October 8, 2023 • 24 mins
Imagine your leadership team - a cohesive unit, bound by trust and shared commitment, capable of creating a successful future together. That's what we're exploring today with Uche Anjoku, a seasoned educator who will share how trust can be the water that binds your team together, and the role it plays in overcoming obstacles. We will learn from a compelling example of a school where a veteran teacher tried to sow discord, and how the team's trust in each other helped them rise above.
We'll also dive into the value of diversity and the right mix of skills within a team. Uche shares his strategy of identifying individual strengths, cross-training for well-roundedness, and fostering open communication and empowerment. This episode is a must listen if you're building a team, leading one, or just aiming to improve your leadership skills. We will cover important aspects such as feedback and accountability, and how these elements contribute to a strong, trustworthy, and successful team. Join us in this enlightening exploration!
Thank you for tuning in to The Sneaker Principal Podcast! If you found value in today’s episode, don’t forget to like, subscribe, and share this podcast with others who are passionate about education, leadership, and making an impact.
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Hosted by Uche Njoku, this podcast explores the intersection of education, leadership, and personal growth. Each episode offers insights, inspiration, and real talk about the challenges and opportunities in schools and beyond.
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Until next time, stay inspired, keep leading, and always keep learning! 💪👟
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:05):
And now he's been promoted.
His job is principal.
Good morning everyone.
This is Uche and Joku.
Welcome to this episode of theSneaker Principal Podcast.
I'm coming to you from Atlanta,georgia.
I'm here for a family event andI'm up early as usual and I
thought to myself this is aperfect opportunity for me to
(00:26):
record another episode.
So I do apologize for those ofyou who love my intro you know
Pac talking about.
For those who are not aware,tupac Shakur talking about
sparking the brain that willchange the world.
So those of you who have beensending me comments in my inbox
saying how much you love theintro, thank you so much.
So pretend that that happenedand we're going to go straight
(00:49):
into this video.
So this morning I want to talkto you about a topic that a lot
of people don't talk about.
As far as in school leadership,we cherish this thing but we
don't really talk about it,which I don't understand.
And if we do talk about it,it's always in the negative,
(01:10):
after something bad has happened.
But I believe this is somethingthat's very important from the
jump, and I learned this thehard way, but I also learned
it's my experience.
So in this topic I mean sorry,in this episode we're talking
about the topic of buildingtrustworthy leadership teams.
Okay, one more time Trustworthyleadership teams.
Let's just go straight to thecore of this.
(01:39):
If you don't have trust in anyteam, you cannot make it happen.
Whatever the mission is,whatever the goal is, trust is
literally the foundation.
It is the water that you mixand start cement so you can have
that solid foundation.
If you don't have that water,you know like, literally, you
(01:59):
cannot have cement without sometype of fluid that you add to
that mixture to soften it, tomake it wet, so they can dry and
become a strong foundation.
So just remember, this water isnecessary.
You can't do anything withoutit, except with trust.
Right?
See, for a lot of us, trust islike a buzzword.
(02:25):
You know, you trust me, I trustyou, you trust the process.
We use the word over and overagain, but I take trust to a
very visceral place for me,because if I trust you, that's
one less thing I have to worryabout.
Often, schools, and even schoolleaders, struggle to get
(02:47):
anything done because eitherthey don't trust their teams or
their team doesn't trust them.
The teachers don't trust them,the students and family there's
this great area that they livein and for me that's a problem.
If you're trying to move aschool forward, you have to have
that common vision.
You have to have that space ofexistence where we are all
(03:09):
working towards the same thing.
I'll give an example.
I worked at a school a few yearsback and the issue I had there
was I had key members of my teamwho they were so stuck on the
past and how things were done inthe past with the previous
principles, and it would alwaysbe.
(03:34):
But we did it this way, we didit that way.
You just change a lot of thingsand the fact of the matter.
I didn't change a lot of things.
I remember the answer with you.
I came in there as a turnaroundprincipal.
I was told this is the issuethat's happening in school.
I did my research, I did my data, dive my table audit into the
(03:55):
school and I saw patterns.
And these patterns that I saw Ishared with the superintendent.
The patterns that I saw Ishared with the staff.
We talked about it and we'relike listen, if you can shift
these few things here, if youcan make these this pivot, we
can move the school in the rightdirection and in due time.
And I told them quick.
Sooner than later we will bemoving towards a place of
(04:17):
success because we have aroadmap here.
We see where we have to go, butonly we're all gonna be able to
reach that place.
We have to trust each other.
The person sitting next to you,left to your left, to your
right or behind you or maybeeven in front of you.
We all have to trust each other.
We all have to have that commonunderstanding, that common
(04:41):
vision.
How are we gonna get them thecommitment with it that we're
working towards?
We all have to be moving inlockstep and accord.
We're not automatons, but wehave to be a reason that we're
coming here every single day andbust, not butts.
