Authors Note: I wrote this blog a little over 6 years ago, but recently, it's hit pretty close to home with me, so I thought I would share it again. Even though the scenarios have changed, the concept of building organizational culture the right way is still on point. The jars in the picture above are from my first office as a high school principal. They are still present in my office today (see below) as a constant reminder that leaders always need to keep their focus on culture.
I've been on a bit of a hiatus from my blog. It has partly been due to an unbelievable case of writer's block, but also because I am wrapping up what could be described as the most difficult year of my professional life. Now that I have arrived at summer, my mind is in reflection mode and I have a few moments to breathe and think about what I just went through.
This year was different for me and it was hard. It was filled with a myriad of emotions, events, and circumstances that most people never get to experience in a lifetime, let alone a single year. Between opening up a new high school, having a staff member pass away as the school year started, and losing multiple students to suicide and other unfortunate accidents, I can honestly say that this year has been like no other. As a principal, it is difficult to lead in circumstances like these because it ravages your school culture. Walking the halls and seeing your students and staff struggling is painful. You want to go and put your arm around each and every one of them and tell them that it is going to be okay, but at the same time, you yourself are struggling as well and are questioning if things can ever get back to normal. You are left wondering if your school culture can ever rebound.
I've written before about Building Capital As A Leader, but the focus of that blog was on the individual. The premise works the same, however, when it comes to your building's culture. You have to ability to make deposits and withdrawals, and whenever you do, your culture is impacted. The difficulty with this concept is understanding that deposits and withdrawals are not always equal. As a leader, you can do a lot of little things to help your school culture get better and make some pretty good deposits in the bank. Unfortunately, one major event can take a withdrawal from the cultural bank and quickly put you and your school at a deficit. In the case of this year, it would seem that opening up a new building and enjoying the excitement that comes along with it would reap huge benefits to the culture of the school. Unfortunately, those deposits were less than the withdrawals that were taken and it was evident very quickly that we were running on a cultural deficit.
Keeping this in mind, there are some things that each of us can do in our schools to get out of the red and in to the black with our cultural revenue. These are things that involve the entire school community (parents, students, and teachers) and the challenge that lies ahead of us is whether we want to make the commitment to get better.
BE A STRONG LEG
A school community is a 3-legged stool that consists of school, home, and community. When all three are working together as a team, students are on solid ground. If any one of these are absent or not in alignment, the stool is going to fall over and the person sitting on the stool is going to end up on the ground. In most cases, that person is the student. We live in an increasingly polarized society where pointing fingers at one another is easier than examining our own role in an issue. Rather than coming together to be problem solvers, we draw a line in the sand and want to fight every battle. When this happens, students lose because the adults in their life want to be right rather than focusing on the real issues. We all have fallen in to this trap on occasion and that is part of being human. How we overcome it, however, is realizing that it isn't about us. We need to understand our role in keeping the stool propped up.
BE PRESENT
The old adage that "Absence makes the heart grow fonder" is useless when it comes to schools and its culture. Our kids need us all day, every day. We cannot compartmentalize our role in developing a child and keep telling ourselves that we only serve a specific role. The reality is that we all serve multiple roles for our kids and sometimes lines get blurred a little. Our students live in immensely complicated times and are looking to us as adults to guide and teach them. We may not have all the answers, but we certainly have the ability to walk side-by-side with them to help them navigate the course.
This year was different for me and it was hard. It was filled with a myriad of emotions, events, and circumstances that most people never get to experience in a lifetime, let alone a single year. Between opening up a new high school, having a staff member pass away as the school year started, and losing multiple students to suicide and other unfortunate accidents, I can honestly say that this year has been like no other. As a principal, it is difficult to lead in circumstances like these because it ravages your school culture. Walking the halls and seeing your students and staff struggling is painful. You want to go and put your arm around each and every one of them and tell them that it is going to be okay, but at the same time, you yourself are struggling as well and are questioning if things can ever get back to normal. You are left wondering if your school culture can ever rebound.
I've written before about Building Capital As A Leader, but the focus of that blog was on the individual. The premise works the same, however, when it comes to your building's culture. You have to ability to make deposits and withdrawals, and whenever you do, your culture is impacted. The difficulty with this concept is understanding that deposits and withdrawals are not always equal. As a leader, you can do a lot of little things to help your school culture get better and make some pretty good deposits in the bank. Unfortunately, one major event can take a withdrawal from the cultural bank and quickly put you and your school at a deficit. In the case of this year, it would seem that opening up a new building and enjoying the excitement that comes along with it would reap huge benefits to the culture of the school. Unfortunately, those deposits were less than the withdrawals that were taken and it was evident very quickly that we were running on a cultural deficit.
Keeping this in mind, there are some things that each of us can do in our schools to get out of the red and in to the black with our cultural revenue. These are things that involve the entire school community (parents, students, and teachers) and the challenge that lies ahead of us is whether we want to make the commitment to get better.
BE A STRONG LEG
A school community is a 3-legged stool that consists of school, home, and community. When all three are working together as a team, students are on solid ground. If any one of these are absent or not in alignment, the stool is going to fall over and the person sitting on the stool is going to end up on the ground. In most cases, that person is the student. We live in an increasingly polarized society where pointing fingers at one another is easier than examining our own role in an issue. Rather than coming together to be problem solvers, we draw a line in the sand and want to fight every battle. When this happens, students lose because the adults in their life want to be right rather than focusing on the real issues. We all have fallen in to this trap on occasion and that is part of being human. How we overcome it, however, is realizing that it isn't about us. We need to understand our role in keeping the stool propped up.
The old adage that "Absence makes the heart grow fonder" is useless when it comes to schools and its culture. Our kids need us all day, every day. We cannot compartmentalize our role in developing a child and keep telling ourselves that we only serve a specific role. The reality is that we all serve multiple roles for our kids and sometimes lines get blurred a little. Our students live in immensely complicated times and are looking to us as adults to guide and teach them. We may not have all the answers, but we certainly have the ability to walk side-by-side with them to help them navigate the course.
LOVE EACH OTHER
Do not underestimate the power of love when it comes to educating our kids. Showing that you will be there for kids no matter how much they fail or disappoint you is just as important as when they are doing everything right. Showing a child love doesn't always mean that you will come to their defense. Growing up in a family of teachers, my parents told me on multiple occasions that they were giving me consequences because they love me. At the time, I was angry with them because I didn't understand how someone could love you if they were giving you consequences. It wasn't until much later in life that I realized that they loved me enough to tell me that I was wrong and that I needed to make some changes. Our students need our loving attention to their world. They need to know that we are on their team and that we are going to work together to help them become adults.
The call to action is clear. We need to make more cultural deposits in our schools if we want them to get better. We need to do so because we never know when a huge withdrawal is going to be made. We cannot continue to operate in "deficit spending" and each of us has a role in building up the savings plan. The question is whether or not you want to contribute to the cause.
#OwnYourEpic #Embrace
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