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List of available counseling and family service services.

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FUTURE ROLE, GOALS, AND LEADERSHIP STYLES

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School Counseling jobs and changes after the pandemic school year

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School Counseling jobs and changes after the pandemic school year

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School counselors lost jobs when students needed them the most

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On Thursday, January 28, 2021, Congresswoman Jahana Hayes (CT-05) introduced the Save Education Jobs Act of 2021. This legislation would save nearly 4 million education jobs, spur economic growth in the midst of an economic crisis and help mitigate the impacts of students' learning loss as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Specifically, the bill would:
* Deliver up to $261 billion to states and school districts over 10 years. This relief would save up to 3.9 million education jobs, including 2.6 million teacher jobs as well as the jobs of school counselors, paraprofessionals, social workers, school psychologists, nurses, bus drivers, maintenance workers and more from budget cuts due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

* Guarantee funding to all states for at least six years or until the national unemployment rate falls to 5.5 percent or below (if later). Thereafter, the legislation would provide additional funding up to fiscal year 2030 for individual states that continue to experience high unemployment.

* Allow state educational agencies to reserve up to 5 percent of funding to retain or create positions in early childhood, K-12 and higher education, and ensure that low-income students and students of color are not disproportionally taught by ineffective, out-of-field or inexperienced teachers.

* Require school districts to use at least 90 percent of funding to pay the salaries and benefits of teachers, school leaders and other school personnel. This funding can be used to recall or rehire former employees, retain existing employees and hire new employees in order to provide early childhood, elementary or secondary educational related services.

* Permit school districts to use up to 10 percent of funding to support teacher training and professional development, high-quality residency programs and better teacher pay for extended school time to address learning loss.

* Ensure continued funding for K-12 education and high poverty districts with strong maintenance of effort and maintenance of equity requirements.

"Despite the heroic work of our educators, we know that COVID-19 has undone months of academic gains, exacerbated existing disparities, increased student mental health needs, and left far too many students behind," said Congresswoman Hayes. "The cuts we are already seeing throughout the country, and can expect to continue seeing in the future, are devastating for students and the future of public education. We need to invest in more supports, not less, to ensure that schools can meet these needs and challenges during and after the pandemic."

If you have questions or would like to become involved in ACA's advocacy efforts, please contact the ACA Government Affairs and Public Policy team at advocacy@counseling.org.

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Congress Introduces Legislation to Save School Counseling Jobs

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On Thursday, January 28, 2021, Congresswoman Jahana Hayes (CT-05) introduced the Save Education Jobs Act of 2021 . This legislation would save nearly 4 million education jobs, spur economic growth in the midst of an economic crisis and help mitigate the impacts of students' learning loss as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

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ASCA National Model and Leadership standards

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ASCA National Model and Leadership standards

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Are you an agent of change?

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BEING A DOER ISN'T ENOUGH FOR SCHOOL COUNSELORS. STUDENT NEEDS DEMAND SCHOOL COUNSELORS MOVE BEYOND REACTING TO LEADING. Are school counselors doers or

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Cypress- Fairbanks ISD Community Guide and Resources

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Cypress- Fairbanks ISD Community Guide and Resources

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Empathy in Leadership: Appropriate or Misplaced?

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Empathy in Leadership: Appropriate or Misplaced?

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Is there a place for empathy in a leadership role?

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Why is emotional intelligence important in a leadership role?

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Why is emotional intelligence important in a leadership role?

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How can you lead others if you cannot understand yourself first?

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How has this affected our students and where do we go from here?

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"School counselor" is a deceptively simple title. In reality, school counselors play many roles, including social and emotional educator, academic adviser, conflict mediator, wellness coach, mental health therapist, student champion, educational collaborator and family liaison.

Now, with the advent of the pandemic caused by the novel coronavirus, many school counselors have become connectors and comforters-in-chief - not just to students but to parents and school staff.

Last spring, schools began closing in response to the pandemic. According to Education Week, 48 states; four U.S. territories; Washington, D.C.; and the Department of Defense Education Activity eventually ordered or recommended school closures affecting at least 50.8 million public school students. Suddenly, students, families, counselors, teachers and administrators all had to find a way to virtually re-create their in-person school routines. This already-challenging shift was complicated by the significant number of students who lacked access to high-speed internet or desktop, laptop or tablet computers.

Even before the pandemic, civil rights and education groups had been decrying what they had dubbed the "homework gap" because many teachers were increasingly assigning work that required internet access. Already at a disadvantage, these disenfranchised students - many of whom were Black, Indigenous or people of color (BIPOC) - now faced being completely locked out of school academic activities for the rest of the year.

According to "Students of Color Caught in the Homework Gap," a recent report by organizations that include the Alliance for Excellent Education and the National Urban League, when the wave of school closures occurred, 16.9 million children lacked high-speed home internet access (a number that included 1 in 3 BIPOC families), and 7.3 million did not have a computer or tablet. Many schools spent the spring and summer scrambling to provide devices and internet access to students - a task that was still incomplete going into the new school year. Stories of students struggling to keep up with online instruction on cell phones are still not uncommon.

In addition, when the economy took a nosedive as the coronavirus spread, it made it hard to focus on anything but survival for many families. But even financially secure families found it challenging to provide the ideal learning environment as - in many cases - parents working from home with multiple children wrestled with carving out a physical space and a time for each person to be online. Students missed getting to see their friends and participating in extracurricular activities. Sports seasons were canceled. The theater curtains never went up on school plays. Rites of passage such as prom and graduation ceremonies largely fell by the wayside.

And now it is fall, meaning a brand new school year. Even so, in many parts of the country, the football fields and stands will remain empty, the marching band instruments will stay silent and there will be no homecoming dances. Things are decidedly not back to normal. For that matter, there is relatively widespread belief that "normal" will never return. No one knows what the future will hold.

So, it's not surprising that parents, students and school personnel are all feeling stressed and overwhelmed. Continuing to hold classes online while simultaneously ensuring that students and families have the needed technological resources - or, in some cases, the absolute basics, such as enough food to eat - continues to be a team effort.