And in this space I had aveteran teacher who would always
(05:10):
insist on me, come up withreasons or try to find ways to
distract the team, and thesedistractions let the
conversations that were longdrawn out and just wasted time
and it wouldn't just meet.
They felt that way and whenthis person realized that the
(05:31):
team was not viving with theirattempts to distract, they need
to try to find other ways bycreating the stories about.
Well, principal and Joku saidthis and so now trying to pick
at and creating issues thatdidn't exist, creating things
(05:55):
that were completely made up.
I love the document.
I'm the kind of person listenalmost in every instance of
importance.
I will follow the email.
I will follow the subcontractdocumentation, so we're all on
the same page.
And especially, made thecomment and I don't wanna show
the comment as, but if they'rewatching this or people who are
watching this, they're gonna belike, oh, we know who this is.
(06:15):
I'm respectful of people, butthis thing I was able to back up
and show that didn't happen,that there was no documentation
to prove that thing, and therewas also documentation to prove
that it didn't happen.
So this person had to back downand this person actually
stepped down from their positionin the school because they were
(06:37):
embarrassed.
But what was even more importantwas that a lot of the teachers
and staff and support staffdidn't write with them.
And what did they do withwriting with me?
They were writing with thevision and mission that we all
agreed on and that was the key.
Here we are doing this togetherand we're co-creating and we're
prototyping together thisfuture that we want for our
(07:00):
school community.
So that was a big thing in thatscenario.
Pardon me, here.
I'm just going through my notesto make sure that I'm covering
all the points I want to coverNow the first thing.
So I should go back, justremember again trust is the
(07:21):
foundation water to the cement.
It gives you a solid foundation.
But now, how do you build atrustworthy team?
The first thing I'm going totell you is this you have to
actually pick the team.
You have to pick your team.
(07:42):
And somebody might say, butwait a minute, but what if I'm
coming to a school?
Everybody stops.
I'm the new person there.
That is commonly what happens.
Some people are likely to comeinto a school where it's the
lead, ships and shambles.
There is no core leadership.
(08:02):
So you get to kind of bringsome people in, and sometimes it
may be a mix of both.
But before I start building myteam, what I always do is try to
learn who's there already?
Who's there?
Who am I working with?
Who are the people who are here?
(08:22):
What have been theircontribution to the school's
overall history?
What is their educationalphilosophy?
What is it that they believeabout students and how they
learn?
What is it that they do in theschool to contribute to the
growth of the school and, at thesame time, what is it that
they've done to maintain statusquo as well?
(08:44):
So all these things are super,super important.
But as I learn people and alsotalk to them about their
strengths and weaknesses, whatare they really great at?
What are they not so good at?
What are the things that I'mlike?
Hmm, they need to be trained upon to at least be proficient in
(09:04):
All these things gives me amuch broader view of the school,
the school staff, and then I dothe same thing for everyone my
school aides, my front officestaff, I do the same for
teachers and even myadministrative team.
Then, based on that, I start toassign roles, not just roles
(09:28):
that you're strong at, but I doalso do cycles of like exposure
to the things that you need tobecome stronger at Making sure
you get into training and crosstraining and different things.
But the thing too, now when Isay I know what people stand and
what their strength is, becauseyour strength is going to you
know if it's the right skill setand your strength is going to
(09:48):
help me accelerate the work youknow.
But one of the things that Ireally believe as a principal, I
am not, I'm not the.
What was the hardly say it, theend all be all of the school?
Now, not at all.
This is a team effort.
We all have to be on the samepage.
We all have to play our roleand it's my responsibility to
(10:13):
make sure that I'm assigning youthe right role and also giving
the right training.
If you're not fully fitted inthat space, fully up to par,
that's my responsibility.
But then this is where I startto say, hey, I need you to do
this because I see how strongyou are at this, how efficient
you are at this, so this isgoing to be your responsibility.
(10:34):
And sometimes I find myselfhaving taken a lot of
responsibilities for the interimbecause I don't have the key
people who are strong enough,you know.
And I might reach out to thedistrict office and say, hey, I
need help with these things asI'm building my team.
I'm always building my team.
There are a lot of principalsout there.
They don't build a team, theydo it all themselves and they
just kind of drag on to thefinish line and they complain
(10:57):
about how burnt out they are.
And I'm not like myself, like,why would you do that, unless
you absolutely had to?
Even the weakest of your teamcan be made competent enough to
take a certain task that allowedfor the school to function.
Like you, an example with myleadership team, I'm always
(11:17):
trying to find people who arevery strong at public speaking
and they're very strong inturnkey material, because I sit
on the PDs and they come back inand they turnkey when they
learn from those PDs to the restof the staff.
I have people who are justoperationally sound.
They're so well organized andI'm like, okay, I need you to be
(11:38):
my IEP teachers, specificallyif they're licensed for special
education, because I want themto be able to help me organize
the processes that can get myannuals done, my triannuals and
all these other things that haveto be done for special
education.
