Remembering Dayna Richardson

 

By Vicki Bechard,
former LFKS Secretary 

I sat down to write this blog at the end of September with a heavy heart, as a way to process a tremendous personal and professional loss, and as a tribute really, to my friend, colleague and partner in professional learning Dayna Richardson. True to Dayna’s love/hate relationship with technology, we have had some technical issues getting the blog to post, so it is appearing later than we’d intended but this gives us a chance to continue to keep Dayna’s memory fresh in our minds and heart. I can visualize her laughing at our technology struggles as she proclaims "user error!" And indeed it was!  

Dayna Richardson was the heart and soul of professional learning in South Central Kansas, perhaps even the whole state, and her influence extended nationally too. Whether she was part of a school system, creating an organization like ESSSDACK, leading the state’s professional learning organization, or advising state education officials, she was always working to support teachers and administrators by helping them discover how to learn best, how to create culture of learning, and how to ensure those strategies would live on in school improvement and accreditation efforts. She never shied away from a challenge. Learning Forward Kansas would not be where it is today without her leadership, her vision, and her never ending possibility thinking. She was a lifelong learner and found so many ways to share her understanding with others – usually in multiple colors, fonts, and organizational structures, with quotes, pictures, and short videos thrown in to make connections and deepen understanding. 

In the time Dayna and I worked together on a variety of projects to promote professional learning, our research and collaborative conversations expanded our understanding of what worked best. We were partners in learning. She was a big promoter of the work of Simon Sinek….and how finding and focusing on the “why” helped shape one’s success.  She had a quote for every situation but one that we relied on a great deal came from Maya Angelou – “Do the best you can until you know better. Then when you know better, do better.”  

Dayna was always about growth and improvement. She studied change theory and how we could use this understanding to effectively make a significant difference in how schools and educators do business. We laughed about “change is hard, you go first” but in reality change is hard and the more we know how change affects everyone, the better we can determine the most effective ways to move forward. I hear her asking,“Why do we want to get better? How can we get better? How will we know?” And she believed and modeled the idea that we are “better together.” Collaboration was included in all that she/we did. Collective efficacy became a goal of an effective culture of learning as she promoted excellence for every school. I probably am most proud of the video series we created with the help from our technical expert Rosemary Miller, entitled “Inspired to Learn:  Kansas Stories.”  This was a vision without a real skill set that turned into a resource we will always have that shares the why, how and what of professional learning, collaboration, collective efficacy, and leadership for and by Kansas educators. Dayna narrated those videos so we will forever be able to hear her words of wisdom at the click of a link.

As I reflect on my work with Dayna, I have thought about the many “Daynaisms” that can be attributed to her. She was a coach and mentor and always looked for ways to tactfully get people to examine their own thinking or actions. She asked great questions. She phrased common statements or questions in ways that may not seem important but always protected the dignity of the person she was speaking with while encouraging them to accept the responsibility of the action. Some of those might include:

·         Find ways to touch people’s hearts.

·         Change “You NEED” to do that; to “You WANT” to do that.

·         Replace “SHOULD” with “CONSIDER”

·         Gentle reminder…. Sometimes it didn’t feel gentle when you knew you’d forgotten to do whatever it was, but she was always kind, no matter what.

·         She often used metaphors or examples to illustrate a point. For example, Culture eats strategy for breakfast (a quote from Peter Drucker) was one of her favorites. This was clearly to help people understand that even the best strategies will only work within the right culture so the time and effort spent building that culture is worth it to achieve the best results.

·         She hated routine (even though it was important) paperwork, but she loved paper. We always had colorful handouts loaded with information, sticky notes, and big sticky posters to use in workshops to organize and share information. She often printed out draft copies so she could get a better look when proofreading. She literally saved everything! Sometimes we sent each other pictures of our messy office spaces! J

If I only write this from the perspective of how she affected change in education and professional learning, then we miss the personal part of Dayna that endeared her to many.  We started out as colleagues in LFKS.  We became fast friends. Many have known Dayna longer, but it doesn’t matter if you knew her for one year or 50 years, she left her mark on you.  Her smile won you over in a second.  Laughter came easily and often.  She truly cared about the people with whom she interacted. She made me feel valued and appreciated as I know she did the same for others too.  We talked often, and as we worked more closely, we eventually completed each other’s sentences too when editing.  We were so different in the way we approached a task, but we were attuned in purpose, humor, and common interests.    She was a Mac, colorful and creative; I’m a PC, more linear and functional.  But we complemented each other in important ways and produced quality results.

