The Style and Substance of Leading

By Timothy McIntire 

For so many of us who know Pat Bassett - we who value his leadership and viability, and who learn so much from him in the context of the annual NAIS Conference -- invariably during  the opening session our genuine admiration yields to knowing glances and envious chuckles when he first strides to the dias.  As Thus Spake Zarathustra-esque music swells and a disembodied announcer proclaims our president's arrival, Titan-like images are projected for our delight and edification.  "Oh," our hearts burst forth, "this is what it is like to be an independent school god."  

The irony, of course, is that these days we are working diligently to somehow project ourselves as the Jim Collins's Level 5 Leader whose work it is "to make sure the right decisions happen - no matter how difficult or painful - for the long-term greatness of the institution and the achievement of its mission, independent of consensus or popularity"  (Good To Great and the Social Sectors, 2005).

How hard is that, and how unsatisfying?  Flip through the anthropomorphized paradigms of leaders revered by the Greeks, the Hebrews, or any current parent day school board.

Greek Model School Heads: Zeus - King of the Gods - Bassett on a good day; Realm Rulers: Hera, Poseidon & Hades; Change Agent: Ares; Academic Leader: Athena; Development & External Affairs: Aphrodite; and Hero: Heracles - not the shiniest drachma in the roll, but steadfast in achieving endless impossible tasks.

Hebrew Model School Heads:  Founding Fathers - Abraham and Adam (Founding Mother caused us to lose funding for Eden Magnet School, Inc. which is a problem in a world of schools where women predominate); Prophets - pay special attention to Ezekiel to understand the reality of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder in school leadership; Priests; Judges; Kings; Really Good Dudes who get a bad deal: Job - everyone knows he did something wrong except he didn't!: and Heroes: Moses is the best as he learned how to delegate from his father-in-law, Jethro.

New Testament Model School Heads: Don't go there!  The best lesson is Jesus teaching "with authority" in the Temple, but gods of Love, three year headships, and disregard for what a 21st Century school should be won't carry the day in the board room.

Parent Day School Board Model: Eschew button down collars and elbow patches on your Harris Tweed jacket; look the CEO: Italian pin-stripe suit, laces on your leather, cufflinks, and spread collar.  Dress for success and whip your data.

Leading in many minds is more about style than substance.  Egregious mistakes in the corporate world rate bonuses; success in advancing "the right decisions happen for the long-term greatness of the institution and the achievement of its mission, independent of consensus or popularity" will occasion calls for the "changes" we expect to see from a real leader!

So my points from all of this are these:

Whatever pantheon of gods you admire or fear, parallel them with those in our world of leadership in service to schools, students, and colleagues.  We do have genius, souls, spirits, intelligences, and stories.  Lap them up.  (For a good read in this area, get a copy of Christopher Wheeler's Inside Their Headships: Conversations with Independent School Heads, 2010).

Pay attention to what the National Association of Independent Schools and the National Association of Episcopal Schools seem to be interested in.  What are they reacting to?  What is the Vision for the near term future?  Right now, the top three issues for school heads seem to be Admission, Admission, and Admission.  (Another good read is the book edited by Gene Batiste: The Head's Handbook: A Guide for Aspiring, New, and Experienced Heads of School, 2011).

Of course the best practice is that which the Santa Fe Leadership Center offers: work on yourself.  The changes that you will make effectively and sustainably will come from this personal work.  It is essential that you enter the universe of discourse on leadership among our colleagues who have heard the call to this work in schools.  How we choose to form ourselves is the topic of the upcoming seminar that features Peter Cheney, but is always the foundation upon which our work is built.  (For a good read, grab Melville's Bartleby the Scrivener.)

Now the music swells as I conclude with the image of Independent School Leaders striding the corridors of the Gaylord Convention Center at National Harbor and appreciate what animates them as they enjoy the company of friends, mentors, and protégées.