I've always been fortunateenough to have an AP who's
(11:59):
strong enough, who's very strongin budgeting, so they become my
CFO.
They are the ones who track andmake sure that all my spending
and everything is on point, thatwe don't miss any POs, every
work order is processed, stufflike that.
And then, of course, if I havea dean or an assistant principal
who's very strong with culture,so they can hold that down, our
(12:21):
processes, how the kids travel,all those things are all online
, right.
So you know this is allimportant, because now I guess
what happens?
We have an organization that'srunning effectively.
I get to be the CEO andactually make sure all the
moving pieces are all coherentand we're moving towards our
goal and our mission and do whatwe need to do to be successful.
(12:44):
And that also allows for me notto get burnt out and also allows
for my team to not get burntout, because they're moving in
their strengths but at the sametime, like I said before, I
would put them in a position toalso cross train and learn other
skills as well.
You know it's kind of hard tolead, but you don't know.
So when I put people in thesepositions, if they weren't there
(13:05):
, I can definitely do the jobmyself, but if I'm not careful,
I don't build a team, then I'mdoing the job of 10 people and
wonder why I have to be in thebuilding at 5.30 in the morning
and leave at like 9 o'clock inthe evening, which I know a lot
of schoolies who do that.
You know they do that and I'mlike I did it too, you know,
(13:30):
until I learn how to build ateam and make sure I have a very
, very strong team but, likethis, diversity of skills and
perspectives is essential.
You don't want everyone to bejust like you.
You want to have thosedifferent modes of thinking and
how they see things.
It's like the Avengers.
(13:51):
I always make the joke that myteam is like the Avengers.
You have the Captain America,you have the Iron man, you have
the Incredible Hulk, you havethe Black Whales, you have all
these people who have specificskill sets that are very, very
integral to the success of theteam.
But at the same time, there'soverlaps.
Captain America or Iron man canlead easily, you know, but then
(14:15):
we also know that Hulk can leadas well, because he went from
being the rage-filled green guyto also now being able to
stabilize and be well focusedand highly intelligent in the
green state.
And that's the thing I wantthat across the board with my
(14:35):
team.
Now, when you have a team, thenext thing you want to do is
this Communications.
You have to become a greatcommunicator of your team to
your team.
You don't want them ever in thedark.
You want to make sure there'salways open communication.
You always shame with themwhat's happening, you know, and
(14:58):
you also create space for themto communicate as well, having
those periodical team meetings,whether it's some people do it
once or twice a week, somepeople do it, like you know they
do.
What is it called?
We just gather everybody in themorning for a few minutes and
just like, hey, what are youdoing?
What's your, what are you doing?
Like, communicating is very,very important.
(15:22):
I send out weekly newsletters tomy home, to our school.
I'm constantly emailing mystaff, my leadership team.
I'm texting with them, I have agroup chat.
What's going on?
Ava is able to communicate.
I'm calendaring standingmeetings, like.
All this is very, veryimportant because, at the end of
the day, when you have If youmight have a team of two, or
maybe my team of three in my inmy case, my coalition team is
(15:45):
five people and these fivepeople have integral parts of
the school that I need to knowwhat's going on every single
moment, because if I'm asked,hey, what's going on with this?
I Can't be like I don't know.
I have to talk to this person.
I need to know consistently.
So, when, when they send emailsout, I'm copying them.
You know they're giving mefeedback, giving me updates on
what they're doing and and andensuring that it's in line with
(16:07):
the mission and vision and thetask assigned with, and An
alignment with, the outcomerequired.
So these things are very, veryimportant.
You know it's.
And when it comes tocommunicating, the other thing
now is you have to empower yourteam to lead.
Don't build a team and thenthey have to wait for every two
(16:30):
seconds.
They have to wait to make thechemical decision decision for
themselves.
They have to wait for yourexpressed permission to do Every
little thing.
My thing is this all my teammembers have a very clear job
description and what they shouldbe just be working on and the
timelines for us to communicatewhere things are at and and
(16:52):
Because we build it, we build aneffective team.
The goal is to be efficient andget the work done, not to have,
you know, a Squad of peoplethat look good and you can say,
hey, look at my, my, my, mysquad.
No, it comes to, comes out tothe work.
So, like right now, I know fora fact with it, my Dean, my, to
(17:13):
my two academic deans, my aces,the principal, my lead
Structural coach and then myother peripherals on team needs.
I know what they're doing, Iknow what the, what they're
working on, and they know whatthey're working on and yes,
there are check-ins, they willcheck it with me say, hey, this
is where I'm at with this, whatdo you think and in some cases,
I already know that what theoutcome is supposed to be.
(17:33):
And they're also working witheach other.
So this deadline and when thetest is done, I'll be copied on
it, I can see it, and then theymove on.
Like these things are very,very important.
You know, being able to be in aspace where, where, um, you
empower them to lead and I thinkto, by empowering to lead, also
allows them to develop theirleadership skills as well.