She was a devoted Jayhawk fan.  I am a devoted, purple bleeding K-State fan.  I can admit she watched more K-State games than I watched KU games, because in all honesty, she was just a fan’s fan.  She accompanied Al to so many Hutchinson Community College basketball games, even taking him to North Texas to watch post season play. Ice cream and chocolate were her favorites.  She often stopped at Dairy Queen on her way home from a professional learning meeting or event.  She loved sunflowers, sunsets, wheat fields, the hills around Medicine Lodge, and the many beautiful flowers she grew in her yard.  Watering them gave her a sense of fulfillment just as she nurtured so many of us in education. 

Field trips to Kansas City to watch Dinner Theater or plays often included a Royals game too. She could drive all over Kansas City and not get lost, but those darn Google Docs Folders were much harder to navigate. Sometimes I think she just called me to help her find something on Google Docs so we could talk. J

She loved to shop and sometimes a package from Amazon or a local shop she often patronized would be delivered to my door because she found something purple that I might need. J  She loved her family and talked of them often. She was proud to be a Nittler and a Daddy’s girl; but the Disney clan gave her so much pleasure too. Family gatherings, all things Disney (Mickey Mouse especially), gave her so much JOY! She was blessed with the perfect middle name because Joy is what she loved to find in all that she did and what she gave to so many.

We both loved to travel, but her field trips took her around the world and mine were, until recently, confined to many of the beautiful sights within the United States. The idea of seeing something you’d never seen before and taking in the beauty, history and culture that every location provided was the draw for both of us. She was so excited for the trip my husband and I took this summer to Switzerland and up the Rhine River. That was typical Dayna.  \She was so happy because we were happy and wanted to hear all about it.   

How do we honor the person who has inspired everyone she met with vision, passion, and endless energy to find ways to get better?  How do we reflect on a life well-lived and ensure her legacy will live on in the students she touched, the educators she shaped, and the leadership she provided? I believe we do this by living the lessons we learned from her. Enjoy life. Find your passion. Consider possibilities. Find ways to get better. I think Dayna will be whispering in my ear with guiding questions, and endless quotes until the day I see her again.  \But until then, there will be stops at DQ, butterflies, sunflowers, and many other things that will be daily reminders of my dear friend. As she always said, the joy is in the journey. Thank you for sharing your joy with all of us. Rest easy my friend. Job well done.

Pro Tip:  Check out the Learning Forward Kansas website for more resources on professional learning. Dayna had a hand in the creation of many of these valuable tools.

Iconic Leadership Lessons for Challenging Times

 

By Vicki Bechard, LFKS Secretary

It goes without saying, but I’m going to say it anyway.  2020 has been a year of disruption and discomfort; sadness and loss.  Any given year has personal and societal highs and lows but in this particular year, everything seems to be bigger, harder, and more overwhelming than most of us can remember.  With so much out of whack – even the weather – we struggle to stay positive and know what to do.  We have mourned as COVID upset our everyday lives and took lives we weren’t ready to give up.  We miss the familiarity of close contact, time worn traditions, and effective practices now set aside to fight an enemy that does more than make us sick.  Schools – both from teaching and learning perspectives - have seen so many changes in such a short amount of time, leading us to anxiously shift out of our comfort zones.  It has also been a time of opportunity as we have redesigned by necessity and at a record breaking pace. We have many heroes in our state that stepped up and led a coordinated effort to help identify the best ways forward for teaching and learning.  No one got the summer off (not that educators really do…).  As educators, we continued to learn, revise, and redesign. There now may be new ways of doing things that we might just keep doing as we go forward.  Necessity is the mother of invention or so they say…. 

In addition to wrestling with the effects of COVID, key public figures have died in both expected and unexpected ways causing us to stop and consider their impact and influence on us personally and as a society.  Most recently we mourn the passing of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg, who was a champion for equal rights for women, voter integrity, and constitutional protections for all people.  There have been so many quotes attributed to her, shared by the thousands, even millions, as they celebrate her legacy and mourn her passing.  We can learn so much from the way she lived her life and the carefully chosen words she shared in court opinions, speeches, and interviews.  My favorite quote to date that Justice Ginsberg cited was about leadership. 

