authorizing and the five practices of exemplary leadership (ncsc 2016, june 28)
TRANSCRIPT
Authorizing and the Five Practices of
Exemplary Leadership
JAMES N. GOENNER, PH.D.
Goals for Today
KIDS!
Expand Vision for Authorizing
Become Better Leaders
Learn & Grow Together
Have Fun!
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3 Inspire Hearts & Minds
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The Most Consistently Admired Characteristics of Leaders:
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Honest
Forward-Looking
Competent
Inspiring
How Leaders Earn Credibility
• “They practice what they preach.”• “They walk the talk.”• “Their actions are consistent with their words.”• “They put their money where their mouth is.”• “They follow through on their promises.”• “They do what they say they will do.”
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The Leadership Challenge
RELATIONSHIPS
“People don’t care how much you know until they
know how much you care.”
“Know Thyself”
The First Person You Lead Is Yourself
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Who Said …
“The future is not what it used to be.”
— Yogi Berra, Baseball Hall of Famer
Common Authorizing Functions
Gatekeeper Monitor Evaluator
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Alpha Authorizing Functions
Change Agent Market Maker
Force for Quality Catalyst for Excellence
Change AgentAKA: The Innovator
Challenge the “givens”
Foster an environment that attracts talent, capital and entrepreneurship
Influence policy and practice
Provide leadership and ideas for improving education
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Change the incentives by withdrawing the exclusive franchise
Charter new schools so people have choices
Foster an environment that attracts can-do people
Market MakerAKA: The Doer
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Force for QualityAKA: The Enforcer
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Thoroughly screen applications and applicants Issue performance-based charter contracts
Measure and evaluate performance
Preserve discretionary judgment
Protect school autonomy
Appropriately intervene when people fail to perform
Catalyst for ExcellenceAKA: The Facilitator
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Recognize and reward performance
Encourage the replication and expansion of success
Create new performance-based paths for authorizing, overseeing, and renewing charter contracts
Make authorizing a respected profession
Relentlessly pursue excellence
Protect, preserve and advance the idea behind chartering
AS AN AUTHORIZER:
HOW WOULD YOU RATEYOUR OWN PERFORMANCE?
CHARTER SCHOOLS
A strategy to transform public education by injecting choice,
change and competition into the system.
The Seven Habits
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Be Proactive
Begin with the End in Mind
Put First Things First
Think Win-Win
Seek First to Understand, Then to be Understood
Synergize
Sharpen the Saw
WHAT TRULY MATTERS
Ensuring all students are prepared for success in
college, work and life.
Purpose of a Charter School Authorizer
“To ensure, on behalf of the public, that students are learning, money and resources are well stewarded, and the organization passionately pursues greatness, while modeling the highest legal and ethical principles.”
“Dr. James Goenner
National Charter Schools Institute
You can order at: CharterInstitute.org/services
Superior Performance
Distinctive Impact
Lasting Endurance
What Is Greatness?
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“Good is the enemy of great.”“
-Jim Collins
KIDS
Authorizers
Boards
Schools
Aligning for Greatness
Develop a Relationship of Mutual Trust & Respect
Set Clear Performance Expectations – No Surprises!
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Establish a Shared Vision & Commitment
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People Need Systems to Turn the Flywheel
• Principles and practices for predictably achieving goals
• Processes that are specific, orderly, and repeatable
• Leverage time, money and abilities• Deliberate, intentional and practicable
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PerformanceAgreement
=• Academic• Fiscal• Operational• Values
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AS AN AUTHORIZER:
HOW ARE YOU CREATINGTHIS ENVIRONMENT?
Greatness . . . is largely a matter of conscious choice and discipline.”“
-Jim Collins
Be honest with your schools. Give real feedback or change will never happen.
Structural Overview
Charter
School
State & Federal
Law
Authorizer &
Charter Contract Board
Policies &
Procedures
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Authorizer
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To Ensure
A Simple Way to Frame Roles
School
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To Execute
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Leadership Pyramid
What Level of Leader Do You Want?
Level 5 Leader
• Ambitious first and foremost for the cause, the organization, the work — not themselves.
• Displays a paradoxical blend of personal humility and professional will.