(17:55):
And if it wasn't for theprinciples who said, hey,
keeping keeping the loop, we'regonna meet in touch base and and
allowed me to actually maneuveras a leader and make decisions,
and I wouldn't be where I'mright now.
So I know that this issomething that I want for my
leadership team, because I I'vesaid this before previous videos
if you're a school leader andyou're not, you're not building.
(18:16):
You're not building anddeveloping your replacement.
You're doing harm to thecommunity.
Because the thing is thisanything can happen to your
human.
You can drop right now fromfrom from ailments that would
sit you down and start lines forfour weeks or meet them
permanently?
What have you done to make sure,beyond just building an amazing
school that you've built incapacity of leadership with your
(18:37):
team, there should be alwayssomebody your team who could
just step up to make sure thiscontinuity, this continuity of
leadership, don't create a spacewhere All the time, it's always
being brought from the outsideinto the community and now the
community has to go through thewhole process of here we go
again a new principal who's comehere and learn us and when I
like what we're doing and forceus to not make another pivot.
(18:59):
For me, turning around schoolsis putting schools on the right
track.
It's about helping to establishculture, a way of doing things
that you need to that school,and it's not about me, it's
about the school culture.
It's about the school's way ofdoing things, so that anyone who
(19:19):
sits in that seat now has tosay, hmm, how do I best continue
to lead the success of theschool?
I was saying, ok, I'm going tobring these master changes and
because this is what I want.
So it's very important toempower your team, because the
other thing, too, I tell youabout my team is that I tell
them, like when we talk, I needto know the truth, I need to
(19:42):
know the real.
If you feel like what I'msaying makes no sense or I'm
bugging, let me know.
Let's have real dialogue here,because this also helps me grow
as a leader.
I'm not perfect.
I don't know everything and I'mnot sure this is with you.
I've learned so much from myleadership teams.
They brought things to myattention I didn't even think
about it.
I'm like whoa.
They are not part of the way Ido things.
(20:03):
And again, these came fromquote unquote subordinates.
So think about that Empoweringyour team to have voice, to make
decisions and to also give youfeedback.
And that's the last thing ofthings that are very important
in building teams Accountabilityand feedback.
You have to hold your teamaccountable.
You just don't let them runamuck.
(20:25):
You know.
Hold your team accountable.
You know, sit down, have thosesessions where you're giving
them constructive feedback andthey're also giving you
constructive feedback.
This is very, very importantbecause if that portion is not
there, then people might bemoving with a very poor
(20:46):
understanding of what themission is and by the time you
realize it, you know oh my God,I didn't know that, you didn't
understand, or even the person.
Your leader, your member ofyour leadership team is making
decisions, doing thingsincorrectly.
So you're trusting them to doone thing, but it doesn't seem
to be different because therewas a clear communication, doing
(21:08):
and getting feedback and therewas no one holding them
accountable for the work youknow.
So it's very important thatthat is part of the foundational
work you're doing as well.
You know, making sure that thisfeedback and accountability,
you know in the way your teamfunctions.
(21:30):
So again, we'll go to thebeginning here and remember you
have to set the right team Ifyou want to establish, you know,
or build a trustworthyleadership team.
You got to get the right peopleon the bus.
You got to pick the right team.
You have to foster opencommunications.
You got to communicate.
You got to talk a lot.
(21:52):
You know you have to empoweryour team to make their own
decisions in line with themission and vision and not have
to come to you for every littlething you know.
But the things you have totrain them on that, to
differentiate from the smallthings, from the big things.
There are small things they cando.
You know.
I tell my team listen, if youwant to restructure the way we
(22:14):
move the kids upstairs fromlunch to our floor.
Okay, come up with a plan,share with me so I know what it
is and when they should haveplanned with me, I'll give my
feedback.
Or, in this year, I had nofeedback to give.
It was a spot on plan.
From my 20s of experience, Iwas like that's quite efficient,
let's put it in the plan andsee how it works.
(22:35):
And so far it's been working.
Okay, I didn't say hey, let'ssit down here and show me every
little step.
And I said put it together,show me what you're thinking.
And I've been doing this longenough that I can say, hmm,
you're missing something here.
Or, in this case, I was justlike, wow, I'm excited to say
how this works, because itseemed, it looked to be way more
(22:57):
efficient than what we weredoing prior.
So accountability to make thedecisions and then also, I'm
sorry, empower them to maketheir own decisions.
And then accountability andfeedback.
You got to meet with them, yougot to talk to them, you got to
give them feedback and you alsohave to be willing to accept,
(23:18):
construct the feedback yourself.
The main leader, the principal.
We're not fallible.
So we're not infallible.
We do make mistakes.
We don't always see everything,and feedback and accountability
has to go both ways.
I asked my team to hold meaccountable, I asked my hometown
school community to hold meaccountable, and I'm always
(23:38):
asking for feedback, but, at thesame time, it's also my job to
hold them accountable and givethem feedback and make sure the
whole team is moving in theright direction.
