Harvard Graduate School of Education - Leadership: an Evolving Vision 2007

 

“Managers are paid to talk not to do” - sounds like an unlikely combination but that’s what Malachi Pancoast reckons to be the role of school leaders.

He took this even further when he suggested that our aim should be to become superfluous to the operation.

It struck me listening to this that there are many out there who might already that to be the case!!! - but then it that might be due to us not managing our workload effectively.

The Scottish work ethic can sometimes become a liability - how hard we work and the number of hours we put in can sometimes appear to be a series of medals we metaphorically wear on our chests.  Just imagine how a group of Head Teachers would react to a colleague who said “I don’t do any work at home at nights or the weekend and I leave work every night at 5.00pm” - I think I can say that without exception that we would make an immediate judgement about that person’s  commitment and effectiveness. So hard work becomes a prerequisite for Headship/Principalship. 

The point I’m driving at here is that we (educational leaders) are stakeholders in the orthodoxy that long hours and effectiveness are inextricably connected.

The key stage for us before seeking to implement some of the strategies which Malachi outlined in the course of his presentation is to recognise that it is possible to be effective without having to “work” as hard. 

I was struck by his concluding comment:

“Our job is to produce results - not to make friends”

I believe that so much of the “hard work” we engage in is to do with “impressing others” and to be valued for being last out of the car park!

I am sure that we all like the idea of working less, playing more and still getting the job done. That was the focus on our lecture today by Malachi Pancoast. He was posing us with the question ‘Are we technicians or managers?’ His definitions for each were:

Technician - a specialist or expert whose expertise runs narrow and deep.

Manager- A person whose job it is to get things done through other people.

He used a great deal of examples linked to the sporting arena highlighting that baseball managers/coaches observe and give feedback. They get into where the game is actually happening. How often do we as Head Teachers do that? Is that our core business or do we get bogged down with the paperwork?

By getting out to where the work is happening we would have “command presence” and build belonging. He carefully linked this to a police car coming up behind you in your car. How does this impact on our driving?

Malachi suggested that we as Head Teachers should have three types of day:

Coaching days (2 days a week) - these days for being in classrooms and around the school

Office days (3 days a week) - these days being for paperwork, meetings, phone calls etc.

Rest days (2 days a week) - weekends. There are two rules here -No paperwork at home at nights and no paperwork at home at the weekends. Does that actually seem possible?

Malachi gaves us 7 steps to producing a breakthrough in our time. The seven steps were:

1) Clear the office - he suggested that our offices should be impeccable with no desk, no paper and no computer. For me this would be a real challenge.

2) Redefining your secretary’s role- the secretary runs the show and we do what we are told. I don’t have difficulty with this one but I know that this would take time. I am used to being in control so this would be challenging.

3) Your secretary handles all your mail and paperwork. - What a super idea! I am lucky to have a super secretary who does sort out all the mail but this is much more than that and is linked to the next step.

4) Your secretary holds a 20 minute meeting with you every day. At this point he/she would review the paperwork with you and recommend action. The secretary takes the paperwork wiith them when complete. This would release a huge amount of burden from us. Too often the paperwork sitting there is just a reminder of what needs to be done and causes pollution. By having someone else aware of what needs to be done and be able to schedule tasks in your diary you know it will be done to time. Is this time management at its best?

5) Hand your calendar to your secretary- Would we want staff to have to schedule time with us via the secretary? Does this affect an ‘open door’ policy?

6) Become superfluous to the operation - Do nothing. Become unneeded - do not play. Are there some people who would struggle with this concept? Do we need to be needed?

7) Keep in mind, this is a process. Like any change it takes time and we need to make sure that everyone is aware of the changes and understand them.

For me there are key things that I would to take away and try. Let’s face it anything that can help us work less and play more is appealling and of benefit to our health.