I am a big fan of Seth Godin and have read his book Tribes recently and it has a lot to offer educational leaders. This morning I am up pretty early for a Sunday as we are interviewing for two positions at school (and I had to drop our son off at 6:40am to meet a friend who is taking him to a tournament in Invercargill as he has made the Otago softball team in his grade).
Seth has a great TED Talk on tribes and his blog is one of my ‘must reads’. Today there is this:
It’s almost impossible to communicate something clearly and succinctly to everyone, all the time.
So misunderstandings occur.
We misunderstand a comment or a gesture or a policy or a contract.
And then what happens?
Well, if we’re engaged with someone we like or trust, we give them the benefit of the doubt. We either assume that what they actually meant was the thing we expected from someone like them, or we ask about it.
If we’re engaged with a stranger or someone we don’t trust, we assume the worst.
It is ALL about relationships in our job and I must admit one of the things I find most frustrating is when someone assumes incompetence on my part. Building and maintaining relationships is one of the most crucial parts of the principals role – staff, children, families, communities …
Entries (RSS)
Some people assume incompetence of everyone except themselves. I totally agree with Mr Godin’s quote above.
I feel that dark cloud from time to time so am working hard on the Fish Philosophy (a la Karen Boyes ULearn09 workshop) so particularly work on ‘Choose Your Attitude’ and to hell with their negativity.
* Play
* Make Their Day
* Choose Your Attitude
* Be there
Good thoughts Greg.
I have faced these same assumptions starting at a new school this term, and just beginning to surface for air.
One person’s “too lenient” is another’s “too tough”. So we can’t win, and can’t beat ourselves up about it.
I agree with Allanah too, you have to leverage energy off the positive people in your organisation (and external support) and ignore the whinge factor in every staffroom. They suck the life out everything if you let them.
Seth Godin always has thought provoking posts. Another good resource in the area of leading relationships is Barth’s “Improving Schools from Within”. Not new but always worth dipping into.
An interesting read and a reflective strategy for referring to a time of the year when relationships do stretch and strain after a busy year at the office.I always think the half full half empty theory relates to relationships,some people always look for the negative. Best to surround yourself with positive people,hapy in their work.I hope you found some of those for your new positions…. talk later.robyne