SamTastic Weekly Tip: 2/26/24 - Hello from Chicago.

Hello from Chicago. 

We are training twelve new SAM teams in the Windy City today.  One of my favorite content sections is showing how leaders can train others to use them the way they’d like…the way that allows the leader to move teaching and learning forward.  So, I have a question for you, as a veteran SAM team member:

What will do you do today to train people to use you effectively…the way you would like?  

You likely have removed these words from your go-to vocabulary: no, I am not available, I just don’t have time.  Veteran SAM teams understand the benefit of responding with what you can do, rather than what you can’t. 

A teacher approaches as you are your way to meet with a teacher for a feedback conversation.  Before SAMs, you might have said:

"I can’t talk now.  I have another teacher waiting."

With SAMs you know it is more effective to say what you can do instead of what you can’t.

• “Our Frist Responder for copy machine issues is Mary and the office.  She will make the copies you need on the office copier so you don’t have to wait.  She will then work to get the machine in the work room operational.”

• “Your issue is important.  It deserves focus and attention.  Please see my SAM and pick a thirty minute opening so we can give this the time it deserves.”

This is a basic part of developing a First Responder system in your school.  The SAM communications protocol is great in getting people help faster with management issues.  It is even better in creating a culture in the school where each person feels valued and heard.

How?  If the leader always expresses interest, even when if a hurry to get to an appointment, it creates a far more positive workplace.  “Can I have a minute of your time?”  should always be answered in the affirmative if you want people to feel valued.

If you say “I don’t have time right now.” It is likely heard as “You are not important.”  Instead, try this:

“You are more important than a moment of my time.  What do you need?”

The first response makes the person feel dismissed.  The second makes the person feel valued.

The second response does not need to take more time.  It allows you as the leader to hear what the issue is and then decide how to help one of three ways:

1. A First Responder can help you faster.  Please see Joyce, the counselor.  Let me know if want to talk with me after.

2. This issue deserves more of my focus and time than a minute in the hallway.  Please see my SAM to schedule.

3. Change your plan.

Why would you change your plan?  Well, if a teacher told you their spouse was in a car accident and on the way to the hospital, wouldn’t your best move be to cover the class and get the teacher safely to the hospital?  Your TimeTrack plan is just that.  Your plan.  What you do will change sometimes…and should, when the issue is truly urgent.

The purpose of the SAM Communications Protocol is to triage issues, or interruptions.  In medicine, triage means to “conduct a preliminary assessment of (patients or casualties) in order to determine the urgency of their need for treatment and the nature of treatment required.”  A good SAM principal never says no, I won’t help, or I am too busy.  Instead, the SAM principal expresses interest and concern and then triages the issues.

Language makes a difference.  Developing a habit of expressing interest, and asking questions, can go far beyond the First Responder system.

Here’ are a few phrases you might try:

• Would you be interesting in trying something new?

• Would you try a different approach if it might improve your relationship with a student?

• If you were going to try this, what would it look like?

• How would you feel if you were the student?

• Would you try this if we did it together?

• If you were going to try this, which of these three options would appeal?

• If/then phrasing as a support rather than a threat:  If you try this, I promise I will support you whether it works, or not.

• Don’t worry.  We can fix this.  Frequently, the leader can greatly reduce the stress by expressing confidence in others and wisdom.  This too, shall pass.  We can handle it, together.

• I am proud of you for facing this issue.

Keep in mind, managing a conversation in a positive way requires you to ask more questions than sharing thoughts or making statements.   It is important to remember this simple truth:  The person who controls a conversation is the one asking the most questions.  If you match this behavior with sincere care and empathy, you will be a leader others will want to follow.

Mission: The National SAM Innovation Project provides a comprehensive process and set of tools designed to develop effective instructional leaders resulting in greater student success.

Vision: The National SAM Innovation Project will provide SAM services in every state resulting in greater teacher and learner success.

SamTastic Weekly Tip: 2/20/24 - Happy Presidents’ Day.

Happy Presidents’ Day. 

Question:  What did you read over the weekend?  What do you plan to read, today? 

“Leaders must be readers.  Reading and learning from peers within, and outside your industry, enables you to grow in three district ways:  Reading challenges you; Reading reminds you; Reading gives you opportunities to interact with others.”  Forbes Magazine, August, 2021.

