Edu-Leadership

The principal as Chief Learning Officer and 'leader of leaders' is the wave of educational leadership for high-performing schools. It requires new thinking, new beliefs, and new practices, and places a diminishing value on hierarchical and bureaucratic practices as currently exists in many schools today. Creating an organization of many leaders, and many leadership possibilities opens the door to greater teacher involvement and increased student achievement. Under the guiding principles of Formative Leadership, developed by Dr. Ruth Ash and Dr. Maurice Persall, Edu-Leadership presents Formative Leadership Tip of the Month! We challenge you to inspire your teachers and students to greater success and higher performance!

Formative Leadership Tip of the Month

Become a leader of change. Continuous improvement demands change, but managing strategic change within an organization is a highly complex and difficult process. Organizational effectiveness requires dealing with change in a healthy and positive manner for all involved. Utilizing data as a means of determining the direction for change ensures growth in the right direction and for the right reasons. And remember, people are the most important agent in the change process. Reward milestones, cheer on accomplishments, inspire new thinking in followers, and celebrate change.

What to do next?

Identify obstacles and hindrance to change within your organization
Clearly communicate the vision
Find ways to help employees through change
Involve as many people as possible in the change process
Work through change as a team
Read books on change and the change process...with your faculty!

What to read?

Consider the following:

Fear of Change by Lisa Sidorowicz

For Effective Change - Focus on the Fundamentals! by Rick Sidorowicz

Fighting the Storm in a Sea of Change by Gregory P. Smith

Winning at Change by John P. Kotter

Tips for Communicating During Transition (and staying somewhat sane!) Ivy Sea, Inc.

Who Moved My Cheese? by Spencer Johnson

The New Work of Formative Leadership. , and Maurice Persall, Director of Graduate Programs. Orlean Bullard Beeson School of Education and Professional Studies, Samford University, Birmingham, Alabama.