S1 E38 TRUST Starts with the Superintendent, Always - Learn about my TRUST Process

Welcome to School Leader Soundbites, a podcast dedicated to empowering K-12 leaders with the latest insights and strategies in marketing and communications! Today, we are talking about how TRUST Starts with the Superintendent, Always - Learn about my TRUST Process.

◾TRUST Process

-All about the Superintendent

-Establishing the brand of the district through the leadership, vision, strategic documents and guiding documents

◾Thought Partner Alliance

-You must have a thought partner

-There is value talking with someone, working through a scenario that may come up, and getting prompts from a thought partner to respond in the best way

◾Ready for a thought partner

-Be open to feedback/pushback, other ideas to consider, which helps you improve

-The best leaders are open to feedback and ready to admit they don’t always have the answers

◾Unique

-Have a personal brand, show your authenticity

-Your brand follows you from district to district, not your district’s brand

◾Secure your message

-Own your own expertise

-Don’t change WHO you are

◾Timing your mark

-Make sure there is a timeline

-Have a personal brand, show your authenticity

If you need any assistance with this, head to veronicavsopher.com. If you want more info, please contact me or drop questions in the comments and be sure to share this episode with your colleagues! If you have any questions or suggestions for future topics, I'm here to listen. Thanks for tuning in to School Leader Soundbites.

Find me at: https://www.veronicavsopher.com/

Social: @VeronicaVSopher

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*School Leader Soundbites* is your essential podcast for navigating the complex world of K-12 leadership with confidence and clarity. Hosted by Veronica V. Sopher, a 25-year veteran in school public relations, this podcast delivers actionable insights and innovative strategies to elevate your school's marketing and communications efforts. Veronica V. Sopher is the strategic designer behind several award-winning marketing campaigns and has crafted winning bond and tax rate communications plans. With extensive experience in crisis management—including handling weapons and deaths on campus, natural disasters, and polarized political landscapes—Veronica is an expert passionate about public education as the great equalizer. Join Veronica as she shares her expertise and offers practical tips that will optimize your leadership and support your district's goals. Whether you're looking to enhance community engagement, improve transparency, or turn feedback into actionable results, *School Leader Soundbites* provides the tools and knowledge you need to succeed. Veronica is also available for consulting and public speaking, specializing in leadership development and executive coaching. Tune in and transform your leadership journey with insights that make a real difference. 

Episode Transcript

Veronica Sopher (00:07):
Hello, hello and welcome to School Leader
Soundbites. I'm your host,Veronica Sopher And I have the
honor of coming to you everyweek, dropping new episodes of
our podcast where we talk aboutschool communications, public
relations, marketing andadvertising. So if you are
looking for some content on howto improve your school
district's visibility strategy,you have found the right place.

(00:27):
I come to you every week withmore than 20 years of experience
in school communications, and Ilove talking about all the
things that you need to know toimprove your school district's
presence in your community. Solet's go ahead and get this
episode started. But before wedo, don't forget to hit
subscribe. We don't want you tomiss any episodes of School
Leader Soundbites, and if you'rewatching on YouTube or Facebook,

(00:48):
drop us some comments. Now let'stalk about the TRUST process.
I've already shared with you alittle bit about the impact
process and how important thatis for internal communications,
the reach process, which reallytouches on that external
communication and how you can beinfluencing with your external
audiences. The win process isall about culture and climate

(01:09):
and how important it is to makesure that there's synergy and
alignment there. And the lastpiece of the puzzle with the
master your mark system is thetrust process. And the trust
process is all about thesuperintendent. It's really
about leadership andestablishing the brand of the
district, through theleadership, through the vision,
through the mission, and throughall of those strategic documents

(01:32):
and guiding documents that adistrict might have. So let's
dive into the trust process. Sowe've got a couple of things I
want you to keep in mind theteam number one starts with the
thought partner alliance. Youhave to have a thought partner.
So as a superintendent, you workwith mentors, you work with
peers, you have your cabinet oryour leadership team that you

(01:53):
work with. And so there's reallya lot of value in talking to
someone, role playing through ascenario that might be
happening, even practicingpresentations that you might
give before the community or tothe board. And so having someone
poke holes in your messaging foralignment is going to be really
important, making sure thatsomeone is prompting you and

(02:15):
playing devil's advocate andgetting you as a leader pushed
right over to the other side toargue a point one way or the
other. So making sure you'rehaving those really robust
conversations as asuperintendent is going to help
you be prepared for your talkingpoints, to make sure that you're
on message and you are sayingwhat it is you want to say in
the way that it needs to be toldto various groups. So having a

(02:37):
thought partner is going to bereally important.
Part of having a thought partneris making sure you're ready for
a thought partner. In otherwords, you're open to feedback.
You are open to the pushback.
You're open to other things, toconsider, other prompts,
additional insights that peoplemight have. You're open to it.
You welcome feedback, and it'swhat helps you improve. So part

