Transition Needs Vision

Times of transition are times for vision.

When an organization makes a switch in senior leadership; or when a department within an organization sees a new supervisor; or when a faculty finds out that a new principal is coming, a clearly stated vision is often the key to stability and security.

Transition usually brings change...sometimes major change! A new leader usually brings new ideas, new procedures, and new philosophies. Getting to know the new leader is essential to transition - who is the leader: intellectually, emotionally, and professionally? The proclamation of a clear, powerful vision can enable the new leader to clarify so many dynamics of who he/she is.

The first few public meetings that the new leader has with his/her organization are so crucial to those who wish to follow. Employees are looking for direction; they are curious about immediate changes that are in the wind; they may be nervous about the future direction of the institution; they want to know that the new leader is qualified to lead; and they long to hear about the path that the leader is traveling. It is so critical that the new leader develop an intentional strategy for communicating his/her vision.

The effectiveness of the strategy depends on several elements, but the two engines will propel and accelerate the plan that are somewhat outside of the strategy itself: verbal communication skills and quality of vision. These two elements need to be at the foundation stones on which a specific strategy is built.

First - the verbal communication skills of the leader. The qualities of an effective leader have been debated for many years without a canonized list in sight, but I have found that an individual who cannot verbally communicate with passion, excitement, and enthusiasm lacks the skill-set of a person of impact. Certainly a leader must be more than a charismatic personality, but if he/she cannot inspire the troops... give the locker room speech that rallies the team.... deliver bad news with dignity and courage...and raise the flag with shouts of unification and advancement, then who will want to follow.

All the marketing in the world will not compensate for a lack-luster verbal communication from the head of the organization. When a leader speaks it is not enough to just get a base hit when he/she talks about vision - it is better than a strike out, but home runs need to be the norm. Every one has a bad day from time to time and the level of communication may not be up to standard, but clear, fresh, articulate, inspiring oration must be the reputation of the leader.

In my opinion, this failure to communicate is the reason that Bob Dole lost his bid for the presidency. I personally went to hear Senator Dole speak in Ohio during his campaign. I truly wanted him to do well and I wanted to hear him shout the words of conservativism and truth. I was greatly disappointed in his lack of pizazz. On the other hand, I loved his wife and would have cast my vote for her - she was personable, passionate, articulate and vibrant.

Second is the quality of the vision. Fiery words, the raised voice to drive home a point, and large, flowing gestures can assist in providing a powerful context for a message, but shallow words conveying a thin vision are ineffective to discerning ears. Lofty promises and general goals leave the organization scratching their heads in confusion at the end of the leader's words. A leader's vision is like a boat. It must be big enough for everyone to have their spot, strong enough to weather the storms of criticism and doubt, and appealing enough for others to want to board. Just because you park a boat next to a dock doesn't mean that anyone will get in.

And a leader must know where he is taking the boat. A vision should proclaim the destination! The purpose for the organization and the vision to transform that mission into reality must be rich with motivational specifics, filled with excitement and worthy causes, important enough for employees to sacrifice their careers and to spend many years of their lives to create. A nebulous or shallow vision will produce a lack of commitment and a flattening of morale.

Times of transition are times for vision - A well articulated vision.... a well communicated vision...an inspiring vision that leads to unity and shared enthusiasm. Successful transition requires a leader who can talk the vision, walk the vision, and lock the vision into the fabric of the organization. Without a powerfully clear and focused vision, transition can be filled with confusion, discouragement, and even chaos. Leaders in time of transition need to shout, share, whisper, talk and write about their vision for the future. Raise the flag, sound the battle cry, circle the wagons, and man the torpedoes - the future arrives tomorrow.


leadership figure from http://rudyvrodriguez.wordpress.com

Transition through Orientation

Orientation of new employees is such a critical part of successful career transition. The awkward days of a new job that are filled with meeting new people and trying to remember their names; learning new tasks comprised of far too many steps to recall after only being shown once; finding a new work space with different looking resources (or no resources at all!); answering telephone calls without ample information to satisfy the inquirer; experiencing a lonely lunch break without a kindred spirit to talk to. This kind of experience is difficult even for the most outgoing of sanguines. For the introvert, such a transition is almost unbearable.