Reading, for me, increases creativity.  I often read something that has nothing to do with school leadership, a novel, for example, and it sparks a new idea.  In fact, that’s how I got the idea for today’s SamTastic weekly Tip.

Business leadership coach Michael Hyatt says leaders must be readers in order to be better thinkers and to relax.   One study compared reading to other stress relievers like walking, listening to music, or drinking a cup of tea. Reading was found the most effective, and it worked to lower heart rates and relieve tension in as few as six minutes.

Tim Elmore, CEO, Growing Leaders, identifies seven reasons leaders should read.

• Reading enables you to sleep more and better.

• Reading can improve your mental health.

• Reading is how you acquire new knowledge.

• Reading is how you expand your thought process and worldview.

• Reading is how you spot new opportunities and create new ideas.

• Reading helps you train yourself to concentrate.  

• Reading is how you compress decades of experience into days.

Elmore also makes the case for reading books the old-fashioned way, with pages, rather than on screens, as it improves comprehension.  - Inc. Magazine, 9/23, reprinted, below.

7 Ways Reading Can Improve Your Leadership

The benefits range from mental and physical improvements to increased empathy and understanding. Reading should be your not so secret secret weapon.

EXPERT OPINION BY TIM ELMORE, CEO, GROWING LEADERS@TIMELMORE

SEP 4, 2023

We've all heard the axiom "Leaders are readers." Then, we began to hear that this wasn't totally accurate. We can consume information in so many other ways besides reading, right?

I want to make the case, here, for reading once again. It's transformed my life and leadership.

While I listen to podcasts and watch loads of TED Talks and documentaries, there's something calming about quietly reading an article or a book. If we read an old-fashioned book with actual pages, it removes the damaging light from a screen and allows our eyes to refresh themselves. When we read a page aloud, it takes on a different positive effect as we hear our own voices teaching us or reminding us of helpful content. Our brains light up in distinctive ways.

Consider these tangible advantages of reading.

1. Reading enables you to sleep more and better.

Studies show that 50 percent of those who read before bed report getting better sleep than non-readers. Additionally, the same study found that bedtime readers slept an additional hour and 37 minutes per week compared with those who didn't read in bed. While watching a TV or a laptop can prevent deep sleep, reading actually promotes it.

2. Reading can improve your mental health.

Reading has been shown to make you two and a half times less likely to develop Alzheimer's disease compared with those who spend their time on less mentally stimulating activities. We are revitalized and energized when our minds are engaged in reading. Research has shown that just 30 minutes of reading can lower your blood pressure, heart rate, and feelings of distress.

Joseph Addison once wrote, "Reading is to the mind what exercise is to the body."

3. Reading is how you acquire new knowledge.

While it's not the only way to digest information, it's a vital strategy to consume knowledge and improve our retention. "All the new information creates new memories. And every new memory creates synapses or strengthens old ones," writes Thomas Law. "Research has confirmed that reading stimulates a complex network of circuits and signals in the brain."

4. Reading is how you expand your thought process and worldview.

When I read, I recognize that my thinking systems expand as I explore the processes the author suggests in his or her book. I'm exposed, perhaps, to a different worldview and what lies behind it, enabling me to empathize. I think better thoughts and gain new perspectives. When Elon Musk was asked how he learned to build rockets, he replied, "I read books."

5. Reading is how you spot new opportunities and create new ideas. 

This is true especially when we read from an author who comes from a different industry than we do. Consider this: Orville and Wilbur Wright ran a bicycle shop when they began to study the flights of birds. The result? The first airplane looks a lot like a flying bicycle. Thanks to their work, two unrelated ideas came together to form a new industry.

6. Reading helps you train yourself to concentrate.  

When you finish a book, you've literally conditioned your brain to concentrate, focusing on the thoughts of an expert guide. In fact, I like to use different colored highlighters, one for each element I gain, yellow for big ideas, blue for quotes, green for stories, etc. It helps me focus in an era when much of what I read is social media posts or tweets with 140 characters. Cognitive abilities can decline. Our brains have a "use it or lose it" paradigm, just like our muscles.

7. Reading is how you compress decades of experience into days.

A book is often expanded content from an article that's written a year or two later. The author usually offers decades of experience, summarizing concepts for us. What's more, I've found if I read 20 minutes before bedtime each night, I can consume two books a month. That's 24 books in a year, gleaning from the experience of people wiser and different than me.

