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
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.
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).
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.
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
Advice for Principals and Administrators
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.
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
No comments:
Post a Comment
Thank you!