“Fight for what you care about, but do it in a way that will lead others to join you.”

Isn’t that the purist form of leadership?  Having a passion for what you want to accomplish and engaging/empowering others are what it’s all about.  Regardless of your organization or leadership role, it is no different as we face new and ever-changing challenges in our schools today.  We still are passionate about teaching and learning.  We still want others to join us in this journey of excellence.

LFKS is currently focused on how we can support school leaders of all types during these challenging times.  While conferences get changed to virtual formats  or postponed entirely, we are seeking to find ways to connect and share ideas that are useful and purposeful.  We are currently offering a new 3-part virtual conference on leadership that begins in October, and are creating a collection of useful and timely resources to be shared with educators and leaders.  Both of these projects will support the work of schools throughout the state (and beyond), providing ideas, resources, and tools to facilitate how to address local issues and challenges that school leaders face. 

Our passion in LFKS is professional learning.  We care about leaders.  We care about teachers.  We care about each one of you.  Through it all we want you to join us in our mission to ensure there is excellent teaching and learning every day.

Basketball star Kobe Bryant, who tragically left us too soon, underscored Justice Ginsberg’s idea of leading others to join you with this valuable advice:

“The most important thing is to try to inspire people so they can be great in whatever they want to do.”

Again we ask, isn’t that the purist form of teaching and leadership:  Inspiring and empowering others to ensure excellent teaching and learning every day?

Representative John Lewis, famous for his Civil Rights activism, lived a long and productive life following his passion and inspiring others.  This quote attributed to him really speaks to each of us as we go through these turbulent times,

“If not us, then who? If not now, then when?”

We can wait around for someone else to tell us what to do or we can act.   We want to keep learning and growing as educators and leaders, so we ask ourselves and our teams:

What do we want to accomplish?

What knowledge and skills do we need?  

What resources can help? 

Where can I go for ideas?

How can we use what we have differently? 

And at all times we want to remind ourselves: If not us, then who?  If not now, then when? 

The work we are doing now is hard.  There are critics and Monday morning quarterbacks second-guessing our every move.  The data and information change daily. It is hard work and at the same time, worthwhile work.  It is important that we keep going because our kids are worth it.  And as John Lewis so wisely noted: 

“Never let anyone – any person or any force – dampen, dim or diminish your light.”

For without our inner light, we cannot get through the darkness of our fatigue, sadness, challenges or obstacles. You can do it and in the process, lead others to join you in this most important work.

Please join LFKS for our Fall Virtual Leadership Conference.  (If not us, then who? )

Register today!  (If not now, then when?)

 

 

March Madness!!

By Vicki Bechard, LFKS Secretary

March Madness is upon us!  We have been playing the “game” of school improvement all year and those spring OVT (accreditation) visits are about to start.  It’s crunch time!  We want our results to lead to April Achievement and May Magic.   Can we feel the excitement in our halls, our classrooms, our meetings?   Is our team focused on the desired outcomes?  Have we accomplished all that we set out to do?  What do our stats (data) say?  Has our preparation put us in a place of strength as we enter these critical “contests” or face the challenges before us?  Does each player know his/her role?  Does our team (staff) believe we can succeed?  As we assess the competition for now and in the future, what will our team and our game plan look like as we take the court?

School leaders can learn from the NCAA version of March Madness.  While local newspapers may want area schools to compete against each other for “best scores, highest seeded schools, etc.,” the real challenge is competing within our own system to improve from year to year.  Just as college coaches and teams do each season, we start long before March to ensure we are prepared.  We create long range plans that include performance goals and actions which are based on the review of data, ongoing needs assessments from the previous year(s), input from people invested in the team’s performance, understanding of best practices, and a vision of where the team wants to go.  The coaches (building leaders) put the plan into action by ensuring the team is built on trust, has the best personnel in the right positions, understands the necessary knowledge and skills, and is provided ample practice time and support so that the selected strategies can be effectively implemented.  When each player believes in his/her own ability to make a difference and step up when the game is on the line; when the team has bonded, is working toward a common goal, and has learned to trust each other, then the efficacy of one becomes the collective efficacy of the team and everyone wins! 

