Top Four Leadership Legacy Skills: #3 Knowledge-Seeker

I have something important to admit. I am a pluviophile. It’s true. I think I’ve been like this most my life. There is something comforting about rainy days. Wait. You do know what a pluviophile is, right? A pluvioph

ile is someone who loves rainy days. We had a rainy day last evening in our community. This rainy day turned into a thunderstorm which was peaceful and relaxing for me. I know I may be unique, but there is something calming about these days. As you can see, many reading may have learned something new today -- pluviophile. This, the ability to learn information, is our #3 trait in our “Top Ten Leadership Legacy Traits” – knowledge-seeker.

Our job as a school leader can quickly be overrun by answering questions, putting out fires, and creating pathways for effective communication. We may be up to our ears in budgets, hiring, and evaluations. But, if we do not take the time to be a seeker of knowledge, we will grow stagnant in our own growth and development as a human being. Below are five ways to increase your capacity in seeking knowledge.

#1: Use Social Media. Specifically, I recommend Twitter. You may be cringing. But, hear me out. Select entities to follow that increase your own capacity. I started my Twitter journey by following people I respected and from whom I wanted to learn. I then looked to see who they were following and followed those people. I quickly gained a social media feed that was chalk full of great professional reading and learning. I also added news organizations to my feed, and now keep up on news through Twitter, too.

#2: Read books. I was at a school conference last week and my son’s principal shared with me how she is part of the 60-book challenge for 2018. The challenge is to read 60 books in over a year. I thought first, “Man how could I do that?” Then, I realized if it was important I could. So, I have set a goal of 24 books this year (2 a month). I wanted to be sure to reach my goal and leave room for surpassing that goal. But, if you want to follow my son’s principal in her journey, check her feed out at @princiPAL99.

#3. Listen. This seems simple, right. But, I bet it’s harder than you think. Challenge yourself to listen for 20 minutes a day. This can be news, engaging in a conversation, Ted Talks, NPR, anything. But, here is the kicker. You must only listen. You can’t be on a phone, computer, or doing something else. Engage in the skill of listening. You will be surprised.

#4: Build a Question Bank. I keep a list of questions that I want to investigate and learn more about personally. For example, I saw a post about immigration (don’t worry I won’t get political) and the person arrested (a doctor with no adult criminal activity) had a green card, but had not applied for citizenship. I really did not know what the limitations were of having a green card. I also did not know what the requirements were for citizenship. So, I spent time researching. This topic had nothing to do with my profession and had no bearing on my personal life. But, I felt much more satisfied than I had in a while because I took the initiative to learn something new.

#5. Journal. I know, right? This isn’t ‘Dear Diary”, lock it with a key, and keep under you mattress. Research shows that reflection is a powerful learning tool to help move information from short- to long-term memory. For someone who just found out he must wear bifocals (or progressive lenses as they are called now), and has some gray hair coming in a very distinguished way, the importance of moving information from short- to long-term memory has new meaning. Journaling allows us to reflect on the day, find patterns in our thinking, and help us sleep better at night.

While you certainly do not have to do any of these or can do these, the ability to be a knowledge-seeker helps you professionally, personally, emotionally, and even spiritually. I encourage you to pick one and get started. Who knows. You might find out you’re a pluviophile, too.

TOP FOUR LEADERSHIP LEGACY SKILLS: #2 AMBITION

One time a man was walking along the beach and saw another man fishing in the surf with a bait bucket beside him. As he drew closer, he saw that the bait bucket had no lid and had live crabs inside.

“Why don’t you cover you bait bucket so the crabs won’t escape?” he asked.

“You don’t understand,” the man replied. “If there is one crab in the bucket it would surely crawl out very quickly. However, when there are many crabs in the bucket, if one tries to crawl up the side, the others grab hold of it and pull it back down so that it will share the same fate as the rest of them.”

Welcome to the #2 of the “top Ten Leadership Legacy Skills”. Ambition often gets a negative connotation in the work force. I have experience it first hand in the past. Despite this perceived negativity, I believe it is a skill that must me practiced, modeled, and shared with adults and students alike to (1) grow, (2) transform, and (3) lead.

