Articles

Leadership Coaching and Consulting to Build Strong Management Teams

January 17, 2012 by J Daniel Hollinger Leave a Comment

As school leaders, we delegate many responsibilities to members of our management team and depend heavily on them to run our schools. The bigger the school, the more we delegate. Our management teams are critical to the successful functioning of our schools.

While members of our team may be smart, capable people, they are not always excellent team players. Once, I had a talented, intelligent business manager who couldn’t figure out how to play on our team. After trying many approaches, I hired a topnotch management consultant and organized a retreat. We learned a lot about school management teams and how to work together on a team. We made progress.

Gradually, my business manager’s same old behaviors returned and we struggled again to function as a strong team. I couldn’t seem to get things back on track, so I decided it was time to part ways. It was unfortunate to have to reach that decision. She was quite talented, but just couldn’t function well on our team. Or so I thought.

A few years later, I had another talented but difficult member of my management team. The longer we worked together, the more we struggled to work effectively as a team. This time, I hired a consultant who was also a professional leadership coach. Again, we organized a management retreat, learned new strategies for working together as a team, and made significant progress.

This time, my management consultant continued to work with me as my leadership coach. We met regularly and she coached me to figure out solutions to the complex challenges of school leadership and maintain a strong management team. With her help, I gained new perspectives, learned a lot about myself, developed my emotional intelligence and understood better my contributions to the challenges we faced as a team. I realized that her ongoing support as a coach was critical to my success as a team leader.

It is difficult to build and lead strong management teams. Yet, our success in leadership roles is often determined by our ability to be team builders and leaders. The landscape is littered with schools, organizations, governments, businesses and sports franchises that have suffered dearly from the disintegration of leadership teams. Don’t let that happen to you or your school.

Leadership coaching is one of the best investments you will ever make in your success as a school leader, whether it’s for developing and leading your management team or for other challenges you face in school leadership. Contact me for professional coaching services. I guarantee you will be glad you did.

Filed Under: Consulting Services, School Improvement, School Leader Coaching, School Leadership, Team Building

Leadership Coaching to Help Leaders Manage and Develop Boards

December 14, 2011 by J Daniel Hollinger Leave a Comment

As Head of School, I sometimes felt overwhelmed by the complexities of managing my Board and the attendant relationships. While I enjoyed the support of my Board, Board relationships, development and management were ongoing challenges. I quickly discovered I was not alone. School governance and the challenges of managing boards were regular topics at gatherings of school leaders.

Once I got squeezed between my Board Chair and my Facilities Committee Chair in their disagreement related to the choice of an architect for school expansion. In the end, the Board Chair convinced the Board to choose his preferred architectural firm and the architect withdrew his children from the school. I confess, I didn’t know how to manage the situation, which contributed to a bad outcome.

On another occasion, I discovered that a Board member was having inappropriate discussions with parents about one of my teachers. Although perhaps well intentioned, the Board member’s involvement in a staff matter made the situation very difficult. It is not uncommon for board members to cross the line between governance and management. Nonetheless, when they do, the resulting problems can be significant. In my experience, it’s very difficult to know how to handle potentially destructive situations when one’s board member is part of the problem.

I could provide many more examples of the challenges we sometimes face as leaders, as could you, in working with our boards.

With most of the challenges I faced as a school leader, I had someone to turn to for help and advice – my Board, my Board Chair, a consultant, colleague, my wife, etc. A problem, I began to realize, was that I didn’t have someone who could help me consistently with some of the most sensitive and complex problems I faced as a school leader, namely those that involved my boss, the Board.

So, one day I sought help from a leadership coach. Getting leadership coaching was the best decision I made in my 20 year career as a school leader.

My coach provided leadership coaching to help me gain new insights into the dynamics and relationships among and with my board members by helping me look at complex situations from different perspectives. She was a sounding board and confidant with whom I could discuss very sensitive and difficult situations. She helped me develop new strategies and held me accountable for carrying through.

My coach also helped me look at my own fears, shortcomings and contributions to difficult relationships. She helped me analyze and improve my emotional intelligence. I learned an enormous amount about myself and became a much better leader as a result.

It’s amazing how often we cannot see the forest for the trees. We’re so focused on urgent daily operational matters that we fail to seek the help we need to address important issues until they become urgent, which is often too late. Sometimes we need assistance from someone who understands the challenges of school leadership and working with boards, someone who can consistently and confidentially help us figure out solutions to very complex and sensitive problems.

That’s what I do. If you would like help managing and developing your board, please contact me for a free consultation. I guarantee it will be one of the best decisions you will make as a school leader.

