You Don't Need a Title to be a Leader

You Don't Need a Title to be a Leader

Mark Sanborn

Where do I even begin with this book.  You Don't Need a Title is by far one of the better books I have read in a long time about the implications of people going above and beyond for the good of the organization.  

Look at the differences between a boss and a leader.  I know when I first started out my career my principals and assistant principals were bosses.  As I have matured in my career, I am finding that more and more people are acting like leaders instead of bosses.

The actions we take everyday determine whether or not we are viewed as leaders.  Choose wisely...

Please share with the group examples of others in your building that are currently acting like 'leaders' even though they don't have the title.  What are your best takeaways from this book.

Soup by Jon Gordon

Soup by Jon Gordon

I find it fascinating in this book to think about the importance of the stirrer.  This is an interesting story about the impact that one person can have on the overall outcome of a business (or school).  Grandma stirs her pot of soup with love.  The business is so good not because of the ingredients but because we pour our love and heart into the process of making the soup - that is makes it taste better than others.

In a school building - the same is true for our everyday interactions.  Just as grandma makes a fresh pot of soup every day for her clients, we have the ability to make or break the day for our clients; students, teachers and parents.  The love that we put into our jobs has a direct correlation to the energy and satisfaction that others get from our interactions.

Think about a situation or two that we are like Nancy and how can we relate to what she did in the book and make our school (place of business) better because of what we learned.

This book has many small chapters - please pick one that stood out to you and share with the group why you selected it and why it is important to you.

The Carpenter by Jon Gordon

The Carpenter by Jon Gordon

Great leaders are great because people trust and respect them, not because they have power.

There is so much power in this book!  I know it sounds mushy to state that as leaders we need to Love, Serve, and Care for those that work for us - but that is what makes the difference between a place of employment and a place where teachers are inspired and excited to go every day.

This book is filled with amazing opportunities for us to use everyday in our schools with teachers, custodians, secretaries and even our students.  Take some time this week to write about your favorite parts of this book and how you can implement or use them at your school.  I will start with mine.

On page 95, Jon talks about the Gift of Failure.  I share personal stories with my faculty about my own failures and use the examples that Jon has provided about Walt Disney and Dr. Seuss as examples to let them know that failure is okay!  We can use our failures to teach lessons and allow students to fail into success.  Failure is simply a detour to a better outcome for our students.

Are you a Fred?

Do you have what it takes to be a Fred?  Take this brief test to find out.

Are you a Fred?

Take a few moments and reread the four factors from the book.  Share something relevant from your current job for each of the factors.  I will share something from my school about #1 and #4.

#1 - Everyone makes a difference - I shared last night that my counseling secretary always goes above and beyond her title to make our school a better place.  She jokingly asked if she could change her title to 'Director of First Impressions' because she wants to make sure that everyone entering our building has a positive first impression and leaves after having a pleasant experience.  She is truly making a difference for our school.

#4 - on more than one occasion teachers will share with me that they are having a bad day or I will go in for a walk through or formative observation and they will ask me to come back on another day because today just isnt working out for them.  After the fact I let them know that tomorrow is a new day and they get to reinvent themselves regularly.  They appreciate the flexibility and often rise above expectations because they are given that flexibility.

Thanks for sharing some examples from your schools about the different factors.

REMINDER - the summary of the culture and climate article should be submitted through LiveText by midnight of the 30th.

Steve  

The Fred Factor 2017

The Fred Factor

My hope is that you enjoyed this book as much as I did the first time I read it back in 2007.  I was a 2nd year principal at Buford High School with an incredible amount of pressure related to athletics, academics and the arts. We were expected to win our football games, win the region literary and One-Act competitions and excel on the GHSGT.  Failure was not an option.  Stress was an understatement!

The Fred Factor is a simple tool that can be used in your buildings to remind teachers that we do make a difference everyday and it is important to note that not everyday will unicorns and rainbows - we will have those bad days - but tomorrow is a chance to start over.  After reading The Fred Factor, please provide your thoughts how how you can use this book with your faculty and then take some time to read and comment on the posts of your classmates.

Welcome to the Summer 17 EDL 7006 Blog

Welcome to EDL7006 for the University of North Georgia.  My name is Steve Miller and I serve as the principal of Otwell Middle School in Forsyth County, GA.  I am super excited to also be serving as your professor for this extremely important class pertaining to educational leadership!  I have designed this course with you in mind - you are a practicing educator and it is summer time.  Your time will be spent reading books that will challenge your perception of educational leadership and encourage you to step out a limb to enhance the culture and climate of your building. Each of the books selected are very easy reads which could probably be completely finished in one or two sittings.

You never get more out of something than what you put into it.  Spend some time on this blog providing your insight to the books and then commenting on each others posts, that is when true learning takes place.  I would also encourage you to get involved in some twitter PLN groups.  My twitter is @principal_steve  I participate in at least two twitter PLN chats per week and it has made me a better principal because of it.  Feel free to share your twitter handle if you so chose!

Please don't hesitate to reach out to me if needed.  Principalstmiller@gmail.com or 7707574185