Many of us are in the leadership roles we are in because we have ambition. We have a desire to reach a certain goal, support a certain cause, or lead for a change. This ambition helps us (1) GROW as learners. Whether it was taking additional classes, trial and error in solving problems, or watching and observing others, we all used this skill to grow into who we are today. Furthermore, if we want to continue to grow, we must employ this skill to further develop ourselves. It’s okay to have ambition—ambition allows for dreaming, future planning, and goal setting.

Many of us have been in a situation where there is a time in which we feel stuck, lost, or frustrated in each situation. In these challenging times, we must pause, assess, and create a future plan. This future plan helps us (2) TRANSFORMS our dreams into actions. I first learned of future plans when going through a certification training with Ruby Payne’s “A Framework for Understanding Poverty”. This strategy allows for students to think about the future. Dream. Set a goal for the future, and then develop plans in how to get there.

As an elementary student, I knew I wanted to be a teacher –  a principal someday even. I never thought about my doctorate or working for a highly respectable educational company as a director of professional learning. Why? I simply didn’t know it existed. But, I had a dream—a plan in being an educator. Then, after earning my appropriate credentials I achieved that dream of being a teacher and then a principal. Are we talking to our students about their dreams? Are we instilling ambition in our students by having them craft their future story? We should know every one of our students’ ambitions.

When we utilize the ambition that is within us or make a point to help students create a future story, we can begin to plan. We make thousands of decisions daily as leaders. But, are these decisions made in the moment, by happenstance, or are we methodical in our decision making? When we know the goals that we want to achieve, and have created a plan to reach those goals, we are able to be more strategic in the decisions that we make. This allows us to (3) LEAD at a high level of efficacy. Our ambition really grounds are thinking and planning.

Top FOUR Leadership Legacy Skills: #1 Integrity

Top Ten Leadership Legacy Skills
#1: Integrity

Gosh, 2017. What a pain in the butt you were, right? I can hardly begin to put my finger on all the not-so-great events that took place in our world. I’m not sure you’d want me to list them and give my opinion either – we might not be friends by the end of this post if I did. But, here is what I did in 2017 that you are about to learn in this journey with me. Through my observations in US and World politics, journalism, Hollywood, and frankly every other experience that I encountered was an entire series of leadership qualities that we need today in education. I have taken 2017 and created a Top List of Leadership Legacy Traits that are necessary to pull us from the brink of an educational meltdown (and I’m pretty confidence that other sectors of the economic world would also benefit). Are you ready?

Integrity. If you visit my Twitter Account (go ahead and do this – follow me, too!) @adamddrummond you will see that my description begins with: Integrity. [W/O it nothing else matters]. I’ve longed value this trait and believe it serves as my own personal moral compass. Before we explore this trait, please know that I’m not on a might horse looking down and judging. I have my own flaws – ask my wife, children, or parents. They are brutally honest. ALL. THE. TIME. But, I do strive to use integrity in everything that I do.

Why Integrity? Why do we need to have leaders that use integrity? Why is this the most important leadership trait? Why do we need to model this daily? I could give you a thousand more whys – they make great essential questions you know? But, truly why integrity? There are three reasons why integrity is a leadership trait that educational leaders must model to be successful.

The first is DECISION MAKING. I’ll never forget Dr. Marilyn Quick’s leadership classes at Ball State University (Chirp! Chirp!) when studied the Thinking Hats theory. Simply put this theory takes a current problem and positions the leader to examine the situation from multiple perspectives. After examining the situation from these perspectives, the leader can better predict the outcome. So, what does this have to do with integrity. We have an obligation to approach problems with an open mind and examine all facets of the issue. Then and only then, are we able to begin formulating a plan for solutions. Our solutions must be rooted and based in a belief system. The belief system is what helps guides the decisions. When we use our belief system and this theory we can make decisions rooted in integrity. We can develop a well-rounded solution that has been thought out, examined from multiple perspectives, was not concocted in a rash and flippant moment.

