Talk Me Through Your Process

I recently engaged in a conversation about the thoughts/feelings/actions connected to becoming a school principal. Ramona Meharg, Chris Cluff, and I were talking about our experiences with the Principal's Qualification Program (PQP) and the 'roads' we traveled that led us there. 

As we were talking about the thoughts, feelings, and actions that we engaged in to earn the credentials to qualify us for the PQP, Chris asked if we wanted to go deeper by starting a podcast where we could talk about our process - past, present, and future. All three of us were game and the "Talk Me Through Your Process" Podcast was born. 

It's a bit of a mouthful but if you can get past that you will quickly realize that the three of us are serious about personal and professional growth, self awareness and reflection, and continuing to learn about our process to formal leadership in education. 

Graphic created by Chris Cluff

The podcast is a great tool to assist us in sharing our perspectives, learning from each other, and learning from others outside of our immediate circle. We are modeling our process in a public way with the hope that it will start up great discussions and encourage others to do the same. As my friend Joe Marquez likes to say, education is a collaborative sport! 

One of the things that has become part of my leadership process involves making connections between the work I do and and the Catholic Leadership Framework. I would recommend this practice to anyone interested in becoming a school Principal because it can lead to a familiarity with effective individual and system practices. Becoming familiar with the expectations and then connecting them to one's practice, and vice versa, will help build the flexibility and fluency required to lead a school. This is part of my process and I suspect that it will help me as I move closer to becoming a school Principal. 

I invite you to check out the conversations we are having AND welcome you to join us! You can find the Talk Me Through Your Process Podcast on YouTube, Podbean, and Apple Podcasts. Reach out with your questions, comments, and process so we can collaborate to become the leaders that schools deserve. Feel free to comment below or connect on twitter (@rchids, @chrisjcluff, @RamonaMeharg).

Leadership During a Pandemic

The Covid-19 Pandemic has really flipped our way of living upside down.

It started on the other side of the world and has ended up in our backyard, literally. The way we live and operate day to day has changed and continues to change at a fast pace. The last time I was with people, other than my family, was March 13. It was announced on March 12 that schools would be closed for an additional two weeks after the March break ended. With those measures, we were to return to school on March 30. Today is April 13 and we have been told that we may return to school on May 4th.

In addition to getting used to teaching my class in a completely different way, I have been paying close attention to the leaders around me and how I can lead in small 'l' ways as we embark on a journey that has never been done before.

I have been thinking about and reflecting on the actions of my Principals. They have both been great at keeping us informed and connected. We have had several online staff meetings and some social ones as well. They have been bringing us together to keep us up to date about what is happening in our Board and they have provided us with optional social meetings where we can gather to talk and hang out. They have not faltered and they have not shied away from their leadership responsibilities.

In fact, as I consider the Catholic Leadership Framework and how my principals have been operating, I can say that their words and actions align with all five of the pillars of the leadership framework. Here are some examples:

1. Setting Directions: they have been building a vision of what our work will look like, establishing short term goals, and communicating with us.

2. Building Relationships and Developing People: they have been providing us with a time and place (digital) to get together and share our thoughts/feelings, have been empowering staff to share best practices and to learn more about tools and strategies that may meet their needs.

3. Developing the organization to support desired practices: they have been building collaborative cultures and distributing leadership, assisting us in continuing to improve our relationships with families and the community, and providing us with information on resources that may be valuable to us at this time.

4. Improving the Instructional Program: they have been staffing the school - we have had teachers return from maternity leave and they hired a new teacher for one that just retired, providing instructional support, and buffering staff from possible distractions from their work.

5. Securing Accountability: they have been building the staff members sense of internal accountability and meeting the demands for external accountability.

They have been, and continue to be, great examples for me as they do their work. As they lead, I can see that they meet the expectations of the framework as well as meet staff members where they are at and offer them a helping hand to continue to develop as educators and leaders (formal and informal).

As I observe them, I consider how I am leading at this time. I certainly follow their lead, but outside of their direct influence, what I am doing to lead? How do my words and actions fit within the leadership framework? As an aspiring formal leader, these questions are important for me to consider and to act upon. When I reflect on my thoughts and actions during this pandemic, I can make connections to the leadership framework as well as consider next steps to work on meeting expectations within the framework. Here are some examples of how I have been leading within the framework:

1. Setting Directions: I have been working hard with my colleagues and myself in order to set short term goals that facilitate a positive learning environment for my students while setting professional goals for myself and assisting my colleagues in doing the same for themselves.