Filed Under: Emotional Intelligence, School Leader Coaching, School Leadership

School Leadership: The 8 Critical Areas

October 13, 2011 by J Daniel Hollinger Leave a Comment

There is enough research on leadership to fill oceans. Indeed, we can easily find ourselves swimming in the leadership data and wondering where to focus our energies.

Since most leadership research doesn’t focus on school leadership, how do we know what’s most important for school leaders? After all, schools are unique institutions. It stands to reason that they require a unique kind of leadership.

Thankfully, Independent School Management conducted research on school leadership and found that effective school leaders do the following exceptionally well:

Vigorously seek to develop a faculty culture focused on professional development
Give public, positive reinforcement to deserving employees and students
Promote an ongoing faculty conversation regarding high expectations and support for students
Establish a faculty-wide conversation regarding professional development
Place great emphasis on having high expectations tailored to each student
Demonstrate an inspired and inspirational commitment to the school’s mission
Sustain high levels of self-awareness and self-management
Exhibit determined pursuit of their own professional growth programs

It’s great to know where to focus to be an exceptional leader. It’s quite another thing to focus on those areas with all the competing demands of school leadership. Even if you can focus on one or more of the areas in which you need to improve, developing and implementing a plan successfully can be very elusive.

How does one develop a faculty culture that is focused on professional growth and development? Sometimes the complaining and bickering seems to drown out the voices of those devoted to learning, sharing and supporting each other. It would be fabulous to have an ongoing conversation among teachers about ways to improve teaching – one that would dominate the discussions in the faculty lounge and infuse teachers with the same passion for learning that we want our students to demonstrate. The question is, how does one create that awesome reality?

The same questions and challenges apply to the other areas that exceptional school leaders focus on. Knowing what makes a school leader exceptional is one thing. Knowing how, when and where to get to the what is quite another.

It’s easier said than done. The urgent constantly gets in the way of the important.

That’s why it’s important to have a leadership coach. Do you know any successful athletes without a coach? A school leader coach will help you address one, some or all of the critical areas above and become an exceptional leader. School leadership coaching is like a personalized leadership development program. The only agenda of your leadership coach is to help you in whatever way you need assistance. Whether you need to develop your skills as an inspirational school leader, develop self-awareness or develop in any other way as a leader, the most effective and cost-efficient way to go is with a school leader coach.

Filed Under: Faculty Culture, School Improvement, School Leader Coaching, School Leadership

Has a Leadership Coach Got Your Back? And Front?

October 7, 2011 by J Daniel Hollinger Leave a Comment

School leadership is like a contact sport. You never know from where or whom the hit will come. And it can be fatal. In fact, school leaders get a fatal hit every three years, on the average. Very few have a leadership coach to help them avoid fatal blows. Yes, the average tenure for school leaders is about three years. After that, they’re fired or move on because they’ve taken too many hits.

As a leading school consultant once told my board and management team, “You gotta have your head’s back. It’s an open target. Protect it.”

Unfortunately, boards and management teams don’t always have your back. When push comes to shove, they’re more interested in their backs than yours.

You need someone who has your back. Who does? Who can you count on unequivocally?

A school leadership coach. Do you have a leadership coach? They make their living off of having your back. If you don’t have one, you should get one.

The National Association of Independent Schools studied coaching for school leaders. Here’s what school leaders said about school leader coaches and leadership coaching:

Supported, encouraged and validated me
Affirmed me, so I knew that I wasn’t crazy
Gave me perspective by zeroing in and then out to get the big picture
Served as a sounding board and as someone who could challenge, push or nudge my thinking
Confirmed my own intuition or knowledge of a situation or relationship
Contextualized and validated my reality
Provided an outside perspective that was most useful in thinking through crisis situations
Gave me courage to make and implement difficult decisions
Helped me transition to a new school culture and the challenges of being an outsider in the community
Improved my self-knowledge or self-awareness
Helped me negotiate a new contract
Balanced the power relationship between me and my board
Helped boards hear my important messages

Who doesn’t need what a leadership coach offers? Every leader needs a coach. Every school needs a coached leader.

In the corporate world, most executives and their corporations enjoy the benefits of executive or leadership coaching. Leadership coaching is used extensively to help leaders improve, prepare for new challenges, launch new initiatives and manage change – to mention a few.

The return on investment for leadership coaching is estimated to be about 500%. Imagine that for you and your school!

So, obviously, leadership coaching is not just about protecting your back. In fact, it’s much more about your front and where you and your school are headed.