Because safeguarding the mental, emotional and physical welfare of students is the essence of what school counselors do, these professionals have typically been at the center of the problem-solving process since the arrival of the coronavirus. They have conducted check-in phone calls to make sure students had the necessary equipment and internet access; helped parents (or grandparents) with technological troubleshooting; arranged for families in need to receive gift cards and community resources; responded to requests from teachers to find out why students weren't showing up for online class (and then worked to resolve whatever the barrier was); reassured stressed-out parents; coached families on how to set up a structured school day; made mental health referrals for students in crisis; and provided moral support to teachers, administrators and each other. All while finding ways to continue offering academic guidance, focusing on students' emotional and social learning, and giving specific support to children who were struggling with various personal and school-related issues.

Counseling Today spoke to several school counselors at the end of the 2019-2020 school year and as they prepared for the new 2020 fall semester to learn more about the challenges of performing their jobs in the midst of a pandemic.

Linda Colón
Counselor for prekindergarten and kindergarten students, Bancroft Elementary School, Washington, D.C.
Bancroft is a Title I school (i.e., a facility that receives financial assistance due to a high population of students from families with low incomes) with a majority Latinx student body that also includes children of Ethiopian immigrants. Many of the families in the district live in poverty and often share relatively small living quarters with extended family.
Under normal circumstances, American Counseling Association member Linda Colón gives Bancroft's youngest students their earliest lessons in social and emotional learning. By observing (and joining) students at play, reading aloud to them, incorporating toys, conversing with puppets and showing self-produced videos, Colón teaches prekindergartners and kindergartners basic social skills and how to recognize and regulate their emotions.

Getting to know students' families and getting them invested in their children's learning has always been an integral part of Colón's counseling approach. She says that she's "planting a seed" of awareness about the importance of education and attendance from an early age. Colón meets with parents to answer questions and, if requested, gives them advice on how to reinforce the social and emotional lessons that their children are learning.

Another benefit of establishing a relationship with families - and checking in regularly via phone or in person (during nonpandemic times) - is that Colón can get a better sense of the problems with which the families might be struggling. If they trust the counselors and teachers, she says, they will be more likely to reach out if they need help addressing emotional or mental health problems or accessing vital resources such as food and shelter.

Colón has been finding new ways to stay connected to her students and their families since March, when schools across the metropolitan region shut their doors and transitioned to online learning to finish out the school year because of the coronavirus. Schools in Washington, D.C., opted to begin the new year virtually as well, with an option to reevaluate in November.

"We can't just say, 'This isn't going to work,'" Colón says. "We have to figure it out. We owe it to the kids."

Before in-person learning ceased completely in March, Colón, knowing that the children were feeling anxious, created a lesson centered on "claiming strategies." She reminded the children that when they were really afraid, it was helpful to talk about it, and she provided them with some age-appropriate safety information.

But the most important piece was the practical activity: washing hands. "We want to keep the germs away, so we wash our hands for 20 seconds," Colón told the children, reinforcing the statement with videos and puppet demonstrations of hand-washing.

Colón also made videos so that the children's social and emotional learning could continue virtually. The videos covered topics such as keeping a positive mindset, practicing breathing techniques and exercising mindfulness.

Colón also spoke to some of her students and their families one-on-one, either on the phone or via Microsoft Meetings, to find out how they were coping, to offer a sympathetic ear to stressed-out parents and to provide a reassuring presence for anxious children. She has given her phone number to parents and encouraged them to call or text her if they need help. As distance learning continues, she has been encouraging teachers to reach out as much as possible too. In addition, Colón has worked directly with parents to help solve technological problems.

This year, one of her initiatives is to help parents find a way to provide a space for children to take a break from their surroundings - a relaxation bubble. Many of her students live in small spaces, so the "bubble" might be something as simple and small as a blanket draped over a chair to make a mini tent.

Even at a young age, children are more aware of what is going on around them than most people realize, Colón says. They know that people are sick and dying, and at this age, children are less able to process the fear, which leaves them at risk of getting stuck in fight-or-flight mode. When they are at school, they can see their friends on the playground and have other opportunities to get away, but at home, exposure to trauma - even if only through the television - may be inescapable.

Activities such as drawing, watching a fun video or escaping to their relaxation bubble can help relieve the agitation, Colón says. The staff at Colón's school has requested that markers, crayons and paper be sent to all the families.

Research also shows that when people are experiencing trauma, simply making a connection with a sympathetic presence can help, Colón says. So, she believes that keeping in contact with students and families is one of the most important things school staff can do right now.

"It's finding a way to establish that connectedness," she says. "When you're in school, you're waving to them [students and families], saying 'Hi, good morning,' singing a silly song. You're doing something to make a connection that doesn't have anything to do with academics."

"I think our [school counseling] services are needed more than ever," Colón says. "We're the ones who are getting the pulse [of the community]."
****
Natasha Griffith
Counselor for first through sixth grades and homeless coordinator, Dorothy I. Height Elementary School, Washington, D.C.
Height is also a Title I school, with many of its families living at or below the poverty level. Most of the students are Black - primarily first-generation Ethiopian. Approximately 20 to 30 percent of students are Latinx.
"I think this year, I'll feel proud and accomplished if I can master Microsoft Teams and have whole class sessions," says ACA member Natasha Griffith, whose school - like Colón's - will be all virtual until at least November. She has modest goals for kicking off the school year, including holding a few smaller group sessions with students in fourth through sixth grades. Griffith's role as the school's homeless coordinator - which involves helping families in transitional housing find financial and community resources - can make that goal challenging. "I have to focus on the barriers that children and their parents face," she says.

Griffith says she and her co-workers "hit the ground running" last spring when school buildings closed, distributing gift cards from the city's public services department and money from a GoFundMe campaign to the neediest families and making sure that students had computers. But there will be an ongoing need for assistance during the current school year. In fact, although Griffith wasn't officially working over the summer, she heard from families in search of additional gift cards and did some interpreting for the school's technology contact, who doesn't speak Spanish. Most of the students received computers or iPads in the spring, but stable internet access was a persistent problem, so the school has been setting families up with mobile hotspot devices (routers connected to a cellular data network that provides Wi-Fi connectivity).

