018

“Let us turn our thoughts today to Martin Luther King…”
I love the James Taylor song “Shed a Little Light” and his call to:
“recognize that we are bound together in our desire to see the world become
a place in which our children can grow free and strong”

That is what the drive for equity in schools is all about. According to the Penn Excellence and Equity Consortia, we, as leaders need to:

• Be prepared to lead challenging conversations around race, equity, poverty, immigration, politics and school improvement in today’s complex world.
• Be equipped with the critical problem-solving and decision-making skills needed to make ethical and effective choices as a part of our daily lives as school leaders.
• Be able to respond to the challenging and complex leadership dilemmas that ultimately define our leadership.

How do we achieve this?
As Einstein says:
“We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.”

Often, we jump to popular or “tried and true” solutions before we have properly examined the problem. If we truly want to address both the achievement gap and the resource gap to achieve equity, we need to take a deeper dive into our own district data and use critical thinking to solve those problems in our schools. The best place to start, before focusing on solutions, is to determine true cause so that we can apply the proper interventions. Using data and transparent critical thinking can help us deal with emotionally-charged issues and make the ethical, effective and sometimes difficult decisions we need to make in today’s complex world.

As the song goes “Shed a little light….so we can see” – using current data and transparent processes, can help you do just that!

Start 2018 Right: Avoid the Pitfalls of Failed Resolutions

January 4, 2018

Each year, the transition from one year to the next provokes reflection, optimism, and goal-setting. Around this time, we not only consider resolutions we failed to meet, we anticipate the year ahead and resolve to meet new goals. No matter what, the new year is a new beginning – a time to start fresh. Some of us make clear and specific resolutions we persistently pursue throughout the year. However, some of us may fall short of reaching our goals due to several common pitfalls. Avoiding these pitfalls can be a resolution unto itself!

All talk no action – those of us who take this approach are serious about resolution-setting. We make resolutions with much fanfare and communicate them to others. The problem arises when we don’t seem to do anything about our resolutions. New goals seem quickly forgotten and stay unaddressed. To avoid this pitfall: identify next steps and lay out a simple plan.

Unsustained focus – this approach involves a lot of initial activity and focus soon after resolutions are made. The new goals seem to be all-consuming and top-of-mind. But after the initial surge of activity, we get distracted and the original goals fall by the wayside. To avoid this pitfall: make a series of mini-goals (who, what, and by when) and keep them on your calendar.

Replace unmet goals– because it does not feel good to fall short of goals, we may mistakenly replace legitimate, unmet goals with new, fresh ones. Of course, goals do sometimes change and new goals rise to importance. But when existing goals are still important, focusing only on new ones leaves prior goals unaddressed. To avoid this pitfall: check your resolutions on the first of each month to keep unmet goals top-of-mind.

Neglect to make resolutions or goals – perhaps because we don’t like to feel like we’ve failed, sometimes we stop making resolutions or new goals at all. As Wayne Gretzky, hockey great said, “We miss 100% of the shots we don’t take.” The limitations of this approach are clear. To avoid this pitfall: face down your fear of failure and resolve to set goals that matter to you!

Does this approach to New Year’s resolutions and other goals, carry over to goal-setting on the job? What pitfalls might we avoid as we set and pursue goals in this new year?

Best wishes for a happy, healthy, and successful 2018!

Quality Decisions Require Quality Thinking

December 19, 2017

December is full of decisions – personal as well as professional! From selecting the perfect gift to staffing and budget choices. Some decisions can be made quickly with little consequence, others require time, data, criteria, and careful evaluation to avoid BIG consequences.
Leadership style often plays a part in how decisions are made and who owns them in the end. Some leaders use different processes, depending on the magnitude of the problems, some have the one-size-fits-all approach (and thinking of some of my gifts, that often turns out to be-one-size-fits-none).

Who Owns your Decisions?
So, how do you approach decisions? Anyone who has been in education for a while has probably run into one of these leadership styles:
Bobby B. Boss – When Robert has a decision or problem, he owns it. He works on it alone, solves it, then hands implementation over to someone else. Enough said. He is an authoritative decision maker.
Debbie D. Facilitator – Debra likes to work on decisions collectively, collaborating with stakeholders. Once the group has made the decision, they own it. She is a facilitative decision maker.
Connie S. Consulter – Connie gets information and opinions from the people around her, but takes the information she gets behind closed doors and make the decision herself. When all is said and done, she owns the decision. She is a consultative decision maker.
Don T. Delegator – Don hands the problem over to you. Tag you’re it. Now you own it.

Best Chance for Best Choice
Regardless of the type, size, and importance of the decision being made, you have the best chance of making the best choice if you use a decision-making process that incorporates
• The best thinking of stakeholders
• Pre-determined and prioritized criteria
• Data needed to evaluate your choice
• Risk analysis
Different decision-making styles can work well depending on the situation, but ensuring the best decisions no matter what the situation, from gift buying to big budget decisions, requires putting some thought into it. Quality decisions require quality thinking.

Context Matters: Questions for Decision Making with an Equity Lens

November 28, 2017

I remember reading about a teacher who started each school year by giving her students a simple questionnaire that asked about their lives outside of school – where do you live & with whom? How do you get to school? What responsibilities do you have outside of school? All of the sudden, you see the chronically late student in a different light when it is revealed he must first get all of his younger siblings ready for and to school. Context matters.

In a recent article in School Administrator, superintendent Matt Utterback speaks poignantly about the importance of context in decision-making. He describes watching his adopted Korean brother struggle with feeling like an outsider within their white middle class community. The author describes how as a boy and young man, his own lack of awareness of white privilege and its influence prevented him from fully grasping the enormity of his adopted brothers’ despair and sense of alienation. To truly understand and support others, we need to look beyond our own perspective to try to understand another’s. Context matters.