Upper management (central office) and other invested groups (BOE, Stakeholders) have roles in the success of the team through their financial support to ensure the best resources and personnel are in place, to provide the best learning experiences for the players and coaches, and to be willing to work side by side with the team through the learning and implementation processes.  Maybe just as important are their roles as encouragers and supporters.  Cheering in the stands is a great motivator!

As the team huddles for the last time before the big game, we expect that the game plan is understood by all coaches and players, but we also expect that they realize adjustments must be made along the way.  When individual players can see what needs to happen and have the ability and permission to make those adjustments, the team can be even more successful!   When coaches micromanage and have to call every play, or are overly critical of mistakes that are bound to happen, the confidence and efficacy of their team diminishes.  When change is warranted and coaches or players fail to make adjustments, progress stalls, and the win (improvement) may slip away.  All of this requires continuous reflection and study on what works, what didn’t and what we will do about it. 

The culmination of our “season” begins with March Madness and ends with May Magic!  How is your leadership supporting the challenge of goal achievement?  How is your team competing as the action plan unfolds?  Will the kids be the winners as we “play the game” of school improvement?  Ultimately we are looking to do what works best.  As spring turns into summer, what will we do in the off season to make next year even better?  Team members come and go, and leadership turns over, but the quest to field the best team possible and be competitive in March Madness and beyond is always before us.  And because it’s school and not just one game, we can’t be satisfied with “One Shining Moment,” but we can and should celebrate this journey of many shining moments over time!

Christmas Wish List and Playlist for Educators and Schools

By Vicki Bechard, Secretary

When you see a kid with missing front teeth at this time of year, we immediately smile and begin to hear that familiar jingle playing in our head, “All I Want for Christmas is my Two Front Teeth…” At no time do you think there is something horribly wrong with the child; their missing teeth are just a reflection of the growth process they are undergoing.  The song is a fun poke at the growing pains we all go through and gives one hope that in time, once those teeth come in, things will be just fine.  Speech will become clearer, the ability to whistle will return, and eating will be easier.  No Grinch will steal their joy. It will be so much easier to wish everyone a Merry Christmas (Happy Holidays, Hanukkah, or whatever one is celebrating!)!

Music sparks our thinking and engages our emotional attachments.  We know from lots of research (here’s one source from Neuroscience News) and perhaps your own personal experience, that music is engaging and helps connect us on a deeper level.  As learners, the use or playing of music often is associated with better concentration, improved cognitive functions to create meaning, increased vocabulary and reading levels, all of which can lead to higher levels of achievement and better learning experiences.  If music can be helpful in the classroom to improve focus, meaningful connections, engagement, and overall success, why not use it in the school improvement processes we undertake?

As schools, educators, and students experience growing pains every year, we look for better ways to create a culture of learning, acceptance, and success. If we thought about every school’s Christmas wish list that would take them into the New Year, what might that look like?  Sometimes they might be looking for their “2 front teeth” – a natural part of their growth process, but other times it might be something that leads to a much bigger transformation.  To create a deeper commitment, how might we include music to touch the hearts of educators and engage their minds and work? To that end, I’m sharing my Christmas Wish List (and including a Playlist to support that list) for schools, educators and students this holiday season as they continue their improvement journey into the New Year: (disclaimer: there are MANY more songs that would work based on what you or your staff like to listen to!). 

1.       Purpose and Goals:  The Impossible Dream (The Quest) – This song speaks of the quest of goal seeking with purpose and perseverance.  When learners understand their purpose (WHY), set a goal (WHAT), and develop a plan to achieve that goal (HOW), the quest becomes their improvement journey. This quest will have detours and obstacles, but the determination to succeed will lead achieving that goal.  Climb Every Mountain (from Sound of Music as performed by Audra McDonald) – reinforces the idea that perseverance is required to achieve one’s goals even when mountains stand in your way.

2.       Believe/Efficacy:  This is Me (from The Greatest Show on Earth); Believe (Josh Groban from Polar Express). Both of these songs encourage the importance of believing in yourself and your abilities and by doing so, you will give wings to your dreams and fly.  When a group or team believes in a common goal, collective efficacy emerges and success typically follows.