Griffith will also continue to call families to check in on students who aren't showing up online. If their absence is due to technological problems, she will make sure they get the resources they need. If the absence is because the students and families aren't adapting well to virtual learning, then Griffith will do her best to help them navigate the unfamiliar territory and highlight how important it is for students to participate so that they don't fall behind. "So many students weren't participating [last spring]," she says. Even if families aren't experiencing technological difficulties, many of them still aren't sold on virtual learning, Griffith says.

Unfortunately, as is the case in many communities across the country, there will be cases in which Griffith isn't able to get in touch with families. The counseling staff at Height does work closely with a social worker from Washington's department of public health who is responsible for connecting families with resources, and Griffith says that she has been able to accomplish a lot. Even so, the reality is that educational continuity is incredibly difficult for schools to provide during the pandemic.

As she did last spring, Griffith will continue to help bridge the gap between parents and teachers. Many parents are feeling overwhelmed, and coping with online learning is yet another source of frustration for them. Griffith provides a listening ear and works toward helping families see that the school staff is there to help, not to judge. She is also concentrating on developing lesson plans that help students navigate the virtual landscape and encouraging them to ask for help when they need it.

Another challenge Griffith is facing is that she has no designated "classroom time" online. To present lessons, she has to be flexible and grab any spare time that teachers have in their class schedules. To supplement, she is planning on developing videos covering the social and emotional learning topics that make up the core part of her counseling curriculum, including managing anger, building self-esteem, learning to identify emotions, developing resilience and using tools for academic success. She has been rearranging her apartment to carve out a space for filming. The videos will be posted on Microsoft Teams for the students to access on demand.

In the spring, Griffith created a few virtual "lunch bunches" for small groups of students. She and the children would play games such as self-care bingo; squares included actions such as taking a shower, eating breakfast, listening to your body, taking a break, meditating, calling a friend and saying something good about yourself. She would also ask students about what they were doing outside of their classroom lessons. "It gave them a place to talk about missing their friends," she says. "It was also something social that wasn't related to school."

Griffith is starting up the virtual lunches again during the current school year. She would also like to find a way to virtually re-create the in-person restorative circles that she used to hold in school. The activity, which usually involved 20-22 students, was focused on building community. Griffith would ask open-ended questions (usually focused on having respect for fellow students) and present students with a talking piece to pass around the circle. Students could choose to keep the piece and speak, or pass it on.

"I think restorative circles work well because they allow students to express their feelings about various social and emotional learning topics," she says. "It allows students to take ownership and be an involved participant in the classroom community."

Griffith will continue to connect with students any way she can while her school is held online, but she believes there is no substitute for face-to-face interaction. "Especially for these kids," she says. "Saying in person, 'You've got this. You can do this.' That's what I live for as a school counselor ... [to] make a difference and tell them they matter."
****
Judy Trigiani
Counselor for kindergarten through sixth grades, Spring Hill Elementary School, McLean, Virginia.
Spring Hill has a large population of international students, many of them the children of diplomats and business people from around the world. Some of these families temporarily relocated to their home countries to wait out the pandemic and have not yet returned to the U.S.
The plan for ACA member Judy Trigiani's school district is to operate exclusively online through at least the first quarter of the school year and then to reevaluate. But as Trigiani noted at the end of the prior school year, one of the biggest burdens of the pandemic for people is not knowing when it will end. Or, in the case of schools, when bringing students back in person will not carry the threat of widespread community spread. "We are trying to plan for the unknown. We don't know when we'll go back yet," Trigiani says.

In the meantime, Trigiani and the rest of the staff at Spring Hill continue to try to keep things as "normal" as possible. Traditionally, the school's year starts with an open house and a new family and student orientation. This year is no exception; however, the events will all be virtual. Families and students will connect via Blackboard Collaborate, where staff will introduce themselves and talk about the school community, scheduling and resources available to parents. A question-and-answer session will follow. The school is also hosting town hall meetings and a kindergarten orientation to present new resources and answer questions.

This year, there will also be a technology orientation to demonstrate Blackboard features such as the icons for accessing the microphone and video and "raising" your hand; how to magnify the screen; agreeing, disagreeing and reacting to the teacher and fellow students with emojis; and where to find the chat box, Trigiani says. The technology orientation will also cover some of the other programs the school will be using. Blackboard Collaborate enables staff to post videos and PowerPoints and share their screens. The tech session will also demonstrate how to access the website and the asynchronous learning area (video sessions that students can watch on their own schedule). Trigiani has also been preparing PowerPoint presentations for parents on topics such as setting up their children's workspaces and how to talk to children about COVID-19.

Trigiani and the rest of the counseling staff will continue to visit the virtual classrooms every morning to check in and say, "We're here if you need anything." There are 18 classrooms per counselor, and counselors go into one classroom each day, she explains. Sometimes, they conduct a lesson. Other times, Trigiani will show up early just to chat with the kids, asking them to use the emojis to let her know how they are doing. If a student expresses distress or Trigiani hears or sees something that causes her concern, she meets with the student individually online and works to address the issue.

Individual counseling, social skills instruction, school counseling programs, parent meetings, the identification and sharing of resources - all of the normal work of school counselors also continues virtually. In addition, Trigiani works with parents who are struggling to cope with their children's behavioral, social and emotional issues. If necessary, the counseling staff makes referrals to outside mental health resources.

The key, Trigiani says, is something that one of her former bosses used to say: "Keep your community and people informed, and stay as positive and flexible as you can."

Trigiani believes that technology will continue to become more and more critical to school counseling, even after schools decide to return to the in-person model. Not only will retaining a virtual element allow medically fragile students better access to education, but it will also help counselors prepare students for 21st-century jobs by enabling them to give students training in online social skills, Trigiani asserts.
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Randi Vogel
Counselor for sixth grade, Thomas Pyle Middle School, Bethesda, Maryland.

Pyle also has a significant number of international students, which means that the student population is somewhat transitory.

"This pandemic has really brought to light the social-emotional needs of our students," ACA member Randi Vogel says. "Even students who we considered very solid are having difficulties."

