Today's post comes from Jamie Frye (@mrjamesfrye), principal of Claremont Elementary School in Claremont, North Carolina, which is a part of the Catawba County Schools system. Mr. Frye has previous experience as a teacher, district administrator, and assistant principal. He is a North Carolina Teaching Fellow who is currently working on his Ph.D. in Educational Leadership and Policy with The University of Kentucky. Jamie completed his undergraduate degree in English Education at Lenoir-Rhyne University and holds graduate degrees from Michigan State University and UNC-Greensboro.
Jamie has been affiliated with and held leadership positions in several professional organizations and conferences, including the North Carolina Technology in Education Society, The Friday Institute for Educational Innovation, the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction's Digital Teaching and Learning Division, and the North Carolina Association of Supervision and Curriculum Development. He was also named to ASCD's Emerging Leader class of 2015. Mr. Frye's post below describes the importance of "Illustrative Leadership" and provides great tips of how school and district leaders can transform the culture of their organization.
Great educational leaders are hard to find.
Literally -- not only are elite leaders rare, vibrant, and passionate, they’re hard to find because they don’t frequently darken the doors of their office during school hours.
Though it may seem contrary, exemplary leaders who affect growth and systemic change in learning do not always prioritize the “shallow work” (of e-mails, phone calls, or many meetings) over, as Cal Newport describes it, “deep work.” Good leaders know that the depth of that creative-intensive work is what, as an end result, enacts positive change for students (note: that isn’t to say that checking emails or having meetings are bad -- just that they should take less of your time than actively implementing your creative work).
The best leaders don’t endorse “best” practices, but rather encourage limitless attempts to grow “better” practices instead. Articulating a vision of growth is a skill that is not simply taught, but more effectively modeled -- and modeling takes time. Sometimes, people grow more by observing others’ actions than they do when a plan is explained to them.
How better to lead human beings, who were once also students in the schools we are working to grow, than by modeling your example and expectations experientially? This is something I call Illustrative Leadership.
The mission of a leader to ensure a sound, basic education -- and to facilitate continuous school and district growth -- is more important now than it ever has been. All of the most important visions, initiatives, and incentives, from personalized learning to STEM education, flourish with time; however, to ensure all teachers, custodians, and support staff can promote the success of our visions of equity in classrooms and beyond, we as leaders must be careful to model our leadership with purpose.
Of course, these truly illustrative leaders are exceedingly few and far between, and the passing of the torch from experienced to lesser-experienced leaders doesn’t always involve discussions of the importance of emotional connections with constituents, nor of how to model “better” (not best) practices. In times when leaders are overtly consumed with ensuring the basic survival of their schools and districts due to budget crises, it’s become simple to lose sight of the importance of modeling/illustrating the pinnacle of purposeful, intentional leadership; that kind of leadership, in the words of Kouzes & Posner, “is an affair of the heart.”
With this in mind, let’s talk five tips for transforming culture and learning by putting Illustrative Leadership into action:
1. Articulate Your Vision
“The capacity to imagine and articulate exciting future possibilities is the defining competence of leaders...keep in mind that your constituents...want to share in that glimpse of the future” (Kouzes & Posner, 2010).![]()
As leaders, our vision is our foundation. Aristotle wrote in Politics that “the law is reason free from passion.” Sometimes, we become so lost in enforcement of law and procedure that we forget that it is our primary job to be proactive evangelists of learning.
By combining reason in decision-making, passion in action, and modeling in servitude, we create a culture of open-door Illustrative Leadership. It is one thing to speak of passion for our work, but to be passionate, articulated with vibrant visibility, is unique. Passion without vibrance is dead -- vibrant visionaries are illustrative leaders who can get others on board, guide a shared mission, and produce large-scale results.
2. Share Your Creative Process
“[M]odeling requires and therefore teaches many imaginative skills” (Root-Bernstein, 1999).
Perhaps one of the most crucial components of modeling through Illustrative Leadership is sharing your creativity and thought process. Sometimes spoken as one of the more difficult to implement of P21’s 4Cs, great leaders employ creativity as they shape learning and culture daily. By sharing our creative process and steps we take to reach an idea -- and how we connect those ideas into long-range plans -- we model for our teachers how to reimagine their own visions for learning. This is yet another piece that distinguishes continuously improving leaders.
To learn more about creative ways to illustrate your creative-intensive deep work, I highly encourage you to visit the Sparks of Creativity wiki, collaboratively constructed by Michigan State University instructors and students.
“[M]odeling requires and therefore teaches many imaginative skills” (Root-Bernstein, 1999).
Perhaps one of the most crucial components of modeling through Illustrative Leadership is sharing your creativity and thought process. Sometimes spoken as one of the more difficult to implement of P21’s 4Cs, great leaders employ creativity as they shape learning and culture daily. By sharing our creative process and steps we take to reach an idea -- and how we connect those ideas into long-range plans -- we model for our teachers how to reimagine their own visions for learning. This is yet another piece that distinguishes continuously improving leaders.
To learn more about creative ways to illustrate your creative-intensive deep work, I highly encourage you to visit the Sparks of Creativity wiki, collaboratively constructed by Michigan State University instructors and students.
3. Become Your Vision “[Leaders] need to be curious and search for a deeper meaning and understanding of what’s going on around [them]” (Kouzes & Posner, 2010).