3.       Collaboration & Teamwork: When We Stand Together (Nickelback) – We win when we stand together; work together; hand in hand; no one can divide us, no matter the obstacle.  While this song addresses more worldly issues, it also can be applied to the world within our schools. Collaboration and productive teaming focused on improving teaching and learning is a win for everyone! We know we are #BetterTogether and We Will Rock You! (Queen).  Consider attending the Learning Forward Kansas Annual Conference Feb. 2 & 3, 2020 in Wichita as Collective Efficacy with Jenni Donohoo will be the feature of our 2020 Vision on Collaboration and Leadership. Click here for more information or to register.

4.       Change and Growth: Everything Will Change (Gavin DeGraw) – If we are not changing and growing we are not improving.  Change happens or it needs to “before it gets too late.”  How do we do that? “Walk the talk.  Separate the men from the boys; women from the girls; tools from the toys.  Even if you’re freaking out, just relax.”  Find your purpose; take a risk; work together; persevere. Change means having to make adjustments to avoid remaining the same.  Even this funny throwback video from the Brady Bunch talks about when It’s Time to Change, it’s time to rearrange.

5.       Supportive Leadership:  Vision is a hallmark of leadership, but more importantly the cultivation of relationships, commitment of support, and willingness to stick with those whom they lead through the trials of implementation are critical to creating and maintaining a culture of learning. Leaders anchor staff and provide the glue as they work together to achieve the desired goals. We can see this theme of trust, connection, and dependable support in these songs: Bridge Over Troubled Water (Simon & Garfunkel); I Won’t Let Go (Rascal Flatts); You’ll Never Walk Alone (from Carousel; Celtic Women version)

6.      Gratitude: Above all, be grateful for the leadership, staff, and community members who work tirelessly for the kids.  Be grateful for those kiddos who depend on your wisdom, caring, and guidance.  Look for the silver lining.  There is plenty of good and promise on which to focus our thoughts and actions. Louis Armstrong got it right when he encouraged us to just look around and appreciate What a Wonderful World we live in.

As the first semester comes to an end and you head into the winter break, may your heart continue to be touched and motivated to be the best you can be as educators so that your students can be their best too.  We at Learning Forward Kansas challenge you to come back after the holidays, refreshed, renewed, and recommitted to improving your instruction to impact student learning.  Let us know if we can help with that. Thank you for making a difference.  We know we are all #BetterTogether.

Happy Holidays from Learning Forward Kansas! 

Making Sense of Snow Piles: Thoughts on Collective Efficacy

By Vicki Bechard, Secretary LFKS

Photo Credit:  Vicki Bechard

As the snow piles up in Kansas – which seems to be a real trend this season – do you sometimes feel like things are piling up in your school world too?  With redesign and the expectation to tailor our instruction to individual student needs that best prepare them for post-secondary success, it can be overwhelming when you consider how many ways we can accomplish those goals.  We know learning is best if it’s engaging, meaningful and relevant.  Oh yes, and we want it to be authentic so students can apply what they know.  Just like the big snowfall, it all looks pretty at first, but after a while, it might feel like more of the same or more than you want to deal with.  So how do we decide what’s best?  What do we keep; what do we change? In other words, how do we dig out from that snow storm of ideas and strategies so we can produce the desired result?  

Efficacy is defined as the ability to produce the desired result.  Today’s research leads us to realize that we want to empower teachers to develop the belief that they can truly make a difference in preparing our students for their future life.  This is called self-efficacy or teacher efficacy.   As learning leaders, growing teachers who believe in their ability to produce the desired result becomes our WHY.  Our WHAT involves identifying the results we want:  Students that can apply what they have learned, be adaptable, and lifelong learners so they can grow in a rapidly changing world much of which is unknown to us now.  But HOW do we accomplish this?  While self-efficacy is good, in most things, we are better together.  When teams of educators work together, believing and acting in ways to achieve these goals, they create a culture in their school that focuses on learning and growth.  Their combined efforts become collective efficacy. 