All right, that's it for today.
Thank you so much for listeningto this.
Please leave your comments,share these tips and this
podcast, because I think it'svery important that we are
(24:01):
making sure that school leadersand inspiring school leaders
have as much of the tools thatthey need to be successful.
This job is not easy by anymeans, but, however, I think we
have the ability and the powerto produce stronger leaders that
are functioning on a level thatallows them to really really
(24:22):
impart change and move our kidsforward.
Yeah, so, with that being said,have an amazing rest of your
day and I'll talk to you soon.
Peace.
And now he's been promoted.
His job is principal.
Good morning everyone.
This is Uche and Joku.
Welcome to this episode of theSneaker Principal Podcast.
I'm coming to you from Atlanta,georgia.
I'm here for a family event andI'm up early as usual and I
thought to myself this is aperfect opportunity for me to
(00:26):
record another episode.
So I do apologize for those ofyou who love my intro you know
Pac talking about.
For those who are not aware,tupac Shakur talking about
sparking the brain that willchange the world.
So those of you who have beensending me comments in my inbox
saying how much you love theintro, thank you so much.
So pretend that that happenedand we're going to go straight
(00:49):
into this video.
So this morning I want to talkto you about a topic that a lot
of people don't talk about.
As far as in school leadership,we cherish this thing but we
don't really talk about it,which I don't understand.
And if we do talk about it,it's always in the negative,
(01:10):
after something bad has happened.
But I believe this is somethingthat's very important from the
jump, and I learned this thehard way, but I also learned
it's my experience.
So in this topic I mean sorry,in this episode we're talking
about the topic of buildingtrustworthy leadership teams.
Okay, one more time Trustworthyleadership teams.
Let's just go straight to thecore of this.
(01:39):
If you don't have trust in anyteam, you cannot make it happen.
Whatever the mission is,whatever the goal is, trust is
literally the foundation.
It is the water that you mixand start cement so you can have
that solid foundation.
If you don't have that water,you know like, literally, you
(01:59):
cannot have cement without sometype of fluid that you add to
that mixture to soften it, tomake it wet, so they can dry and
become a strong foundation.
So just remember, this water isnecessary.
You can't do anything withoutit, except with trust.
Right?
See, for a lot of us, trust islike a buzzword.
(02:25):
You know, you trust me, I trustyou, you trust the process.
We use the word over and overagain, but I take trust to a
very visceral place for me,because if I trust you, that's
one less thing I have to worryabout.
Often, schools, and even schoolleaders, struggle to get
(02:47):
anything done because eitherthey don't trust their teams or
their team doesn't trust them.
The teachers don't trust them,the students and family there's
this great area that they livein and for me that's a problem.
If you're trying to move aschool forward, you have to have
that common vision.
You have to have that space ofexistence where we are all
(03:09):
working towards the same thing.
I'll give an example.
I worked at a school a few yearsback and the issue I had there
was I had key members of my teamwho they were so stuck on the
past and how things were done inthe past with the previous
principles, and it would alwaysbe.
(03:34):
But we did it this way, we didit that way.
You just change a lot of thingsand the fact of the matter.
I didn't change a lot of things.
I remember the answer with you.
I came in there as a turnaroundprincipal.
I was told this is the issuethat's happening in school.
I did my research, I did my data, dive my table audit into the
(03:55):
school and I saw patterns.
And these patterns that I saw Ishared with the superintendent.
The patterns that I saw Ishared with the staff.
We talked about it and we'relike listen, if you can shift
these few things here, if youcan make these this pivot, we
can move the school in the rightdirection and in due time.
And I told them quick.
Sooner than later we will bemoving towards a place of
(04:17):
success because we have aroadmap here.
We see where we have to go, butonly we're all gonna be able to
reach that place.
We have to trust each other.
The person sitting next to you,left to your left, to your
right or behind you or maybeeven in front of you.
We all have to trust each other.
We all have to have that commonunderstanding, that common
(04:41):
vision.
How are we gonna get them thecommitment with it that we're
working towards?
We all have to be moving inlockstep and accord.
We're not automatons, but wehave to be a reason that we're
coming here every single day andbust, not butts.
And in this space I had aveteran teacher who would always
(05:10):
insist on me, come up withreasons or try to find ways to
distract the team, and thesedistractions let the
conversations that were longdrawn out and just wasted time
and it wouldn't just meet.
They felt that way and whenthis person realized that the
(05:31):
team was not viving with theirattempts to distract, they need
to try to find other ways bycreating the stories about.
Well, principal and Joku saidthis and so now trying to pick
at and creating issues thatdidn't exist, creating things
(05:55):
that were completely made up.
I love the document.
I'm the kind of person listenalmost in every instance of
importance.
I will follow the email.
I will follow the subcontractdocumentation, so we're all on
the same page.
