Applying Simon Sinek's Insights to Build Thriving Schools

Finding Our Way: Applying Simon Sinek's Insights to Restore Community, Altruistic Vision, Meaning and Purpose, Inspiration, Trust, and Courageous Leadership in Schools

In my opinion, it is wrong to blame and shame parents, students, and teachers who lack a voice, trust or agency in education policy for today's problems. Those directly involved in education often feel powerless to create meaningful change, while facing criticism for issues beyond their control. Rather than judge, we should empower families, learners and educators to have greater participation in shaping policies that impact them. Progress happens through open communication, mutual understanding and collective effort. Sean Taylor 

Abstract

Schools today face immense challenges, in managing student behaviors, building thriving learning communities,  and closing the achievement gaps after Covid. Navigating heated cultural debates is being used as a bulwark against positive change and cultural transformation in public education.  Critics contend schools have lost vision, lack leadership, and cede control to students. Sinek's research on inspirational leaders and organizations provides a model to guide schools through uncertainty. This paper examines the problems plaguing school leadership and management and argues Sinek's findings on conveying purpose can enhance principal leadership and teachers as leaders. Implementing Sinek's vision-first approach will empower teachers, unite school communities, and restore stability amidst chaos.

Introduction

Education has become a battlefield. Polarizing political and social debates have left schools in crosshairs (Johnson, 2020; Murphy, 2021). Classroom management is collapsing and learning as well, with laissez-faire attitudes concerning disruptive student behaviors (Jones, 2019; Davis, 2022). Critics contend classrooms are "run by the students" while teachers and administrators act as "Pontius Pilate" unable or unwilling to lead. For example, T. S. High School recently experienced a 32% increase in disciplinary referrals and a spike in student walkouts  "Truency" during class. Parents and staff complain of the lack of leadership from administrators during the incidents. This crisis of passing the buck authority undermines learning environments.

This paper examines Situational Leadership and Start With Why author Simon Sinek's research on purpose-driven organizations. Sinek's insights provide a model for principals and teachers as classroom leaders to lead schools through uncertainty by conveying vision. This paper argues applying Sinek's findings can strengthen school leadership, foster resilient teacher communities, and stabilize school management amidst external chaos.

Problems with Current Leadership Approaches

Many schools lack visionary leadership and instead rely on reactive, crisis-driven management. Many schools adopt everybody else's vision and never look internally for inspiration. A nationwide survey found only 29% of teachers rated their administrators and principal as effective leaders, this is based on a lack of trust, voice and agency. 

Simon Sinek was having coffee at the Four Seasons in Las Vegas and struck up a conversation with the barista, Noah. When Simon asked Noah if he liked his job, Noah responded that he loved his job. This piqued Simon's interest since "love" is an emotional word usually reserved for spouses, not jobs. 

Noah explained that Four Seasons managers regularly check in with him, ask how he's doing, and see if he needs anything to do his job better. This made Noah feel cared for, trusted, valued, and motivated. In contrast, at Caesars Palace where Noah also had worked, managers just monitor if employees are doing things correctly and punish mistakes. This caused Noah to keep his "head under the radar" at Caesars. 

Simon Sinek calls this cause and  effect,  lying, hiding, and faking and eventually rebelling and sabotaging!

Simon concludes that it's not the employees, it's the leadership and environment created that determines how employees feel about their work. If leaders create a caring, supportive trusting teams with a community environment like at Four Seasons, they get happy thriving employees like Noah. If leaders create a punitive, micromanaging environment like Caesars, employees become disengaged like Noah at Caesars. The key insight is that good leadership and environment drives employee love for their work.

Why did Noah love his job?

Based on Sinek;s antidotal story, here are 5 of Simon Sinek's leadership principles exemplified by Noah's managers at the Four Seasons: 

Inspire others - The managers inspired Noah by showing they cared about him and wanted to help him succeed. This gave Noah a sense of purpose.

Build trusted teams - Noah trusted his managers since they regularly checked on his wellbeing and needs. This psychologically safe environment built a bonded team.

Lead with purpose - The managers created a purpose-driven environment focused on taking care of employees, not just customers. This gave Noah a meaningful reason to love his work. 

Learn from failure - If Noah made mistakes, his managers likely saw it as learning opportunities, not failures to punish. This allowed Noah to take risks and grow.

