apk x8

"Courage trumps authority. It even trumps physical violence," writes Gus Lee in his book entitled Courage: The Backbone of Leadership.


There is no doubt that courage is central to leadership, and Lee's book emphasizes that over and over. At one point in the book, Lee describes a class he once had with Major H. Norman Schwarzkopf, the future general,  as his teacher. Schwarzkopf gave the class this scenario:

"Imagine that you and your troops for which you are responsible are on an international border. The enemy can cross it and strike at you with impunity. But you can't cross the border. That order comes from the commander in chief. Every night, the enemy crosses the border to kill and wound your men, who are Vietmanese Airborne volunteers in your care. Every night, you chase the enemy, but they escape at the border, where you stop, as you are ordered. Here's the question: when the enemy hits you again tonight, do you pursue them over the line? Or do you follow orders and halt at the border?"

Lee goes on to describe the questions asked by the students clarifying the scenario. If they cross the border, they can destroy their enemy and stop their men from dying, but if they cross the border, they violate an order from the Commander-in-Chief. Schwarzkopf goes on to ask his students to write about the experience and then polls them to find out which students would stop at the border and how many would pursue the enemy across the border. Lee says he chose to stop at the border because he had to follow orders.

Schwarzkopf then tells them, "There are two kinds of people in the world: leaders and careerists. Leaders have character. They act for what is right. They would die for their men. Careerists are self-centered, self-absorbed. They act out of selfishness. They sacrifice their men for a promotion. They lie to pump up results.They save their skins instead of others'. Careerists can't really lead because their men do not trust them and will not willingly follow."

"The correct answer for a leader is clear. You cross the border. You destroy the enemy to protect your men. You then take personal consequences to your career, knowing that you violated an order but acted for what is right. You feel pride in getting court-martialed and being reduced to private. Everyone's a leader or isn't. It's not rank. It's character."

I can't help but be moved by this story. I was when I read it. I am also equally moved by the question asked about whether I am leader or a careerist. How many of us become more concerned about our careers than for what is right? I happen to believe strongly that leadership is about character and integrity, and I certainly hope I'm not a careerist.

Verizon’s decision to not charge customers a $2 convenience fee is a lesson about power of social media, for all of us, including 21st century school leaders.(See MSNBC’s Article “Verizon Drops $2 Convenience Fee.”) As authors Randy Beal and Judy Strauss write in Radically Transparent: Managing and Monitoring Reputations Online, “The Internet provides a megaphone for the disgruntled---with no entry barrier, little legal accountability, instant commentary, full multimedia communication, and a free distribution channel to millions worldwide.” Verizon heard that megaphone and decided to let customers know they were listening.


When Verizon decided to announce a $2 fee, they ran right into thousands of consumers yelling loudly through the power of social media. As a Verizon customer, I even joined in a bit myself. Ultimately though, Verizon did what is probably the smartest thing they could do. They issued a statement that said, “At Verizon, we take great care to listen to our customers. Based on their input, we believe the best path forward is to encourage customers to take advantage of the best and most efficient options, eliminating the need to institute a fee at this time.” That is probably a textbook answer and response to a crowd empowered by social media. The company did not continue to try to defend the fee. They immediately acknowledged a change in course. That alone demonstrates one important principle described by authors Beal and Strauss, and that is: Your customers have to feel like you are listening to them. By announcing their plans to not charge a fee they clearly demonstrate their willingness to listen. Verizon should gain more positives from this response than any 2 dollar fee would ever give them.

The whole Verizon incident illustrates perfectly what Beal and Strauss say in Radically Transparent about the 21st century medium, “Social media are like word-of-mouth on steroids.” Businesses have known for a long time the power of plain word of mouth. Schools and their leaders would do well to pay attention to this power too.

Besides some great lessons for those studying the power of social media and marketing though, there are lessons for 21st century school leaders from the Verizon Incident too.

• There is a conversation online about you or your school/district and you may not know it is even happening. Beal and Strauss advocate for taking steps to listen to this conversation. In a previous post, (The Oft-Ignored 21st Century Leadership for School Leaders), I offered some suggestions on how to do that. Yet, too many school leaders, from the district level to the school level, are still ignoring social media and considering it a fad. They spend too much time finding ways to limit access to it and dismissing its impact, when they should embrace and accept it as a fact of life. The bottom line to this one is simple: ignore that online conversation to the peril of your school and perhaps yourself.
• Even though there is a conversation about you or your school/district online, you can’t control its direction. Too many school leaders and policymakers still think they can control the direction of this online conversation. They create all manner of rules and laws trying to keep the conversation at a minimum. They even try lawsuits when something is said that is objectionable. Ultimately, neither rules, policy, nor lawsuits are going to stop that conversation. Instead, 21st century school leaders need to learn how to respond effectively to social media. They need to fight fire with fire so to speak.
• You cannot control that conversation; the best you can hope for is to effectively respond to it. What does an effective response to a less-than-flattering social media posting look like? Well, those using social media don't like spin. They don't like attempts to hide behind the law or authority. The best way to respond is perhaps to open up and be what Beal and Strauss call "being radically transparent." That means being honest with people and not looking like you are still trying to hide something. That means being as honest as possible and avoiding "educationalese" or jargon. 
• Be careful of your response to that conversation. As Beal and Strauss point out, “The Internet community comes down hard on those who employ conversation spin, control, manipulation, or spam.” Should we find ourselves in a "Verizon-like-situation," a careful, well-thought-out response is a must. Social media has created a “no-spin zone” of sorts where spin is at your own risk. Taking time to plan a response is a must. There is no room for knee-jerk answers.
• As Beal and Strauss emphasize repeatedly in their book, “Be radically transparent or risk your reputation and top line.” This means using plain language, being sincere, and being candid. No generic marketing messages allowed. Welcome responses and feedback. As school leaders you have to work hard to build relationships with your community through social media, and that means being transparent.

