leaders in a new setting feel they have to be “tight” on everything – clearly an impos- sibility – in order to establish themselves as leaders, while others are so afraid of making a mistake, they are “loose” on just about ev- erything. Being able to rethink poor deci- sions and actions are the hallmark of a wise leader, but new leaders sometimes believe that changing any decision is a sign of weak- ness. In addition, we greatly advocate for “Rule


#6” from the video, “Leadership: An Art of Possibility” (2006), in which orchestra conductor and leadership guru Benjamin Zander delightfully makes the case that the cardinal rule for any leader should be, “Don’t take yourself so #@*% seriously!” New lead- ers on an ego trip create their own barriers to effectiveness.


One final axiom Although it would seem to go without


saying, our observations of leadership tran- sitions compel us to include a final axiom: Don’t gossip. The new (or any) leader who engages in, entertains, or appears to encour- age negative remarks or discussions about team members in absentia disintegrates his own team. A generous segment of the workshop


addresses the question: What is the most important work of the school leader? New principals can be even more susceptible than experienced ones in finding themselves con- stantly derailed from their focus on student learning by myriad operational and staff/ student/parent issues. We spend time revisiting the student


focus through the lens of the Questions of a Professional Learning Community (PLC): What do we want the students to know? How will we set them up for success? How will we know if they learned? What will we do if they don’t? And what will we do for the students who did learn, or already knew what we taught before we taught it? During the entire day, but especially dur-


ing this time, the mix of experienced and new principals brings great value to the re- flection and discussions, with many of the experienced principals being well grounded in the PLC journey from leading that work at their previous sites.


another transitioning principal – where we pair new with experienced as numbers allow – or with their own district leaders who may be in attendance. Follow-up includes first- and second-se-


mester half-day breakfast “reunions,” with all the participants from the summer’s sev- eral cohorts invited, where we facilitate the sharing of experiences and learnings. We typically present one additional segment of content, based on our ongoing communi- cation with cohort members, who have an open invitation to call or e-mail the facilita- tors for additional links to resources or in- formation. We also have a small number of new-


principal coaches – retired principals who have several years’ experience in the coach- ing role – for interested first-year principals in districts that are willing to cover a modest fee for their services.


From novice leadership to wisdom With so many leadership transitions on


the horizon across the state, increasingly important aspects of district/county office roles will be to help new leaders move rap- idly from novice leadership to wisdom, and to support experienced leaders in new set- tings, including helping them to avoid step-


The last part of the session provides time


for participants to create a plan for their first 100 days, with a template and samples, in- cluding the drafting of their “welcome back” letter. The day ends with brief coaching conversations about their plans, each with


ping on – or creating their own – potential landmines. This is not just about adult morale among


the followership. Student learning and achievement hangs in the balance, and no school or district can afford to lose any valu- able momentum of continuous improvement as the leadership torch is passed. n


Resources


Covey, Stephen. (2006). The Speed of Trust: The One Thing That Changes Everything. New York, NY: Simon & Schuster Inc. DuFour, Richard & DuFour, Rebecca et al. (2010). Learn- ing by Doing: A Handbook for Professional Learning Com- munities At Work, 2nd Edition. Bloomington, IN: Solution Tree.


Marzano, Robert J. & Waters, Timothy. (2009). District Leadership That Works: Striking the Right Balance. Bloomington, IN: Solution Tree.


Marzano, Robert J.; Waters, Timothy & Mc- Nulty, Brian. (2005). School Leadership That Works: From Research to Results. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervi- sion and Curriculum Development.


Fong, Anthony B. & Makkonen, Reino. (2011). Projecting the need for Califor- nia school administrators over 2010/11 - 2017/18: the effects of projected retire- ment and projected changes in student enrollment over two-year increments. REL Technical Brief, REL 2011 - No. 016. San Francisco, CA: Regional Educational Laboratory at WestEd. Retrieved from: http://ies.ed.gov/ncee/edlabs/regions/ west/pdf/REL_2011016.pdf.


Zander, Benjamin (2006). Leadership: An Art of Possibility. Cambridge, MA: Enter- prise Media.


Terry Wilhelm is director II, division of


Educational Leadership Services, Riverside County Office of Education.


November/December 2011 11


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