Principals and other leaders of various stripes discover early on that everyone in their school or organization (or family) is not always going to agree with them. Within any group of humans presumably moving toward a common goal, there will be Resisters. As with leaders, Resisters can come in many flavors.

In my experience, there are basically two ends of the Resister spectrum. You have, for example, folks who do not actively resist, instead they thrive upon a passive non-participation in change or progress. They don’t make waves, but they don’t help either. At the other end are the active saboteurs, who not only do not agree with the current direction, but will vigorously recruit others to their point of view and even work to displace the leader if possible. Obviously there are other shades in between.

So, how does one overcome resistance? I believe it all starts with providing a clear map and expectations about the current direction and the reasons for the direction. Before beginning the process of setting out this vision, however, the leader must identify the power players, allies, and open-minded people within the school and first bring them on board with the vision. This would be done individually or in small group meetings. Once the leader knows that he or she has ample support, the slow process of bringing in the middling folks begins. If the leader has laid the proper groundwork and done the proper footwork, those who may be sitting on the fence tend to come along simply to be known as team players if nothing else. Hopefully, I’ve been persuasive enough that they are converts rather than mere cooperators.

Finally, Resisters have a choice of whether they will join the team or not. If they choose the latter, in rare cases (at least in my experience), they will need to be dismissed. In equally rare cases (at least in my experience), they will become converts. Regardless, if the leader has been clear, careful, and conscientious, the groundswell within the school is going to move the change or vision forward.

Caveat: Many times those who I might think are the main Resisters become the strongest allies. It’s very important not to judge too hastily, lest one create a Resister out of an ally.

How do you deal with Resisters within your organizations?

Photo by Evil Erin

Over the summer I had the absolute pleasure of participating in a course at the Principals’ Training Center for International School Leadership (PTC), and I have to say, it was the most valuable–and intensely demanding–professional development I have received in 18 years as an educator. The course title was “Creating and Administering an Effective School,” and the training was expertly honed to the topic by presenters/facilitators Bambi Betts and Julie Ryan. I gained a multitude of insights, but I’d like to direct my comments to the ones that stood out the most to me.

Teacher/teaching quality is, by far, the most accurate indicator of a school’s success.
As our pre-reading for the course, the PTC required us to read an accessible and concise book titled, “How the World’s Best-Performing School Systems Come Out on Top.” The central thesis is that there is no substitute for a good classroom teacher. The authors deeply investigated school systems around the world and came to the clear conclusion that all of the best-performing school districts place great emphasis on hiring and training the best teaching candidates. Teachers in those systems were offered good but not necessarily great packages. However, systems invested considerable time and money into training their teachers and providing a supportive, nurturing environment for them.

While this is not revelatory, it does provide insights into why some schools are “better” than others. In my experience, schools which funnel a lot of money into the external and/or superficial and don’t recognize the importance of placing top teachers first are destined to prolong their progress, if they progress at all.

Student learning is the focal point of all we do.
Considerable time at the PTC was devoted to the importance of student learning. Again, this is nothing new, but how often do we as educators and administrators get lost in minutiae to the detriment of learning? Stated another way, I, as an administrator, should not make many, if any, decisions before asking myself, “How is this going to impact student learning?”

To drive home this point, our first day we were introduced to “Maria,” a fictitious student seated in a chair in the center of our meeting room. We were admonished to keep Maria in mind in all of our activities that week. While this was a simple ploy, it was simply effective in keeping us focused on what and who really matter.

Mission, vision, and principles come first.
As we require a compass to find our way through challenging environments, so we need core principles to keep us on track when thousands of voices are calling for our attention. Our course strongly emphasized that effective schools have a clear mission and philosophy in which all major stakeholders have a deep understanding and investment. When we see ourselves diverting from the path, our mission, vision and principles provide us with an anchor which, if referred to often, will keep us from being tossed off course by the storms around us.

The right people need to be doing the right things.
How often do schools organize themselves around subject specific or grade level departments just because that’s how it’s always done? We discussed in depth how that our most talented people need to be leading our curricular, activities, and other groups within the school. These people may or may not be in the same department or grade level as the people on their committees or in their groups. Let your best people shine and bring other colleagues up with them.

Teachers should not be working in a vacuum.
Collaboration is an essential component and skill of effective schools and today’s workplace as a whole. Quite simply, we learn more when we collaborate, and we need to model this collaboration for our students. If we aren’t sold on the collaboration, our students won’t be, either.

Teachers need to be models.
How many times have you been to a meeting at school and thought, “Why does my leader tell me to teach one way, and conducts the meeting in the exact opposite way? Shouldn’t I model my leader in the classroom?” One thing I loved about my 7-day course at the PTC is that the presenters practice what they preach. They were not dominating course time; rather we were stimulated into discussion and/or action and then directed to get to it while they facilitated closely. In short, we should practice what we preach and preach correct principles based on the latest research.

While I learned an incredible amount during my seven days, teacher quality, student learning, the importance of mission, properly organizing people, collaborating, and modeling were the learnings that have been in the forefront of my mind since the conclusion of the course. Much of what I’m doing in this new school year is a result of the summer training I received, and I have every intention of attending PTC courses this school year and into the future.

Vision

As you may know, I am a faithful fan of The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People. Franklin-Covey discusses the importance of personal, family, and team mission statements and links to its Mission Statement Builder. An excerpt:

According to Dr. Stephen R. Covey a mission statement is like a constitution by which you make all decisions for your life. Highly effective people shape their own future instead of letting other people, their culture, or their circumstance determine it. A mission statement provides direction and clarity for your life, your family, your team and your organization.

…

Benefits of a Mission Statement:

• Gives you a greater sense of meaning and purpose.
• Guides your day-to-day decisions.
• Helps you design your life, your family, your team or your organization instead of having it designed for you.
• Provides focus.
• Clarifies what is most important.

The Mission Statement Builder provides a completely different template for whether you’re working on a personal, family or corporate mission statement–highly recommended. Give it whirl.

Image by Matthew Fang