Stand for One Thing

The other day , while visiting a school, I sat down to speak with a principal about the work that he was trying to accomplish as a site leader.  Passionate, articulate, and deeply grounded in his school’s purpose to promote student achievement for all, this principal battled frustrations as he tried to shift the culture of his staff.

As a relatively new principal, he was following two previous leaders who could not have been more different.   While always prepared to offer a cheery smile to every parent, student, and teacher, the first principal did little beyond the surface.  This principal stood for nothing.  The second principal however was quite the opposite.  She was intelligent and driven.  Possessing knowledge in all areas of the curriculum, this principal pushed to promote change in every nook and cranny of the school.  She stood for everything.

Challenged to find a style of leadership that would both generate results and make for a school climate that motivated educators, this new principal pleaded for advice.  My response was simple, but immediate.  I shared with him that unlike the first principal who stood for nothing and second who stood for everything, he needed to stand for ONE thing.

Too often we as leaders attempt to make this job far too complex.  We search for twelve step solutions to one step problems, create ten school-wide goals, and attempt to solve every issue in a day’s time.  We ignore our instinct to simplify as we exclaim, “surely it has to be harder than this!”, when in reality it doesn’t.   Stop over-thinking the lunch lines, soda selections in the staff lounge, and school parking lot.  Start focusing on one thing, student learning.  This should be the only non-negotiable goal that you have and the single topic of conversation among your staff. Sure, you could decide to create a dozen goals that are never achieved, but instead wouldn’t you rather pick one big way each year to improve the academic success of each student? What will you stand for?