The Top 5

Ten Great Things Leaders Do (in Education)
Service and Leadership
By Frank Rudnesky, Ed. D.
Life involves a myriad of personal choices, and you can make a conscious decision right now that you are going to be a positive leader by continually fine-tuning the quality of your life through hard work. Or, you can sit back and wait for things to happen by letting other people take the lead and control your destiny. Each of us was put on earth with the ability to make a significant difference in the world around us by accepting our roles as leaders. Unfortunately, most people choose not to, or they do so in a negative way.
Your ability and aptitude as a leader not only depend on your mentors, colleagues, and role models, but correlate to your effort and passion. Just like anything else, the level of your success depends on the amount of hard work you are willing to put forth. If you shoot for mediocrity, you’ll get it every time. Take that underused road to high achievement and service. You’ll be surprised what you and the people around you can accomplish. You have choices; don’t let other people make them for you.
Your leadership success increases exponentially by the number of leaders you create within your organization. Teachers, as well as administrators, must accept their roles as leaders for your school to reach its potential. Then and only then can long-term success be realized. In times of education bashing and dwindling resources, we must acknowledge that our most valuable assets are our human resources and allow our students to build our future in a positive direction in a technological, global society.
1. Raise the Bar"Expect a lot from yourself or no one else will."-Rudnesky
If you don't, who will? You must expect nothing less than your best work. If you are satisfied with a run of the mill school, you will get it every time. Aim for excellence, and you will be surprised what you can accomplish through proper planning, experience, and your own professional development.
For our school, "Raising the Bar" is the prelude to all the great things that leaders do. Granted, everything you do is not off the charts, but your goal should be to create the best. If you are an educator, you see it all the time. Teachers, parents, and students sometimes do "just enough". We are preparing our students for jobs and opportunities that may not yet exist. So it’s up to us to secure our future in a positive way.
By raising the bar for yourself, you raise the bar for everyone. And, professional development will be a common thread that connects all of your best teachers. It carries over into everything you do. High standards and commitment are catchy. Work hard, be successful, have fun.
When it comes to leadership and service, I've seen a lot of school administrators that could "talk the talk" but they do not "walk the talk". They expect the people around them to accomplish results that they are not committed to themselves.
Because we continually "Raise the Bar" at our school, our professional development opportunities led to the creation of a leadership service learning platform each year. This has created opportunities for every stakeholder in our organization.
2. Set Goals"Without you, the world would not be as productive."-Rudnesky
It works! And you might think goal setting is common sense, but most people do not do it. Do you write down your goals? I always had goals, but sometimes they would get away from me, or they would be postponed. Once I started to write them down, my chances of achievement were greatly increased, and I became more successful. Many school leaders do not know where they are going. So, how are they going to get there? More importantly, you need to know where you are. An important component of positive school culture is to develop a vision, mission, and goals.
At our school, we connect monthly character traits to our curriculum. At the beginning of each year, we develop a theme and a service learning platform. This year, our theme was “There’s No Place Like Home.” The possibilities for service and character are limitless. On the first day for staffulty (faculty and staff) we have a picnic, team building activities and a field trip.
This year we invited a former student back to inspire our staffulty on the first day. She was born with cerebral palsy but is someone that has learned to set goals and not make excuses. She talked about her ability to become a leader and overcoming obstacles through goal setting.
When we returned from our scavenger hunt to collect items for the local rescue mission, each staffulty member was given a yellow brick. Everyone was asked to write their goals for the year on the brick. The professional goals went on one side and the personal goals on the other side.
3. Never Ask Anyone To Do Something You Would Not Do"Positive culture is synonymous with positive leadership."-Rudnesky
Some people have positional power, and they are great at designation. Those people hoard the power. A high-ranking position does not make you a leader; it makes you a person in a high-ranking position. Hey, there's enough leadership for everyone. Great leaders share the power through empowerment (that's a later point). Negative leaders always have to be the center of attention or designation.
Great leaders are not afraid to get their hands dirty. Don't be scared to chip in. As principal of our school, I've done just about every job. I have salted icy sidewalks, cleaned up dog poop, washed cafeteria tables, and painted walls. Granted, some people insist my time is mostly effective in other areas, but when you need something done, people are more willing to get it done if they see you getting it done for them. The same rings true in any organization.
I guarantee you that if you don’t mind chipping in to get things done, the next time you need to get something done, you will have volunteers. It should make a difference to you, and it will make a difference to someone else. The people that work with you will notice. In turn, they will help you out when the need arises.
4. Lead by Example"You can evaluate a person’s character by how well she treats someone she doesn’t know.” -Rudnesky
I used to hear people say, "Do as I say not as I do." I'm sure someone's dad said that to them at some point, but as a leader, always demonstrate the behavior you want the people around you to emulate. Whether it's your colleagues, students, relatives, or children, be the person you want to see around you.
When I speak to students about leadership, I let them know that not only does everyone have the potential to be a leader, the easiest way to lead is by example. You don’t have to be the captain of the team, the star of the play, or the loudest mouth, but be the person that works the hardest in and out of the classroom. Be the person that does the right thing even when other people are not doing the right thing.
My dad always told me to hustle. Even if you are not the most talented, the coaches will notice. He was right. Coaches always noticed the kids that hustled, and the great coaches used those kids as examples of the doing the right thing. Unfortunately, just as there are adults that never reach their potential, there are students all the time who refuse to reach their potential because they never work hard.
Leadership translates into the same work ethic in the classroom. There are students that work their hardest to achieve a B and there are students who do just what they have to do but achieve an A. What is the difference?
I’ll take the person on my team that might be less talented but works their hardest and always hustles. In the crunch, that person will succeed, and your team will succeed. This same philosophy will help you succeed in all aspects of your life. I will take the person that works hard but achieves less over the person that does not work to their potential but has a higher aptitude. In the long term, the hardest worker will be more successful and so will your organization. Work hard, be successful, have fun.
5. Create a Team"If people are not connected to your organization, they'll be connected to something else."-Rudnesky
As an educator, some of the things you do outside of the classroom translates into the most important strategies inside the classroom. The same types of experiences can ring true for any workplace. After returning from a leadership conference, I heard a resounding theme among my colleagues. Everyone was upbeat, and they had positive comments about the experience. The productivity was attributed to an exciting team-building experience away from our campus.
The yearly theme I mentioned earlier is something we use to further unity in our organization. For the last several years, we introduced a theme that promotes commitment, collegiality, character, hard work, fun, and leadership. It unites our staffulty, and the theme connects our stakeholders. In past years we used Project Rocky, Project Superhero, Project Idol: In Search of Leaders and Legends, Team Belhaven, and Back to the Future: Keep Your Future on Track.
Our teachers’ success stories are a compilation of unsung heroes that promotes the next generation of our nation’s heroes. I have witnessed commitment to an organization (our school) because of collegial trust for common goals by a cohesive team. No one wants to let their “buddies” down because they are in the trenches of education every day. Together, our positive possibilities are unlimited. We owe our future to our teachers through our children. Be part of a team! A collegial environment promotes synergy. People will come together if your place promotes one another.