Legendary Lens
"Excellence Without Boundaries"
March 16, 2015
What does it mean to have a Legendary Lens?
As we serve with an unrelenting commitment to excellence, we must posses a shared and common LENS. As two very wise women once said, "One Band. One Sound." makes for LEGENDARY outcomes! The Legendary Lens serves as a weekly calibration which defines our collective target and guides our aim for excellence.
High Leverage Targets
Alignment
Data Driven Instruction
Use of Instructional Time
Quote of the Week
Principal Message
A Collective Leadership Vision and Voice
I am asking at this time of year for reflection, even as we plan simultaneously for now and next year. I am asking that we find a common language amongst ourselves as a leadership team. This can be maximized as we begin to investigate our strengths, individually and collectively and by engaging in a collective, high leverage leadership experience offered via Teaching Trust's Executive Education Program.
I look forward to us sharing our Strengths and how it positively impacts our work and relationships as we strive to create a stronger bond and build trust.
Please complete the following survey by Tuesday:
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1SHq97WksDkisMj6LFF-UMuFPVT5FVfgs1Oe8CUVU_1c/viewform
Parent Reset Meetings (in Library)
6th Grade, March 18th, Wednesday @ 5pm
7th Grade, March 19th, Thursday @ 6pm
Breakfast via Kiosks
POD Meeting Refinement
Transition Activities
The purpose of this meeting is to share the "culture" and expectation of the grade level the students will be assuming in the upcoming year. It is an opportunity to build excitement, communicate expectations, and connect with parents early on, prior to the school year starting.
The events for incoming sixth graders is not new. However, this transition / Parent meeting for rising 7th and 8th graders is new. Please start thinking about this event and what you want this to look like. It will be on our agenda in April.
Leadership SWAP Day (or 2)!
Bathroom Monitors
Taylor & IC Meetings
The new rotation will begin next week, Wednesday, March 25th.
Assessment Data
If this information has not been shared with myself or the APs, please plan a time to share by this week.
2015-2016 Instructional Coaching Planning Meeting
Marshall Memo
How Mountain Guides Are Like Good Organizational Leaders
In this Wharton Leadership Digest article, Chris Maxwell (Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania) describes the key leadership strengths of world-class mountain guides, all of which apply to leading successful organizations:
• Socially intelligent – Guides must quickly establish positive relationships with climbers, scoping out their individual proclivities, what kind of support they will need, and how they will contribute to the effort.
• Adaptable – Guides match their leadership style to rapidly changing conditions. In some situations, they are authoritative, guiding clients along a path of self-discovery and accomplishment; in crisis situations they are authoritarian – “Do it, now!”
• Empowering – Guides provide climbers a supportive space for growth and development, which includes leading by example, coaching, participative decision-making, informing, showing concern, and interacting with the team. “You really are building others up, inspiring clients to find in themselves what they might not have thought themselves capable of,” says guide Christian Santelices.
• Trust-builders – “Trust is not the same as faith in the reliability of a person or system,” says British sociologist Anthony Giddens. “It is what derives from that faith. Trust is precisely the link between faith and confidence.” John Sims builds on that thought from his perspective as a business executive: “Without trust, you will be painstakingly slower,” he says. “Without trust in your teammates, you will only do as much as your faith in your own limited abilities will take you. You will not risk stretching your own expertise or experience, and you are unlikely to learn as much from those around you. Each person will revert to being an island, placing trust only in their own abilities and therefore limiting individual and corporate horizons.”
• Risk aware – Guides operate with skill in uncertain and dangerous conditions. Sometimes they calm down a shaky climber with a statement like, “That space is an irregular ledge, but it’s larger than the curb you stand on every day for the bus.”
• Big-picture thinkers – Guides take a holistic view of the endeavor. “The lure of the summit is strong,” says Maxwell. “Guides know that their clients want to reach the top of the mountain, but they also know that the summit as the only goal isn’t the best idea for anyone… Guides have learned to appreciate the uncertainty of the endeavor as something to be savored, and the best guides do what they can to pass this wise understanding on to summit-focused clients.” It’s the journey that counts.
“To Be a Better Leader: Lead Like a Guide” by Chris Maxwell in Wharton Leadership Digest, March 1, 2015, http://wlp.wharton.upenn.edu/LeadershipDigest/3023.cfm; Maxwell can be reached at maxwellc@wharton.upenn.edu.