Level 3 Leader
• Organizes people and resources toward the effective and efficient pursuit of predetermined objectives.
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Winners Want to be Associated with an Authorizer that …
• Knows its purpose and why it exists• Understands it is the highest authority in
the organization• Knows it represents the public• Is disciplined in its role and behaviors and
those of its individual members• Is trustworthy and predictable
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• Uses its authority to empower, not strangle• Ensures the organization is effective
and efficient• Has high expectations and measures
performance • Is unafraid to judge, but does so fairly• Continuously earns credibility
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Winners Want to be Associated with an Authorizer that …
“Doing everything keeps us so busy we don’t have time to think about what is really important to us.”“
The Power of Clarifying Values
TEAMWORK
• We recognize that no one of us is as good as all of us.
• We will put the team’s goals before our own.
• We will collaborate.
• We can be relied upon to fulfill commitments.
• We are accountable for ourselves and to each other.
• We will celebrate our successes and have fun.
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The Five Temptationsof a CEO
“We believe Authorizers that govern for greatness ask wise questions and measure things that really matter.”“
-Dr. James Goenner National Charter Schools Institute
HOW WELL IS OUR SCHOOL …
Wise Questions
Preparing Students for College, Work and Life
Leveraging Resources
Fulfilling Its Commitments?
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Setting Goals.Defining Targets.
Common Challenges
Dysfunctional Group Dynamics
Disengaged Board Members
Uncertainty About Roles and Responsibilities
Source: Problem Boards or Board Problems? The Nonprofit Quarterly
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Where Do YouSpend Your Time?
First Things First
“If you do not change, you can become extinct.”
Who Moved My Cheese? ““
How clear is your organization about its ...
Vision
Mission
What is the organization really trying to accomplish? Is it compelling? Will it make a significant difference?
How will the organization proceed with making this vision a reality?
Values What are the core things the organization will use to guide and evaluate all of its actions and behaviors?
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How do you find your voice
& encourage others
to find theirs?
Five Practices of Exemplary Leaders
Model the Way
Inspire a Shared Vision
Challenge the Process
Enable Others to Act
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Encourage the Heart5
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You can order at: CharterInstitute.org/services
“Set the standards higher for yourself than others would set them for you.”“
-John Maxwell
Lessons
• Front-Load: Complexity Is Deceiving
• Start With the End in Mind
• One Size Does Not Fit All
• Opportunity to Align Goals, Standards, Assessment and Evaluation
• Results Matter
• Challenge of Rapid Growth
“When I go slow, I go fast.” — Chinese Proverb
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Lessons (continued)
• Can’t Regulate Excellence
• Navigating the Invisible Line: Oversight vs. Support
• How to Differentiate Performance
• Capture the Baselines and Benchmark
• What Gets Measured Gets Done
• Closing a School Is the Ultimate Test
• Never Get to California If We Waited for the Freeway
• America Is the Real Experiment!
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“It is not enough that we do our best; sometimes we have to do what’s required.”
— Winston Churchill
“Public schools are the backbone of this country, . . . and as long as I am superintendent, charter schools will not be welcome in Detroit.”
— Connie Calloway, Ph.D., Detroit Superintendent as reported by the Detroit Federation
of Teachers, June 11, 2007
“I look at charter schools, for example, as prostitutes in the sense that when our police department tries to curb prostitution, they arrest the Johns now as opposed to the prostitutes because the prostitutes are always going to be there. And charter schools are obviously going to be there.”
— Dr. Jimmy Womack,Detroit School Board President
Detroit News Online Video, July 18, 2007
Changing the Paradigm
• In theory, law, policy and practice
• “Era of Assignment” to “Era of Choice”
• Removed the district’s exclusive franchise
• Schools without boundaries
• Fund students, not schools
• Empowering parents
• Choice and competition
• Dual accountability
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“Study after study shows that state standards vary wildly and the states with the lowest standards are lying to children – by telling them they are ready for college or work – when they are in fact unable to compete.”
— Arne Duncan, U.S. Secretary of Education
Some Assumptions for Breakthrough Performance:
1. Students value and take ownership of their education.
2. Outcomes measured against clear, consistent standards.
3. Outcomes linked to teacher and organizational effectiveness.
4. Productivity and results are measured and rewarded.
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