Doing the difficult stuff…It may not be easy but try to make sure its right.

 

 

“It’s not hard to do the right thing; in fact it’s easy. What’s hard is knowing what the right thing to do is. Once you know that, and believe it, doing the right thing is easy.”

Ben Kingsley in the Confession

At work and at home I face a tons of decisions every day. Some are easy; some are hard. At times, there is no “good” or “ideal” decision—just the better of two that are either painful, or wrong. I often find myself becalmed,  at points I struggle with inertia because not doing is often easier than doing, especially when the doing may not have wholly positive results. The fact is sometimes we have to do stuff that just isn’t nice. The key at that point is to stick to our principles. If we know it is the ‘right thing’ to do then we just have to do it. At the moment I have some really hard choices to make some that challenge my values and principles none of them are easy.  It makes the stepping through the door really hard. They are often out of my comfort zone. I do know however that they need to be done.

Stephen Covey described “personality-based leaders,” who were preoccupied with “looking good” (in hopes of being liked) instead of “doing good.” True leaders, he described as “principle-based leaders.” These leaders struggled to “know the right thing to do,” but then had the courage and integrity to “do the right thing”—even if it was unpopular at the time.

“The function of leadership is to produce more leaders, not more followers.” -Ralph Nader

My job is brilliant. Sometimes however you are challenged, you know the right thing to do but it doing it is really hard. Ultimately everything I do has an impact. Doing the right thing can be  blummin’ hard. I get stuff wrong. I am not infallible. At that point you have to put your hands up and say your sorry.

Covey points out that a principled  kind of leader is shown to have three characteristics that stand out: courage, character, and competence. It is these three characteristics that help them; that enable them; and that guide them in making the tough choices

I often find my self struggling. I struggle to figure out the “right thing to do.” At those moments I have to go back to my core, I have to run it through my own lens and do the thing that feels right.  I seek advice, I am fortunate to have a network of wonderful headteachers, who are generous and let me work it out by asking just the right questions.  I have a wonderful Deputy who will  also ask me the right questions but ultimately I have to stand by my principles they fortunately make the decisions easy even when they are hard.

“Control is not leadership; management is not leadership; leadership is leadership. If you seek to lead, invest at least 50 percent of your time in leading yourself–your own purpose, ethics, principles, motivation, conduct. Invest at least 20 percent leading those with authority over you and 15 percent leading your peers.”–Dee Hock

Leaders face this dilemma frequently, because in the imperfect real world, there are a lot of not-so-good choices, and few really good, clear and right ones. But leaders must decide. That is their job. Leaders don’t always get it right. Leadership seems to be on all  of our minds at the moment. The Election and current political situation seems to have heightened this.

True leaders will not do the “wrong thing” just to be liked. Leaders must make the best available, “right” decision. Flip/flopping for approval is not leadership sticking by your principles and holding fast is. Being able to admit you got it wrong is leadership,  blaming others when things go wrong is not.

Having listened to the rather wonderful @DavidMcQueen at Northern Rocks I was emboldened again to do the right thing. He was spot on the need for bravery in Leadership and also I’m a sucker for a cracking acronym

Bold

Resilient

Authentic

Visionary

Empowering

Leadership should be B.R.A.V.E. Great leadership advice.

 

As for everyone else, they have a decision about which kind of leader they want to follow, to vote for and elect, to support. Do you want the vain-glorious leader who always looks good, but cleverly avoids the tough decisions, (or make the wrong ones)? Or would you rather have a leader who struggles mightily evaluating what the “right thing to do” is, and then does it, no matter how difficult, how painful or how unpopular it might be.

“Leadership is not about titles, positions, or flowcharts. It is about one life influencing another.” –John C. Maxwell

 

I’ve seen and worked with and for both kinds. I can pick them out to this day—good and bad. I know which kind I want to follow and be. How about you?

Ref

“Principle-centered leadership” by Stephen Covey published 1989

 

 

We are Dreamers and Fools.

 

“You say I’m a dreamer, we’re two of a kind
Both of us searching for some perfect world we know we’ll never find”

Hold Me Now

The Thompson Twins

 

I constantly try to believe the best in people. I believe the best in children. I believe that children actually want to do the right thing most of the time and that if we teach them and guide them then actually in most cases they will choose to do the right thing without us forcing them. Most of the children in our school make the right choices most of the time. They are kind, compassionate and thoughtful. They look after and support each other, they choose to do the right things.  I’ve been called ‘naive’ for this view by a high-profile tweeter. Actually I am anything but naive, 23 years teaching and working in inner-city schools makes you anything but. What I am however I’ll admit is a bit of a dreamer, I’m an optimist, I genuinely believe that we can make the world a better place. I believe that education can change the world, I also believe that education is about much more that passing some exams. The purpose of our education system must be about giving our young people the opportunities to dream. Creating Literate and Numerate pupils is vital but to truly motivate our pupils the vision has to be bigger.

To be honest being based in the North-East I sadly see education as not really being the doorway it should be for our young people. As the father of a 17 year old battling for jobs, dreaming of a career in a field where sadly privilege does often make a difference, where who you know is often more important than what you know I find my optimism dented. Never once however does it stop him, he works even harder to push for that dream. He is an inspiration. After getting nine GCSE’s (including maths and three sciences because he was given no choice)  he is doing Musical Theatre. Nobody at any point spoke to him about his dreams, his aspirations and even if they had there were no options for him in what he was offered. His one career talk essentially did two things it talked about earning lots of money and about being an engineer. We seem to be driving to an increasingly narrow view of education, one where our school data is more important than actually supporting pupils in achieving their dreams and aspirations.

 

As education seems to narrow so too has politics with little between the offers of the parties. This general election for the first time in a long time seemed to offer options, real choices. Since the general election, on twitter,  I have seen and read a number of tweets criticising young people for the voting choice they made they too were being called ‘naive’.  How many of those tweeters have actually spoken to those young people and asked why they voted the way they did.

Having carried out an election in school it was fascinating to listen to children’s reasons for voting.

In our School (119 pupils voted) the Results were as follows

Labour 34%

Green 35%

Lib/dem 21%

Conservative 7%

UKIP 3%

The children spoke a language of tolerance, of a caring supportive society where no one was left behind. That’s what they wanted to see.

Equally sat ear-wigging to my son talking to his friends (most of whom could vote) discussing a vision of a better Britain without the cynicism that age brings was refreshing. To be fair they knew a lot more about the parties policies than I did. To hear them fired up by politics was equally fantastic. For many their vote wasn’t about them, it was about a creating a fairer society, the exact society we try to create in our school.  They weren’t just concerned about them it was bigger than that.

Now they may have been idealistic when they voted, but tell me is that really a bad thing? Or is it worse that we actually have lost that ability to believe in a better world.

So here’s to the dreamers…

“You may say I’m a dreamer but I’m not the only one
I hope some day you’ll join us & the world will be as one”

Imagine

                                John Lennon