Hope this message finds you well. I always like to pass along great resources when I find them. Here's one from the Harvard Business Review. Click on the link below to read more.
What's Your Leadership Brand?
A leadership brand tells people what is distinctive about you as a leader and communicates what you have to offer. Summarizing your brand in a statement is a useful and often enlightening task. First, answer two important questions:
1. What do you want to be known for?
2. What results do you want to achieve in the next 12 months?
Take these two answers and put them into the following statement: I want to be known for ______ so that I can deliver ______. Once you have your statement, be sure that you are living up to it. Ask others for input on whether you are achieving your goals and whether they see your leadership brand in the same way you do.
Hope this message finds you well. I am really excited to send this out. A Chainsaw Planning video - check it out by clicking on the links below!
All seven videos (below) are to be used by clients that have gone through Chainsaw Planning w/ Big River. All are between two & three minutes & contain a few ideas to get the most out of your plan.
One Week After Planning:
One Month After Planning:
Two Months After Planning:
Three Months After Planning:
Six Months After Planning:
Nine Months After Planning:
One Year After Planning:
Good luck & contact me if I can provide any additional assistance.
Dressing to impress is always on the minds of high school students. Chuck Briscoe, principal at Century High School in Rochester, is also dressing to impress – and he has impressed many more than he thought he would.
Each Tuesday, Chuck dons his tuxedo for school. "I'm trying to model for students that you dress for success. When I dress up, I do a little better work, I feel better." Each Tuesday, is now known as ‘Tuxedo Tuesday’. Chuck has had this idea rolling around in his head for a while; a friend’s challenge was all that he needed to make it happen this year.
"Tuxedo Tuesday" has had an amazing ripple effect throughout the school. The students are excited to see the tuxedo every Tuesday. Even some of the students and staff have started to dress in their finest on Tuesdays to join in the effort. During spirit week at school, the office staff dressed up in tuxedos to emulate Chuck.
The positive impact that Tuxedo Tuesdays have created is worth the extra effort Chuck takes. "People look at you differently in the real world and the expectations are higher. It's another take off about how you dress is important. You get one chance to make an impression, and if that's the first impression, it may not be a good one…if your pants are on the ground." Chuck chuckled, referencing the recent audition on American Idol.
We all know the three “R”s that schools focus on. Chuck has added a fourth “R” and feels tops them all. The most important "R" that exists in every school is the relationship "R." Great principals work very hard to establish and maintain positive relationships with the student body and the staff. The positive effect of wearing a tuxedo each week is an example on what a leader can do to have an effect on their relationship with everyone in the building.
Chuck tries to get a photo or two each Tuesday with students or staff to commemorate each week as it passes. According to him, he has every vest and tie color under the sun. Beyond the pictures, Chuck recently was contacted by WCCO and a story will be airing in mid-February about Tuxedo Tuesdays.
If you don’t know where you’re going, how will you know when you get there? Or how will you know which road to take? Are we all going in the same direction? Strategic planning and setting goals is instrumental in success for organizations. It provides focus, leadership, and a path for success. The Morris Area School Board and Superintendent Scott Monson have proof of the success strategic planning has provided their district.
Scott continues to put the strategic plan and goals in front of the School Board, schools, and the community. They recently completed ‘Year One’ of their plan and kicked off “Year Two” with a meeting where they reviewed progress and shared updates, committees discussed information specific to their focus area, and brainstormed potential next steps.
The areas highlighted for the Morris Area Schools Strategic Plan are:
Each area was assigned to a committee composed of School Board, administration, staff, parents, and community members, and progress has been, and continues to be made. The plan also continues to be a topic at every school board meeting, where various updates and relevant information are discussed or shared.
• Accountability
13 action items – 10 were completed, 2 are in progress/partially completed, 1 was not completed
• Community partnerships
6 action items – 4 were completed, 1 is in progress/partially completed, 1 was not completed
• Student participation
6 action items – 5 were completed, 1 cannot be completed until this fall
• Trust and communication
4 action items – all were completed
• 21st Century students
5 action items – 4 were completed and1 was not completed
• Fiscal stability
5 action items – 4 were completed and 1 was not completed
ALL FOCUS AREAS
39 action items – 90% “success” rate
One of the most impressive aspects of the strategic plan in Morris is the awareness and buy-in of the staff. I believe that because there have been key stakeholders involved in the process, there is more buy-in, awareness, and support for these initiatives. When the staff (N ≈ 47) was surveyed, the “Yes” or “Non-No” responses were overwhelming.
I am aware of the district's Strategic Plan. 98% affirmative
The Strategic Plan is beneficial for me. 93% affirmative
The Strategic Plan is beneficial for our students. 97% affirmative
The Strategic Plan is beneficial for the district. 100% affirmative
I am aware of goals set in the district. 100% affirmative
I am aware of goals set in the building/area I work in. 98% affirmative
Goal setting is beneficial for me. 96% affirmative
Goal setting will benefit for our students. 98% affirmative
Goal setting is beneficial for the district. 98% affirmative
Points Scott really wanted to emphasize are:
- Small(er) districts can and should do Strategic Planning.
· - Input and involvement from stakeholders was very valuable and greatly appreciated.
· - Having a Strategic Plan in our district resulted in:
o increased stakeholder engagement
o common language and dialogue
o action items and positive protocol changes
o focused resources (especially time)
o a feeling of where we are going/direction
o affirmations (what we are doing isn't so bad after all)
We know that progress will continue to be made because of the district leadership’s dedication to the plan and the success of their district.
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