And especially, made thecomment and I don't wanna show
the comment as, but if they'rewatching this or people who are
watching this, they're gonna belike, oh, we know who this is.
(06:15):
I'm respectful of people, butthis thing I was able to back up
and show that didn't happen,that there was no documentation
to prove that thing, and therewas also documentation to prove
that it didn't happen.
So this person had to back downand this person actually
stepped down from their positionin the school because they were
(06:37):
embarrassed.
But what was even more importantwas that a lot of the teachers
and staff and support staffdidn't write with them.
And what did they do withwriting with me?
They were writing with thevision and mission that we all
agreed on and that was the key.
Here we are doing this togetherand we're co-creating and we're
prototyping together thisfuture that we want for our
(07:00):
school community.
So that was a big thing in thatscenario.
Pardon me, here.
I'm just going through my notesto make sure that I'm covering
all the points I want to coverNow the first thing.
So I should go back, justremember again trust is the
(07:21):
foundation water to the cement.
It gives you a solid foundation.
But now, how do you build atrustworthy team?
The first thing I'm going totell you is this you have to
actually pick the team.
You have to pick your team.
(07:42):
And somebody might say, butwait a minute, but what if I'm
coming to a school?
Everybody stops.
I'm the new person there.
That is commonly what happens.
Some people are likely to comeinto a school where it's the
lead, ships and shambles.
There is no core leadership.
(08:02):
So you get to kind of bringsome people in, and sometimes it
may be a mix of both.
But before I start building myteam, what I always do is try to
learn who's there already?
Who's there?
Who am I working with?
Who are the people who are here?
(08:22):
What have been theircontribution to the school's
overall history?
What is their educationalphilosophy?
What is it that they believeabout students and how they
learn?
What is it that they do in theschool to contribute to the
growth of the school and, at thesame time, what is it that
they've done to maintain statusquo as well?
(08:44):
So all these things are super,super important.
But as I learn people and alsotalk to them about their
strengths and weaknesses, whatare they really great at?
What are they not so good at?
What are the things that I'mlike?
Hmm, they need to be trained upon to at least be proficient in
(09:04):
All these things gives me amuch broader view of the school,
the school staff, and then I dothe same thing for everyone my
school aides, my front officestaff, I do the same for
teachers and even myadministrative team.
Then, based on that, I start toassign roles, not just roles
(09:28):
that you're strong at, but I doalso do cycles of like exposure
to the things that you need tobecome stronger at Making sure
you get into training and crosstraining and different things.
But the thing too, now when Isay I know what people stand and
what their strength is, becauseyour strength is going to you
know if it's the right skill setand your strength is going to
(09:48):
help me accelerate the work youknow.
But one of the things that Ireally believe as a principal, I
am not, I'm not the.
What was the hardly say it, theend all be all of the school?
Now, not at all.
This is a team effort.
We all have to be on the samepage.
We all have to play our roleand it's my responsibility to
(10:13):
make sure that I'm assigning youthe right role and also giving
the right training.
If you're not fully fitted inthat space, fully up to par,
that's my responsibility.
But then this is where I startto say, hey, I need you to do
this because I see how strongyou are at this, how efficient
you are at this, so this isgoing to be your responsibility.
(10:34):
And sometimes I find myselfhaving taken a lot of
responsibilities for the interimbecause I don't have the key
people who are strong enough,you know.
And I might reach out to thedistrict office and say, hey, I
need help with these things asI'm building my team.
I'm always building my team.
There are a lot of principalsout there.
They don't build a team, theydo it all themselves and they
just kind of drag on to thefinish line and they complain
(10:57):
about how burnt out they are.
And I'm not like myself, like,why would you do that, unless
you absolutely had to?
Even the weakest of your teamcan be made competent enough to
take a certain task that allowedfor the school to function.
Like you, an example with myleadership team, I'm always
(11:17):
trying to find people who arevery strong at public speaking
and they're very strong inturnkey material, because I sit
on the PDs and they come back inand they turnkey when they
learn from those PDs to the restof the staff.
I have people who are justoperationally sound.
They're so well organized andI'm like, okay, I need you to be
(11:38):
my IEP teachers, specificallyif they're licensed for special
education, because I want themto be able to help me organize
the processes that can get myannuals done, my triannuals and
all these other things that haveto be done for special
education.
I've always been fortunateenough to have an AP who's
(11:59):
strong enough, who's very strongin budgeting, so they become my
CFO.
They are the ones who track andmake sure that all my spending
and everything is on point, thatwe don't miss any POs, every
work order is processed, stufflike that.
And then, of course, if I havea dean or an assistant principal
who's very strong with culture,so they can hold that down, our
(12:21):
processes, how the kids travel,all those things are all online
, right.
So you know this is allimportant, because now I guess
what happens?
We have an organization that'srunning effectively.
I get to be the CEO andactually make sure all the
moving pieces are all coherentand we're moving towards our
goal and our mission and do whatwe need to do to be successful.