In the spring, several students who were already struggling with mental health issues deteriorated further with the loss of a structured school environment and ended up needing to be hospitalized, she says. But even students who had no history of mental health issues were experiencing anxiety and stress.

After school moved online, Vogel and her team put out an announcement on the school portal that they were available via email and Zoom. They also sent out regular surveys asking students how they were feeling, if they needed anything or whether they just wanted to share.

One girl replied that she needed a Chromebook laptop to keep up with her school assignments. Another student said, "I miss you - and I fell and broke my arm." Some students expressed that they just really wanted to talk, so Vogel and her team connected with them individually via video chats.

The surveys also asked students what they were doing to take care of themselves and to whom they had reached out. Every time that Vogel spoke to a student, she would ask them what they were doing for themselves.

Vogel's district is starting the new school year with virtual-only instruction and will reassess in November. Although many students may have initially enjoyed the novelty of learning from home, that sentiment generally seems to have worn off, Vogel says. "I have heard from several parents and students that they truly miss the school experience - chatting in the halls with their friends, switching classes, the cafeteria, after-school activities, the bus rides to and from school."

Although her school can't re-create those experiences, the days will be more structured and organized for students this year, she says. There will be more live and interactive instruction, in contrast to this past spring, when teachers primarily gave lessons via "asynchronous learning," which involved using previously recorded videos that students would watch on their own. Teachers then offered online "office hours" to field follow-up questions.

"Parents definitely want more 'live' instruction and for more of the day to mimic what occurs in the building," Vogel says. Although this may help virtual lessons to feel more like regular class, she anticipates that students will have difficulty being on their screens for so many hours, despite the breaks that have been built into the schedule.

"We, as counselors, will continue to reach out to our students to see how we can help them virtually," she says. "This might look like lunch bunches or initiating one-on-one Zoom calls as check-ins."

Vogel says her counseling department really prided itself on always being available to students during the day. In fact, they had several students who were issued "flash passes" so they could come to the counseling office anytime they needed a break. "Once we are back in the building, I expect that to resume," she says. "However, it is much more challenging to establish relationships with middle schoolers via Zoom."

Because so many students are struggling or just need a little extra help coping, Vogel and her colleagues will be incorporating more mindfulness and stress-reduction activities and class meetings into the virtual day for students. "I think it will be very beneficial to have the students hear from one another how they are managing and that they are not alone with their feelings," she says.
**** Additional resources
To learn more about the topics discussed in this article, take advantage of the following select resources offered by the American Counseling Association:

ACA School Counselor Connection (counseling.org/membership/aca-and-you/school-counselors/school-counselor)

ACA Mental Health Resources (counseling.org/knowledge-center/mental-health-resources/)
Books & DVDs (imis.counseling.org/store)

A School Counselor's Guide to Small Groups: Coordination, Leadership, and Assessment edited by Sarah I . Springer, Lauren J. Moss, Nader Manavizadeh and Ashley Pugliese

Critical Incidents in School Counseling, Third Edition, by Tarrell Awe Agahe Portman, Chris Wood and Heather J. Fye

Developing and Managing Your School Guidance and Counseling Program, Fifth Edition, by Norman C. Gysbers and Patricia Henderson

Solution-Focused Counseling in Schools, Third Edition, by John J. Murphy

Acute and Severe Behavior Problems presented by Dave Scott

Bullying in Schools: Six Methods of Intervention presented by Ken Rigby

Managing Conflict in Schools: A New Approach to Disciplinary Offense presented by John Winslade

Quality Circle Time in the Secondary School presented by Jenny Mosley

****
Laurie Meyers is a senior writer for Counseling Today. Contact her at lmeyers@counseling.org.
**** Opinions expressed and statements made in articles appearing on CT Online should not be assumed to represent the opinions of the editors or policies of the American Counseling Association.

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School counseling in the time of the coronavirus - Counseling Today

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"School counselor" is a deceptively simple title. In reality, school counselors play many roles, including social and emotional educator, academic adviser, conflict mediator, wellness coach, mental health therapist, student champion, educational collaborator and family liaison.

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ASCA Toolbox- stories that address difficult or common topics in the school setting.

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ASCA Toolbox- stories that address difficult or common topics in the school setting.

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ASCA Town Hall: Stories From the Field - Addressing Racism in Schools

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Are you looking for ways to build student leaders at your elementary school? Hear different initiatives that help students successfully develop leadership skills. From... more Tags: leadership You have just been hired for your first school counseling job. Now what? Learn about the areas you should address in those first few weeks: setting up your office,...

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CYPRESS-FAIRBANKS GUIDANCE AND SCHOOL COUNSELING- WEBSITE

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CYPRESS-FAIRBANKS GUIDANCE AND SCHOOL COUNSELING- WEBSITE

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Future school district plans

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Responsibilities

The Guidance and Counseling Department includes over 280 school counselors, 4 Licensed Professional Counselors, 1 Licensed Chemical Dependency Counselor and 18 Youth Service Specialists (social workers). School counselors provide a comprehensive developmental guidance program with age-appropriate support to students at all levels. School counselors are an integral part of the total school program and help promote student success in school, and in life, by focusing their efforts on students academic achievement, personal/social growth, and college/career development. They work collaboratively with many departments in order to provide prevention, intervention and follow-up services for students, families and staff.

The Guidance and Counseling Department provides support and resources during a campus crisis and works in conjunction with principals and the HR department to staff school counselors at all campuses.

The Guidance and Counseling Department also provides the following services:

Evaluate transcripts for all international students entering high school in CFISD.

Problem-solves system-wide recordkeeping issues for counselors

Develops 6, 5 and 4 year graduation plans for secondary students

Develops personal graduation plans for high school students

Guides students in scholarship searches and post-secondary options

Provides age-appropriate guidance lessons on required topics to students such as anti-victimization, bully prevention and suicide prevention

Trains staff on required topics and offers relevant staff development opportunities

Works collaboratively with YSS (social workers) to provide basic needs and other community resources for students and families

Provides direct and indirect services to students through the core curriculum, individual planning, and responsive services

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The Guidance and Counseling Department includes over 280 school counselors, 4 Licensed Professional Counselors, 1 Licensed Chemical Dependency Counselor and 18 Youth Service Specialists (social workers). School counselors provide a comprehensive developmental guidance program with age-appropriate support to students at all levels.

