Reflection (Year 2)

As both my Education Specialist and Galileo Leadership Academy experiences

come to a close, its an opportune time to reflect on the past two years and take
stock of my professional growth over the past two years.
For year one of both programs, my role in Huron Valley Schools was that of
the Education Association president. In year two, I began a new professional
chapter as principal of Johnson Elementary. Although, the two worlds (union to
administration) seem light years apart, I found that the characteristics and qualities
of good leaders transcend job title and are pertinent in most any situation where
leading and moving a group of people forward is the cornerstone of that role.
While the new, fresh learnings and ideas of both the Ed. Specialist program
and Galileo are useful and beneficial in terms of growing my leadership toolbox, I
what I have found most rewarding has been the close connection with my cohort
group. Over the course of the past two years, I have had at my disposal a group of
forward looking, energetic, and provocative thinking individuals with which to
dialogue. I have been able to gain a wider perspective on the educational world as
whole in that I have been an active participant in professional learning with cohort
members from different districts and disciplines. It is the power of this group think
coupled with new learning and inspirational facilitators/professors that has
increased the value of the total experience.
Pragmatically, the program has helped me to think different about my actions
and reactions. Through the learnings from professional literature such as Covey,
Grenny, and Bolman and Deal, Im able to better handle myself during crucial
conversations. I truly seek first to understand, and then be understood. Im able to

analyze situations from different frames or lenses (political, human resource,

symbolic, and structural) and make more thoughtful decisions. I have a better
understanding of the importance of having a shared vision and can use the
facilitation strategies and skills modeled in both programs to put structures in place
to allow for input from all stakeholders. Lastly, I feel that because of the two
programs, I think and lead differently than many others in my district. By differently,
I do not mean better, but I do feel an increased ability to be thoughtful, reflective,
and think big picture when making decisions.
Lastly, I feel like this experience has given me a deeper understanding of how
great leaders lead, allowing me to further develop my own definition and set of
beliefs surrounding leadership. As a leader, I strongly believe in the principles of
Stephen Coveys "7 Habits of Highly Effective People." More so, I believe strong
leaders inspire others to reach their personal best. In considering leadership, an
acronym that I have developed to serve as a compass to guide me through my
present and future journeys as a leader is "R.I.C.H" Leadership. R.I.C.H. Leadership
encompasses:
Relational Trust - I believe that the foundation of successful leadership is building,
nurturing, strengthening and sustaining meaningful personal relationships with all
organizational stakeholders.
Inspirational Leadership - Highly effective leaders utilize a synergistic process to
bring out the best in those around them. Through servant leadership, follow
through, and "group think," the sky is the limit!
Competency - Effective leaders spend time understanding the complexities and
nuances of their role. They continue to stay educated on pedagogical best practices

as well as legislative changes that often govern the world surrounding public
education.
Honesty - Effective leaders are able to engage stakeholders in open and honest
dialogue and are fluent in accessing tools for talking when stakes are high. They are
trustworthy and respect those that are not present.
It should be noted that below each of these characteristics, there are
branches or values that espouse the broader idea. For example, to build relational
trust, a leader must be credible. They must have character and integrity as well as
listen empathically. Inspirational leaders are forward looking and recognize the
importance of service before self (servant leadership). Competent leaders are
learning leaders and stay at the forefront of best instructional practices as well as
staying current in regards to larger social and political framework surrounding public
education. Lastly, an honest leader is able to engage in crucial conversations and
can utilize tools for talking when stakes are high, emotions run wild, and opinions
vary.
Professional Growth Plan
For as much as I have learned over the course of the past two years, I also
now realize the importance of continued growth and learning. Having been blessed
to be in the presence and build working relationships with professional educators
such as my mentor, Dr. Coratti, professors Dr. Klein, and Dr. Wells, Galileo facilitator
Joyce Fouts, and education advocates such as Dr. Markovitch and Dr. Maxfield, I
have a much better perspective on the importance of sustainability and continued
growth. I better understand the notion of growth mindset, whereas smart is
something you get, not something you are. I also recognize that there is no standing

still. You are either moving forward or youre falling behind. Professionally, I will
highlight both my personal strengths and weaknesses as well as what I plan to do to
continue to grow in these areas.
A strength that I believe remains consistent then and now is my ability to
understand the importance of shared vision and mission. As president of my
previous union of nearly 600 members, I quickly realized that leadership could be a
lonely job, and it was less about me and more about we. This has continued to
resonate for me as a principal. Together, we as a staff collectively created a vision
statement. Although a mission statement was already created, I believe we are
doing more to live our mission of inspiring, empowering, and growing leaders. As
difficult and laborious creating a mission and vision can be on the front end, I am
seeing it pay dividends on the back end. We are now able to consider initiatives
from a new common lens. By asking the question, does this fit with our mission
and vision its actually easier to focus on the big rocks. For example, this year
our local credit union wanted to partner with our school to create a bank at school
program. The program would teach financial literacy skills to our students by
allowing for any student to open a bank account here at school. Once a month,
students would have an opportunity to deposit money right here at Johnson. The
bank would be overseen by adult bank employees, but would be managed and run
by students. When bringing this concept to the staff, the first thing I asked was
does this fit with our mission and vision? Are we inspiring and growing leaders? Are
we empowering our leaders to become interdependent, passionate thinkers?
Overwhelmingly the answer was yes! We moved forward and the program has
been a point of pride for Johnson Elementary!

At the onset of the program, one of my weaknesses was collecting and using
data to identify goals, assess organizational effectiveness, and promote ongoing
learning. I still see this as a growth area, but now at the end of the year, I feel much
more confident than I did at the beginning of the year. I attribute much of this
confidence to, again, understanding the importance of distributed leadership. Weve
put in place a School Improvement Subcommittee that sifts through data to bring
salient and poignant information to the entire staff. Together we have all played a
role in the development (from introduction, dialogue, discussion, and decision
making) of our School Improvement Plan. We are looking at data through a growth
focused lens, not one of high stakes punitive measures. As confidence and trust
grows, we are seeing increases in achievement data specifically NWEA testing.
The learning of both Galileo and the Ed. Specialist program has given me a more
tools and broader skills set to support me in this area.
In Kouzes and Posners book The Truth about Leadership, they share their
truths of leadership. The truth that particularly resonated with me was Truth Five,
you cant do it alone. More now than ever, I recognize the need (not want) for
collaboration and communication amongst the team of professionals in my building.
Its no secret that, in terms of student achievement, it is the teachers that do the
heavy lifting. As an instructional/learning leader, if I want to play an integral role in
moving the needle and continuing the achievement trajectory upwards, than I
cannot do it alone. We must work as a team, and in order for that team to believe
and have hope, it will be up to me to make the human connections. I will need to be
a part of not apart from the team. I will need to listen to them; to hear their
concerns and empathize with them emotionally. Only then will we be able to truly
live our shared vision for student success. In order to bring out the best in others, I

will need to engage in constructive dialogue and make others feel strong and
capable. But this cannot be done by sitting in an office. This cannot be done through
email or text. It will take a concerted effort to work with my staff my staff and
engage in the journey that is teaching and learning. Its then that I will feel
confident enough to look back and see who is following!