One of the most incredible principals I’ve ever had the opportunity to see in action transformed the dynamic of an elementary school through her implementation of the Leader in Me program. This visionary woman created a culture that continued well after her departure by modeling her expectations. Mrs. Julia Styers spent three days modeling and coaching teachers in the classrooms each week, in addition to greeting every student as they walked in, helping with routine duties, and ensuring that all students were truly learning. Her two remaining days were dedicated to shallow work, such as e-mails, phone calls, and meetings -- a clear illustration of her prioritizing her vision for facilitating an innovative learning environment. By her example, this “lead learner” created a persistent culture of love and learning that empowered teachers and students alike to become servant leaders and learners. By being a leader who made time and not excuses, she modeled what dedication to Whole Child success looks like -- and her staff and students followed suit.
4. Teach with Your Actions
“...when working at their personal best, leaders transform their followers into leaders” (Kouzes & Posner, 2010).
A great way to strike your vision to the ground as a leader is not to practice what you preach. If your school is focused on the transition to digital learning then your professional development for staff should begin utilizing those tools and mindsets to demonstrate their ideal potential. If I ask a group of teachers to redefine Formative Assessment in their classroom, I’ll lead a meeting with a Kahoot! to assess prior knowledge, thereby illustrating my expectations for those teachers.
“...when working at their personal best, leaders transform their followers into leaders” (Kouzes & Posner, 2010).
A great way to strike your vision to the ground as a leader is not to practice what you preach. If your school is focused on the transition to digital learning then your professional development for staff should begin utilizing those tools and mindsets to demonstrate their ideal potential. If I ask a group of teachers to redefine Formative Assessment in their classroom, I’ll lead a meeting with a Kahoot! to assess prior knowledge, thereby illustrating my expectations for those teachers.
Another method of teaching with your actions involves letting others see you at your weaker points. Allowing your co-workers and constituents to see you in times of stress or uncertainty (to an extent) -- and letting them see how you positively react to and handle it -- strengthens your constituency and builds their own problem-solving skill set. These actions don’t always come easily; don’t be afraid to take the unpopular action, even if some political flack comes with it.
5. Embrace Problems and Solve Together
“Love creates the desire to serve others and to see them grow and become their best…[p]eople do their best when there is an opportunity to change how things currently stand...[Good leaders] motivate others to exceed their limits and look for innovative ways to improve the organization.” (Kouzes & Posner, 2010).
The answers to some of your greatest problems can be unveiled in conversations with people who don’t normally have a seat at “the table.” As an illustrative leader, by having collective and inclusive conversations about your vision with everyone who has a stake, your actions can show that you value competency over credential -- and you’ll learn quickly that the stories your custodians and cafeteria workers can share may provide valuable insight into your decision-making process. As one of my greatest mentors, David Stegall, taught me, "everyone deserves a seat at the table."
“Love creates the desire to serve others and to see them grow and become their best…[p]eople do their best when there is an opportunity to change how things currently stand...[Good leaders] motivate others to exceed their limits and look for innovative ways to improve the organization.” (Kouzes & Posner, 2010).
The answers to some of your greatest problems can be unveiled in conversations with people who don’t normally have a seat at “the table.” As an illustrative leader, by having collective and inclusive conversations about your vision with everyone who has a stake, your actions can show that you value competency over credential -- and you’ll learn quickly that the stories your custodians and cafeteria workers can share may provide valuable insight into your decision-making process. As one of my greatest mentors, David Stegall, taught me, "everyone deserves a seat at the table."
And, according to Daniel Willingham in Why Don’t Students Like School?, problem-solving is rejuvenating for your staff, too: “[w]hen you solve a problem, your brain may reward itself with a small dose of dopamine” (Willingham, 2009). Problem solving is dope!
You don’t have to tattoo the name of your newest initiative on your forehead, but impactful leaders should walk in a way that puts their beliefs into practice. Picasso said that “[t]o model an object is to possess it.” Combine this with the notion that our perception becomes our reality, and it becomes obvious that Illustrative Leaders who share their vision, model expectations and aren’t afraid to get their hands dirty really can accomplish anything they set their minds to.
You don’t have to tattoo the name of your newest initiative on your forehead, but impactful leaders should walk in a way that puts their beliefs into practice. Picasso said that “[t]o model an object is to possess it.” Combine this with the notion that our perception becomes our reality, and it becomes obvious that Illustrative Leaders who share their vision, model expectations and aren’t afraid to get their hands dirty really can accomplish anything they set their minds to.
How are you working to practice Illustrative Leadership?
Jamie Frye is the principal of Claremont Elementary School in the Catawba County Schools system. You can find him on Twitter @mrjamesfrye.
References:
Kouzes, J. M., & Posner, B. Z. (2010). The truth about leadership: The no-fads, heart-of-the-matter facts you need to know. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.Jamie Frye is the principal of Claremont Elementary School in the Catawba County Schools system. You can find him on Twitter @mrjamesfrye.
References:
Mishra, Punya et al. (2014). Sparks of Creativity. East Lansing, MI: Michigan State University.
Newport, C. (2012). Knowledge Workers are Bad at Working (and Here's What to Do About It...). Retrieved December 8, 2015, from http://calnewport.com/blog/2012/11/21/knowledge-workers-are-bad-at-working-and-heres-what-to-do-about-it/
Root-Bernstein, R., & Root-Bernstein, M. (1999). Sparks of genius: The thirteen thinking tools of the world's most creative people. Boston, Mass.: Houghton Mifflin.
UC-Davis. (n.d.). Why EL? Retrieved December 8, 2015, from http://www.experientiallearning.ucdavis.edu/why-el.shtml
Willert, T. (2016, January 7). Midyear budget cuts could force some Oklahoma school districts to close. The Oklahoman.
UC-Davis. (n.d.). Why EL? Retrieved December 8, 2015, from http://www.experientiallearning.ucdavis.edu/why-el.shtml
Willert, T. (2016, January 7). Midyear budget cuts could force some Oklahoma school districts to close. The Oklahoman.
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