If we fail to empower teachers, all the redesign initiatives and school improvement plans in the world will be just like the changing Kansas weather, blowing through one day, piling up, and then melting, just in time for the next system to arrive.  And we may not be better prepared for future systems as they arrive.  These initiatives and goals that we worked so hard to create won’t mean a thing if those who are implementing them don’t have the confidence, knowledge, skills, resources, and support to fulfill these efforts.  The question becomes how do leaders change their culture and grow their staff to produce learning experiences that uncover student strengths and passions, and shore up weaknesses so that they can become successful high school graduates ready to face the world?  In the March 2018 ASCD Educational Leadership article, the Power of Collective Efficacy, Donohoo, Hattie, and Eells note:

When teams of educators believe they have the ability to make a difference, exciting things can happen in a school.

How do we make that happen?  Donohoo, Hattie and Eells remind us that “the greatest power that principals have in schools is that they can control the narrative of the school.”  What we think and talk about most typically becomes the focus of our actions.  Examine the conversations (those things that create our personal snow piles) in your school or team.  Are they dominated by talk around schedules, classroom management issues (i.e. student behaviors), testing, absences and tardiness, or following the curriculum?  Are we focused on compliance, or are we focused on growth and learning?  Some of the behavior issues we deal with on a daily basis may just be rooted in the kind and quality of the learning experiences we offer our students and teachers!   For so many, school is about being in your seats when the bell rings, sitting quietly unless you’re called on while the teacher does the work.  So how do we change the narrative to touch the hearts and minds of teachers so they can touch the hearts and minds of students?

Professional Learning will drive the bus on this journey to collective efficacy.  Navigating the snow piles we have created is part of this journey.  Educators want and need to have knowledge and skills to transform their instruction.  We recognize this type of systemic change takes time and deliberate practice. Keep shoveling!  As leaders we want to identify necessary resources, and provide the kinds of support required by these new ways of teaching so they can be effectively implemented. What “snow pile” if you will, needs to be hauled away or melted before the real growth can be seen?  In other words, we want to develop teacher efficacy that can be combined with others to create collective efficacy so the culture of our school is one where everyone believes they can make a difference for students in ways that will facilitate their success.

Donohoo, Hattie, and Eells drive home this point noting that in schools, “If the narrative is about high expectations, growth in relation to inputs, what it means to be a ‘good learner’ in various subjects, and what impact means, then teachers and students will think about learning in a different way.  They will believe that learning is about challenge, about understanding and realizing high expectations, and that setbacks are an opportunity to learn.  Students will also believe that coming to school means investing energy in deliberate practice.”  The snow pile will no longer impede our progress when we make this shift in our beliefs and actions.

Then and only then will we see the cycle of growth evolve so that students are prepared for an unknown future because their teachers are empowered and believe that they can continue to grow and make a difference in how they teach today’s students for tomorrow’s world.   

As the snow is swept away and new growth appears, nurture it and watch it bloom into vivid color.

 References:

Jenni Donohoo, John Hattie, Rachel Eells, “The Power of Collective Efficacy,” Educational Leadership, ASCD, March 2018, Volume 75

Creating a Championship Culture: What Do the Leaders Do?

By Vicki Bechard, 
LFKS Secretary

Many of us (myself included) have spent the last few weeks staying up late, watching and cheering as our boys in blue (Royal blue that is) scratched and clawed their way to a World Series Championship.  They are at the top of their game.  The fans have been swept up in the excitement and marvel at what they can accomplish both individually and together as a team.  Most of us just watch the ball.  However, since I’m an old coach, so I also like to think about how they got there.  And because I’m a teacher at heart, I also wonder what lessons educators can take from these boys of summer (and fall!). 

In my most recent personal blog, I wrote about the lessons we could learn from the Royals’ journey to the 2015 championship.  I cited 3 lessons, although I probably could have cited 30.  There were so many teachable moments as we witnessed the players taking advantage of tiny cracks in the opponents’ armor, making amazing defensive plays, and banging out clutch hits as they “kept the line moving.” But for this blog, my question is not about what we saw on the surface, it is about things generally unseen by fans or media.  The most compelling question for me is, “What did the leaders do?”