Leadership coaching will make a huge difference in your life and in the life of your school. It will help you become an exceptional leader and create an exceptional school.

Filed Under: School Leader Coaching, School Leadership

The Art of Exceptional Leadership

September 28, 2011 by J Daniel Hollinger Leave a Comment

Are you an exceptional leader, or an average one?

By now, you probably know a lot about school leadership. You’ve taken courses, received training and attended conferences on effective school leadership.

If you’re like most people, much of what you studied remains in your notes and on your list of things to do. Most you simply don’t remember.

That’s okay. The data is overwhelming. We’ve become data junkies living in data junkyards. In education, everything is about data these days – data-driven decisions, data-driven instruction, data-driven leadership. Next thing you know, we’ll have data-driven play. The data will always be there. More will arrive. You can find it anytime and try out new skills and techniques.

Don’t get me wrong. Data has its rightful place. We can and must learn from it. But expertise and skills learned from data analysis do not an exceptional leader make.

Your relationships make you an exceptional leader, or not. Relationships are the key. And relationships are an art form in the truest sense of the word.

When you walk into your school, lead a faculty meeting, talk with parents and chat with students, your relationships are far more important than your leadership skills and expertise. Your ability to connect with people, and to maintain strong relationships built on trust and respect define your leadership. Skills and expertise are the icing on the cake.

The key to healthy relationships is self-differentiation. Emotionally, exceptional leaders are not dependent on anything other than themselves. They are self-sufficient and live without undue anxiety or over-dependence on others. Their sense of worth comes from within and is independent of relationships, circumstances and events.

Exceptional leaders understand that the emotional processes going on within their schools are extraordinarily powerful – much more powerful than ideas, goals or any other leadership tool. The emotional life of an organization is like the wind and waves. The sailor who tries to overcome them will likely fail, whereas positioning oneself to let the natural force assist will take the ship in the right direction.

The art of exceptional leadership is the capacity to be a steady, non-anxious and challenging presence, and to be connected to people but not enmeshed in the emotional processes. In short, the exceptional leader is first and foremost emotionally intelligent. Leadership through presence and self-differentiation is not easy. Be prepared to lose friends and experience the pain of isolation and personal attacks. It comes with the territory.

So do the rewards. And they are endless. Exceptional school leadership creates exceptional schools. Is anything more beautiful?

Filed Under: Consulting Services, School Improvement, School Leader Coaching, School Leadership Tagged With: coaching school leaders, school improvement, school leadership, schools

The Key to Ridding Schools of Nasty Social Behavior and Emotional Harm

September 12, 2011 by J Daniel Hollinger Leave a Comment

I am deeply saddened by the way some teachers and students treat each other in school. We have all observed or heard about teachers and students belittling, ridiculing, intimidating and ignoring each other much too often. This kind of mistreatment occurs in our “best” schools and our “worst” schools. One might expect it in our worst schools, but not in our best schools. Yet, it happens all the time.

Students go to school to learn – not just subject knowledge, but how to be good citizens in school and their worlds outside of school. Learning appropriate social behavior in the complex and constantly changing worlds in which we live is not easy. Most of us adults are still trying to figure it out. It requires ongoing teaching, learning and assessment, even more so than learning a language, math, history or science. Unfortunately, in the frenzy to improve academic test scores, we’ve lost sight of our higher imperative as educators to improve students’ social behavior and emotional intelligence – to educate our students to be brilliant citizens of their social groups, communities, and the world.

The emotional harm that occurs in schools as a result of poor social behavior causes enormous damage. I spoke to one high school student recently who told me that she has felt inferior and incapable in her math classes ever since her fourth grade math teacher angrily called her stupid for answering a question incorrectly. The teacher is well known for shaming children. Take a moment, please, to imagine the emotional distress this teacher has created in the lives of the children she has taught and continues to teach. Yet, this teacher is considered to be an excellent teacher. Unfortunately, she is no exception.

Teachers are not the only ones who mistreat students. Students mistreat each other. Parents are part of the problem, too.

School leaders can improve schools dramatically and create schools in which social behavior and emotional intelligence are valued as much as academic success. Where there’s a will, there’s a way.

Several years ago, two students in whom I have the utmost confidence to speak the truth told me that they witnessed a freshman being beaten by seniors, and a teacher walking by without intervening. It was “Freshman Beat Down Week” at one of the best public high schools in the region and country, according to Jay Mathews of the Washington Post. I called the principal to express my concern about the incident and to inquire about steps the school was taking to deal with the problem. She told me that “Freshman Beat Down Week” is a myth and that it doesn’t exist. Ignorance is bliss. Shortly thereafter, I learned that another freshman had her ribs broken by a senior. She refused to report it out of fear of retaliation by the seniors who beat her.

