LEADERSHIP SKILLS
FOR THE 21st CENTURY
Raymond J. McNulty
Senior Vice President
• Identify the essential characteristics of
successful schools and the most rapidly
improving schools
• Best Practices/Research to assist schools
• Organize our learning into useful tools
Themes
1. Opening Thoughts
2. Traits of Top Performers
3. Key Strategies
4. Symptoms of Decline
5. Actions for Individuals and
Schools
6. Advice
OPENING THOUGHTS
• Not an expert
• I’m a learner
• I change my opinion / what I do
is based on what I learn.
“In times of change, learners
inherit the Earth while the
learned find themselves
beautifully equipped to deal
with a world that no longer
exists.”
- Eric Hoffer, American Social Writer
“Learning is the
work for everyone.”
- Michael Fullan
“Learning is developing
the individual and the
organization day after
day within the culture.”
- Michael Fullan
Motivation is a key ingredient
for success in learning.
The primary aim of
education is not to
enable students to do
well in school, but to
help them do well in the
lives they lead outside
of school.
Generation Gap
21 st Century
We are already there!!
The Internet has created
the greatest generation
gap since the advent of
rock and roll.
This Generation…
Teenagers surveyed…
• use 4 – 5 active e-mail addresses
• nearly 60% would rather use e-mail than a
telephone
• are likely to have 6 applications running at
once on their PC
• 26% of U.S. students access a foreign
news service as a primary source for news
This Generation…
• 96% of U.S. students surveyed say school is
important to their success, but only 20%
believe it is meeting their needs
• Over 20% of students reported doing Internet
research for parent purchases
This Generation…
• The “killer application” for today’s
students isn’t You Tube, Face Book, My
Space, Google, Moodle, Pod-casting or
some Wiki-site
• For digital teens, the one and only “killer
app” is… speed
• Consider this …
This Generation…
–The fastest growing segment of
computer-users today in the U.S.
is 5 to 7 year olds
Question:
How do we teach our
children to live and
work in this society?
We have to
collaborate to get
better.
There’s no silver bullet!!
NO EPIPHANY
Comprehending Literacy in a Global Era
• Quantitative Literacy
– Identify numerical
representations and ideas
• Prose Literacy – Perform computations and
– Search solve problems either alone or
– Comprehend sequentially
– Use continuous text – Use numbers embedded in
printed materials
– Act with mathematical intent
• Documents Literacy to complete tasks
– Search
– Comprehend
• Technological Literacy
– Act upon
– Navigate and search using
– Use non-continuous text electronic sources
in various formats
– Production and problem
solving
– Compare and use ever-
changing media and
information
– Act upon media and
technology based information
Taking Action with Text, Media and Writing
• Quantitative Literacy
• Prose Literacy – Checkbook balancing
– Editorials – Tip calculation
– News stories – Order form completion
– Brochures – Interest calculations
– Instructional materials – Benefit and nutrition comparison
calculations
– Advertisement comparing prices
• Document Literacy and other data
– Job applications
– Payroll forms
– Transportation
• Technological Literacy
schedules – Filing taxes online
– Maps – Travel arrangements
– Tables – Photo management
– Drug or food labels – Document assembly and
creation
– “Personal digital libraries” of
music and other media
Traits of Top Performers
Break the self-limiting
mindset
MENTAL TOUGHNESS
Roger Bannister
Love pressure
Devote yourself
passionately to
improvement
Focus on what you can
control
Don’t get distracted
Fixate on the long term
The trick is to
meticulously plan
short- term goals
• Break the self limiting mindset
• Love pressure
• Focus on what you can control
• Fixate on the long term
Key Strategies
Key Strategies
• Innovation
• Leadership and Leadership
Density
• Attend to the Big Three
• Coherence
1. Innovation
A Story….
• Not a bad idea, but to • Fredrick Smith
earn a grade more
than a C+, the idea
has to be viable! • The idea FedEx
(Yale Professor)
“In the beginner’s mind there
are many possibilities; in the
expert’s mind there are few.”
-Shurnyu Suzuki
Sustaining Innovation
And
Disruptive Innovation
System Innovation
Disruptive
Sustaining Innovation
Coherence
Fidelity Adaptable
Scalable
Coherence
Fidelity Adaptable
Scalable
Coherence
Fidelity Adaptable
Scalable
• Sears
• IBM
• Digital…. “In Search of Excellence”
• Xerox
BANKING
2. Leadership and
Leadership Density
“Leadership is action,
not position.”
- Donald H. McGannon
Too many managers, not
enough leaders.
Managers keep the current
system in place and
minimize risk.
“The fundamental task of a
leader is to develop confidence
in advance of victory, in order to
attract the investments that make
victory possible.”
-Rosabeth Moss Kanter
INTEGRATIVE THINKING
How Leaders Think
• Not what they do but what produces
their actions.
• Ability to hold two opposing ideas in
their heads at once.
• You must fight thinking either/or…….
• Integrative thinkers don’t mind messy
problems. In fact, they welcome
complexity, because that’s where the
best answers come from.
Leaders know how to wield the right
change tools, at the right time?
The secret is to gauge how strongly
your people agree on:
1. Where they want to go?
2. How to get there?
Broad consensus
Charisma Folklore Religion
Vision
Rituals
Leadership Tools
Salesmanship
Culture Tools
Role Modeling Tradition Democracy
Apprenticeship
Strategic
Where they want to go?