Effective decision-making around equity requires leaders to continually address context. How often do we make decisions that overlook key factors or context affecting decision success or viability? The author suggests using these important questions to ensure we approach a decision with “an equity lens”:

Does this decision align with our mission/vision?
Whom does this decision affect both positively and negatively?
Does the decision being made ignore or worsen existing disparities or produce other unintended consequences?
Are those being affected by the decision included in the process?
What other possibilities are being explored?
Is the decision/outcome sustainable?

Of course, what significant decision would not benefit from asking these powerful questions?! The author states, “We are the leadership required to make a difference for our students. It rests on our shoulders and within our sphere of influence to eliminate the opportunity and achievement gaps that exist for so many of our students.” The context within which we make our decisions matters.

Why “Why” is so Important

November 16, 2017

“Why? Because I said so!”
Whether or not you have used this reasoning before, you cannot get through life without hearing it. It is often the answer of a frustrated parent, who is just too tired or too time-crunched to explain, or sometimes, they just may not have a good why! Leaders sometimes communicate this phrase without actually saying it, by not giving a why at all. Without the why, there is little to inspire or motivate your colleagues to do the hard work set before them.
Have you ever:
Been in a meeting, without knowing why you are discussing an issue?
Been handed a decision to implement without knowing why?
Seen an initiative fail without knowing why?
Many times, for expediency or because the why is not known, we are given directives to start planning initiatives or implement programs without knowing the why behind it.

Start with Why
In Simon Sinek’s book, Start With Why, he contends that we are pretty good at saying what we are doing and how we are doing it, but not always good at explaining the why of what we do. He suggests that making the why clear can improve leadership, culture, hiring, product development, sales, marketing, etc.

The why inspires and motivates the people to do the work. In education, the why should be about what is best for kids. If we start with the why, decisions would be simpler, trust would increase and motivation and innovation would abound.

How do you keep the why at the forefront of your leadership? How do you incorporate the why into your leadership meetings? Initiatives? Planning?

Do What you Say: The Perils of not Following Through

October 30, 2017

Anyone who golfs knows the importance of follow-through. Follow through is crucial to drive the ball to the target. So, too, is follow-through by leadership, without it we will often fall short of our goals.

How many commitments – large or small – do we make in a day? Do we have a 100% success rate in keeping them? Of course not – changing circumstances mean we can’t always do what we initially promised. But we can always at least close the loop and communicate the change, can’t we? These little commitments– e.g., a promise of a follow-up call, an assigned “to do” item – may seem like a drop-in-the-bucket given all we are doing. We may assume others don’t notice when we don’t follow through. However, the consequences may be broader than we think. Lack of follow-through may:

Impede others from doing their job – others may be waiting for a promised piece of information or action. Not delivering forces them to wait longer or keep coming back to determine when they might move forward.
Increase the workload for others – when we don’t follow-though as promised, others may have to step in and do it themselves in order to accomplish the overall goal and deadline. If this happens often enough, it affects our working relationships with others (see next bullet).
Erode trust and increase frustration. Typically people will overlook a single oversight (unless it relates to a particularly critical or sensitive issue). However, if lack of follow-through becomes a pattern, it changes others’ perception of us and/or even our school or district. At worst, lack of follow-through starts calling into question our integrity, character, and truthfulness. People learn not to trust us and may get cynical (“that’s what she always says”). When others are forced to repeatedly follow-up with us, they get frustrated and begin to feel that their time and efforts are wasted and not valued.
Decrease others’ willingness to support us and help us when need be – people who feel wary, neglected, and not valued will not jump on our bandwagon to help us out when we need it – or support something we need them to.

If we said what we mean and did what we said, most of these problems could be avoided. What other ways do you see follow-through (or the lack thereof) affecting your working relationships and results?

6 Core Values of Courageous Leadership

October 19, 2017

ESSA State plans are in – it’s time to get to work!

Many will focus on the end result through accountability goals and assessment – but not necessarily on finding root cause for why expectations are not being met. Lasting and effective change is possible when we look at the data to identify true cause. Finding cause should always be the first step in achieving any educational goal because “If you identify the wrong root cause, you’ll bring in the wrong solution,” said one principal in the audience at the National Principal’s Conference.

Firefighting is not a problem-solving technique

Some organizations start with brainstorming solutions without looking at cause at all. Without pinpointing true causes for things gone wrong, people jump to band aid solutions – solutions that mask symptoms, but don’t permanently solve the problem. Firefighting is not a problem-solving technique – it results in the same problem arising again and again (in similar or different forms), sometimes with dire outcomes and wasteful spending.

As the time approaches to develop and carryout states’ ESSA plans, the skill of identifying root cause could not be more important. ESSA mandates that school districts or other local educational agencies (LEAs), conduct needs assessments and make improvements in the areas of math and reading proficiency, English Language proficiency, graduation rates, and struggling schools. Many State plans also seek to address such areas as graduation rates, achievement gaps, school climate, chronic absenteeism, etc. This work cannot be done right without first determining the true cause of thedisparities.

Successful and enduring solutions for student achievement gaps in all areas start with these 6 core values for districts:

Be courageous and deliberate in a search for cause
Use a systematic process
Embrace the data
Value the Involvement of others
Invest in people and their skills
Create a culture that supports good problem solving

If our ultimate goal is to increase achievement for all areas and populations, then unmasking inequities and determining the cause of the problems are the first steps to successful, long-term solutions. No worthy goals are obstacle-free – how we anticipate, recognize, and address the barriers can make the difference between achieving goals or falling short.