Communicating and Implementing the Vision.  As we celebrated with more Facebook posts, tweets, pictures, and articles than I could count, I loved reading about how we got there.  There was indeed a plan…. In fact, a long term plan….that guided the many decisions that were made both on and off the field over the past few years.  It wasn’t by accident that this team was successful and is now in a position to be successful for years to come.  It started with General Manager Dayton Moore creating and clarifying a vision to develop a championship culture.  From that beginning he made many moves, not as fast as some would have liked, but he built the Royals team that we see today coach by coach, player by player, and trade by trade. There was no magic bullet or quick fix.  Everyone had to buy in and commit to the long haul.  Even the team owner had to finally demonstrate his full commitment by adding more money to the salary pool so they had the necessary resources at their disposal to realize the vision.  

The Royals rise to success focused on people first.  As Jim Collins, author of Good to Great and other leadership books, writes, “Great vision without great people is irrelevant.”  They analyzed data (player performances) but more importantly focused on the people behind those numbers.  In a recent Yahoo Sports article, author Jeff Passan illustrated how the Royals General Manager understands the value of the people in developing a championship culture when he quoted Moore as saying it was important 

“to focus on people, trust them and bask in their success.”   

When we want to affect change, taking care of the people must be a top priority.  Many of the change models we have studied in Learning Forward’s Educational Leadership Program (ELP) stress the importance of understanding the needs and strengths of the stakeholders.   How are we involving and nurturing the teachers in our schools as we implement change that leads to excellent teaching and learning?

Another key leader in the Royals success was manager Ned Yost.  Much maligned early in his tenure in Kansas City, and even down the stretch for some on the field strategic decisions, Yost is a skilled communicator of his philosophy.  He also has learned to trust his players and coaches to make good decisions – built on the purposeful work and preparation that happens in spring training, before games, and during the off-season.  He has made adjustments in his managerial style that paid dividends with the Royals.  Yost, quoted by Milwaukee Journal Sentinel writer Tim Haudricort in an October 2014 article, says, 

"I've learned to let my players be themselves. I'm every bit as patient as I was (in Milwaukee). Because I have great coaches, I think I listen a lot more than I did back then. I was pretty hard-headed. I'm a little more flexible now." 

This shift in his own perspective and behavior helped turn the tide for the improving Royals.  His understanding of his players created loyalty from those players and a family-like culture where they support each other and believe they can overcome any obstacle, which has led to this year’s wildly successful season when most picked them to be at home watching the playoffs on TV.  We take away from Ned and his staff the importance of communication and trust, and the benefits of self-reflection.  Leaders develop a culture of success by their believing in their people, communicating their vision and assessing their own performance as well.  When you reflect on your performance as a leader, are you looking at only the results or the process too?

Effective leadership develops capacity, advocates, and creates support systems.  The Royals organization is a model of this type of leadership.  Consider all the “home grown” talent that makes up the majority of the Royals’ roster.  They have developed capacity and provided support for these young players that have led to quality skill development, can-do attitudes, and championship thinking.  How are you developing the capacity of your educators in your school or district to achieve the goal of excellent teaching and learning every day? 

Leadership matters in every organization.  We are in the business of school and the leadership affects every aspect of the school.  In order to create and implement a plan, leaders must effectively communicate the vision and ensure that decisions are made that align to the intent of the plan.  Leadership matters as we plan professional learning opportunities that provide understanding and support of the change initiatives.  Gone are the days where stand-alone staff development days consisting of sit-and-get activities are considered effective ways to positively impact professional learning.  In what ways is your school moving past these one and done silos of learning toward more personalized learning for individuals and/or small groups?  How are we addressing the learning needs of the faculty?

Three of the Standards of Professional Learning really stand out when considering the Royals’ rise to success:  Leadership, Resources and Learning Communities.  By developing capacity, prioritizing and coordinating resources, and engaging in continuous improvement, organizations such as the Royals, and more importantly your school, can develop collective responsibility and achieve the outcomes set forth in the road map for success.

As you reflect on your own leadership journey, consider some or all of the following questions:

·         How effectively are you communicating the vision? 

·         Have you surrounded yourself with quality teammates and listened to what they have to offer? 

·         How are you building the capacity of those with whom you work and/or supervise to achieve excellent teaching and learning every day?

·         How are you creating and sustaining a culture of success in your school?  

Consider the kind and quality of leadership that put together this group of Royals players who had the talent, the heart, and the commitment to succeed, and then let them play.  What would teaching and learning look like if Kansas schools did it the Royals’ way?