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The tiger embodies courage and bravery, so this new year should symbolize resilience and strength. The purpose of this post is to help you find your inner tiger and help position you for a better year ahead.
I know many teachers that are tired, disheartened, and missing loved ones. There are several teachers that have turned in their notice, partly because of the emotional toll this pandemic has taken, but also partly to seek new opportunities that the pandemic has created. Regardless of why they are leaving, there are several of us that are remaining. The most common reason for staying is contractual. For those that feel obligated by their contract, as opposed to feeling endeared to their school, next year may be tougher than this year, as we won’t have several of our friends to lean on. BUT, it doesn’t have to be. If we embrace our inner tiger, we have an opportunity to constructively address grievances and take control of our professional development. Hopefully, an additional outcome will be your school retaining passionate and skilled leaders.
Challenge Assumptions
For Senior Administrators reading this, I appreciate that many believe that teachers are leaving because of the pandemic. But, I want you to challenge that assumption and begin speaking with teachers that haven’t submitted their notice. This HBR article has great advice for facilitating a conversation to help you retain teachers. Quitting is contagious and you may have several very talented staff still preparing to leave this year, if not next year for sure. So, start engaging with staff in meaningful conversation and give them an opportunity to share what specifically about the pandemic may influence their decision to stay or not.
One of the main reasons I want Senior Leaders to challenge their assumptions about staff departures is because of what I have learned over the past year coaching dozens of teachers to pursue new roles in their current schools. Many of these teachers had very negative self-narratives about their school and more specifically, the school’s leadership. In every case I asked each teacher to challenge their self-narrative, to make explicit and challenge the assumptions underlying that narrative. For example, if you truly believe your senior leadership will only promote ‘yes’ people, then set a meeting with them to understand the challenges they anticipate someone will experience in the desired role and what they need someone in that role to do to support them. Then close by asking what skills or dispositions you need to develop to be appointed to that role. The result of many of the middle leaders challenging their self-narrative was that they got the role they sought and renewed their contract with the school.
These meetings, where teachers challenge their assumptions, with the intent of improving their working environment and prospects for promotion, are known as Stay-interviews. Stay-interviews are very rare in schools, and this is largely what I coach middle leaders to facilitate when they perceive an insurmountable barrier to their career aspirations. So, if you have a negative self-narrative about your school, instead of letting your own assumptions cast a dark cloud over the time you have remaining there, take a proactive step to find some common ground with school leadership to shape a role for yourself that addresses both your and their needs. The easiest way to start this conversation is by approaching a senior leader and saying:
“I want to improve my experience at our school and would like to meet with you to explore what I need to know and do to accomplish this. I also want to explore ideas for what I can do that will contribute to the development of both the school and myself.”
If you would like to learn more about the types of questions you can ask in a Stay-Interview, then click here to read the full article. I hope you will also explore the other resources I have included in this newsletter, below, which includes: Interviews with Educational Influencers about Middle Leadership, Middle Leader Training events, and Articles that influence my thinking and practices related to Middle Leadership.
Thank you for your continued interest and consideration of my monthly missives,
Michael
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