Skip to content
What motivates you to be your best, take risks, and seek out opportunities to improve? I’d be willing to wager that there are an array of responses you would give to this question. As such, I am going to try to sum it all up with one word or concept, depending on how you look at the actions that create this feeling. Empowerment is the secret sauce. I genuinely believe that you get more out of people by building them up as opposed to knocking them down. I love the following quote from Laura Garnett:Leadership is shifting from telling everyone what to do to empowering others to come up with the best and brightest ideas that have either never been thought of before or implemented and acted upon in a respective environment. It’s about caring for and instilling a sense of belief in others that leads to greater confidence in one’s abilities as well as the place where he/she works or learns. This is how you empower people to be their best.
Empowerment isn’t just about making people feel good but more importantly valued. It’s in this state where a vision, mission, and goals can actually become a reality as there is a unified desire to succeed. Consider this from Brian Tracy:Once you empower people by learning how to motivate and inspire them, they will want to work with you to help you achieve your goals in everything you do. Your ability to enlist the knowledge, energy, and resources of others enables you to become a multiplication sign, to leverage yourself so that you accomplish far more than the average person and in a considerably shorter period of time.
So how can you empower others? It’s not as hard as you think. Below are some simple ways to create a culture of empowerment:- Be present during conversations (eye contact, body language, devices away)
- Provide timely, meaningful, and specific feedback
- Say thank you when the opportunity arises
- Distribute praise equitably and away from yourself
- Model what you expect
- Speak less and listen more
- Provide the autonomy to take risks
- When making decisions utilize consensus as much as possible
- Exhibit sincerity when complimenting others
- Co-develop professional learning opportunities that best meet the needs of all
Never underestimate the impact that the above strategies can have. Consider this thought from Archie Snowden:To empower someone is to give them the means to achieve something.” It makes them stronger and more confident, ready to take control of their life and to also be an advocate for themselves.
In the end, it is all about giving the people you work with (educators) or for (learners) a greater sense of purpose in what they do.
How do you make the most out of the money you have?
I
hope the question above gets you thinking. Educational institutions around the world spend billions of dollars on textbooks, curriculum, programs, technology, and professional development. I’m sure I missed some categories, but you get the point. Now, I am not saying that anything listed is not valuable. On the contrary, there is research, evidence, and practical needs that justify many of the purchases that are made in each category. My point is this. In times where the budget hammer comes down and critical decisions have to be made, what criteria do you use to make them?
As a principal one of my primary responsibilities was that of preparing a budget. Requests were made through a digital platform and had been done so years before I took the helm. One significant change I made was allowing my teachers, through their department chairs, to have more autonomy over this process. Once funds were allocated to each respective department, I then told them to spend as they saw fit. After all, why should I make these decisions if I am not the one actually teaching the kids or serving directly as a facilitator of learning? It made sense that the people who had the most day to day contact with students were empowered to make the best choices with the funds we had. There were a few times I had to intervene though when some of the decisions were questionable at best, but oversight is essential.
Big ticket items or those that were outside the realm of specific departmental needs followed a different process. Many of these fell within the categories listed at the beginning of this post. In this case, the teachers submitted wish list items while my leadership team and I consulted with students and staff alike to determine school needs. The goal was to make the budgeting process more collaborative. Leaders need to understand the positive impact that shared decision making and more autonomy have on culture. In many cases, those making the decisions think that is the case, but reality states otherwise. An article in Education Dive titled “Principals, teachers have different views on employee input” shared the following:Most principals — 96% — think that teachers are involved in making important decisions about their schools, but that’s far more than the 58% of teachers who feel the same way, according to a new RAND Corp. American Educator Panel survey of both teachers and school leaders.
Just as teachers use strategies in the classroom to encourage participation from students who aren’t typically likely to volunteer their opinion or ask to be the first to give a presentation, principals will likely need to use multiple methods to ensure they are hearing from a broader cross-section of teachers.
The budgeting process and how money is spent represents one of the most significant decisions that have to be made each year. To build morale and culture, leaders need to relinquish some control and trust those who are tasked with educating kids.
Beyond school and district budgets all educators should be critical of how money is spent to improve not only student learning but also their own. All funds are precious, whether they originate from your school or out of your own pocket. Think about the supporting research and evidence of impact to guide your decision-making process.
When spending money on programs, curriculum, professional development, or technology consider these questions: - Why invest in this product, service, or event?
- How will (or has) it improve learning outcomes?
- What criteria will be used to determine if it was a wise investment or to continue funding?
Spending any amount of money is a big deal. Engage in conversations at the district, school, or individual level to make the most out of what you have. When it is all said and done you want to be confident that the financial commitment either has or will continue to, positively impact learning outcomes for kids.
