Learn and Lead Equity Leadership Framework: Learn, lead, inspire and support, everything else is a distraction!
While deceptively simple, this framework captures the essence of what must take place in order to improve and sustain the quality of our schools, as it addresses the two most common paradoxes holding up our reforms, regardless how well intended they might be. These paradoxes are, overabundance of data combined with shortage of useful information, as well as leadership actions that too often are driven by opinions rather than research. As myopic thinking and unilateral decision-making flourish, the problems that we set out to address are becoming compounded rather than effectively solved. In the words of our founder, “as the fidelity of applying the wrong cure increases, so does the reinforcement of the original problem”
The Learn and Lead Equity Leadership Framework is set out to address outdated mindsets which are antithetical to the outcomes we want and prevent us from solving the most critical issues: brain drain from our neediest schools and the gap of opportunities between the most affluent and the neediest pupils. Our framework is not intended to be a silver bullet or fix-it-all solution, although it might be, to a certain degree, the panacea for those of us who feel stuck in our current ways of thinking. Learn and Lead Equity Leadership Framework represents a step in the direction of cutting through the old thinking patterns that perpetuate inequality, and help us develop new habits that can lead us in the opposite direction. In other words, while not explicitly mentioned, the shift to growth mindset is in the dead center of Learn and Lead Leadership Equity Framework.
The Leader
The main curator of Learn and Lead Equity Leadership Framework is the leader who must develop and cherish attitudes and mindsets that make equity and innovation work possible. As you continue reading and possibly considering our ideas, please beware that you might feel like a salmon swimming upstream. If you do, we have done our job of opening your eyes and your heart to the limitless possibilities of a positive change to come. Here is what leaders ought to do.
Look for Strengths to Build Upon.
Rather than looking for faults in people, it is imperative that leaders look for and recognize the strengths in others. These pockets of excellence should then be used to build upon, as we correct isolated problems and address systemic patterns of behaviors and beliefs that support them. By that, we don’t mean attempting to “fix” people. Instead, leaders need to isolate people from the problems, work on addressing the problems and support people in their personal journeys towards the common mission. Building on strengths, assures strong emotional connection with the tasks at hand and a clearer path of what needs to be improved. Building on strengths also helps getting others to listen and hear what is being suggested, which is always a good thing. It is important to add that in this approach problems are reframed as opportunities for improvement. These ideas apply to entire systems as well as to individuals. Any system, as dysfunctional as it might appear, carries within seeds for greatness and potential for growth, provided that the mental models and structures that support them are effectively addressed. The main job of the leader who plans to bring about systemic change is to begin by searching for the packets of where this potential is hidden.
Respect Ambiguity.
Great leaders are always mentaly prepared to face complex challenges for which the contemporary educational landscape is well known. They do so by expecting the unexpected, hoping for the best and getting ready for the worst. They have a plan A and plan B, but also plans C thought X and they are flexible enough to adjust those plans when necessary. Rather than spending enormous amounts of time drafting long term plans for improvement , leaders should become more skillful in implementing quick cycles of improvement with short, measurable goals (Reeves 2007) and initiatives are quickly planned, implemented, evaluated and adjusted. Innovative leaders actually thrive in an environment of constant change, that others might find to be a nuisance, because they gain satisfaction from knowing that they are providing solutions rather than sticking to a preplanned script. In the world of exponential change, leaders must be quick on their feet, intelligently responsive and dynamic.
Expect Complexity
Using complexity theory as a lens to view education can have a profound impact on our understanding why some things work and some do not. Great leaders are at peace with the idea that actions have unintended consequences, the process of change is non-linear, and people are for the most part irrational. One rather obvious implication of that is that leaders should have is the ability to process multiple measures of data, consider all perspectives in order to learn and grow alongside their organizations and the people they lead. Even more, great leaders actually welcome ambiguity and complexity because it provides them with greater opportunities to think like architects as they design structures that bring about clarity, logic and good decision making.
Ask Good Questions.
Much harm can be done by assuming the position of being the source of all the solutions. At the same time, one of the leaders’ advantages is being positioned to reframe problems, prioritize ideas and start meaningful discourse that culminates in concrete actions that bring about positive results. This is best done by asking questions that can channel collaborative energy of the teams to craft possible answers and most likely solutions. Leaders should understand that their opinions and suggestions can be misconstrued as directives and therefore impede the collaborative process. To stop this from happening, leaders must be relentless in positioning themselves as just one of the voices within the team and remain impartial while reserving the right to act as the curator of the overarching mission of the organization. While doing so, leaders must assure that they are on the lookout for dysfunctions that can sometimes sneak up on organizations and undermine collaboration.
Reach from Within.
It is imperative that leaders know where they are coming from by constantly assessing their own learning style, innate communication preferences, implicit biases, communication preferences and implicit biases of others. The further the leader reaches out to affect the lives of others, the deeper should be their search for the conscious and subconscious motivations of their own actions, the preferences they tend to naturally gravitate towards, while uncovering implicit biases and deepening understanding of who they are as leaders and as people. Doing so assures that they are genuine in addressing challenges and their creativity is not inhibited by catering to the perceptions others have of them. Critical questions for self-reflection are: How would I describe my learning, teaching and leadership style? How would others describe it? What are my implicit biases and how I can address them?
Never Stop Growing.
Leaders must be on a constant quest to learn more about the world and deepen their understanding of human nature while developing new skills and strategies all in service of allowing them to better serve their communities. To a hammer, everything looks like a nail so it is critical to always expand the leadership toolkit to be well informed and well prepared. Each of us has a dominant leadership style that we fall back when we are under pressure(Blake & Mouton 1994) . We must be self-aware and well- so we don’t gravitate towards a style that would alienate those whose lives we impact.
Look Deep, Think Big, Start Small.
The world needs big ideas, rooted deeply in meaningful work and insightful thinking. Our actions need to address not just the tip of the systemic thinking iceberg but the very bottom of it: our core beliefs, subconscious biases and misconceptions. PDSA cycle is a great model from bringing about small improvements, testing them and gradually scaling them up to system wide initiatives.
Last but certainly not the least, expectations start and end with you. Having high expectations as the mark of great leadership is hardly new or innovative. Being “the boss” however is a trap that some, especially inexperienced leaders fall into when they ignore a basic rule of always trying to act as a servant rather than a top down tyrant, a puppet master or a cunning manipulator. Humility will help you open hearts, data used as a driver (and not a hammer) will help you persuade others, while being kind will help you turn your followers into volunteers.
Lead yourself, lead your superiors, lead your peers, employ good people and free them to do the same. All else is trivia! If you fail, the responsibility is entirely your own. There is no one to blame but yourself. (Hock, 1999)
Written by Dr. Jacek Polubiec
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REFERENCES
Blake, R. R., & Mouton, J. S. (1994). The managerial grid. Houston: Gulf Pub.
Hock, D. (1999). The chaordic organization. San Francisco: Berrett-Koehler.
OECD (2012), Equity and Quality in Education: Supporting Disadvantaged Students and Schools,
OECD Publishing. http://dx.doi.org/10.1787/9789264130852-en
Reeves, D. B. (2007). The daily disciplines of leadership: How to improve student achievement, staff
motivation, and personal organization. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
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