A good orientation program can form the core of a pain-free transition. Being an educator, our school holds two days of new teacher orientation and three additional days of orientation for the entire faculty/staff. If designed carefully, these days can be great days of building relationships, relieving anxiety; laughing with new colleagues; and establishing the routines for the rest of the school year. The apprehensions of the rookie can be minimized with a good mentor program and some solid counsel from a wise leader.

Information.... appropriate, needed information should be shared in a variety of settings. Large groups, small groups, and one-on-one sessions can all be used to help with the task of orientation. Some data is best communicated in large group setting allowing the employee to get a sense of the overall ministry and the many facets involved in the organization. Vision, philosophy, mission can all be shared with inspiration and motivation in large group venues.

Small groups are idea for collaboration and inclusion. Experiences involving small groups can provide the new employee with a limited number of people (names) to assimilate and remember. Getting to know a small number of colleagues can break down so many walls toward acceptance and communication. Whether the small group is designed for social interaction or work projects, the results of positive collegiality can be realized.

One-on-one time is an essential part of orientation as well. A formal mentoring program provides that new employee with a personal lifeline. The better the fit between mentor and mentee the more effective this aspect of orientation will be. Just knowing that the employee has a place to go for personal and professional questions gives a peace of mine that specific needs can be met (without the embarrassment of having to ask the boss a stupid question).

In a school setting there are 1001 forms and rules and expectations to keep track of. There are time schedules to memorize, seating charts to design, lesson plans to submit, extra-duties to balance and papers to grades. Once the students arrive it is often a blur until Christmas vacation. A well designed orientation program can really help new teachers prepare for the invasion of students. A poor orientation can result in frustration and discouragement for the rookie teacher. The teaching profession is so difficult to learn. Without a good mentor and administrative support, a teacher walks into the year with two strikes against success.

Good leaders provide excellent orientation!

picture found at http://www.mic.ul.ie/healthandsafety/Training.htm

Beware the Negative; Watch Out for the Positive!

As an educational leader, I have found the teachers' lounge to be an interesting place to listen for the culture of the school. Just sitting down and listening to the conversations among teachers provides incredible insights into the climate of the organization. After a short visit to the lounge, I was able to glean the health of the spirit, the morale, and the attitudes of the faculty and staff.

For the most part, my visits to the lounge were encouraging as I heard teachers sharing about funny experiences in the classroom, outstanding achievements of the students, interesting insights provided by student participation, and collaborative knowledge sharing regarding methodology that worked or bombed during the instructional day. I heard lots of laughter as professionals enjoyed relating to one another as kindred spirits.

But there were those situations where whining and complaining cast a dark cloud on the spirit of collegiality. Negative comments and pessimistic attitudes invaded the commitment to education to the point of despair. The sunshine of being involved in the transformational process in students' lives was eclipsed by the shadow of gloom. I could just feel the poison of complaining words infiltrating the core of the room. A little cold water can quickly put out the fire of enthusiasm. The "woe is me"s of negative thinking calls out for the misery of others. Soon the rally cry of the group is directed toward the common complaints of the community (and there are always several things worthy of comment). Negativism turns the key to depressing topics and discontentment.

The other side of the coin can be difficult as well. If a culture is created where constructive criticism and questions of concern are not permitted... where disagreements and complaints are simply not vocalized, we find an ostrich-organization with its head in the sand. Agitation and disagreements boil under the surface, but no one is brave enough to talk about the elephant in the room. When negative comments are squelched and the individual is rebuked when a concern is expressed, the facade of optimism becomes the mask of reality.

Sometimes the leader can increase the impact of the mask by putting a positive spin on negative situations. If the leader refuses to hear and really listen to the concerns of others, he/she can do a great deal of damage in the name of optimism. The wonderful songs from the musical "Annie" entitled, "You're Never Fully Dressed Without a Smile," and the sun will come out "Tomorrow" reflect a nice philosophy of optimism, but oftentimes the difficulties of life must be addressed and not ignored. Turning aside a smiling face to a serious problem will not make the difficulty go away.