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This is the OPPOSITE of what you want to see in servant or transformational leadership roles

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This a powerful example of how leaders do not have to be the "know it alls" and they do not have to be right- As leaders we are here to learn as well

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This a powerful example of how leaders do not have to be the "know it alls" and they do not have to be right- As leaders we are here to learn as well

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TEA- Texas frequently asked questions abdou school counseling certification and programs-MUST BE A CERTIFIED TEACHER FOR TWO YEARS

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TEA- Texas frequently asked questions abdou school counseling certification and programs-MUST BE A CERTIFIED TEACHER FOR TWO YEARS

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School Counseling - FAQs | Texas Education Agency

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1. Where can I find information on school counselor certification?The requirements to become a Texas School Counselor can be found by clicking here.

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Making tough decisions easier in leadership: Take yourself OUT of the equation...

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Making tough decisions easier in leadership: Take yourself OUT of the equation...

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Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

Leadership is mentally and emotionally demanding. Not only will you need to temper your emotions to keep your team inspired, you'll also be the point person for almost every hard decision your business makes.
Related: The 7 Styles of Decision Making
You're the one who has to make the call, and the one who has to deal with the consequences. It's no wonder that depression affects entrepreneurs more than the average population.

Sooner or later, you'll be forced to make a tough call; it might mean firing an employee you're personally close with, or making a risky strategic change for the business or ending a long-term partnership.

Fortunately, there are some strategies you can use to make these decisions easier, both in terms of finding a better option and resisting the stress and burdens that come along with it.

Try using these tactics the next time you're forced to make a hard decision.

1. Reduce decision fatigue.

Decision fatigue is a documented phenomenon that sets in when you make too many successive decisions. Even small decisions, like picking what to wear or ordering a meal, can accumulate the stress of decision-making and make approaching bigger decisions more stressful.

You can reduce decision fatigue by spending less time on small-scale decisions. Build habits that are repeatable, and let other people (like your assistants or coworkers) decide things that don't have much impact on you or your business.

2. Take yourself out of the equation.

According to the New York Times, one of the best ways to make decisions is to remove yourself from the picture altogether. Imagine that this isn't your company: Instead, pretend that it belongs to a friend, and you're advising him or her on what to do.

Describe the situation, out loud, as if the people and organizations involved were total strangers. If your friend came to you with this story, what would you advise? Oftentimes, it's easier to see the answer when we're removed from the situation, because the stakes are lower -- but the answer is just as good.
Related: Can You 'Feel' It? How to Use Emotional Decision-Making in Marketing
3. Create a firm deadline.

A big problem many entrepreneurs have with decision-making is being decisive in a timely manner; in other words, they procrastinate. This calls to mind Parkinson's Law: Essentially, the amount of time it takes to do a task swells to fill the amount of time allotted for it.

If you give yourself a month to make a decision, you're going to take a month. If you give yourself a day, you're going to take a day. Obviously, you don't want to rush decisions with major consequences, but you'll also want to set a strict timetable so you don't procrastinate too long, wasting time and mental resources in the process.

4. Limit the factors you use to make your decision.

The paradox of choice is a perplexing case of human psychology. The more options you have to consider, the harder it is to make a choice- -- and the less satisfied you are with that choice once you make it.

You can compensate for this by limiting the number of options you have to choose from, and the number of variables you consider when choosing between them. For example, you could narrow your choice down to two vendors, and decide to make your decision based on cost only, or only on the quality of the working relationship.

5. Quantify your options.

As a business owner, quantifiable decisions are easy to make. For example, if your marketing strategy makes more money than it costs, it's worth keeping. So, if you want to make your net hard decision a little easier, try reducing everything to quantifiable variables.

This may take some extra effort up-front, but the best answer will be obvious when you're done. For example, if you're stuck between hiring two candidates, start rating them on different factors, like experience, value and culture fit. Ultimately, the candidate who racks up the most points is your winner.

6. Focus on long-term thinking.

It's tempting to think about the short-term repercussions of your decisions as a worst-case scenario, but try thinking about the long term instead. If the current decision you're making is the wrong one, how will this affect your life in three years? What about five years? Most bad decisions can be recovered from in the span of a year or two -- even the big ones -- so don't beat yourself up over the worst-case possibilities. This is also a way to distance yourself from the equation.

Procrastinating isn't a good idea. Delegating is possible in some situations, but generally not advisable. If you want to be a successful leader, you need to learn how to handle tough decisions rather than avoid them.
Related: How to Use 'Decision Trees' to Improve Your Decision Making
In short, learning to make effective decisions may take some practice, but decisiveness is like any other skill: the more time you invest in it, the better you'll become.

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6 Ways to Make Hard Decisions Easier as a Leader

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Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own. Leadership is mentally and emotionally demanding. Not only will you need to temper your emotions to keep your team inspired, you'll also be the point person for almost every hard decision your business makes.

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"The Park Way"- leadership motto and mission at my current school. This was developed and created by everyone in the school for the students.

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"The Park Way"- leadership motto and mission at my current school. This was developed and created by everyone in the school for the students.

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Trainings and Downloads for Brene Brown and leadership

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Trainings and Downloads for Brene Brown and leadership

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I've spent twenty years studying courage, vulnerability, shame, and empathy, and I recently completed a seven-year study on brave leadership. The goal of Dare to Lead is to share everything we've learned about taking off the armor and showing up as leaders in a skills-based and actionable playbook. Here are a few of the big ideas that emerged from this research:

You can't get to courage without rumbling with vulnerability. Embrace the suck.

Daring leadership is a collection of four skill sets that are 100% teachable, observable, and measurable. The foundational skill set of courage-building is "rumbling with vulnerability." Once we have built these rumbling skills, we can move on to the other three skill sets: Living into Our Values, Braving Trust, and Learning to Rise. Our ability to be daring leaders will never be greater than our capacity for vulnerability.

Self-awareness and self-love matter. Who we are is how we lead.

