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The Courage to LeadMoving People Out

of Their Comfort Zones

Anthony Muhammad, PhD

Is Change Necessary?

“Insanity is doing the same thing over and

over and expecting a different result.”

—Albert Einstein

Hard Fact 1

Human beings are complex!

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Cultural Change

“Structural change that is not supported by cultural change will eventually be overwhelmed by the culture, for it is in the culture that any organization finds meaning and stability.”

—Schlechty, 2001, p. 52

Transformational Leader

The transformational leader (at all levels) is determined to lead a person into better behavior rather than being satisfied with identifying and criticizing current behavior.

What qualities do leaders need to possess to transform behavior?

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Healthy School Culture

“Educators have an unwavering belief in the ability of all of their students to achieve success, and they pass that belief on to others in overt and covert ways. Educators create policies and procedures and adopt practices that support their belief in the ability of every student.”

—Kent D. Peterson in Cromwell, 2002

Prescriptive

Shared PrescriptionCollaborative Disciplined practice

Shared ReflectionAnalyze data Confront brutal facts.

Shared CommitmentBelief in all students School goals guide behavior.

The Will to Lead

• Aligning the philosophy

• Managing frustration

• Creating a culture of collaboration

• Institutionalizing cultural health

—Hollie & Muhammad, 2011

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Aligning the Philosophy Developing Shared Purpose

“The mission question challenges members of a group to reflect on the fundamental purpose of the

organization, the very reason for its existence. The question asks, ‘Why do we exist?’ ‘What are we here to do together?’ and ‘What is the business of our business?’”

—DuFour & Eaker, 1998

Hard Fact 2

You can’t hold people accountable for what you haven’t made explicit.

Developing Mission

• Who are your students?

• How could their lives be enhanced through education?

• What collective commitment will you make to

enhance their lives?

• Mission must have a service orientation!

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Who Are Your Students?

Levey Middle School, 2001

• 97% African-American

• 72% at or below national poverty line

• 80% of families headed by single mothers

• 25%–40% annual student mobility rate

State achievement scores are well below state averages.

Levey Middle School Mission

“We will work collaboratively to ensure that each student is prepared for post-secondary education.”

New Frontier 21 SchoolA Fresh Approach

Character Educationand Community Service

Connection to Public and

Private Sectors

ParentalPartnership

University Partnerships

AcademicSkills

Professional

Learning Community

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Nine Core Beliefs

1. Schools are places built for educating children, not for adult employment.

2. Schools play a major role in the future life success of students and their community.

3. Education is a profession, and educators should conduct themselves as professionals.

4. Education is a mission, and educators should conduct themselves as missionaries.

5. Schools are a community’s most precious institution, and they have the power to transform a community.

6. Children are at the center of everything we do, and our practice should reflect their best interest.

7. We believe that schools must partner with other members of the community for the educational experience to be optimal.

8. We believe that character is important and that schools can help shape a child’s character.

9. We believe that service to the community is important and that it is essential in a democratic society.

Nine Core Beliefs

Pause to Think

1. Are you and your colleagues clear on your fundamental purpose?

2. What would be evidence that your school has a clear and concise shared purpose?

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Why Is Everyone So Resistant?

Hard Fact 3

A highly frustrated staff

is a highly unproductive staff.

Toxic School Culture

“Educators believe that student success is

based on students’ level of concern,

attentiveness, prior knowledge, and

willingness to comply with the demands of

the school, and they articulate that belief in

overt and covert ways. Educators create

policies and procedures and adopt practices

that support their belief in the impossibility

of universal achievement.”

—Kent D. Peterson in Cromwell, 2002

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Descriptive and Deflective

FrustrationThe Root of a Toxic Culture

Frustration: A feeling of anxiety as a result of the inability to perform a task

• Is a mismatch between skill set and task

• Causes people to deflect blame onto others and create covert alliances with people experiencing similar struggles

The Culture of ComplaintTwo Vs

• Venting

• Validation

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Good to Great, Jim Collins

What do great corporations or organizations do differently than good or average organizations?

1. They seek and confront the brutal facts.

2. They get the right people on the bus and sit them in the right seats.

Pause to Think

• How do you and your colleagues typically respond when you get frustrated?

• Do you have systems to functionally process frustration?

• Does your leadership relieve or add to your

frustrations? If so, how?

Creating a Culture of Collaboration

Why Collaborate?

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Collaborative Culture

Team: A systematic process in

which we work

interdependently to analyze

and impact professional practice

to improve individual and

collective results

Collaborative Culture

• Forming

• Norming

• Storming

• Performing

Hard Fact 4

We are very flawed individually, but we are nearly perfect collectively!

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Pause to Think

• Is everyone on your campus a member of a meaningful collaborative team?

• Are your collaborative teams organized and focused?

• Do your collaborative teams follow their norms?

• Do your collaborative teams focus on the right work?

Institutionalizing Cultural Health

Moving the bus forward

Healthy Cultures Are Two-Way Streets

Support

Accountability

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Good Leaders

• Transparently communicate purpose.

• Foster collaboration.

• Build capacity.

• Hold people accountable.

Contact Information

E-mail:

amuhammad@newfrontier21.com

Website:

www.newfrontier21.com

Twitter:

@newfrontier21

Facebook:

“Dr. Anthony Muhammad”

Stephen Decatur Middle School Staff Concern Form

Staff Member ________________________ Date _____________ Signature ______________________________

Seriousness of the concern:

1 2 3 4 5

My concern is……. __________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________

My suggestion is…….

__________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________

TSC Activity #1 Please list the frustrating elements of your job and your school system in the first

column. In the second column, please list your past attempts to resolve the issue.

Frustrating Issue Attempted Solution

TSC Activity #2

Teacher Commitments Teacher Expectations

TSC Activity #3

School Administration

Commitments

School Administration

Expectations

Team Mission

__________________________________________________

__________________________________________________

__________________________________________________

__________________________________________________

To fulfill this mission we will make the following commitments:

1. __________________________________

2. __________________________________

3. __________________________________

4. __________________________________

5. __________________________________

6. __________________________________

7. __________________________________

8. __________________________________

9. __________________________________

10. _________________________________

Team Goals:

% of Passing Students _________________

% of D/F ________________

% of A/B ________________

% of Proficiency on State Exam________________

% of Exemplary on State Exam_______________

% of Honor Roll Students ________________

Team Goals:

1. ______________________________

2. ______________________________

3. ______________________________

4. ______________________________

5. ______________________________

Breakthrough Goal:

We will celebrate student success by:

We will recognize student improvement by:

We will support struggling students by:

Team Norms of Behavior

Norm Response to Violation

Teams are only as effective as the sum total of their parts; everyone must

pull his or her weight for teams to be effective.

TSC Shared Decision-Making Checklist

o All Stakeholders have been given relevant data o The rationale for change has been thoroughly explained by

leadership o Several viable alternatives have been explored and staff has

been given an opportunity to give input

o Collaborative teams have been established and decision-making is collaborative

o Trust issues have been resolved and I am giving input with a clear conscience

o I believe that there is a high likelihood that this initiative will be implemented in the fashion that it was presented

o A clear plan for training for this new initiative has been organized and established

o A timeline for implementation has been established o Resources have been established to provide me with

assistance if I struggle with this initiative or past initiatives

o A system of accountability for implementation has been established

o Clear expectations for implementation and performance have been established and they are clear and fair