The problem is with the will, not the way. There are many ways, but few wills.

School leaders, with the will to take the necessary actions, can create schools in which teachers and students treat each other respectfully and compassionately in classrooms and hallways, and on buses and athletic fields. Leaders can create school cultures in which emotionally damaging and nasty social behavior rarely occurs – schools in which students, teachers and parents consistently treat each other respectfully.

To create schools devoid of mistreatment by teachers, students and parents, leaders must take the nasty-social-behavior-bull by the horns and wrestle with it until it is tamed and the school is a peaceful place. School leaders must address the issue head on, own the problem, and engage teachers, parents and students in finding solutions. It’s a school community problem that won’t be solved by punishment and rules.

Leaders must take the lead role in creating a joyful school experience for everyone. One excellent way to begin is with a school culture or faculty culture assessment. The data from these assessments provide excellent information about the source and nature of the problem. Based on these data, school leaders can design programs, establish initiatives, provide professional development and a myriad other interventions that will truly address the problem and transform the school.

That lead role is a tough role to play. Many school leaders seek the assistance of a school leadership coach to help them. If you are a school leader who wants to tackle the problem of negative social behavior and create a school that is both emotionally nurturing and academically challenging, contact us for school leader coaching services and/or teacher training/coaching services.

Filed Under: Consulting Services, Emotional Intelligence, Faculty Culture, School Leader Coaching, School Leadership, Team Building

Payal Majahan, Co-Founder of Art of Learning in India, Joins Hollinger International

August 31, 2011 by J Daniel Hollinger Leave a Comment

Hollinger International is thrilled to announce that Payal Majahan has joined Hollinger International as an associate consultant. Payal is an educationist with over 15 years of experience in the field of education. She has worked in numerous capacities (teacher, administrator, adviser, consultant) in schools offering national and international curricula and has been instrumental in incubating and nurturing internationalism through systems, curriculum and people development in India, Indonesia and Canada. Payal has in-depth knowledge and experience with of CIE, IBNA and IBAP. Her training and experience have given her a global perspective and an insight into best practices and key success factors that enable her to customize services to the requirements of individual schools.

Payal is the co-founder of Art of Learning (AOL). AOL’s suite of services include establishing new schools; strategic enhancements to existing schools; review and design of school systems and work processes, curriculum and pedagogical practices. AOL also provides K-12 schools with assistance in attaining accreditation by national and international agencies, such as the IB and IGCSE.

As a writer and editor, Payal co-authored a series of five General Awareness Activity books for Grades One through Five and edited a set of two workbooks in compliance with the new curriculum for a leading publishing house in India.

Payal holds a MA in History, a BA in Education from the Indiri Ghandi University and a BA from Lady Shri Ram College.

Filed Under: Associate Consultants, Consulting Services

Sidney Rose Joins Hollinger International

August 16, 2011 by J Daniel Hollinger Leave a Comment

Hollinger International is thrilled to announce that Sidney Rose has joined Hollinger International as an affiliate consultant. Sidney Rose is a senior education administrator, consultant and entrepreneur who has been working internationally for more than 30 years. He has lived and worked in the United Kingdom, Hong Kong, Singapore, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, India and Sweden. He has a proven track record as the Founding Director of three prestigious international schools in Sweden, Qatar and India, establishing each from initial startup through to staff recruitment, curriculum design and development, marketing, opening and then running the multimillion dollar projects.

Sid implemented International Baccalaureate Programmes for each of the schools for which he served as Founding Director and served as a Consultant Presenter for the International Baccalaureate North America. He is an excellent KG-12 leader and administrator as well as implementer of in-service teacher training and quality assurance in schools.

Sid is also an experienced educator in the Arts. He served as Chair of the and Chair of the Dubai International Arts Society.

Besides being an educator, Sid has run his own businesses, and worked in advertising, marketing and public relations. He has also established innovative community projects and initiatives, ranging from teaching English in a Vietnamese refugee camp to organizing arts festivals in Dubai to setting up a street school for laborers’ children in India, as well as organizing classes for elderly people to learn information and communication technologies in Sweden.

Sid holds a BA in Arts from the Manchester Metropolitan University, a Graduate Certificate in Education from the Manchester Victoria University and a School Leadership Certificate from the University of Michigan.