2. Building Relationships and Developing People: I have been connecting with and helping out staff members at my school and other schools who have reached out for support and guidance. This has brought me great joy and has presented me with a collaborative model to problem solve. The best of both worlds as we work to meet our student's needs during this unprecedented time.

3. Developing the organization to support desired practices: I have initiated and joined in on collaborative ventures where leadership is distributed based on participant interest and skill set, I am aware of and working towards continuing to build positive relationships with my families and the greater community using digital means.

4.  Improving the Instructional Program: I have been researching and implementing digital practices in order to help lead my students and colleagues to success, and I am paying close attention to the progress my students have been making in order to provide them with feedback that will take them from where they are and move them forward.

5. Securing Accountability: I have been reaching out to the parents of my students and providing them with my role in our new learning environment, I communicate my expectations to my students and keep them informed on the expectations I have for myself with respect to my availability to them, and what I will be doing to support their learning and well being.

As we continue to live and learn each day during this pandemic, I will be keeping my eyes and ears open on the leaders around me. My perspective on this time is that this is a wonderful opportunity to learn and grow as a leader - acquire new perspectives and skill sets - that will benefit my growth and that of the people around me, today and in the future.

Daring Greatly

Drawing by Chris Cluff

In August I wrote about a collaboration I wanted to engage in - "Dare to Lead Collaboration - In and Out of the Classroom" - which came from my reading of Brene Brown's book 'Dare to Lead' and her Daring Classrooms initiative. The 'In the Classroom' plan involved working with other educators on ideas and activities that would assist us in providing our students with safer spaces for them to learn and grow. The 'Out of the Classroom' plan involved me working on some of the things Brene talks about in her book that would help me learn more about myself and who I am as a leader, and possibly who I can become as a leader. 

For all intents and purposes, the in the classroom component is coming along nicely. I have established some norms with my students and we are doing well at dealing with our inner critic and thinking about why we armour up when we find ourselves in certain situations. With respect to the outside of the classroom component, I am much more aware of my vulnerabilities and armour but something just isn't right. Even though I am much more aware of my thoughts/feelings and behaviours, I find myself kind of stuck and needing to take a next step.

It is almost as if the universe was feeling my pain and desire to grow when I found out that my school board NTIP Consultant was looking into finding a Dare to Lead facilitator to speak to NTIP mentors and mentees. He was able to make it happen and I was able to attend a Daring Greatly workshop.

The workshop was exactly what I needed. I spent the day learning and talking about the following concepts: 

• vulnerabiltiy
• authenticity
• boundaries
• trust
• empathy
• self-compassion
• shame
• coping

One of the activities had us provide a brief introduction to our arena (the place where we do our work) and what we would like to ask of the group - what they could help us with. My arena is my work place, my ask involved people taking the time to wonder why I would be so quick in putting my armour on in certain situations. 

Around certain people, I will not show my vulnerabilities and I will certainly clam up and keep quiet. In some situations this armoring up that I do could be interpreted as a safety mechanism - a way to protect myself from being judged by others. As the workshop progressed throughout the day I learned more about why I armour up and how I can become more resilient to the shame that causes me to shut down. Many people try to cope with shame by armouring up. People cope with their shame in different ways and I learned more about what I do when I feel shame. More importantly, I learned about what I can do to deal with my shame (my inner critic) in a way that won't cripple me. In a way that allows me to work towards being my best self rather than becoming a lesser version of who I am and what I can be. 

When I think about daring greatly, I think about how it is connected to leadership - particularly my leadership journey. When I consider the Ontario Catholic Leadership Framework I think about the section at the bottom that lists personal leadership resources that leaders draw upon to effectively lead. Cognitive, social, and psychological resources are needed in order to set directions, build relationships and develop people, support desired practices, improve the instructional program, and secure accountability. I would argue that it is necessary and important for leaders and aspiring leaders to continuously work on building up their personal leadership resources. 

For me, part of building up my personal resources means that I continue to work on building up my resilience to shame. At the workshop I learned that building up my shame resilience requires the following:

• recognizing when I'm in shame and understanding what triggered it,
• challenging my inner critic by responding with self-compassion, 
• telling my story and talking about shame with the people who have earned the right to hear it, and
• learning about what I need when I am in shame and how to ask for it

Dealing with my shame won't be easy, but I believe it is necessary. If I don't do it then my shame will get in the way of me stepping into the leadership arena - where at best I will triumph and at worst I will fail - but will have failed while daring greatly.