The greatest barrier to courageous leadership is not fear-it's how we respond to our fear. Our armor-the thoughts, emotions, and behaviors that we use to protect ourselves when we aren't willing and able to rumble with vulnerability-move us out of alignment with our values, corrode trust with our colleagues and teams, and prevent us from being our most courageous selves.

To scale daring leadership and build courage in teams and organizations, we have to cultivate a culture in which brave work, tough conversations, and whole hearts are the expectation, and armor is not necessary or rewarded. We have to be vigilant about creating a culture in which people feel safe, seen, heard, and respected.

The skill sets that make up courage are not new; they've been aspirational leadership skills for as long as there have been leaders. We just haven't had the courage for real talk about courage. But it's time. And if you want to call these "soft skills" after you've tried putting them into practice-go for it. I dare you. Until then, find a home for your armor, and I'll see you in the arena.

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Daring leadership requires brave work, tough conversations, and showing up with our whole hearts.

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We are leaders- sometimes we are a one stop shop in the school environment

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School counselors are uniquely equipped to bridge the gaps between administration, teachers, parents, and students. As the demands placed on everyone in a school community increase, it's vital that we view and include school counselors as part of our leadership teams. Let's make sure we recognize all they do and put their strengths to work for our students! Here are 11 ways school counselors serve as leaders in your building.

1. School counselors recognize and showcase diversity.

In many buildings, school counselors are considered the "heart" of the school. They help create an inclusive environment that is respectful, welcoming, kind, and open to all.

2. School counselors develop community partnerships.

Counseling staff work collaboratively with universities, community colleges, technical schools, local unions, military reps, and apprentice programs to provide a variety of opportunities for students. They are especially vital in ensuring underserved and first-generation students have access to and the tools to reach all possible post-high school options.

3. School counselors help during difficult situations.

Strengths such as listening, reflecting, and high emotional intelligence make school counselors valuable allies when trying to get buy-in from staff or the greater community on difficult issues. Counselors foster a culture of change via strong lines of communication and valuing input from all parties involved.

4. School counselors maintain strong home-school connections.

Counselors tend to be the liaison for parents when it comes to communicating with the school. This leadership role is especially important when assisting families who are not familiar with the school setting or have issues trusting staff.

5. School counselors maximize educational success.

School counselors can help to maximize the educational attainment of all students by providing students with mental health services (school or community-based) and developmental guidance that takes a proactive approach in helping students set and reach academic goals.

6. School counselors lead staff trainings.

Administrators who use their counseling staff (rather than outside contractors) to lead building-wide trainings can save a lot of money and gain quicker buy-in from staff. School counselors are experts on topics such as student engagement, positive discipline, suicide/self-harm, students-as-leaders, peer mentoring programs, and academic/social interventions for low-performing students.

7. School counselors protect and advocate for disadvantaged students.

Counselors identify and amend policies and practices that negatively impact disadvantaged students and advocate for equitable services for all students.

8. School counselors use expertise to bring data to life.

Like administrators, counselors are trained in data collection and analysis. They are skilled at using this information to drive decisions about placement, intervention, and overall student health and wellbeing.

9. School counselors mediate difficult situations between parents/students and staff.

Counselors are consistently looking for ways to support the relationship between school staff and parents. Acting as a mediator when one or both parties are upset about a situation is a critical way in which school counselors serve as leaders.

10. School counselors organize and lead crisis response.

Counselors are on the front lines after a tragedy has happened in a school or community. Staff, students, parents, and community members look to the counselors for guidance and support immediately following an event. Because of their training in emotional/mental, the counseling staff is critical in advocating for and teaching self-care to staff, parents, and students during a crisis.

11. School counselors empower and inspire.

School counselors inherently believe in people and work tirelessly to communicate that. By being visible and accessible at all times, their calming, caring, and encouraging presence helps support and empower staff in the building.

School counselors serve as leaders in many ways and we need to value their perspectives and strengths. They are vital to building positive learning environments in which students thrive.
Join our Facebook group Principal Life for more conversation about and insights into the challenges of school leadership.

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11 Ways Your School Counselors Serve as Leaders - WeAreTeachers

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School counselors are uniquely equipped to bridge the gaps between administration, teachers, parents, and students. As the demands placed on everyone in a school community increase, it's vital that we view and include school counselors as part of our leadership teams. Let's make sure we recognize all they do and put their strengths to work for our students!

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ASCA CODE OF ETHICS
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How do you get your team to the next level?

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How do you get your team to the next level?

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Stakeholder Management and Power Interest Grid Example

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To learn more about Transformational Leadership, see the article at www.mindtools.com/transformationalleadership. Have you ever wondered just what is it about your leadership style that brings out the best in your people? And have you ever thought about the aspects that might need improvement? What are you going to do about it?

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Transformational Leadership- this is what I have seen from my leadership team on my campus

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Transformational Leadership- this is what I have seen from my leadership team on my campus

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Access the essential membership for Modern Managers

What makes a truly exceptional leader? Chances are we've all encountered them at some point in our careers: those leaders who stand out above the rest. Those who bring out the best in every one of their team members, and who consistently strive for greatness.

Take Molly for example. Everyone respects Molly. She inspires and encourages her team members, while expecting and demonstrating the highest standards. In return, her people are fiercely loyal, and they're highly successful - as individuals, and as a team. In short, Molly is a Transformational Leader.

By contrast, other leaders in the organization report that their people seem disengaged. They experience high staff turnover, and their results are often disappointing. So, what does Molly do that other leaders don't?

To begin with, Molly regularly reminds her team members of the purpose of their work. And she knows that she's a role model for her team, so she acts with integrity in all of her working relationships.

In this article and video, we'll explore what transformational leadership is, and discover what it takes to become a transformational leader.

What Is Transformational Leadership?

Leadership expert James MacGregor Burns introduced the concept of transformational leadership in his 1978 book, "Leadership." He defined transformational leadership as a process where "leaders and their followers raise one another to higher levels of morality and motivation." [1]

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Watch this video to learn the definition of Transformational Leadership. Explore the theory behind this leadership style, and discover the characteristics of transformational leaders.