Negotiation
planning
Role Financial Transfer Measurement
Definition incentives pricing systems
Fiat Hiring &
promotion
Management Tools
Power Tools
No consensus
Control systems Standard
operating
Coercion
procedures
Training
No consensus Broad consensus
How they want to get there?
3. Attend to the
Big Three
What are they?
1. LITERACY
2. NUMERACY
3. WELL-BEING OF THE
LEARNER
4. Coherence
System Coherence
1. Engaging 21st Century Learners
2. Rigorous and Relevant Content
3. Teacher’s Knowledge and Skills
Mission:
Why we exist
Google’s Mission:
“To organize the
world’s information
and make it universally
accessible and useful.”
Values:
What we believe in and
how we will behave
Vision:
What we want to be
Strategy:
Can you say what your
strategy will be?
Rigor/Relevance Learning Criteria to Components of
Framework Support 21st School
Century Learners Excellence
Core Academic Learning •Embrace a Common Vision
6
and Goals
5
Stretch Learning •Inform Decisions Through
4
Data Systems
3
Learner Engagement •Empower Leadership Teams to
2
Take Action and Innovate
1
Personal Skill •Clarify Student Learning
1 2 3 4 5 Expectations
Development
•Adopt Effective Instructional
Practices
•Address Organizational
Structures
•Monitor Progress/Improve
Support Systems
•Refine Process on an Ongoing
Basis
Success Beyond the Test
• Core Academics
• Stretch Learning
• Learner Engagement
• Personal Skill Development
Core Stretch Learner Personal Skill
Engagement Development
Dimensions of the
Learning Criteria
Core
Stretch
Learner
Engagement
Personal Skill
Development
Implementation Components
for School Excellence
Embrace Common Vision and Goals
Inform Decisions Through Data Systems
Empower Leadership Teams to Take Action
and Innovate
Clarify Student Learning Expectations
Implementation Components
for School Excellence
Adopt Effective Instructional Practices
Address Organizational Structures
Monitor Progress / Improve Support Systems
Refine Process on an Ongoing Basis
Key Strategies
• Innovation
• Leadership and Leadership
Density
• Attend to the Big Three
• Coherence
SYMPTOMS OF DECLINE
Twelve Symptoms of a
School in Decline
Symptom #1:
Lack of leadership – The principal is not
providing focus and direction around
addressing key priorities.
Daniel Duke, University of VA
Twelve Symptoms of a
School in Decline
Symptom #2:
More rules and harsher punishments –
Schools in decline often experience more
student behavior problems, sending them
into a downward spiral of increasingly
harsh disciplinary measures and loss of
instructional time and trusting
relationships.
Daniel Duke, University of VA
Twelve Symptoms of a
School in Decline
Symptom #3:
Lost Focus – The School lacks clear
academic priorities. If everything seems to
be a priority time nothing is a priority. This
leads to wasted resources.
Daniel Duke, University of VA
Twelve Symptoms of a
School in Decline
Symptom #4:
Poor Alignment – Classroom instruction is
not lined up with state standards and tests,
and students are blindsided.
Daniel Duke, University of VA
Twelve Symptoms of a
School in Decline
Symptom #5:
Inadequate monitoring of progress at the
student, classroom and site level.
Daniel Duke, University of VA
Twelve Symptoms of a
School in Decline
Symptom #6:
Ineffective staff development – Schools
that begin to decline are frequently the
recipients of one-shot inservice programs
and staff development.
Daniel Duke, University of VA
Twelve Symptoms of a
School in Decline
Symptom #7:
Lower staff expectations – Teachers
increasingly give up on struggling students
and don’t hold themselves to high
standards of professional practice.
Daniel Duke, University of VA
Twelve Symptoms of a
School in Decline
Symptom #8:
Undifferentiated assistance – Non-I.E.P.
students who are having difficulty are
assigned to generic supplementary
programs with a lot of repetition and
extended practice.
Daniel Duke, University of VA
Twelve Symptoms of a
School in Decline
Symptom #9:
Rigid daily schedule – The inflexibility of
the daily schedule prevents students from
getting timely and targeted help.
Daniel Duke, University of VA
Twelve Symptoms of a
School in Decline
Symptom #10:
Hasty hiring – It is tempting for principals in
declining schools to approach the hiring
process fatalistically.
Daniel Duke, University of VA
Twelve Symptoms of a
School in Decline
Symptom #11:
Increased class size – Class sizes
mushroom, making it difficult for even the
best teachers to be productive.
Daniel Duke, University of VA
Twelve Symptoms of a
School in Decline
Symptom #12:
Overreliance on untrained helpers –
Programs to help struggling students are
often staffed by volunteers, teacher aides,
and unqualified personnel.
Daniel Duke, University of VA
ACTIONS FOR
INDIVIDUALS AND SCHOOLS
Four Guidelines for Action
as an Individual
• Act and talk as if you were in control and
project confidence
• Take credit and some blame
• Talk about the future
• Be specific about the few things that matter
and keep repeating them
-Pfeffer & Sutton 2006
Four Recommendations
for the School
• Signal the need for dramatic change with
strong leadership
• Maintain a consistent focus on improving
instruction
• Engineer some quick wins early
• Build a committed staff
ADVICE
HOPE is not a PLAN
Is my desire for success to
improve my system or
classroom strong enough to
prompt me to change my
thinking?
“The things we fear most in
organizations, fluctuations,
disturbances, imbalances are
the primary sources of
innovation.”
- Meg Wheatley
LEADERSHIP SKILLS
FOR THE 21st CENTURY
Raymond J. McNulty
Senior Vice President