(02:58):
of it is making sure that you'reready for it, because sometimes
it comes fast and furious, andif there's any hesitation on
your part, or you don't feellike you're open to that, then
finding the right balance untilyou are ready for that. But I
will tell you that the bestleaders are those who are open
to feedback and who are willingto admit that they may not have

(03:19):
all of the answers, so Iencourage you to make sure that
you have a thought partner inany conversation that you have.
Now, best practices for that areto be consistent. In other
words, don't just tap into agroup of people that you feel
will tell you what you want tohear, but tap into people on a
cadence that makes sense, soeither monthly or weekly or in a

(03:41):
way that makes sense if you'vegot certain projects on the
table, maybe school boundaries,or maybe there's a consideration
for a tax rate election or abond election or some sort of
proposition that will be on theballot, you may want to have
these ad hoc groups cometogether when needed, but
otherwise making sure thatThere's a consistent opportunity
for you to have a thoughtpartner is going to be really

(04:02):
important.
So then we talk about the 5wroadmap. And the 5w roadmap is
really about your communicationstrategies, the who, what, when,
where, why and how. Kind ofscenario. In other words, do you
know your elevator pitch? Do youknow what your talking points
are? Do you know exactly whatyou're going to say to which
group of people, if you are onlygiven 45 to 90 seconds to say

(04:26):
something, so making sure thatyou know what people care about,
because they ultimately want toknow what's in it for them. And
two, that you're prepared withconfidence on the two or three
things that you can say aboutyour district or the initiative
that you're working on that'sgoing to make the most
difference for your community.
So having a roadmap for yourcommunication is going to be

(04:47):
important. Superintendents, asyou are onboarding new leaders
into your system, remember thatwe can all use a thought
partner, especially as we areonboarding into a new district.
Or into a new role, having athought partner there to just
bounce ideas off of and get someone on one coaching is crucial
to optimizing your leader,especially as we deal with

(05:08):
budget crunches and polarizingnarratives in our community. If
you want to learn more about ourthought partner Alliance, then
make sure you click the linkbelow to give your team that
extra support they need with thethought partner Alliance.
And then Unique. That's the Uhave a personal brand. You need
to establish your mark. You needto marry your professional brand

(05:31):
with your personal brand. Youneed to be able to show up for
your community and your in yourdistrict in your unique way that
shows your authenticity. Don'ttry to be somebody you're not.
If you are someone who ispassionate and who loves to be
out in the community, celebratethat. But if you're not, and
you're not super comfortable,find the right balance that

(05:52):
works for you. If you try to besomebody you're not, it will
definitely show up. But yourbrand is your promise, so you
want to marry your personalbrand with your professional
brand and really establish whoyou are for the district.
Now a little tip for mysuperintendent friends, most of
my superintendent friends willnot just stay in one districts

(06:13):
throughout their career. Stay atone district throughout their
career. They might go to acouple of different districts.
But here's the thing, your brandfollows you. So your brand needs
to be you first and foremost,and not your district. So if you
have a palette of colors thatyou feel strongly about that
really speak to who you are,that illustrate your personality

(06:34):
and that illustrate your values,use those colors and if they're
complimentary to the district,great, but don't go and recreate
a new brand every time you go toa new district. Now, there are
some circumstances where thatmight be applicable, but there
are few and far between, and wecan talk about those if you ever
need advice. But generallyspeaking, your personal brand

(06:56):
needs to stay consistentthroughout your career. Show up
on social media, make sureyou're using branded slide decks
at conferences. Make sure thatwhen you connect with people and
you send personal notes, thatit's got a little touch of who
you are, even if it's ondistrict letterhead, so that if
you ever do go to anotherdistrict and they do receive a

(07:16):
card from you that is verysimilar. Now, the district
information might be different,but the brand looks and feels
about the same. So everysuperintendent needs to have a
unique brand that, again,highlights their values and
marries what's happening in thedistrict, what's with what's
happening with with youpersonally, so your digital
footprint matters. Remember thatit's always there, so don't be

(07:39):
afraid of it. Harness it, bringit in and post what you're
comfortable posting in a waythat really speaks to who you
are now. That takes me to the sand the trust process, and
that's secure your message.
Basically, you have to own yourown expertise. You are the area
expert, and you have toestablish yourself that way.
That means having a stablestory, stability in your brand,
being consistent, talking aboutthe things that you're

(08:03):
passionate about. Maybe you'repassionate about early
childhood. Maybe you'repassionate about math and
science. Maybe you're passionateabout career technology,
whatever that is. And it can beseveral things, tie them all
together and make sure thatthroughout the course of your
career, especially if youmatriculated up from maybe a
principalship to assistantsuperintendent to ultimately