Summer Seminar Spotlight: IDEO 

ork, which they call Design Thinking to look at issues and solve problems.

What is Design Thinking?

"Thinking like a designer can transform the way organizations develop products, services, processes, and strategy. This approach, which IDEO calls design thinking, brings together what is desirable from a human point of view with what is technologically feasible and economically viable. It also allows people who aren't trained as designers use creative tools to solve a vast range of challenges.

Design thinking is a deeply human process that taps into abilities that we all have but are overlooked by more conventional problem-solving practices. It relies on our ability to be intuitive, to recognize patterns, to construct ideas that are emotionally meaningful as well as functional, and to express ourselves through means beyond words or symbols. Nobody wants to run an organization on feeling, intuition, and inspiration, but an over-reliance on the rational and the analytical can be just as risky. Design thinking provides an integrated third way." (IDEO.com)

What does this have to do with school leadership?

IDEO's framework can be applied to almost every industry - engineering, health, public sector, social innovation, financial services, food and beverage, and education. School leaders need innovative ways to approach challenges more successfully and often collaboratively. Team leaders can use this framework to create new programs, to tackle admissions, marketing,development and communications challenges,for strategic planning and even to rethink how your school is educating students in the 21st century. 

Check out the IDEO website and also www.openideo.com to see this framework in action solving local and global challenges collaboratively.  

Spaces are limited for the Summer Seminar and it is filling quickly. If you are interested in attending, contact Carla Silver (408) 348-8617.

Public Purpose for Every School: 
By Carla Silver  

When I initially saw that Geoffrey Canada would be appearing at the NAIS Annual Conference, I knew his presentation would be the highlight for me. I have followed his career and admired the Harlem Children's Zone for many years. Not only has he demonstrated an unparalleled commitment to his community, but his solutions have worked against all odds and obstacles facing the poorest families in Harlem.

Canada was the perfect closing speaker for a conference dedicated to the topic of Public Purpose in independent schools. Much of what he spoke about may have caused some discomfort or even some guilt among independent school leaders.  The lives and the demographics of the children in Canada's schools are so drastically different that those hailing from the typical independent school families.  It is easy to see how his message might have seemed compelling but almost other-wordly to the NAIS audience. However, I saw his talk as a true call to independent and other highly resourced schools to take up public purpose in even more aggressive and innovative ways.  It is our collective responsibility to be part of this solution.

Since 1994, I have been involved in one of the most influential independent school public purpose initiatives: The Breakthrough Collaborative. Breakthrough began in 1978 as a public purpose initiative at San Francisco University High School (UHS).  Then Head of School Dennis Collins recruited faculty members Lois Loofbourrow and Mal Singer to start a summer program that would serve talented public middle school students in San Francisco. The program was called Summerbridge and over ten years it evolved as a "students teaching students" program, with equally talented high school and college students teaching these middle school students.  It was (and is) a magical program - the synergy of the "students teaching students" model was coupled with the fact that most of the young students in the program were facing limited educational opportunities and could still access one of San Francisco's most academically rigorous high schools. The program grew at UHS and then it spread - first to Isidore Newman in New Orleans in 1989 and then nationally to 30 sites by 1993, and even internationally to Hong Kong. The name changed from Summerbridge to Breakthrough in 2001 and the national organization has continued to grow and evolve with over 30 sites thriving.

Independent schools saw Breakthrough as a way to be a part of the bigger dialogue in education. Schools around the country developed similar models and committed to serving students beyond those who could pay tuition.  Since Breakthrough began in 1978, thousands of young children with limited educational opportunities have participated in this program and gone onto four year colleges. Breakthrough sites and other similar outreach programs hosted by independent schools like Aim High and the Peninsula Bridge Program are part of the solution to the same crisis in education that Geoffrey Canada described at NAIS. 