Recently quite a few people and organizations have run headlong into the power of social media. Besides this event with Verizon, Bank of America found out firsthand the power of social media when it proposed additional fees on its customers. Then there was Lowes and its decision to pull ads from the Muslim American reality show. They also found out about the "steroid-effect" of online communication.Finally, ask Governor Brownback of Kansas, his staff,  and the poor principal who tried to force student Emma Sullivan to write that letter of apology. In every single one of these instances, an organizational or personal reputation was on the line.The one thing in common is how the organization or individual responded and resulting effect on their reputation. Social media is here to stay, and school leaders who learn to effectively use it will be more successful communicators to their stakeholders and they may perhaps head a reputation crisis too.

One of the ways school leaders can model 21st century teaching and learning is by engaging with their staff in the use of 21st century tools. One category of tools that is quite easy for administrators to implement is communication and collaboration tools. There are quite a few communication and collaboration tools available, but here’s two that I have used with the staff and my school and some ideas on how to use them.

Google Docs:  Google Docs gives users the ability to share and modify word-processing documents,  spreadsheet documents, presentations, and forms. Users can also upload documents to Google Docs for sharing as well. In my role as principal, here’s some of the ways I’ve used this tool collaboratively:

1. School Improvement Planning: I uploaded our school improvement template to Google Docs and shared it out to staff. We used the same document in our planning meetings too. It made our school improvement planning even more collaborative. Any collaborative project works with Google Docs.
2. Scheduling Observations: I sent a Google Docs invite to staff to a document indicating the times I was available for their observations. Teachers signed up in blocks of available time for both their observation and post conference. Made scheduling much easier without having multiple people accessing my calendar which sometimes has confidential items on it.
3. Meeting Agendas: Instead of using copies, I have created the meeting agendas and placed them on Google Docs. Another way to go paperless.

Skype: Skype is one of those tools we find quite useful at our school. We have no intercom system, so this is an excellent way for staff to communicate during the school day when it is needed. It also has other interesting uses as well.

1. Impromptu Snow Day Faculty Meeting: During inclement weather last year, we all found ourselves snowed-in at our respective homes. Because we have all connected through Skype, we suddenly found ourselves discussing some school issues from the comfort and safety of our homes. We shared our thoughts and even arrived at a decision without the need for a meeting later that week.
2. Discussion Forum: On more than one occasion, one of our staff members have thrown out a discussion topic on Skype during the day that prompted some major discussion. Teachers could just comment and add to the discussion as the opportunity to do so arose. It is common practice for someone to also throw an idea out there for feedback too. Skype is a natural forum for that too.

There’s nothing fancy about our use of these tools for collaboration. It is so easy to implement simple uses for these tools. Leaders who want their teachers engaging in 21st century collaborative tools must be engaged in their use too.


What are your favorite 21st century collaborative tools? How are you using them to engage staff collaboratively? Please share.

“Change is a subtle thing. Change is sneaky. Although most of us are aware that something has changed in our lives, it is often very difficult to put our finger on exactly what has happened, how things have changed, or why things are different.”

• Be a tech consumer and user. You can't lead others as a technology leader if you aren't a user and consumer. Make it a habit to experiment and try new technologies. Get an iPad, smart phone, and any other tech device and learn how to use them. Lead by example.
• Learn how to talk the "tech language." You don't need to know everything, but you need to know the cutting edge terminology. For example, you need to know what a wiki, cloud computing, and a flash mob is. You learn these terms by becoming a member of the tech community rather than delegating it someone else.
• Prepare yourself for messy innovation in the classroom. If you have 20th century classroom expectations, ditch them. The 21st century classroom can look messy, so you won't always see orderliness and desks in rows. You're going to see learning that isn't always compatible to the traditional idea of lesson plan.
• Be a tech ambassador for the whole community. Proclaim loudly to all who'll listen how your teachers are engaging kids with 21st century technology. Invite them into your schools. Let them see firsthand how your teachers employ technology in the classroom. Bragging and boasting is perfectly acceptable in this case.
• Show your staff the money. When your teachers want to try a new technology, find the money. Don't dampen their spirit of innovation by saying we just don't have the money. Compromise, bargain and enlist others to make it happen. Leaders can find the resources to make it happen.

If you honestly want to be a technology leader, you must let go of all 20th century paradigms about education.  It's way past time to leave those 20th century classroom expectations behind.