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How I Built This

TAKING AN IDEA and building it into something tangible. That's the entrepreneurial journey. Guy Raz interviews innovators, entrepreneurs, and idealists to create a narrative of their journey from spark to movement in a highly successful podcast on NPR and now a book entitled, How I Built This.

How I Built This is an inspiring book that succeeds as a practical guide to the entrepreneurial journey.

After interviewing hundreds of founders and CEOs, Raz says they are just like you and me-human.

They all have sleepless nights and midnight terrors. Most of them, at some point, feel like imposters. They are not natural superheroes; they are all Clark Kents. The only difference between them and you, at this moment, is that when opportunity presented itself, they went into the phone booth and put on the cape. They took the leap.

Raz has taken the lessons from the shows and structured them to "follow the path we took as we traced their entrepreneurial hero's journeys from the call to found their businesses, through the tests and trials of their growth phases, and finally to their destination as mature, global brands we know today." His goal is to " pull back the curtain on entrepreneurship, to shed light on the black box of entrepreneurial success, and provide an architecture for how to think creatively about building something, whether that's an idea, a movement, or, of course, a business."

Embedded in these stories of entrepreneurs are business advice and life lessons. If the entrepreneurial journey does nothing else, it teaches you a lot about yourself. Here are some of those lessons:

The intersection of personal passion and problem solving is where good ideas are born and lasting businesses are built.

Passion is important but the trouble with passion by itself is that it can lead you down rabbit holes that only you care about, or to problems that only you have.

There are plenty of things that are scary but aren't dangerous. And there are things that are dangerous but not scary. And those are the things that get you. Failing is scary. Wasting your life is dangerous. It's mistaking fear for folly, risk for recklessness.

They knew their ideas would work because they knew their stuff.

The truth is that virtually no company is the creation of a single individual, but rather the product of a partnership, or even a group of co-founders.

The low points in a startup are so low that few could bear them alone.

Bootstrapping is about using other nonmonetary assets to solve problems that you would otherwise hire someone else to solve or throw money at-assets like your time, your effort, your network, and your own talent and ingenuity.

Really knowing your story-knowing the why-is often the bridge between founding and funding.

It's a story that unearths the very reasons why the company exists, and sometimes even explains how both the company and the founder have managed to succeed for as long as they have.

If you don't need to give up 5, 10, 20 percent of your company before you are even sure what it's going to look like, to people who will never care about it as much as you and your partners do, then you shouldn't take this money.

There is only one reliable way to engineer word of mouth: you have to make a really good product. Actually, that's not precisely true. It can't just be really good. It has to be so good that someone has to recommend it.

All of them have done whatever it takes to stay alive, to make it another day, to get their product on the shelves, to get customers in the door, to get vendors paid, to get investors to write checks. All in the hope that, as they stand on the balcony and survey the dance floor below, whatever they realize they have to do today, or they might have to do tomorrow, is that one steady pull more that will finally get them out and through.

First Andreessen Horowitz told him, "what usually look like good ideas are bad ideas, and what look like bad ideas are good ideas, because the problem with good ideas is that everyone tries to do them, and as a result, there is no value to be created there." Second, he said, "you need to do the thing that you believe you are the best person in the world to do, where you have a unique proposition, given your story, to solve a problem."

More than just stoking the flames of a fighting spirit when things aren't going your way, the mission is what gives your business, and you, direction.

The point is, you can do everything right, you can make all the plays, and still can lose the game. The cards are generally stacked against anyone thinking about starting a business. And yet, at the same time, if one or two bounces go your way, all of a sudden you can come out of the game as the big winner. That is luck.

The one thing Raz has learned from all of the people he has interviewed is this:

Be kind; that kind leaders have kind companies; that kindness is a powerful tool; that kindness is free-it costs nothing!-and that return on investment for kindness is bigger than that for any financial investment an entrepreneur can make.

As the stories in this book unfold, you will see that all entrepreneurs are good at dealing with rejection. The entrepreneurial journey is fill with "no." It is their curiosity that often saved them and got them moving again.

Starting a business is never easy, but if you have, or if you are thinking about doing it, you need to read this book. (And don't forget to read the Afterword. It's inspiring and helpful.)

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Culture Renovation

WE hear a lot about changing the culture. And the successful are more like renovations than they are like rebuilding the culture. Kevin Oakes advocates that mindset in Culture Renovation: 18 Leadership Actions to Build an Unshakeable Company

Companies that effectively changed their cultures were successful because they were renovating what they had, not starting from scratch and completely rebuilding or transforming.

Furthermore, he notes that the best time to renovate your culture is when all is well.

Rarely do companies set out to change their culture when everything is calm and running smoothly, even though that is probably the best time to do it.

Making the point that culture renovation begins at the top he replays the appointment of Satya Nadella as CEO of Microsoft after Steve Balmer in 2014. Cultural change at Microsoft began on day one. The key change was instilling a growth mindset.

Microsoft's culture had been rigid. Each employee had to prove to everyone that he or she was the smartest person in the room. Accountability-delivering on time and hitting numbers-trumped everything. Meetings were formal. If a senior leader wanted to tap the energy and creativity of someone lower down in the organization, she or he needed to invite that person's boss, and so on. Hierarchy and pecking order had taken control, and spontaneity and creativity had suffered as a result. The culture change I wanted was actually rooted in the Microsoft I originally joined. The culture change I wanted was centered on exercising a growth mindset every day.

The turnaround at Microsoft has been remarkable, and it started at the top.

Oakes offers an 18-step culture change blueprint organized equally into three categories: Plan, Build, and Maintain.

PLAN

Step #1: Develop and Deploy a Comprehensive Listening Strategy. "Before an organization embarks on a culture renovation, it needs to first understand how the current culture is perceived. Too often, the senior team assumes they know what the culture represents. Too often, they are dead wrong."

Step #2: Figure Out What to Keep. Know what stays and what goes. Listen to employees (Step 1) is so important because "it not only illuminates what the culture is today, but it also helps determine the most positive and valued aspects of the company's historical culture to carry forward."

Step #3: Set Your Cultural Path. "In the spirit of renovation, the new direction should acknowledge and embrace past successes, but set up the organization to forge new ground into an unknown future." A carefully crafted purpose statement.