EYES ARE EVERYWERE. If we have observed anything in 2017, social media has created a horrific black hole of facts, fiction, and everything in between. Plus, we are all an expect because we have an @ in front of our name on Twitter or an Instagram Account or a like button that has become more powerful than the sword (#ToldYouSo). Now more than ever we must operate within elevated levels of integrity. We must do this because everyone watches how we act as leaders. We are always ‘on’. When I was a principal, I shared with my staff that I always tried to be the “same Dr. D.” every day. This meant that no matter the situation I was approaching that moment in a calm, rationale, level headed moment. Our students (and staff) deserve that. Was I 100% successful? No, but I strived to be darn close. Even when a fifth grade threw his entire tray of food on me (I walked up to the line and was treated to this gift because he thought he was in trouble) I managed to keep my cool in front of 125 other students (#WillPower). You see, more and more students are unable to have experiences where adults are consistent in their own behavior and choose to act with integrity in each situation. We, as educational leaders, must model this and intentionally teach and call out the behavior when it is modeled.

WE ARE UNDER ATTACK. It’s true. Education has become scrutinized in all aspects. State and federal accountability don’t help when we minimize a school’s performance to a letter grade (though that may be changing for some states). Or when we have political leaders continuously criticize teachers and educational leaders. Or when everyone is now an expert because they graduated from high school or college. But, through all this, we must make the right decision for our students. Every. Single. Time. We don’t have any other option. We must act with integrity so that our own decisions and solutions are not questioned. When we jeopardize our integrity to make an easy choice even though it’s wrong, we lose even more credibility. We must operate at the highest level of integrity at all costs for the sake of our students.

If we don’t, who will?

It's Hard to Pour from Empty Cup

Can you believe it is 2-0-1-8? I mean seriously where did the time go? I have thought about this a lot over the last two weeks as we celebrated another Christmas and New Year. Perhaps it’s the fact that my 7^th grader only has five more Christmas mornings where he still at home with us. Or maybe it’s the fact my sister-in-law moved to California in November and this was the first Christmas Eve that didn’t include her in 17 years. Or maybe it’s the fact that my three-year-old daughter is now potty-trained and we have officially ended the baby years. Yet, it could be the gray hair that shows up in the mirror.

Whatever the reason, I have committed 2018 to be the year of me. Yep, that is right I am committing 2018 to be one of the most selfish, Adam-centric years ever. You may raise an eyebrow at this comment or may even think he already does that. But, I’ve decided that I am going to worry about what is important to me and be sure I am prioritizing those areas above the needs of others. [Insert snarky judgement here]. You should do the same.

My Family. I have spent the better part of my adult life ensuring that I am giving back to my community, involved in service organizations, church, activities, etc. These are all noble and worthwhile endeavors. But, have I created a good balance for me and my family? Nope. But, that’s going to change. My wife and children often get the leftovers at the end of the day (and frankly there isn’t much). So, I need to do better.

My Health. Speaking of leftovers, I have spent the last three-year years in a real wind of change from the early arrival of our daughter and job changes. In that three-year period, I have chosen to not prioritize fitness and health. This has taken its toll on me (as I sit here feeling like an achy, old man). I need to recommit eating healthy, drinking lots of water, and exercising (saying that makes me nauseous already). I have joined an online fitness and health nutrition group that is going to be my accountability. I have My Fitness Pal ready to go. I just need a taser for every time I think of eating something bad (yes I know it’s moderation) or really wanting a diet mountain dew!

My Passion. I promised myself after completing my dissertation in 2014, I would not write anything for three years. Why? I just didn’t want to. After a 200-page dissertation, who wants to pick up the pen and doing anything? The problem is I have a story to tell. I have a passion for helping education leaders reach their dreams and goals. It’s time I put all the ideas into a sensible way to share my ideas with others.

Did you see what I did there? I started each of the last three paragraphs with ‘MY’. It’s about me. It’s about what I want and need. I know that if I make every decision based in these three areas I can create new habits that will create a successful and strong 2018. I need this. I think you might, too.