Filed Under: Consulting Services, International Baccalaureate, Start a School

Dawn Martin Joins Hollinger International

August 9, 2011 by J Daniel Hollinger Leave a Comment

Hollinger International is thrilled to announce that Dawn Martin has joined Hollinger International as an Associate Consultant. Dawn brings exceptional knowledge, extensive expertise and unparalleled skill in organizational development, facilitation and team building.

Dawn is an organization development consultant, facilitator and trainer. She promotes organizational growth and development by providing climate assessment and team building services. Dawn works with leadership teams to identify and address cultural change in areas of internal communications, management and staffing. In collaboration with managers and staff, she develops strategies for fostering positive working relationships and enhancing productivity. Dawn facilitates dialogue to enhance workplace communication and collaboration, increase job satisfaction, and optimize individual and collective productivity within schools, the public sector, corporations and nonprofit organizations. She provides mediation and facilitation support for the resolution of discreet disputes within organizations. In collaboration with clients, she develops systems and mechanisms to strengthen internal communication and conflict resolution capacities. Dawn trains mediators, facilitators, managers, judges, advocates and others globally. Training specialties include facilitation, mediation, team performance, coaching, dispute resolution program design and administration, negotiation, advocacy in mediation and the pedagogy of mediation and facilitation training.

Prior to establishing her consulting practice, Dawn founded and managed a law firm specializing in employment and immigration law. She holds a JD from , Columbus School of Law and a BA in Sociology from the University of Maryland. She is a certified as an administrator of the Conflict Dynamics Profile (CDP) and the Emotional Quotient Inventory (EQ-i®). Dawn is also fluent in Spanish.

Filed Under: Consulting Services, Facilitation, Team Building

Do Your School’s Teachers Play Alone Or On A Team – And What To Do About It

August 3, 2011 by J Daniel Hollinger Leave a Comment

When I was conducting a feasibility study to add a middle school to my international school in Washington, DC, I met with nearly all the middle school heads of private schools in the DC metropolitan area. That’s a lot of heads.

I asked many questions and got a plethora of answers. Except to one. To one question, I got the same answer. That question was, “What is the single most important change you want to make now in your school.” Every head said they want their teachers to start collaborating, to stop working in isolation, to plan together and to work as a team. Perfect answer – 80% of school leadership is team building.

Most teachers are like soccer players who go onto the field – each with their own ball – and flip it onto their knee, kick it into the air, head it, control it and flip it onto their knee again. That’s fine for warming up, but it’s not going to win any games. It’s no surprise that schools are failing our students left, right and center. Until teachers learn how to work together, the Schools team will be in last place loosing all their games.

Don’t get me wrong, school boards – not teachers – are ultimately responsible for lousy teamwork in schools. What team owner would keep a coach who allows players to play the game the way they want to play it? But, boards are a whole different problem. Are the school board members you know qualified to govern schools any more than Dan Snyder is qualified to own the Redskins?

Well, giving the benefit of the doubt, let’s imagine the school board hires a head and charges the head with the responsibility to run the school and deliver an outstanding education to the school’s students. Now, the responsibility for an excellent education lies with the head. To win the education game, heads must build and lead high performing teams. There are no two ways about it.

Building high performing faculty teams is a process. It takes about one year and requires unremitting devotion to continuous school improvement. Here are the steps:

Orientation: First, the school leader needs to gather the team together for a heart to heart discussion about the critical importance of working as a team. The leader must make it crystal clear that developing as a team is a top priority. Teachers need to ask themselves why they are at the school and whether they are invested in becoming a team player. If they cannot publicly commit to working hard to become a team player, they should leave.
Trust Building: The next step is building trust, and it’s the most difficult. Trust requires sharing, risk taking and predictability. If I share my ball and take the risk of kicking it to a team member, I need a reasonable degree of predictability that my team member will help take it down the field.
Goal Clarification: Teams need to wrestle with clarifying goals. Teachers need a voice. They need to own the priorities.
Commitment: At some point discussions need to end and decisions must be made about roles and responsibilities. People must commit!
Implementation: Teams turn the corner when they settle on WHO does WHAT, WHEN, and WHERE.
High Performance: When teamwork is mastered, the results are astounding. Not only can the team deliver an superior education, it can easily adapt to changing circumstances.
Renewal: Teams are dynamic. People come and people go. That’s good. People get tired and need to leave. Others arrive and bring new energy, skills and knowledge. Renewal is a time to harvest learning and prepare for a new year.

We are team building experts. Contact us to learn more about how we can help you build high performing, collaborative teams in your school, business or organization.

Filed Under: School Leadership, Team Building