Skip to main content

Make the little things count, because they do

Last night I attended a party for a member of staff who is leaving after working with us for four years. We have three busy working days left of our current school session and we are all very tired. If we are being honest, probably heading out for the evening is the last thing most of us want to do at this time of year, but we did. We all felt it was important to say thank you to a valued member of staff and to mark their contribution to the developmeant of the school, as well as a friend and a colleague. As a leader I feel it is vital that we see such events as key in our responsibilities to individual staff and to creating, developing and sustaining a culture and ethos that will allow schools to thrive and develop.

We all spend a lot of time thinking about learning and teaching, planning in order to improve these, and developing the structures, systems and programmes that keep them developing for the benefit for our learners. I have always believed that all this formal activity, crucial though it is, is useless if we don't take the time to develop the right culture and ethos amongst all staff, because it is this which will ultimately decide whether we succeed or fail. All school leader effectiveness stands or falls based on the commitment and actions of the staff they lead. I have argued before the importance of relationships to everything we do. We are in a people business and one which depends on relationships at all levels. If you truly recognise this, then it is beholden on you to look to shape this in every action and interaction that happens within the school. 

A number of people have asked me how we develop a culture which promotes trust, collaboration and a collective desire to get better? Firstly you need to recognise that this takes time. A school culture and ethos grows and develops over time. You start with being clear about individual and collective values that underpin all your actions. Identifying these is pretty easy to be honest, the difficulty lies in making them real in everything you do. I have advised headteachers before that to build trust you first need to say it, 'you can trust me and I want to support you become the best you can be. I want you to have high standards and be creative and innovative. I want you to collaborate, to reflect and become adaptive expert professionals, and my role is to create the conditions for you to do that, to benefit of all our learners and all of you.' You then have to act on this and deliver, repeating continually, and keep delivering till everyone believes you are not just talking the talk, but you truly want everyone to walk the walk.

Those are the big strategic actions and decisions, but it is the little daily, weekly, monthly and yearly actions and interactions that make these come alive and real for staff. So attending leaving-dos and recognising the contribution of staff as they move on, is an obvious such action. But there are hundreds of others all of which have individual and collective impacts, and which make that culture and ethos. Some of these include greeting staff and asking how they are. Simple and seemingly obvious, but I have seen and experienced leaders who get even this wrong. You know the ones, they say the words but their eyes or actions say they are thinking something else, or looking for someone else. You can tell when someone is genuine in a simple interaction like this, and the ones who don't even hear your reply. As a leader, such a basic interaction can tell you how a member of staff is feeling, indicate any issues they may be facing and if they are 'their usual self.' You should consider staff as you do your learners, holistically. It is important for leaders to try and understand everything that is going on in their lives, within reason, so that you are better able to support them when they need it. This also helps you to cut them some slack and adjust your expectations when necessary. As a leader, you need that emotional intelligence to recognise when staff are struggling, for whatever reason, so that you, or others, can support and allow them to still deliver for the learners they work with. So, really listen to what is said, and what is not, in daily interactions and respond appropriately.

Remembering to praise staff when they have done well and to say thank you, takes little time but has a massive impact on esteem, confidence, morale and performance. Don't use praise and thanks in a perfunctory way, but really identify the reason why you are stopping them to acknowledge their performance. 'Thank you for organising the sports day. I know it is complicated and some people might not appreciate how difficult they are to get right. But I could see you worked really hard to keep everyone informed and I appreciated the little tweaks you made to last year's event.' Is a lot better than  'thanks for organising the sports day' and shows you have recognised effort and skills the member of staff has employed to make the event a success. Praise and give thanks in public where appropriate. If you really know your staff well you will know the ones who would prefer this done privately rather than in front of others.

Try to remember birthdays, put them in your diary to help. This doesn't mean send everyone a card, though you can do that if you wish, but just saying 'Happy birthday' when you meet a member of staff can say a lot. It shows you see each member of staff as an individual and a person. You don't just see them as employees, or worse a number. You are genuinely interested and concerned for them. You need to show that you will share their successes and highlights, you will support them when they are down and understand when they fail and make mistakes, as we all do. In short, it shows you're human.

Lots of other interactions will take place over time that shape and construct the culture and ethos. Some are formal and planned for but many powerful others are ad hoc, unplanned and serendipitous. You share births, deaths, illness, disputes, celebrations, home moves, new looks, injuries, strengths and fallabilities, and they will probably share many of yours. All of these interactions shape the type of school you lead and how staff, pupils, parents and others experience and feel about the school. They will decide the levels of commitment from all staff and therefore the pace of development and your ability to implement and manage change. You ignore their importance at your peril. That is not to say you won't have times when you need to have those difficult conversations with members of staff, but if you create the right kind of culture, those conversations do become easier. 

You need to focus on all those little interactions, but in a way that is sincere and genuine. Sometimes we are so focused and concerned with the big picture and the large strategic decisions we are constantly making that it can be easy to see those little actions as unimportant. My view is, you are more likely to be successful with your big plans if you spend time enough of your time making sure the small interactions are sincere and meaningful.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

The Six Qualities of Educational Leadership

I wrote a post a few weeks ago (The six tasks of leadership 12/12/15) following an article about Sir Tim Brighouse, who had identified what he thought were the six key tasks for school leaders. My own list was a bit different to Tim's but it also set me thinking about what might be the qualities you would look for in high performing school leaders. I give you my six as a stimulus for discussion and perhaps your own consideration of what qualities we should look for in school leaders. The first is authenticity. I believe all school leaders need to be authentic and to really walk the walk of their talk. There can be nothing so dispiriting for school community members than being led by a leader who says one thing but does another. Remember to say what you mean and mean what you say. I think the highest performing leaders possess emotional awareness. They know themselves well and they know the people they lead well too. They understand the importance of relationships and how to ta

Evaluation: a process, not an event

Throughout my time as a school leader, and since, I have wrestled with the challenge of evaluation, in terms of measuring the impact of change, in a way which is meaningful and useful . Early in my career, such evaluation was very much viewed as an event, or events, that happened towards the end of a project, or piece of work, usually occurring towards the end of a school year. This was often a time filled with lots of scrabbling around looking for 'evidence' that could be put into some sort of report aimed at different different audiences. It felt stressful, concocted at times and often disconnected from the whole change agenda. Evaluation was a thing to be endured at the end of something else, with its main purpose consisting of proving you had been doing something to different people. Some of these would take what you gave them, and put that into their own 'evaluation report' for a cluster of schools, a local authority, or even a national system. A major issue with

Some thoughts for new student teachers

  Having gained a host of new followers on Twitter, who are either completing PGDE, or other student teacher qualifications, got me thinking about the advice, thoughts, comments I would give to those embarking on their own professional learning journey.   It is heart-warming to see, and hear, the enthusiasm of new entrants into the profession. They are passionate about their career path, and are constantly enthusing about the high quality input they are receiving from lecturers, professors of education and practitioners. My first piece of advice would to use those feelings as a touchstone, to go back to and revisit, throughout your career, but especially when you are facing challenges. Teaching is one of the most satisfying and rewarding professions to be involved in, but throughout your career you will encounter a myriad of challenges, and during these times it is often worth your while reminding yourself of why you came into the profession, and re-consider your early enthusiasms.   W