The balance of optimism and constructive planning is not easy to maintain, but either extreme can be painful. The challenge for the leader is to create a culture of positive movement toward a shared vision of greatness... to develop a corporate mindset of transforming that vision in order to change the world.... to inspire every employee to use his/her gifts to bring about incredible change through the mission of the organization. There needs to be an ever positive movement toward the shared vision while recognizing and enthusiastically working on difficulties. Constructive criticism is positive...whining and complaining is not. Words of death should be turned into live-giving solutions. Concerns need to be expressed to those with the power to make change, not to a group that is powerless to anything but listen with distain.

A positive spin on the negative? NO! A poison mouth filled with gloom? No way! The positive road between the two is narrow and easily derailed, but that road is such a key to creating a healthy organizational culture.

smiley/frown face credit - http://apathymyth.blogspot.com/2010/01/f-i-r-e-is-key-to-overwhelmed.html

Preparation or Presentation??

I have just finished a wonderful week of teaching in a summer institute for school teachers. The week-long institute was designed to provide professional development for PreK-Grade 12 classroom teachers in the Christian school. The institute provided seven different topics with each topic involving 6 hours of instruction. I had the privilege of teaching two of those topics.

I love teaching adults! They are so motivated to learn and they bring such rich experiences into the classroom. The role of teacher often takes on the service of the facilitator - serving up new information and then directing the discussion that naturally follows. The insights of adults and their passion for growth make them a joy to have in a classroom setting.

I love to teach! Although I was quite tired at the end of the week, I was also energized by the teaching experience. I think my passion for the content of my workshops comes forth in my animated delivery and genuine enthusiasm for the message. In the midst of the interactive classroom dynamics and the exchange of information, I find myself thrilled with the whole process.

As I have reflected on the past week of professional development, I have considered again the two sides of teaching: preparation and presentation. I often ask prospective teacher in the interview process which side of the teaching they enjoy the most. For me personally, the answer is "Yes!" I enjoy both the preparation and the presentation with equal zeal - but for very different reasons.

The preparation for teaching is is powerful! As I concern the incredible responsibility that I will have in helping others understand and apply truth, I am driven to know my topic, to research my statements , to ground my opinions in orthodoxy, and to ensure accuracy, integrity, and truthfulness in my presentations. I enjoy words.... definitions are important to me....logic, reasoning, and analysis drive my research. All of this takes time (lots of it) to prepare a workshop. I have never timed it, but I would estimate that for every hour of lecture, I put in 6-10 hours of preparation. Part of my problem with research is that I cannot bring myself to stop. There is always another article to read, source to include, quote to find, thought to include. And for me, the research is fun, exciting, and intellectually stimulating. I always gain so much more than my students. I usually end up with twice or three times more material and insight than I end up sharing with the class. I find myself so blessed during the preparation stage of teaching.

But then come the time of presentation. Even with the time spent in preparation, I often feel inadequate for the time of instruction. The nervousness of presentation is always there with little butterflies in the stomach, or huge waves of mental anguish, depending on the audience. But once the session has begun and get over the hump of anxiety, I experience the rush of presentation. Words begin to flow.... the expressions on the faces of the audience reveal acceptance and understanding.... I begin to see light bulbs of comprehension turning on in the eyes of many faces.... smiles and chuckles react to my humor... debate, discussion and dialog begin to invade the experience and I am floating on educational energy.

At the end of the day during this summer institute, I was physically tired, my feet were sore from moving around the classroom, my mouth was dry from talking, but my heart and spirit were alive with the experience. I am not by nature an extrovert and social gatherings are not my element of ease, but engaging a classroom filled with students who desire to learn together meets my driving heartbeat.

I love to teach and I love teaching adult!

photo credit: http://lifeinthenhs.wordpress.com/2009/03/10/