Leading People: A CSML Course

KEY TAKEAWAYS
MODULE 4: COMMUNICATIONS THAT NOURISHES
YOUR PEOPLE
Case Study: Joey Jones
In this module, you learned how important it is to focus on shifting the mindsets of your
people in order to get them to change their behavior and fully embrace the school’s mission Dr. Joey Jones, principal of Robert Frost
and beliefs. You also learned that as a school leader, you serve as a lead communicator Middle school, wanted to ensure that the
within your organization. As a result, you’ll have to be thoughtful about how to spread already high-performing school avoided
important, aspirational messages within your community, and how to get others to help you complacency and continued to strive for
do so. As a lead communicator, you also have the responsibility of ensuring there’s a excellence. He introduced equity-focused
communication plan in place when your school faces a crisis. This plan should be and wellness-focused initiatives at Frost,
comprehensive, multi-faceted, and include strategies for encouraging dialogue between and he got his people on board by shifting
yourself and the community. And given how challenging the work of leading people can be, their mindsets and convincing them of the
it’s also important to find ways to care both for yourself and your people. need for change. By focusing on his
people, actively listening, and thoughtfully
The Power of Changing Mindsets and Beliefs
• As a school leader, it is your responsibility to be aspirational in the goals that you set for
engaging in dialogue, Dr. Jones was also
able to navigate the school through a crisis
your school. This aspirational outlook is one that can have a powerful ripple effect on the and continue their path toward continuous
rest of your organization and inspire change within your community. improvement.

• Additionally, lasting change can only be sustained if the people in your school community fully believe in and embrace the mission or vision. This
means that as a school leader, one of your first priorities should be changing the established mindsets and the beliefs of your people.

• A key element in changing mindsets is ensuring that you foster understanding and conviction in your vision. It is a common mistake for leaders
to assume that because they have communicated a vision, people will understand and believe in it. However, there will undoubtedly be those
on your team who do not see the need for change or who do not understand how it can be accomplished. Taking the time to explain the vision
and the “why” up front will be beneficial in the long-run.

Engaging Others in Your Vision

• It’s important to recognize that after communicating your vision and its importance, you’ll need active engagement from others in order to make
the vision come to life and make it meaningful. Part of engaging others means actively listening to them. However, you’ll have to be intentional
and proactive in the ways that you listen, because being a leader can sometimes make it difficult to find the truth about your organization.
Ultimately though, when you do put in the work and listen actively, you ensure that your vision is relevant to the people you serve.

• Engaging others also means making sure that everyone in your community understands the different roles that they play in making the vision
come to life. (For example, if your vision centers around student well-being, ensure that your food service staff understands how essential they
are in making sure students are ready and prepared for the day.) When everybody believes they have a role in the work, it is much easier to
achieve the school’s goals.

• As a school leader, you can also engage people in your vision in more indirect and subtle ways. One method for doing this is to utilize the power
of role modeling. As the principal, you are the ultimate role model in your school, and when you exhibit behaviors that align with your school’s
vision, you inadvertently convince others to exhibit those same behaviors. This is also what makes role modeling so powerful. Along with being a
way to engage others, it’s also an effective strategy for shifting the mindsets and behavior of your people. However, this strategy is only most
effective when you role model or “enact” the values that your organization “espouses”. (In other words, role modeling is most effective when
your actions align with the stated beliefs of the organization.)
• It’s important to note that although you are the ultimate role model within your school, you are not the only one. Individuals with less formal
authority at your school can still have incredible influence. Every adult within the building has the capacity to be a role model.

• Overall, role modeling and fostering understanding and conviction are two important best practices
when trying to lead mindset shifts within your organization. There are also two other elements that The Four Elements of Mindset and
Behavior Shifts
are important to the work of shifting mindsets. They include developing the talent and skills of your
faculty and reinforcing change with formal mechanisms. Together, these four elements—
fostering understanding and conviction, role modeling, developing talent and skills, and
reinforcing with formal mechanisms—make up the comprehensive model called “The Four
Elements of Mindset and Behavior Shifts.” (This model was developed by McKinsey and
Company and based on the real-world experiences of their client organizations as well as
research.)

• The top half of this model can be referred to as “software”, because it relates to the ways in
which school leaders interact with the people in their organization. The bottom half is referred to
as “hardware”, because it relates to the methods school leaders use to actually run their
organizations. The bottom half is a prerequisite in an organization trying to go through large-scale
changes and mindsets shifts. However, true change happens from the top. This means--as was
mentioned previously—that you’ll have to successfully influence your people’s behavior and
mindsets in order to incite meaningful change.

Communication in Schools
• Managing communications for your school is an important element of your leadership role. It involves all forms of communicating with everyone
inside and outside of your school, and both formally and informally. Communicating effectively and efficiently becomes especially important
when your school experiences a crisis. That is why, prior to the crisis, you should have a communication plan in place and a strategy for
navigating the difficult situation.

• There are 3 main best practices with regard to crisis communication:

1) Get the details of the situation and identify the stakeholders or communities that need to be immediately addressed. Then,
develop a strategy for delivering information to these target audiences. (Please note that once you deliver the information, it’s
also best to consider the ways you can engage in a dialogue with your community in order to answer follow-up questions and
address potential concerns.)
2) Consider what your Single Overriding Communications Objective--also known as SOCO--is going to be. This is the one message
or action you want your audience to take away from your interview or letter. A good SOCO should be objective, concise, and
precise.
3) In all forms of communication, be as honest and transparent as possible. This allows you to build trust with the community,
and it also gives you control over the situation’s narrative. (Please note that in order to maintain control over the narrative, you
will have to patiently and repeatedly communicate your message and your SOCO to your constituents.)

Taking Care of Your People and Yourself

• The work of a school leader—and of all who work in schools—can be incredibly taxing. In the face of this challenging work, it’s important to
recognize that your faculty and staff are your most valuable resource. Given this, make it a point of identifying concrete strategies for making
your staff feel valued. This can take on many forms. It could include verbal recognition, giving people more leadership opportunities,
encouraging people to take weekend and vacation time seriously, and writing notes of appreciation.

• In addition to this, take the time to recognize how demanding your own work can be, and put genuine thought into the ways you can restore
yourself. This could include taking up hobbies, committing to leaving work behind when you go home, and celebrating little and big successes
as they happen. Ultimately, doing this will allow you to come back to the job with better readiness and perspective.