(12:44):
And that also allows for me notto get burnt out and also allows
for my team to not get burntout, because they're moving in
their strengths but at the sametime, like I said before, I
would put them in a position toalso cross train and learn other
skills as well.
You know it's kind of hard tolead, but you don't know.
So when I put people in thesepositions, if they weren't there
(13:05):
, I can definitely do the jobmyself, but if I'm not careful,
I don't build a team, then I'mdoing the job of 10 people and
wonder why I have to be in thebuilding at 5.30 in the morning
and leave at like 9 o'clock inthe evening, which I know a lot
of schoolies who do that.
You know they do that and I'mlike I did it too, you know,
(13:30):
until I learn how to build ateam and make sure I have a very
, very strong team but, likethis, diversity of skills and
perspectives is essential.
You don't want everyone to bejust like you.
You want to have thosedifferent modes of thinking and
how they see things.
It's like the Avengers.
(13:51):
I always make the joke that myteam is like the Avengers.
You have the Captain America,you have the Iron man, you have
the Incredible Hulk, you havethe Black Whales, you have all
these people who have specificskill sets that are very, very
integral to the success of theteam.
But at the same time, there'soverlaps.
Captain America or Iron man canlead easily, you know, but then
(14:15):
we also know that Hulk can leadas well, because he went from
being the rage-filled green guyto also now being able to
stabilize and be well focusedand highly intelligent in the
green state.
And that's the thing I wantthat across the board with my
(14:35):
team.
Now, when you have a team, thenext thing you want to do is
this Communications.
You have to become a greatcommunicator of your team to
your team.
You don't want them ever in thedark.
You want to make sure there'salways open communication.
You always shame with themwhat's happening, you know, and
(14:58):
you also create space for themto communicate as well, having
those periodical team meetings,whether it's some people do it
once or twice a week, somepeople do it, like you know they
do.
What is it called?
We just gather everybody in themorning for a few minutes and
just like, hey, what are youdoing?
What's your, what are you doing?
Like, communicating is very,very important.
(15:22):
I send out weekly newsletters tomy home, to our school.
I'm constantly emailing mystaff, my leadership team.
I'm texting with them, I have agroup chat.
What's going on?
Ava is able to communicate.
I'm calendaring standingmeetings, like.
All this is very, veryimportant because, at the end of
the day, when you have If youmight have a team of two, or
maybe my team of three in my inmy case, my coalition team is
(15:45):
five people and these fivepeople have integral parts of
the school that I need to knowwhat's going on every single
moment, because if I'm asked,hey, what's going on with this?
I Can't be like I don't know.
I have to talk to this person.
I need to know consistently.
So, when, when they send emailsout, I'm copying them.
You know they're giving mefeedback, giving me updates on
what they're doing and and andensuring that it's in line with
(16:07):
the mission and vision and thetask assigned with, and An
alignment with, the outcomerequired.
So these things are very, veryimportant.
You know it's.
And when it comes tocommunicating, the other thing
now is you have to empower yourteam to lead.
Don't build a team and thenthey have to wait for every two
(16:30):
seconds.
They have to wait to make thechemical decision decision for
themselves.
They have to wait for yourexpressed permission to do Every
little thing.
My thing is this all my teammembers have a very clear job
description and what they shouldbe just be working on and the
timelines for us to communicatewhere things are at and and
(16:52):
Because we build it, we build aneffective team.
The goal is to be efficient andget the work done, not to have,
you know, a Squad of peoplethat look good and you can say,
hey, look at my, my, my, mysquad.
No, it comes to, comes out tothe work.
So, like right now, I know fora fact with it, my Dean, my, to
(17:13):
my two academic deans, my aces,the principal, my lead
Structural coach and then myother peripherals on team needs.
I know what they're doing, Iknow what the, what they're
working on, and they know whatthey're working on and yes,
there are check-ins, they willcheck it with me say, hey, this
is where I'm at with this, whatdo you think and in some cases,
I already know that what theoutcome is supposed to be.
(17:33):
And they're also working witheach other.
So this deadline and when thetest is done, I'll be copied on
it, I can see it, and then theymove on.
Like these things are very,very important.
You know, being able to be in aspace where, where, um, you
empower them to lead and I thinkto, by empowering to lead, also
allows them to develop theirleadership skills as well.
(17:55):
And if it wasn't for theprinciples who said, hey,
keeping keeping the loop, we'regonna meet in touch base and and
allowed me to actually maneuveras a leader and make decisions,
and I wouldn't be where I'mright now.
So I know that this issomething that I want for my
leadership team, because I I'vesaid this before previous videos
if you're a school leader andyou're not, you're not building.
(18:16):
You're not building anddeveloping your replacement.
You're doing harm to thecommunity.
Because the thing is thisanything can happen to your
human.
You can drop right now fromfrom from ailments that would
sit you down and start lines forfour weeks or meet them
permanently?