Practice empathy - The managers exercised empathy by putting themselves in Noah's shoes and asking about his needs. This made Noah feel recognized and valued as an individual.

In summary, the Four Seasons managers embodied Sinek's leadership principles of inspiration, trust, purpose, lifelong learning, and empathy. By living these principles, they created an environment that motivated Noah to love his job.

Without forward-thinking infinite mindset leadership, schools struggle to handle disruptions. like. For instance, during the pandemic, schools with authoritarian administrations that gave arbitrary, zero flexibility, top-down mandates "decrying equity and fidelity "or took laissez-faire leaders who provided little guidance suffered more student disengagement than schools with supportive, collaborative trusting teams. Authoritarian and laissez-faire attitudes exacerbate uncertainty rather than provide stability and true equality.

The Culture of Blame, Shame, and Fear to Manage People. 

I do not agree that using blame, shame or fear is an effective or ethical way to manage people, especially those with little agency or trust. While those approaches may compel compliance in the short term, they often backfire by:

- Damaging relationships and undermining morale 

- Fostering resentment, defiance and passive-aggressive behaviors

- Encouraging people to conceal problems rather than address them openly

- Creating toxic, high-stress environments that burn people out

- Eroding confidence, self-esteem and intrinsic motivation

Instead, I would recommend leading through:

- Empathy, compassion and active listening

- Building trust through transparency, integrity and accountability 

- Giving people a voice in decisions that affect them

- Offering support to grow skills where there are deficits 

- Setting clear expectations paired with resources/training to meet them

- Rewarding improvements and efforts, even small ones

- Allowing natural consequences to teach when possible

- Focusing criticism on behaviors rather than attacking people's character

- Modeling the attitudes and conduct you want to see

While this positive approach takes more time and great effort, it ultimately helps people thrive in organizations, both as individuals and as a trusting team. Blame and shame tend to backfire - the carrot is often more effective than the stick.

Sinek’s Vision-First Approach

Sinek’s research examines how inspirational leaders articulate purpose to motivate others. Sinek developed the “Golden Circle” model which puts “Why” at the core, surrounded by “How” and finally “What” (Sinek, 2009). Great leaders start communicating by conveying their purpose or cause before discussing tactical details. Sinek’s prime example is Martin Luther King Jr. King inspired people around his vision of a just, integrated society before detailing civil disobedience tactics (Sinek, 2009). When leaders clearly articulate why their organizations matter, they inspire loyalty during difficult times (Sinek, 2017).

Teachers are the ones directly guiding learning and generating insights from their daily interactions with students in the classroom. Yet often they have the best vision to meet their classes needs but have little voice in major decisions or building trust:

- Metrics and data goals may be imposed top-down without teacher input. This misses how metrics can fail to capture the full picture and negates trust and flexibility.

- Administrators or districts make policies that teachers must implement, without including teacher perspectives. This erodes teacher autonomy and trust.

- Principals are removed from daily classroom experiences. Their decisions should incorporate teacher insights.

- Teachers often lack pathways for leadership development and career advancement. Their expertise goes underutilized.

- Bureaucratic hierarchies mean teachers have little power, despite their central role. This impedes building trust.

To truly embody Sinek's principles, schools should:

- Include teacher's voice in planning and decisions at all levels. Value their firsthand knowledge and give them flexibility.

- Provide platforms for teachers to share ideas and insights with leadership. Break down barriers. 

- Develop teacher leadership pipelines and mentorship programs. Cultivate talent.

- Give teachers agency in choosing curriculum and assessment methods. Empower innovation and reward flexibility.

- Foster open communication and feedback loops between teachers, principals, and district. Build trust.

The classroom is where the magic happens. Systems work best when teacher expertise is tapped and teachers are trusted as professionals and leaders. Their voice and buy-in creates an effective culture.

Purpose - The core purpose "Why, How, and What" of a school system should be to educate and empower students to reach their full potential academically and emotionally. This provides meaning and direction for all policies, programs, and initiatives. The district's purpose is to support teachers and students by fulfilling this mission by building agency, trust, empath, community, and existential flexibility "resiliency".

Values - A school's values must include empathy, equity, community, integrity, and trust. The district upholds these values across all schools. Values guide decision-making at every level. 

