Michael Chilcutt

This was originally published on an earlier version of my blog on February 28, 2016. As I transition to a new school, I have found myself reflecting on my work, my leadership, and the ideas that have shaped me. More than ten years have passed since I wrote this post, yet many of the concepts still hold up. Revisiting it has also reminded me of its connection to my dissertation and, more importantly, of how I intended that work to guide my daily practice as a school principal.

The primary goal of my work, both then and now, is to build the instructional capacity of educators by fostering a strong learning community. Of all the ideas in this post, the one that continues to resonate most deeply with me is the concept of uplift.

An airplane lifts off the ground by flying into a headwind. I find this a powerful metaphor for how we approach challenges in schools. Rather than avoiding challenges, we need to identify and define them collaboratively, understand them collectively, and work together to generate the lift necessary to move forward. Our challenges can become the very forces that help us grow.

The work of school leadership, then, is not simply to solve problems for people. It is to build the collective capacity of a school community to face its challenges together—and, in doing so, create the lift needed to move the entire school forward.

Uplifting Leadership.

February 28, 2016

As we are coming up on the annual ASCD Conference I am thinking back to last March when I attended the conference in Houston, Texas. While I was able to see many great presentations, one stood out for it’s particular relevance to me. Andy Hargreaves’ presentation entitled Uplifting Leadership related to my daily duties as a high school principal and my dissertation, which is centered on building the instructional capacity of my staff. The session was a presentation of research and insights from his book, Uplifting Leadership, How Organizations, Teams, and Communities Raise Performance.

Hargreaves started the session by asking, “What uplifts you?” This gave the audience a chance to personalize the subject. He asked us to think of a time when we were uplifted. He then listed six ways of thinking and acting that define “Depressing Leadership”:

1. Best in class or best for its own sake thinking
2. Racing to the top as fast as possible
3. Copying how other people reached the top before you
4. Being driven by the data to get to the top
5. Removing people from the bottom to get to the top
6. Killing the competition who are racing to the top against you

The items on this list are what most great organizations don’t do but they are very prevalent in American Education today. You can see these things demonstrated in schools across the nation resulting in many burned out teachers.

Hargreaves then shared the thinking and actions that defined “Uplifting Leadership.”

First, he talked about dreaming with determination. It is important to have a compelling dream that the entire organization can buy into. He said, “Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. didn’t say he had a strategic plan, he said he had a dream.”

The second way of thinking was creativity and counter-flow. This is creative thinking put into action. Successful organizations find their own path to success that was conceptualized through collaborative creative thinking. It is important to not just follow others who have been successful: the best you can do with this strategy is second best.

Third on his list was collaboration with competition. While competition will not go away (some competition is very healthy) it should be combined with collaboration so both competitors can win. He even said that giving away ideas actually leads to the generation of more ideas. This is a bonus for the organization because it can eliminate complacency: unlikely without some collaboration.

Next came pushing and pulling. This refers to the push and pull from other team members to keep things moving when it is tough. Team members draw other members forward by moving forward themselves. Internal support is key to any team’s success.

The fifth idea was measuring with meaning. Too often we measure simply to evaluate. Measuring should be done intentionally to assess growth and make adjustments. The formative spirit of assessment and measurement is cyclical and it can move the entire organization forward.

Hargreaves’ last idea for uplifting leadership is what he calls sustainable success. He said that progress is rarely quick and the organization has to be committed to sustained progress over time. The organization should not succumb to the cult of urgency and the tyranny of the now.

Last March, during the conference, I was still struggling to define the direction of my dissertation and this presentation helped to move my conceptualization of the dissertation forward. I am conducting an art-informed self-study on my leadership. My specific question is; How do I build the instructional capacity of my staff by fostering a learning organization? It is my hope to create a true “practitioner’s dissertation” and growing my staff is a central responsibility of my job as principal. While this presentation (or book) will not find its way into my literature review it has given me several insights that have influenced my thinking.

One of the ideas that resonated most with me was Hargreaves’ use of the plane metaphor. He pointed out that planes fly into strong headwinds to create upward force and provide lift. This is the very essence of the uplift concept. Instead of just pampering teachers and making their work easier it is best for them and the school to provide an appropriate challenge that they can collaboratively tackle. It is my hope to move my staff toward challenge that provides a lift toward progress that will ultimately benefit our students.

I look forward to reading your responses and engaging in dialogue.