A Few Thoughts on… Creating a Senior Admin Team That Can Lead Change
Practical, "doable" practices and habits - plus the Feb link-fest and all the Feb TOOS posts in one place
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A Few Thoughts On… Creating A Senior Team That Can Lead Change
I recently talked to one of my mentors, Dr. Kenneth Sole, a psychologist who's been practicing organizational psychology before there was organizational psychology and who is an expert in conflict resolution and management. He spent his career practicing applied psychology with both corporate and NFP organizations to support more effective leadership, particularly through times of change. Back in the late 70’s/early 80’s, when he decided to focus in this area, his professors at Columbia University thought he was committing career suicide. They could not foresee Adam Grant.
Kenneth and I were talking about the difference between knowledge and application, and what it reminded me of was how annoying I often find so many of the ubiquitous Harvard Business Review articles that get passed around. So often, the wisdom they offer doesn’t take into account the complications of working with real human people and the legacy of organizational culture.
And then there was this recent Raw Signal Group newsletter (“That’s not how any of this works”) about how most management advice is based on assumptions of ideal work conditions and situations. Kind of the same direction. One of the reasons I love the Raw Signal Group’s newsletter (and it’s free and awesome so go sign up now at that link I just gave you) is that they are human-centered, empathetic and very practical.
Schools are all dealing with change, whether they want it or not. There’s the success stories who are figuring out how to cope with the influx of new students, parents and their high expectations, pressure on existing programs. There’s those that are struggling on the other end of the spectrum, looking at retrenchment and layoffs. Everyone is dealing with uncertainty, anxious kids, anxious parents, figuring out what programs and services are necessary in 2024 to simultaneously keep kids afloat, challenge and inspire them and prepare them for the future. It’s a tall order. Do we care about standardized testing or do we care about experiential learning? It’s confusing out there.
And even positive change is stressful and even positive change involves loss. The winners right now, who have wait lists for enrollment? I guarantee there are faculty and staff reminiscing about the old days.
Heads can’t do it alone. So how do you build a team that has the capacity, vision and stamina to lead change? A team made up of very human people?
Big picture - keep in mind that, particularly in times of change, it is a leader’s job to reduce ambiguity and to increase the capacity of their direct reports. That’s straight from Dr. Sole.
Ambiguity makes people uneasy. It does not support an atmosphere where people can thrive. Ambiguity invites power vacuums. It’s bad. Reduce it.
You can build your skills and habits and establish practices and structures to support a team to become more trusting, collaborative and resilient, more capable of being clear and leading change in their areas. Much of what is below is about making and communicating clear decisions. That’s also a skill and the more you do it, the better you’ll get at it. And maybe most importantly, you’re modeling these skills and practices for your team.
And keep in mind - I’m not promising any of the following will necessarily be conflict-free moves. One example is that for some schools, there’s a longstanding culture of vagaries around who’s on the admin team. It seems weird to me, but some schools have cultures where the instinct is to have a facade of group consensus when in fact there is a hierarchy of power. So making that clear may be a change. And it may provoke some conflict. But it will have the huge benefit of reducing ambiguity.
Conflict does not have to be disruptive and negative - in fact, avoiding conflict probably causes more crises in the end than one might assume. And that’s a post for another time!
On to the tips!
Be clear and transparent about who is on the senior leadership team
Maybe it’s obvious and well known? I’m surprised how often it is not. Explain to the community why these roles are on the leadership team.
Communicate the overall purpose for the senior team meeting with both the team and the larger community
What is the role of this group in running the school? What kind of items come to it and how do we use our precious time? How does it interface with other standing meetings?
Set the expectation for the team
All admin team members should wear two hats - representing your area AND as a school leader. Point out when you’d like the person to adjust their hat wearing, if necessary.
Please, I beg of you, eliminate the “report out around the table” agenda for senior team meetings.
We all do it from time to time. And maybe it’s OK for a few minutes at the end. Or better yet, put it in an email or… something. This approach is leadership by filibuster - giving people a seat at the table but giving them nothing substantial to chew on. You listen to all the yak yak and then go your separate ways where the head then makes all the substantial decisions. It promotes ambiguity because there is an illusion there is a leadership team but the reality is far different. Just stop!
Create agendas for the admin team meeting
Sometimes you just don’t have the time. But if you can, build this into your week - what you want to prioritize, what questions you want to ask the group, what big questions loom on the horizon. Including your priorities in agenda form reminds the team of the priorities and refocuses the work on strategy.
Solicit agenda items from your team regularly and give guidelines as to what rises to the level of a senior team agenda item and what does not
Be generous and remember, it’s a guideline and not a rule. Sometime an item that falls a bit outside the guidelines might provide some productive food for thought
Don’t get caught in the weeds
Whatever precious time you have as a group, don’t use it trying to figure out the best date and time for the next open house.
Support connection and the idea that the problems are manageable and the team’s capacity is great. “You got this.” Solve problems and preserve relationships.
Have some fun. Go out for a meal. Retreats can be good. Be a human. If tension is emerging between two members, make it a priority to figure out what is going on and help manage the situation before it boils over. Remind the team as a whole each admin area has its frustrations and its joys so treat each other with respect.
“Management” is about intentionality as you move through the day
You can manage a direct report as you’re chatting at the salad bar. You can pop into an office and ask for some advice. It’s not all about the one on one. It’s about listening and paying attention and seeing opportunities for when someone might need a pinch of feedback or a dash of course correction. These are skills you can develop if you don’t feel yours are as sharp as they could be. It can be gentle. It doesn’t have to be a big deal. Model it and your team will do the same.
And a very small and surprisingly effective tip - try to use “and” instead of “but” when discussing change implementation. Example: “The expanded advising time to implement the SEL curriculum will support student well-being AND teachers are going to be anxious about the loss of instructional time.” Be realistic but don’t put ideas in opposition to each other. It’s interesting how this practice over time expands your assessment of a situation and impacts solutions.
February Link-o-rama
People like you more than you think, more articles that support indy school workplaces can use the current trend of social isolation in their favor when recruiting, and that NYT story from January about research on the SAT I’m still thinking about.