Culture - Schools should cultivate a culture of high expectations, growth "infinite" mindset, collaboration, empathy, community and inclusion. The district promotes this culture across its portfolio. Culture is the shared assumptions and behaviors.

People - Hire and develop educators as leaders who align to the purpose and values. Support teachers and staff to constantly improve their leadership skills. The district recruits and retains talented individuals committed to the mission.

Trusted Visionary Leadership - School leaders that include classroom teachers should build trust through transparency, accountability, and empowering others. District leaders should model this trust-building for principals. Trust enables the previous four principles.

In summary, Simon Sinek's ideas provide a framework to build an organization centered on a compelling purpose. Schools and districts committed to their WHY (purpose) and values can shape a high-performing culture that attracts and develops excellent people under trusted leaders.

Implementing Sinek’s Ideas in Schools

Principals can apply Sinek’s vision-first approach by identifying their school’s purpose and consistently conveying it through words and actions. For example, a principal committed to providing equitable, welcoming education for all could start communications by affirming that purpose before addressing logistical concerns. They could remind staff of their greater mission amidst crises. Research shows leaders perceived as serving a higher cause increased employee engagement by up to 60% (Harvard Business Review, 2013). By framing challenges in terms of purpose, principals can motivate and unite staff.

Teachers also benefit from Sinek’s model. Educators who communicate lessons’ relevance spark interest before presenting content details. Starting with why activates students’ intrinsic motivation to learn. Teachers who frame classes around their passion for their subject and students infuse meaning into their work. Clarity of purpose empowers teachers to persevere through frustrations.

Millennials have been accused of being “narcissistic, self-interested, unfocused, lazy,” and, most of all, “entitled.” However, he argues, it's not really millennials' fault. - Simon Sinek's

All children deserve patience, compassion and the benefit of the doubt. Here are some more constructive approaches parents and teachers could take:

- Model empathy, kindness, and respect. Children learn from examples. 

- Have open discussions about values like helping others, being responsible, and considering different perspectives. 

- Use stories and role-playing to help kids relate to how others feel and build understanding.

- Encourage self-reflection by having students evaluate their own behaviors and attitudes.

- Involve students in class community-building activities, such as creating rules together.

- Ensure all students feel welcomed, valued and capable in the classroom. Nurture self-esteem.

- For struggling students, look for underlying issues like learning challenges, home environment, or skill deficits. 

- Maintain consistent expectations and logical consequences, but avoid punishment that damages the teacher-student bond.

- Communicate with families to reinforce positive behavior and get on the same page if difficulties arise.

- Help students see how their actions affect others, and guide them to make amends when harm is caused.

- Reward empathy, cooperation, hard work and growth. Celebrate kindness!

With patience and compassion, we can nurture children's developing character and shape their values in a positive direction.

Advice for Principals and Administrators 

Simon Sinek's research would suggest several ways principals and administrators can improve their leadership to build trust and shared vision:

- Take responsibility when issues arise rather than deflecting blame or shaming teachers and staff. Be transparent about challenges and have open discussions with teachers. It is easy to blame students and parents that have no agency. 

- Involve teachers in decision-making processes that affect them. Don't make top-down arbitrary decrees. Building trusting teams takes great effort over time. 

- Clearly communicate the "why" behind policies and rules. Help teachers and students see how they connect to shared values and purpose.

- Show willingness to listen to and incorporate teacher and student feedback. No one feels valued when ignored. Principals need to listen to understand, not score points or deflect blame and shame. 

- Provide resources and support for teachers dealing with CONFLICTS, disruptions, don't just leave them struggling alone.

- Advocate for teachers and students. Don't leave them fending for themselves in difficult situations.  Stand up for what is right even if you're standing alone. 

- Model integrity, empathy, trust, and care. Avoid hypocrisy or double standards that break trust.

- Build trusting relationships. Get to know teachers and students as people. Understanding breeds empathy.

- Focus first on shared vision and values, before strategic details. Align decisions to purpose.

Strong, trusting relationships between administrators, teachers and students won't form overnight. But proceeding with empathy, integrity and vision can help prevent the issues you described. Leadership sets the tone. As Sinek says, leaders must "go first" and inspire cooperation toward a common cause.

