Tag Archives: Honesty

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Culture of “Nice” vs Culture of “Honesty” #suptchat

“Make the most of yourself, for that is all there is for you”
– Ralph Waldo Emerson

In terms of organizational culture, many (Drucker & others) are clear that culture “eats strategy for breakfast”. Meaning – focus on culture or you’ll have nothing on which to focus! Culture is not just important – it’s everything! I write about culture a lot, folks a lot smarter than I (Fullan, Marzano, and others) write and research a lot about culture too! So … if we know how important it is to create it, measure it, build it and sustain it (in education especially) … why are we so “nice” instead of “honest” in the context of leading and managing change?

So this year in the Deerfield Public Schools District 109, two more of our six schools earned the highest education award in our nation – the National Blue Ribbon Award. They join two other of our six schools who earned this distinction last year.

In two years four out of our six schools earned the highest honors. Leadership, Culture, Focus, Excellence, and Joy define the experiences for children and adults at these schools. What are the leaders doing with respect to culture at these schools that it making the difference?

Are these leaders confronting brutal questions? Are these leaders acknowledging when good is good and when good is not enough? Are these leaders honestly and respectfully addressing that which needs to be addressed even when it ruffles feathers? “You bet they are!”

In education many of us have been faced with “niceness” and an aversion to “critical review” for whatever reason – we don’t know why – “that’s the way we have always done it” (TWADDI). In conversations, training workshops, conversations, discussions etc. with school leaders, I have discovered many report that the toughest part of supervision/evaluation/coaching is giving honest, direct feedback. 

Often the “culture of nice” supersedes the “culture of honest”. With this post I’m hoping to highlight how the culture of honest impacts the organization in measureable and powerful ways. The culture of honest is pervasive in the Deerfield Public Schools!

If you’re reading this blog and you are wondering why your particular organization is not changing or is not making progress – perhaps you should check your culture and communication.

Is everything in our district’s culture perfect? – NO – of course not; but we as a matter of leadership assess, measure, and lead with respect to culture and dimensions of culture every year. Our school principals are held accountable for their school’s culture. We expect increases in dimensions especially when action plans are centered around growth, acknowledgement and honesty. This year 93.81% of all employees report that they are highly engaged and highly satisfied with their work in our district!

2017 Organizational Culture Results – DPS109

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In In 2013 the average “dream box” (top right) score was 61.90% from a database of more than 10,000 education employees in the USA. Our district’s “dream box” score in 2013 was 85.75%. See below for a look at the past five years’ worth of dream box organizational culture for the Deerfield Public Schools:

 

 

In our district we are far from perfect – highly successful but never satisfied!

We are on a journey toward excellence with a focus on continuous improvement. Over the past two years we have had a failure in the execution of middle school standards based learning. There are a number of reasons for this. One of the reasons was the “culture of nice” superseding the culture of honesty; and our deliberate decisions to “compromise” in the spirit of cooperation (compromise with the best of intentions – but it was really appeasement).

Students of history remember what happened when Neville Chamberlain appeased Adolph Hitler … well – appeasement doesn’t work so well in leadership …

honesty and courage work. Granted I’m oversimplifying a really complex and life and death time in history with the day to day leadership of a school system … you get the point.

Strong, direct, honest, dignified, respectful conversations and coaching are required – are imperative – are expected – are to become the norm when success is desired. With honest, direct, clear communication people know what the shared vision is – what the direction is and to what they’ll be held accountable. The three goals shown above reflect the current strategic goals in our district; clear, concise, coherent.

Five years ago the principals in our district began a process of becoming honest and clear culture leaders. They started to address student growth, teacher performance, stretch goals, limitless opportunities for ALL as well as innovative, future focused leadership. As a result, we have four of our six schools honored with the nation’s highest educational honor, we have administrators with regional honors, and we have shared the DPS109 story around the USA. Is it easy to lead in a culture of honesty? No – but I don’t go to work for an easy time … I go to work for a meaningful, impactful time!

I would love to hear your thoughts about culture – “nice vs honest” and leadership overall! If your leaders are too focused on management and not on leadership – excellence will be out of reach! Those who can manage and lead with courage, power, honesty, and in line with the shared vision – those leaders will be successful!

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Leadership is based upon relationships

If we live truly, we shall truly live.”

– Ralph Waldo Emerson

Connecting through relationships

Leaders are effective when people listen to them. Many writers and researchers have written a lot about leadership. Many studies identify scientifically what leadership is and what traits, behaviors, and responsibilities are “research-based” and proven to have “effects” and impacts on certain behaviors (like student achievement). What makes a leader effective is not answered or described in one post, one log, one blog, one answer. Unless the writer suggests that RELATIONSHIPS – two-way, respectful, nurturing, responsible, appropriate, mutually beneficial, and based upon common beliefs and vision – can help support an assertion that leaders are effective when they build relationships and when their leadership is built upon the foundation that people-centeredness is at least a hugely impactful starting point for effective leadership.

Research on leadership essentially indicates that the most important attributes of a leader involves relationships. Listening to others, involving others, building capacity in others based upon their interests and skills, all of this is essential for a leader to be successful. Building professional relationships is foundational for all leaders who hope to find success in education, management, organizations, any industry where people are involved. The best advice I could give to an aspiring leader is to LISTEN to people involved; build RELATIONSHIPS with those around you; show RESPECT to all, and value the honor, dignity, and worth of all individuals!!

Over the years I have taught leaders how to select people strong in relationship building skills. I have extensive national experiences in staff selection through my work as a senior executive consultant for a national human capital development company as well as many years as a practitioner “scientist” in the development and selection of talent. I have discovered through feedback surveys and observations that it is very rewarding when you can participate in the selection of excellent teachers with peers who are trained in the research based methods. It is very rewarding to recommend for hire hundreds teachers, administrators, and staff with whom you have worked for four years. It is very rewarding to participate in what works in education – to join with those who “do” in education. As a public educator I am biased … yet it is still rewarding and affirming to be part of systems that truly do work, are measurable, and make lasting impacts on student learning. This is an example of leadership that is meaningful.

On July 1, 2010, I joined a new school district, my third in 18 years; I spent 4 years in my first district, and 13 years in my second district. On July 1, 2010, I became the 4th superintendent at that school district since 1945 – the 4th superintendent in 65 years – an impressive and humbling fact. In the one school, PK-8 school district where I was honored and excited to work. In 2013 I became the superintendent of schools in DPS109 where, since 1840 and 1847 respectively, we have been proudly educating children! I am humbled by the responsibility and the possibility of leadership. I take great pride in coaching, guiding, leading and sustaining leadership and education with the amazing educators with whom I work each and every day.

To that end, my entry into the new school district was framed by listening, learning, meeting, understanding, examining, observing, reviewing, interacting, visiting, … one could even say … “leading”. Transition and change are challenging concepts for many … Leadership is not easy, leadership is rewarding, leadership is not making everyone happy, leadership is staying focused and building successful relationships. We build relationships in order to Engage, Inspire, Empower each child, each teacher, each staff member, each parent – everyone – each and every day!

As part of my personal philosophy of leadership, RELATIONSHIPS and relationship building are cornerstones of any successful leadership experience.