Ongoing Mentorship

Can your administrators recognize and control their own emotional behaviors?

New York City Schools Chancellor, Carmen Farina recently said in response to the need to increase efficiency and effectiveness that school administrators need to know how to get something done with just one phone call. Easier said than done.

New administrators and even not so new administrators are increasingly overwhelmed by the complexity of running schools in these chaotic times and environments. Solid, effective mentoring programs and coaching are vital. Districts with mentoring programs report that this is the number one most important factor in the success of first and second year administrators. Mentees report anxiety and being overwhelmed by the huge responsibilities that go with their positions. Here are just some of the skills in which they need to be proficient: pedagogy, effective teacher evaluation, data analysis, curriculum content, assessment, dealing with irate parents, excellent public speaking, de-escalating conflict, school security and where the custodian with the keys to the boys lockers can be found when someone reports that they smell smoke.

Most of us are not born to be confident agents of change or shepherds of our large, diverse school districts.

Can your administrators recognize and control their own emotional behaviors? How do they react when verbally attacked by a parent? Every field from law to construction recognizes the need for onsite and ongoing training for their employees. Globally high-performing countries such as Finland and South Korea point to the ongoing training of administrators as well as teachers as key to the success of their students. A large ROI is guaranteed.

We have coaches with broad experience both in schools and corporate executive coaching. We can help you determine what kind of group and/or individual coaching is needed.

Most of us are not born to be confident agents of change or shepherds of our large, diverse school districts. Connecting our new administrators with our veterans, making time for administrators to learn about and recognize their own emotional strengths and weaknesses is as important and perhaps even more so than specific craft knowledge. Building individual and whole team capacity may be as difficult as rocket science, but then again, we did get a man on the moon.

We return to Goleman’s model of the need for leaders to develop self-awareness, empathy, social awareness and social skills. And yet, in a vacuum this is not enough.

Let us coach your administrators so they can develop and hone these critical skills:

• Develop or use reliable assessment tools to measure their own and organizational effectiveness
• Understand how to give meaningful feedback
• Understand how to communicate the organization’s mission
• Understand how to prioritize their work load
• Better manage their time, emails, work day, meetings

You might want to look at Doug Reeves book, The Daily Disciplines of Leadership, a classic “how-to” for administrators that combines both the theoretical and the practical. We incorporate many proven methods of using coaching and mentorship to build personal and organizational effectiveness.