(08:25):
superintendent that you havegrown and elevated the
conversation, because peoplewill go back to what you've
written. They'll go back tointerviews that you may have
done with the media or witheducation related journals, and
they're going to want to seethat consistency. So make sure
that when you secure your mark,you're doing it with a
consistent brand that reallyspeaks to who you are, and you

(08:48):
don't go back and forth ontopics. You don't change who you
are. Now some of your opinionsmight change, and that's okay,
because we have new researchthat comes out all the time, or
you might be going from onecommunity to another where those
values aren't the same as theywere in your previous district,
or maybe a topic is completelycontroversial in one of your

(09:09):
communities, but not the other.
So there is definitely anopportunity for some transition
and growth, but flip flopping,back and forth, won't always
help, so be very mindful ofthat, especially when we're
talking about some politicalissues. Now I will tell you that
I have superintendents who arevery engaged at the state and

(09:29):
national level with regard toschool funding or things that
might be happening at your statecapitol. Speak your mind and
make sure that you'rerepresenting your district,
first and foremost, aligned toyour legislative priorities.
Don't deviate from thosedistrict priorities, because
what you don't want to do isconfuse the constituency that
your district is supporting, andyou don't want to maybe have

(09:53):
opportunities for conflictinside of that
now I've also, I'm always verymindful to tell people. That you
have to speak your truth, and ifyou truly believe that public
education is here to servestudents, then you can't go
wrong, as long as you're focusedon the student. So secure your
message by staying true to whoyou are and what you believe,
and give people an opportunityto communicate with you, to get

(10:16):
feedback, to connect. That'sreally important. You want their
feedback, you want to be able toalso demonstrate that you're
taking that feedback and you'redoing something with that
feedback. So if you have asuperintendent page on your
website that might look like ashort note to the community,
thanking them for participatingin the most recent survey and

(10:37):
sharing what you derived fromthat survey, and also sharing
what might be changing in thedistrict based on their
feedback, because that's goingto really go a long way in
establishing trust. And thenreally timing your mark is is
important make sure that there'sa timeline you establish your
brand. We have what'straditionally called your
freshman season, your sophomoreseason, and then we have

(11:00):
superintendents who are nearingthe end of their career, but in
your freshman season, you'refocused on visibility. You're
focused on establishing who youare, really earning trust with
the community, being out, beingsuper engaged. And then during
those next couple of years, asyou transition, you're focusing
on your expertise and yourstability, and that's really

(11:21):
when you have time for some ofthat, those deeper level
conversations with people inyour community and your board
and stakeholders in particular,and then in your veteran season,
that's really when you'refocused on your legacy and what
it is you want to leave for adistrict and the mark you want
to make on public education,especially in your state or in

(11:41):
your region. So when you have anopportunity to maybe go Keynote
or present to a large group,then absolutely take advantage
of that. Make sure that yourbrand is visible, that you are
being representing your districtstrongly, and that you are
leaving people with someknowledge that you brought based
on your years of experience. Soreally making sure that you have

(12:02):
earned their trust, it's goingto be important in that process.
So when you think about themaster your mark system, we
talked about the impacteducation process, and that is
really harnessing your internalaudience, educating them,
establishing what that brandlooks like, giving them
confidence to go out and talkabout the district in a way that
makes sense, all the way to thereach process, which is about

(12:26):
your external audiences, anddoing the same with them, making
sure you know who they are, whatthey value, where they go and
consume their information, andthen having a strong
communication plan That includesa strong crisis plan that's
really important, big part ofthe Reach process, and then the
win process, and that's what wetalked about last week. And that

(12:46):
win process is all about cultureand climate, how to onboard our
staff, how to really buildambassadors, nurture their
confidence in the district, andaddress any issues that they
might have. That's where yourpublic relations, your
marketing, your advertising,come into play. And then all of
that is rounded out with thetrust process. And in that trust

(13:07):
process, that's about theleadership, that's about the
superintendent making theirmark, making sure it's clear,
it's aligned, it's complimentaryto the guiding documents of the
district and to what thecommunity values. And it's
really important to make surethat the board is confident in
all of that process, too.
So when you have these fourcomponents working together, you

(13:28):
effectively communicate yourvalues, your vision, both
internally and externally, andyou bring a strong, trusted
community together to reallyforward the great things that
are happening in your schoolsystem. So I appreciate you guys
reaching out with all the greatquestions about the master your
mark program and how you canpull it all together. Take bits
and pieces when you know youneed it, and if there are any

(13:50):
gaps, as always, in yourprocess, I would love an
opportunity to talk to you aboutthat, so you can always reach
out to me at veronicasopher.comso with that, I'm going to wrap
up this episode of school leadersound bites. If you are
listening on the podcast, makesure you hit subscribe. We don't
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If you're watching on Facebookor YouTube, drop some comments.
I'd love to connect with you,and I look forward to talking to

(14:12):
you next time you.