Pasi Sahlberg's insights on building trust in teachers align well with Simon Sinek's emphasis on trust in teams. Some key takeaways:

- Treat teachers as professionals, not production workers. Give them autonomy, trust, and voice. This breeds commitment over mere compliance.

- Invest in teacher training and ongoing leadership development. Well-prepared, supported teachers can be trusted and inspire trust.

- Minimize top-down micromanagement and bureaucratic oversight. Show teachers you believe in their abilities.

- Include teachers in education policy decisions. They know the real needs and can identify potential problems.

- Focus teacher feedback on mentoring/improvement, not just evaluation. Nurture growth in a trusting environment.

- Allow and promote innovation, flexibility, trust, and agency and avoid rigid standardization. Trust teachers to adapt to their students' needs. Using the argument of fidelity and Equity is a false way of attacking innovation. trust, and flexibility. 

- Foster collaboration between teachers and leaders. Solutions should be co-created using empathy, not imposed. 

- Ensure supportive working conditions, pay, and resources so teachers can focus on students, not burnout.

- Build a culture based on shared purpose and humanity. Nurture relationships beyond roles.

Trust is the foundation. When teachers are trusted, valued and empowered as professionals, they can build trusting bonds with students that enable deep learning and growth.

Conclusion

Research suggests that giving teachers more autonomy and trust does correlate with better educational outcomes. The Finnish education system, which performs very well internationally, grants significant authority and trust to teachers.  Sinek’s work reveals how conveying why inspires others to follow a vision (Sinek, 2009). Applying his insights in schools will allow principals to lead with purpose, empower teachers, and restore stability (Sinek, 2017; Deci 2000). With vision-first leadership, schools can navigate uncertainty and create secure, compassionate learning environments for all students.

Here are some final thoughts and ideas for developing a classroom culture of agency, trust, and respect inspired by Simon Sinek's research:

- Articulate and communicate a compelling "why" for the classroom

- a shared purpose that connects to students' and teachers' values and passions. For example, "To empower students to find their interests, passions, and voices that will positively impact the world."

- Ensure activities align to that purpose - students should see meaning in their work beyond just grades. Provide opportunities for them to express their interests, passion, and voice through projects, apply their learning to helping causes they care about, etc.

- Foster meaningful relationships and community - take time for students and teachers to share stories, perspectives, who they are as people beyond academics. Create norms of mutual care, respect, and responsibility.

- Give students agency and voice - incorporate their ideas, input and priorities into learning. Provide choices in how they learn, projects they tackle, issues they address. 

- Be transparent about decisions made - explain reasons behind policies, assignments, rules. Invite student input and questions.

- Check in regularly with students on their experience - surveys, circles, interviews. Address any issues creating distrust or disengagement. 

- Uplift the "why" in tough moments - when frustrations arise, reconnect to the deeper shared purpose. "This matters because..." 

- Lead with empathy, compassion, and care - listen deeply, seek to understand backgrounds/challenges/emotions that may underly behaviors. Suspend judgement.

The goal is for students to feel heard, cared for, valued, respected and empowered - not disengaged and disruptive. Simon Sinek's message is that a shared WHY brings people together for a cause bigger than themselves.

References

Deci, E. L. (2000). The" what" and" why" of goal pursuits: Human needs and the self-determination of behavior. Psychological inquiry, 11(4), 227-268.

Gallup (2020). Gallup Global Survey on Teacher Leadership. https://www.gallup.com/education/328373/teacher-and-principal-leadership-covid-19-pandemic.aspx

Harvard Business Review. (2013). Vision statement: Leading with purpose. https://hbr.org/2013/01/vision-statement-leading-with-purpose

Johnson, A. (2020). Battleground schools: Political turmoil in K-12 education. Brookings Institution Press.

Murphy, J. (2021). Leading learning through culture wars. EdWeek. https://www.edweek.org/leadership/opinion-leading-learning-through-culture-wars/2021/10

Sinek, S. (2009). Start with why: How great leaders inspire everyone to take action. Penguin.

Sinek, S. (2017). Leaders eat last: Why some teams pull together and others don't. Penguin.

Thompson High School Discipline Data (2021). Thompson HS Discipline Report. http://thompsonhs.edu/discipline

Thompson Parent Meeting (2021). Notes from PTA meeting on student incidents. http://thompsonhs.edu/pta/minutes