Friday, June 23, 2017

Lead Like a Pirate: Chapter 3 - Rapport

Rapport

Compass to Guide Your Teams to Greatness

If we want meaningful change, we have to make a connection to the heart before we can make a connection to the mind.  -- George Couros, The Innovators Mindset


In chapter 2, the authors discuss the importance of staff rapport.  Do not think that this is a small task that will not produce high yield results.  Pirate leaders make it a priority to build rapport and relationships.  "They do it with staff, parents, with students, with community members, with their colleagues, and with their administration.  They invest the time in getting to know people and determining their strengths and areas of growth potential."  Investing the time in getting to intimately know the people that matter in any organization will move mountains and garner TRUST in the stakeholders.  "Nothing leaders do matters without the trust of their teams."

As Stephen Covey states, "Without trust, we don't really collaborate; we merely coordinate or at best, cooperate.  It is trust that transforms a group of people into a team."  Recently, I had the opportunity to visit the PLC Institute in San Antonio, Texas.  (Great professional development by the way!)  During the Institute, teachers and administrators learned about the PLC process and how to go from good to great in our craft as teachers, leaders, and team members.  Every session talked about different aspects of the PLC process and how this process WILL grow your staff.  The focused message in every single session that I attended was that without RAPPORT and TRUST, high performing PLCs will not be possible.  To move schools forward teachers must become part of this process.  Teachers are the front line in education.  If we truly want what is best for ALL students, we have to unite on our campuses and share a vision that expects nothing less.  As I heard this past week, No mission statement says..  Some students will learn.  Our mission is for every child to make growth towards future ready skills and strategies. All means all - not most, or some- ALL.  How will we make that happen? Rapport is our first step.  

The old saying goes...  To gain trust , you must give trust.  The bottom line is rapport, relationship building and trust begins with you.  Are your ready to make a commitment to do the hard work?  Are you willing to listen with an open heart and an open mind?  "Real progress only comes from true commitment to a shared vision and through a culture built on trust."  How will you LEAD your team and help build rapport?  Lead Like a Pirate isn't about administrators being the one true leader on a campus.  Lead Like a Pirate challenges everyone to have a vested interest in their school and take the initiative to lead their teams and students to future greatness.

Staff retreats and socials will also help to create a rapport within our schools so that we are willing and able to have tough conversations in order to focus on student growth.  Teachers will have an opportunity to voice their ideas and ALL staff members will be part of the process of real change to help our students achieve at high levels.  "People, not programs, make a difference in children's lives."  We must lift up our people and create a real sense of buy-in because what WE  do matters. Our students deserve schools that work collaboratively and not "COBLABORATIVELY".  Just talking about ways to solve critical areas of need is NOT enough.  We must be ready to take action on the problems that we have within our schools.  

This year one of my goals is to build rapport on the schools that I serve.  Simply taking time to talk and more importantly listen will go a long way towards building rapport.  Technology (which is incredibly efficient) can not take the place of face to face interactions.  I would love to use technology in a different way this year.  It will be my goal to celebrate WSISD schools.  We should tell our school's story, not a state test or a letter on our building.  We should show our parents and community the powerful learning that is occurring every day within our schools.  What better way to celebrate what our schools are doing well than to share our success stories in photos and videos each day.  We will show the learning, the talk, and the artifacts that prove our students are having critical conversations and creating quality work that continuously pushes their thinking!?

Chapter 2 provides suggestions on what a school might do in order to begin the crucial conversations that create a sense of rapport and eventually trust.  The challenge for this week is to think about some procedures or practices to have in place that will help move your staff to a rapport rich campus.

As always, I invite you to share your thoughts, ideas, and artifacts here and in the Lead Like a Pirate Community on Twitter.  #LeadLAP

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