Leaders are essential to organizations now more than at any other time. The skills needed for leaders to help staff and students grow include:

• Organizing
• Cultivating
• Motivating
• Empowerment
• Encouragement
• Vision
• Commitment
• Dedication
• Balance
• Trust
• Collaborative
• Influence
• Inspiration
• Courage

There are several more you could add to the list. What would you add? Leading is serious business! When you are leading to make improvements and changes, it becomes very serious! Have you noticed some individuals do not like change?

Time for Change is the new book by Anthony Muhammad and Luis Cruz. The book is an essential piece in outlining the importance of school improvement plans related to the change process. To improve, change happens. At the Illinois Principal Conference, I listened to Luis Cruz tell his story, and his dedication to the audience were touching to me. He personalized his talk with the principals and emphasized, “You Matter.” He gave many examples on how to change the description of your title to include many of the things these fantastic leaders do each day.

“Leadership represents the ability to use influence to improve organizational productivity. Leadership is not a position; it is a set of actions that positively shape the climate and culture of the working environment. In essence, leadership is a verb, not a noun.”

Time for Change 4 Essential Skills for Transformational School and District Leaders Anthony Muhammad, Luis Cruz

Focus on Four

• Effectively communicate the rationale- Why of the work
• Effectively establish trust- Who of the work
• Effectively build capacity- How of the work
• Get results- Do the work

Gerry Brooks is fun! He provides the humor you need in the “truth” of the work educators are doing! I will share another one of his video clips with you, but please grab a copy of his book Go See the Principal: True Tales from the School Trenches. Utilize his videos, ideas, and thoughts to help with your school culture. We all need laughter! He has excellent points and solutions to some of those tricky situations you may find yourself in at times.

It would be fun for staff to do some things or all that he mentions in the book. One of my favorites is the acronyms he has! Education is full of these! It would be great to do with your staff when you are working on scheduling. It cracks me up! Here is the video clip:

• Principals and Teachers Network
• School Improvement
• School Leadership 2.0