Let's be honest. In our day, reading is deep work. Cal Newport, author of Deep Work, says, "This skill is becoming increasingly rare due to constant multitasking, notifications, and social media apps." Time magazine shared a study by Microsoft revealing that people generally lose attention after just eight seconds. Truth be told, our lives were transformed when Johann Gutenberg gave us the printing press. We can read faster than speakers can talk, and we can retain and repeat information more quickly. We must take advantage of this game-changer. A person who won't read is no better off than a person who can't read.

When you're bored, pick up a book, not your phone.

SamTastic Weekly Tip: 2/12/24 - If Andy Reid were a principal, where would he focus his time?

Happy Monday. 

I really enjoyed Super Bowl weekend.  The stories about the relationships Kansas City’s head coach, Andy Reid developed with quarterback Patrick Mahomes, and other key players, caught my attention.  I wondered, if Reid were a principal, where would he focus his time?

I believe he would:

1. spend a lot of time developing trust with teachers

2. work daily to develop assistant principals and instructional coaches by asking questions

3. work daily with selected teachers to develop skills and develop personal relationships to leverage impact

Here’s what he did to build trust when he arrived at Kansas City in 2013:

When Reid first started in Kansas City, the team was weathering a rough patch, and he needed to quickly build trust with his players. So he established regular meetings of a “player’s leadership committee,” where one player from each position room was invited to share any of his group’s concerns.

“Whenever we started that meeting, the first thing he would say is, ‘All right, what gripes do you have?’” former Kansas City linebacker Derrick Johnson told ESPN in 2020. At the meetings, players could complain about anything: the length or intensity of practices, the food in the cafeteria or whatever else was on their minds. It was an open forum for team members to air their concerns.

Reid’s meetings did more than just allow players to vent. They gave him a chance to act swiftly to address their concerns, too. When players said they were wearing pads too long and running too many plays at practices, Reid immediately changed his practice formats, Johnson said.

“It was that quick,” Johnson said. “Most of the things we brought to him, he trusted just like that.”   (excerpted from: CNBC, Natasha Pinon)

If Reid were a principal, he would definitely work daily with his assistant principals and instructional coaches.  Read his own words:

"I've got this coach that's tougher than shoe leather, but he was a teacher of coaches," Reid noted. "He'd have a banana, an onion bagel and a glass of water, and this was at 6 in the morning. He'd go 'If you were presented this defense right here, give me the top three runs and the top three throws you would do.'

"Then he had me explain to him how I would coach every player out there. He'd do this every day to me and just grill me. I was just out of college and he'd just grill me and grill me."

This is how one of the greatest coaches in NFL history got indoctrinated in the coaching world.

At the crack of dawn every morning, Rowen, who would develop three NFL head coaches during his time at San Francisco State in Reid, Holmgren and Dirk Koetter, would make Reid explain how he would coach the techniques to every player on the field for multiple plays against multiple defenses. (Excerpted from: The Andy Reid Story, KC Chiefs’ website:  https://www.chiefs.com/news/longforms/the-andy-reid-story)

Here’s how he developed personal relationships to leverage impact:

Reid calls Mahomes at random times to discuss plays, including at 4 a.m. And Mahomes doesn’t mind. The two meet privately in Reid’s office every Friday before a game. It’s Mahomes’ favorite time of the week.

Mahomes speaks as if speed reading aloud. Reid talks like he walks: slowly and usually without going far. But they both process their chalkboard like Max Born and Robert Oppenheimer processed theirs. Reid has said he feels challenged by Mahomes because his aptitude for the game is “ridiculous.” The same adjective would apply to Reid’s.

There is a warmth between Mahomes and Reid that could not be contrived.. Like an old couple, they sometimes finish each other’s sentences. Beyond warmth, there is trust.  Mahomes is honest with Reid when he doesn’t like one of his ideas.  And  Reid says he appreciates it. (excerpted from, New York Times, Dan Pompei)

School leaders aren’t really head coaches…but their work is far more important...and the steps needed for success are remarkably similar. 

When you have your SAM Daily Meeting look at the events you have scheduled for the week.  Can you find events that build trust?  Can you find events where you will ask questions of your APs and instructional coaches to build capacity?  Cany you find events that build relationships? 

Music Video: I Am a SAM  https://bit.ly/48OCjCm

Executive Summary: SAM team Success:   https://bit.ly/3rIWkZT