By Jason Klohr (Covenant Day School)
Christian Education, like most organizations, depends on many different people, with many different perspectives and many different life-stories/backgrounds to work together as a team. For example, a Middle School will only be as good as the team of teachers who work together, are united in the mission, and strive for excellence as they instruct the students on a daily basis.
I am convinced that one of the most important tasks of a leader in an educational organization is to build a team that will work together and succeed together. This is a huge task…especially in our individualistic society – one in which the culture tells us that whatever is good for you is fine…and whatever is good for another is fine…and that no matter the differences, we can be what we are and not worry about the opinions/thoughts of others.
Key business leaders will openly admit that their businesses will not survive without a team-playing concept. I strongly believe that key educational leaders have the same philosophy. In Colossians 3:15-17, Paul tells us that we’re all members of one body (we’re all on the same team), that we should be teaching and admonishing each other (work together and hold each other accountable), and that we should be doing all things together for the Lord (have a united vision and work together to achieve the vision…which is ultimately to honor and glorify our Lord).
As I read and review various leadership strategies, I’ve come across what I believe are six characteristics that a successful educational team needs. If these ideas look familiar, it is because some of these ideas have come from key business leaders over the years (I’ve gleaned information from books such as “Good to Great” by Jim Collins and “The Five Dysfunctions of a Team” by Patrick Lencioni). I firmly believe that Christian school leaders need to find the right people and get them “on the bus” (Jim Collins – Good to Great). As we build our team of educators, we need to be sure that we follow these six characteristics:
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Trust: The team should openly admit weaknesses/mistakes to each other. The team members should feed-off of each other’s skills and experiences. Apologies, when needed, should be offered without hesitation.
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Constructive Conflict: Faculty meetings and team-meetings should have true, authentic discussion. We should listen to ideas from all team members. There is no political game…and when there is an issue, we confront each other in a Christ-like manner. We should never let something fester inside....
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Commitment: The entire team knows and understands the mission of the school. The entire team knows the vision (I personally believe that the leader should have an excitement for the vision and should be constantly finding ways to get the team excited and energized over the vision). The team is united in the cause…
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Accountability: Team members should be helping each other improve in weak areas. There should be a genuine respect for each other…and the team should not be talking about a member behind his/her back…nor should they be ignoring a weak area. The team needs to hold each other to the standards delineated by the leadership. If a weak spot is noticed, the team comes alongside and develops a plan to help the team-member with that particular weakness. The team should ignore petty differences; never participate in “office politics”, etc. However, with important matters, accountability needs to occur.
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Team Results: Educators can’t be individualistic. Although this can be tempting because teachers go into their classrooms and are somewhat isolated for the day. However, educational teams should enjoy success together and suffer failures together. TOGETHER. Allow me to give an example: If achievement test results come in and the students did remarkably well in the area of writing concepts…then the entire team celebrates this success (not just the LA teachers). Likewise, if the test results show that the students did not do remarkably well in mathematics (or vocabulary, etc., etc…), then the entire team pulls together, and develops a plan for how we can improve in this area…it would not just be the teacher of that particular subject area that would be “suffering” from that low score.
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Christlikeness: Successful teams in Christian education must have a sincere and genuine Christ-like attitude. This would mean that there would be no gossip, no office politics, no inappropriate attitudes towards parents, etc. It would also mean that there is a genuine love and respect for everyone on the team and that there is an air of integrity that permeates the organization.
Over the years, I have found that the team a leader builds is tantamount to the success of the particular organization. As Jim Collins discusses in “Good to Great”, the leader truly needs to get the right people on the bus…and in the right seats. This also means that unfortunately, sometimes – the leader needs to ask people to get off the bus at the next stop (that’s information for another article…).
1 comment:
These are some interesting points. As a social admirer of yours, as well as a person who invests much of their time researching private education in the "New Millenium," I have some questions. If these standards are the way in which you organize your leadership role in a private school setting, explain your course of action regarding an employee who, for example, has been subject to what you define as "office politics" and "gossip/slander" by another faculty member(s), even one of your direct subordinates? What is the most Christ-like way to handle this familiar circumstance in the workplace for both the targeted faculty member, as well as the member(s) responsible for the conflict? From my research, this type of situation has become quite common in public and private schools alike (sadly), so it would be great to hear your thoughts on the matter, being the superintendent of an organization yourself.
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