Lao Tzu, Chopra, and Shackleton: Attempting to Put Leadership Theory into Practice

One of our faculty walked into my office a couple of weeks ago and dropped an article on my desk. He told me that it reminded him of me. The title of the article was “9 Hidden Qualities of Stellar Bosses”—honest!

Since he is a very thoughtful, reflective teacher and took his own time to stop by, I used it in reflecting on what a great/stellar leader/boss is, and how to approach greatness on a daily basis in our schools. I rarely, if ever, feel great or stellar in exercising my leadership responsibilities.

Lao Tzu said, “A leader is best when people barely know he exists; when his work is done, his aim fulfilled, they will say: we did it ourselves.” That also sounds a lot like a great teacher, by the way. I have been blessed with a number of recruiting opportunities for two recent start-up schools in South Korea and Austria, and I realize that the faculty do the really heavy lifting in such ambiguous and, at times, highly stressful settings.

After 28 years of working in accredited international schools in nine countries across the globe, I believe this is the only way all students can be fully engaged in their own learning—by working in a progressive, Socratic school environment that emphasizes shared core values and competencies and uses problem-based learning pedagogies.

This may sound lofty to more traditional administrators, but great teachers—leaders in their own right—get the students to own their own work. With that in mind, how do school leaders lead the realization of an agreed mission and vision, new or old?

Success comes from a conscious dedication of time and resources to assembling, building, and nurturing the entire team of school employees. Deepak Chopra teaches a class at Northwestern University called The Soul of Leadership, which boils down to three “ingredients”: teams have a shared vision, which they feel deeply; they are emotionally bonded; and every member of the team compliments the strengths of every other member.

With regard to my being complemented as “stellar boss” material, I have been described many more times in more colorful ways, I can assure you. Nevertheless, here are the nine hidden qualities, with my comments on each:

1. Forgive and forget

All people make mistakes. New, inexperienced leaders are especially susceptible to this. I was, and thankfully I had a wise, respected mentor who reminded me more than once to “make haste slowly.” We are human and we tend to learn more from our mistakes than from our successes. That is the human condition.

2. Transform school goals into faculty goals

This is easiest to do in the recruitment phase, but most schools have a faculty already in place. These seasoned veterans need to be included in the decision-making process from the beginning. A good place to start is an all-school meeting in the fall, before students arrive. Dedicate an entire day (remember to serve a nice, hot lunch) to getting small, heterogeneous groups to come up with their own Top Ten issues to be dealt with during that school year. After lunch, one representative from each group presents their Top Ten to the entire school, using supporting evidence. Allow everyone to quietly fill out a ballot of their own Top Ten, culled from the group charts. Tally the ballots and publish the Top Ten for the entire team (you should not share your opinions). Trust me, the real, big issues will arise. Turn off the phones and bring everyone together: custodians, staff, assistants, subs, faculty, nurses, counselors, etc. You will be pleasantly surprised.

3. Look past action, to emotion and motivation

The above group activity is a good start. Then, keep your office door open to faculty (and students) throughout the year, as well as your heart. The faculty and student body will come to trust you.

4. Support without seeking credit

Listen to Lao Tzu!

5. Make fewer public decisions

Listen again to Lao Tzu!

6. Do not seek control like a reward

Again, Lao Tzu!

7. Allow faculty to learn their own lessons

Did I say Lao Tzu?

8. Let faculty have the ideas

Students should have the ideas, eventually. That is the real test of a truly progressive school.

9. Always go home feeling you could have done better

But make sure you do not get too stressed out. Take a walk. Ride a bike. Go for a swim. Eat well. Enjoy a free weekend more than once in a while. As Sir Ernest Shackleton wrote, “Loneliness is the penalty of leadership, but the man who has to make the decisions is assisted greatly if he feels that there is no uncertainty in the minds of those who follow him, and that his orders will be carried out confidently and in expectation of success.”

By clearly and passionately sharing the mission and vision through direct engagement with all employees, there will be little uncertainty. Good luck!

Follow the leader? @jorgenelson on Twitter. The original article can be found at http://www.inc.com/jeff-haden/9-hidden-qualities-of-remarkable-bosses-mon.html.

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