What have you done to make sure,beyond just building an amazing
school that you've built incapacity of leadership with your
(18:37):
team, there should be alwayssomebody your team who could
just step up to make sure thiscontinuity, this continuity of
leadership, don't create a spacewhere All the time, it's always
being brought from the outsideinto the community and now the
community has to go through thewhole process of here we go
again a new principal who's comehere and learn us and when I
like what we're doing and forceus to not make another pivot.
(18:59):
For me, turning around schoolsis putting schools on the right
track.
It's about helping to establishculture, a way of doing things
that you need to that school,and it's not about me, it's
about the school culture.
It's about the school's way ofdoing things, so that anyone who
(19:19):
sits in that seat now has tosay, hmm, how do I best continue
to lead the success of theschool?
I was saying, ok, I'm going tobring these master changes and
because this is what I want.
So it's very important toempower your team, because the
other thing, too, I tell youabout my team is that I tell
them, like when we talk, I needto know the truth, I need to
(19:42):
know the real.
If you feel like what I'msaying makes no sense or I'm
bugging, let me know.
Let's have real dialogue here,because this also helps me grow
as a leader.
I'm not perfect.
I don't know everything and I'mnot sure this is with you.
I've learned so much from myleadership teams.
They brought things to myattention I didn't even think
about it.
I'm like whoa.
They are not part of the way Ido things.
(20:03):
And again, these came fromquote unquote subordinates.
So think about that Empoweringyour team to have voice, to make
decisions and to also give youfeedback.
And that's the last thing ofthings that are very important
in building teams Accountabilityand feedback.
You have to hold your teamaccountable.
You just don't let them runamuck.
(20:25):
You know.
Hold your team accountable.
You know, sit down, have thosesessions where you're giving
them constructive feedback andthey're also giving you
constructive feedback.
This is very, very importantbecause if that portion is not
there, then people might bemoving with a very poor
(20:46):
understanding of what themission is and by the time you
realize it, you know oh my God,I didn't know that, you didn't
understand, or even the person.
Your leader, your member ofyour leadership team is making
decisions, doing thingsincorrectly.
So you're trusting them to doone thing, but it doesn't seem
to be different because therewas a clear communication, doing
(21:08):
and getting feedback and therewas no one holding them
accountable for the work youknow.
So it's very important thatthat is part of the foundational
work you're doing as well.
You know, making sure that thisfeedback and accountability,
you know in the way your teamfunctions.
(21:30):
So again, we'll go to thebeginning here and remember you
have to set the right team Ifyou want to establish, you know,
or build a trustworthyleadership team.
You got to get the right peopleon the bus.
You got to pick the right team.
You have to foster opencommunications.
You got to communicate.
You got to talk a lot.
(21:52):
You know you have to empoweryour team to make their own
decisions in line with themission and vision and not have
to come to you for every littlething you know.
But the things you have totrain them on that, to
differentiate from the smallthings, from the big things.
There are small things they cando.
You know.
I tell my team listen, if youwant to restructure the way we
(22:14):
move the kids upstairs fromlunch to our floor.
Okay, come up with a plan,share with me so I know what it
is and when they should haveplanned with me, I'll give my
feedback.
Or, in this year, I had nofeedback to give.
It was a spot on plan.
From my 20s of experience, Iwas like that's quite efficient,
let's put it in the plan andsee how it works.
(22:35):
And so far it's been working.
Okay, I didn't say hey, let'ssit down here and show me every
little step.
And I said put it together,show me what you're thinking.
And I've been doing this longenough that I can say, hmm,
you're missing something here.
Or, in this case, I was justlike, wow, I'm excited to say
how this works, because itseemed, it looked to be way more
(22:57):
efficient than what we weredoing prior.
So accountability to make thedecisions and then also, I'm
sorry, empower them to maketheir own decisions.
And then accountability andfeedback.
You got to meet with them, yougot to talk to them, you got to
give them feedback and you alsohave to be willing to accept,
(23:18):
construct the feedback yourself.
The main leader, the principal.
We're not fallible.
So we're not infallible.
We do make mistakes.
We don't always see everything,and feedback and accountability
has to go both ways.
I asked my team to hold meaccountable, I asked my hometown
school community to hold meaccountable, and I'm always
(23:38):
asking for feedback, but, at thesame time, it's also my job to
hold them accountable and givethem feedback and make sure the
whole team is moving in theright direction.
All right, that's it for today.
Thank you so much for listeningto this.
Please leave your comments,share these tips and this
podcast, because I think it'svery important that we are
(24:01):
making sure that school leadersand inspiring school leaders
have as much of the tools thatthey need to be successful.
This job is not easy by anymeans, but, however, I think we
have the ability and the powerto produce stronger leaders that
are functioning on a level thatallows them to really really
(24:22):
impart change and move our kidsforward.
Yeah, so, with that being said,have an amazing rest of your
day and I'll talk to you soon.
Peace.
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