Leadership is one of the most critical components of every
organization and plays a crucial role in the success of the organization. In all walks of life, we know that leadership
matters. The military has always known
how important leadership is to success and been purposeful/intentional in
training leadership, as well as having a structure to sustaining leadership
when a leader goes down. Leaderless
armies would be a massacre and tragedy waiting to happen. Businesses also know how important leadership
is and are purposeful in making sure they have leadership that can lead the
organization to great performance and often financial gains. Churches also have leadership structures and know
that the leader of the church sets the vision and expectations for everyone in
the church. What’s the first thing an
NFL or NCAA team does when they have a losing season?....fire the head coach
and replace them with someone they think can lead them to more wins and
championships. Everyone may not explicitly
say it, but we all know that leadership definitely matters!
I’ve always felt that any organization’s success is
directly tied to the people in the organization, not the programs or material
things. Two positions in a school are
the most critical for student academic success:
the principal and the teacher. Great
teachers and great leadership are the two most important parts to any school
being successful. The foundation of effective
and successful turnaround is built on the foundation of effective leadership,
hiring or building better leaders in schools and districts. In the majority of school turnaround models originally
utilized, replacing the principal and/or replacing the staff or a percentage of
the staff were mandated to turn around a failing school. There were also models like restart or
closure, which still shifted people or shifted students to staff that was more
effective. Turn around models from NCLB,
RttT, and the CARES Act have all been targeted at improving instructional
leadership capacities within schools. In
building great leadership, we also have to remember that great leaders also
help others to grow and improve their leadership capacities so that an
organization’s improvement is sustained and continuous. The investment is in people and there is more
than enough science and research that shows how to build instructional leaders,
but the key is in doing and putting that knowledge to work and in
practice.
Many principals and superintendents inherit schools or
districts that are not only underperforming but also have a myriad of issues
and concerns from students, teachers, parents, and the community. They are
pulled in many directions every day. The jobs of superintendents and principals
can be very fragmented and it is easy to put aside the most important work
of school or district improvement. Leaders must be intentional about what
they focus on. What the leader focuses on is exactly what the people in the
school and district will focus on. Everyone
in an organization knows what the leader is focused on by where they spend
their time. When leadership makes learning and building instructional capacity
a priority, everyone in the organization focuses on this and this is the focus
of the school. In the current state of education, with
shortages of great teachers and leaders, it’s more important than ever for leaders
and organizations to build capacity in their people. This is especially true for building instructional
capacity in both teaching and leadership.
Real school improvement does not happen one teacher at a time. Real
school improvement requires a collective, cohesive effort. This collective
effort is led by a leader that understands the role of the lead learner is to
build the capacity of the staff on an ongoing basis. There is an urgency that
exists and helps to accelerate the learning of everyone involved. The schools
and district understand that accountability for learning and results is
everyone’s job. Everyone is responsible for every student’s
learning.
The two best
ways to improve an organization are to hire better people or make the ones you
have better. Great leaders do both! Leadership matters!: It Really, Really
Matters!