I still actively volunteer with Breakthrough Silicon Valley, having served as the Dean of Faculty of Breakthrough Fort Worth and the Director of Summerbridge San Francisco at UHS. I can tell you from many years of working on this and other public purpose initiatives, that it takes a firm commitment from a Board and the Head to sustain something like Breakthrough.  In hard economic times, it can be tempting to think about disolving programs like Breakthrough for other revenue generating opportunities.  Programs that are not institutionalized or endowed (Summerbridge San Francisco had an endowment of over a million dollars), can be vulnerable when schools are experiencing debt or other financial challenges.

In these economic conditions, your school might be scrambling for enrollment of full-paying students and thinking about programs to cut, not add.  You might have left NAIS inspired to start a public purpose initiative, but feeling like you simply cannot dedicate resources beyond your tuition paying families.  Well, here is one public purpose suggestion for all schools that won't cost a dime and can strengthen the quality of leadership in your school while contributing to the community in a profound way. 

Start a non-profit board-training program In your school community. Without a doubt,  you have highly competent potential community leaders among your faculty and staff who can make an enormous impact in low-income schools and communities by serving on boards.  Charter schools and educational nonprofits can use the expertise and the skills of the adults in your community on their boards.  Develop a program in conjunction with a local university with a graduate program in nonprofit management, or bring in some seasoned nonprofit leaders for a series on board participation.  Then help your school leaders to find the right nonprofit to serve.  Charter schools, summer programs, after-school programs in your community need qualified and committed board members.

This initiative can come back to profoundly benefit your school leadership.  If your top school leaders and your faculty become involved with boards outside of your school, they will gain a greater understanding of the governance structure and development needs within the school. For school leaders considering the role of head of school, this experience will prove invaluable. In addition, valuable partnership with these community organizations will emerge if your faculty and staff are personally involved.   

Not all schools can host a Breakthrough Program (although if you think this is something your school might want to do, contact Beth Porter, Executive Director at the Breakthrough Collaborative), but all schools can be a part of the solution to the deep inequities in education facing this country.  Getting involved with Geoffrey Canada's mission to transform a community's educational opportunities block by block might seem lofty or unachievable, but every school can make an impact by increasing the pool of qualified board members and volunteers in the community and to commit to training these board members so that they can make a difference.

SFLC @ NAIS: Session Recap  

By Gary Gruber  

Emerging paradigms in leadership was the topic.  We were up against Wendy Mogel and Speed Dating (Innovating) but our offering attracted a number of people interested in what we're doing at The Santa Fe Leadership Center to give school leaders the opportunity to reflect on where they are and where they are going in their leadership, their styles, their skills and their personal and professional growth.

In one hour we provided a sample of a Seminar with a testimony by one of our fellows, Paula Carreiro, head of Beauvoir in Washington, DC.  The gist of all of this is that the Seminar participants take time out from their busy schedules to reflect seriously with others how to take on some of the more challenging aspects of school leadership and do it with grace and dignity.  We provide the place, the context, the stimuli and the participants provide the content. We facilitate the conversations, they precipitate the outcomes.

Santa Fe, New Mexico offers its own special ambiance, and while we will be in Los Gatos, California, for our July offering, we will return to Santa Fe in November for our signature seminar,  "Deciding to Lead."  We believe that conscious and intentional leadership by design is a better choice and that the environment adds greatly to the experience.   Thus La Fonda on the Plaza is our home base, at least for now.  What we hear from our fellows is that they return from the Seminars refreshed and renewed, better equipped to lead with their colleagues and with new perspectives as to how they can be better agents of change in their own corner of the world.

SFLC is growing as we welcome new fellows from various settings and different parts of the country.  There is a wonderful mix of age and experience and all learn from one another.   Part of the richness of the Seminars is the diversity of experience and backgrounds that people bring to the event.  The shared stories are inspiring, the personal journeys are revealing and the talent is enormous.  We feel very grateful for this opportunity to serve school leaders and we invite more of you to take part as you look ahead to your own professional development.