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Do you consider yourself a collaborative leader?

Recently I finished a book by Peter M. DeWitt called, Collaborative Leadership Six Influences That Matter Most. For years I have always thought of myself a person who loves and truly tries hard to collaborate effectively. I would form committees or groups and base decisions on our conversations. In doing this I felt I was collaborating. Working through the decision process by including others is good, but not enough. Mr. DeWitt explores 6 influences based on John Hattie’s research. In this post I would like to address the one that spoke to me at this time.

The influence of Feedback really spoke to me at this point in the school year. As I set my schedule for the evaluation process for my teachers this year, I have decided to put emphasis on my feedback. According to Hattie, Feedback only offer a .75 effect size in student/teacher growth, so it does not offer the greatest gain. Feedback is often overlooked, in my opinion because it is generalized too often. Typically, I would give a lot of positive comments about an evaluation and only one or two things to think about or set as goals. This was like what DeWitt called, 1 to Glow on, 1 to Grow on, and 1 to Go on, but my version did not have a fancy phrasing like his. I always like to tell my teachers the things they are doing wonderfully, and then offer suggestion or have they thought about comments. They are general points I would like them to consider, but I never emphasized the idea that something must change or be corrected.

A school story from DeWitt’s book shared a middle school principal’s key steps for Feedback and collaboration to improve the culture of her building. First, she shares that she Involves building Leadership Team. I have done this for the last few years. My Building Leadership Team (BLT), is involved in the decision-making process each year. There are times where we have some differing thoughts on things we are doing, but generally we can move forward. Sometimes it is difficult to get everyone on the same thought process or on the same bus so to speak. Second action step discussed was to Develop a process for student behavior. Like my school, this principal was also part of a PBIS school. Positive Behavior Interventions and Support is a great program for all stakeholders to be on the same page regarding student behavior. The third action step discussed was Being more than visible. I totally agree that it is highly important to be seen by both students and staff. As discussed in the text, it not just about being seen, but more about true relationships with staff and students alike. The next action step was to listen to formal and informal feedback. This is so important to me as a school leader because I need to understand the pulse of the school and district. Finally, the last action step taken by this principal was to celebrate. She mentioned sending notes to stakeholders, which is something I have tried but could never stay on task and like other initiatives it would try fizzled out. Celebrating our successes are a great way to help everyone feel good about our processes. It also fuels our enthusiasm to continue that positive direction.

I really enjoyed Peter DeWitt’s book on Collaborative Leadership and specifically the key points by the middle school principal’s discussion on Feedback. I picked this book up about a year ago at a conference because it looked interesting, and it did not disappoint. Collaboration was something I thought I was doing well at, and this book has offered me some guidance on one area of growth I wanted to explore further and that is Feedback. Feedback is one focus I have for the coming school year. I want to offer appropriate feedback to my staff and students. Unintentionally, it has offered me feedback of myself and do a self-check on my personal journey on collaboration.

 As always please leave your comments in the comment sections. Your feedback and discussions are greatly appreciated. Have a wonderful day.

            Are your collaboration steps effective?

            Is the feedback you offer effective for all stakeholders?

            Are you utilizing feedback for yourself and your path to personal growth?

Reference:

DeWitt, P. (2017). Collaborative Leadership Six Influences That Matter Most. Thousand Oaks, California: Corwin, a SAGE Company