Step #4: Define the Desired Behaviors. Once you have a short, pithy, and memorable purpose statement, the question is what behaviors will best support that statement.

Step #5: Identify Influencers, Energizers, and Blockers. Know the informal organization using an organizational network analysis.

Step #6: Determine How Progress Will Be Measured, Monitored, and Reported. "Ultimately, the reason for a culture renovation is to enable the organization to execute on its go-forward strategy. Because this change can sometimes take years, it's important to define upfront what the indicators of a successful renovation should be, and to put in place mechanisms to monitor progress." Oakes offers a number of common measures and methods.

BUILD

Step #7: Clearly Communicate That Change Is Coming. "To kick off a culture renovation, the CEO must articulate the purpose of the organization (whether new, old, or renovated), and that purpose must resonate with employees."

Step #8: Ferret Out Skeptics and Nonbelievers Early. This is the hardest step. "It's the consistently de-energizing people that ultimately slow down or take down cultures. Ferret them out as early in the renovation as possible."

Step #9: Paint a Vision for the Future. The story matters. "73 percent of successful change efforts relied on stories." A go-forward vision of the future. Most CEOs of corporate change failure attack previous leadership and focus their messages on the past.

Step #10: Consciously Collaborate. Strong internal collaboration is important to drive change. The group must understand why they are coming together and what they are doing. Collaboration can go too far as in the case where "connectivity is through the roof because everyone believes they need to be consulted on decisions."

Step #11: Establish a Co-creation Mindset. "Though almost all successful culture change efforts begin top-down, it is critical to also get the buy-in of the workforce by creating a bottom-up (and middle-out) contribution mechanism." Consider a Culture Hackathon. Ford "held a two-day event where employees worked in randomly selected teams to generate ideas to either fortify elements of the culture they loved or fix elements that weren't serving the company well - #hackFORDculture.

Step #12: Provide Training on the Desired Behaviors. Train leaders at all levels on the desired behaviors so that they can model them. "While leaders as teachers is one of the most effective ways to reinforce behaviors, it's clear that successful culture change relies on overall leadership training across the organization."

MAINTAIN

Step #13: Make Onboarding About Relationships Versus Red Tape. "If you want to maintain that culture renovation you worked so hard to put in place, you can start by improving your onboarding process." The most overlooked aspect of onboarding: "Helping the new hire establish a network of trusted subject matter experts who will contribute to that person's career success."

Step #14: Promote Those Who Best Represent the New. Behaviors that support the renovated culture should be rewarded. Showcase the "career advancement of individuals who best represent the new."

Step #15: Change Performance Management Practices. Most important is the "frequency and usefulness of feedback, clearly defining the business purpose of the performance process, and aligning it with the culture and values of the organization."

Step #16: Leverage Employee Affinity Groups. Interestingly, their research found that two-thirds of companies felt Employee Resource Groups were "more effective than other leadership development forums at developing leadership skills and competencies." An ERGs primary benefit is to "raise awareness of the different groups of people that make up the workforce of most organizations."

Step #17: Increase the Focus on Talent Mobility. "During a culture renovation, one of the most successful talent initiatives an organization can focus on is rotating talent to strengthen 'the pack' and ensure the desired behaviors are exhibited throughout the organization."

Step #18: Don't Underestimate the Value of External Sentiment. Use external feedback from places like Glassdoor, LinkedIn, and social media to monitor the progress of efforts to renovate your culture.

Culture Renovation is less theory and more how to. You will find case studies and interviews with the participants of successful culture change.

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Posted by Michael McKinney at 07:35 AM
Permalink | Comments (0) | Find more on this topic in Change , Human Resources , Management

Leading Thoughts for January 14, 2021

I DEAS shared have the power to expand perspectives, change thinking, and move lives. Here are two ideas for the curious mind to engage with:

I.

Elaine Kamarck on presidential responsibility:

"Despite of al he trappings of power-the big house on Pennsylvania Avenue, Camp David, Air Force One, never having to sit in a traffic jam (ever!)-the president is in charge of an entity over which he has fairly limited power. This is, of course, exactly the way the Founding Fathers wanted it. And yet, try telling that to the American public or to the world when something goes really wrong. As we have seen, large-scale governmental failure becomes presidential failure, whether the president likes it or not."

Source: Why Presidents Fail And How They Can Succeed Again

II.

Brad Stulberg and Steve Magnes on how to be passionate:

"Mindfully living with passion starts with realizing that passion in and of itself doesn't start off as either good or bad; it just is-a powerful emotion rooted in our biology and psychology. It's not something we magically find, but something that we develop by following our interests and incrementally devoting more of our time and energy to them. The next step to mindfully living with passion is to become aware of its dark side. Only by understanding the pitfalls of obsessive and fear -driven passion-and taking deliberate steps to avoid them-does passion gain the potential to be productive. But avoiding pitfalls is not enough. An equal challenge is bucking current trends that favor instant gratification and instead actively adopting the mastery mind-set: maintaining drive from within; focusing on the process over results; not worrying about being the best but worrying about being the best at getting better; embracing acute failure for chronic gains; practicing patience; and paying full attention to our pursuits."

Source: The Passion Paradox: A Guide to Going All In, Finding Success, and Discovering the Benefits of an Unbalanced Life

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Leading Thoughts: Pass Them On

B RITISH statesman Benjamin Disraeli said, "The wisdom of the wise and the experience of ages may be preserved by quotation." The ideas of others have the power to slow us down and consider perspectives beyond our own. Left alone, our thoughts become too narrow-too vulnerable to blind spots. This learning process may deepen our own thoughts, give us concepts to build on, and start great conversations. It's also good to know that we are not alone and that others have lived through the same things that we now experience.

We share two ideas every Thursday on the Leading Blog or sign up for our newsletter.
Read them and pass them on!

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It's Time to Focus on Projects, Not Ideas

WE get distracted from what matters to us by our personal projects. Charlie Gilkey says in Start Finishing that a project is "anything that takes time, energy, and attention to complete." There are projects that keep us busy, and then there are projects that help us thrive-get us to the next level.

To get to the place where our soul longs to be, we're going to have to convert our ideas into doable projects at the same time that we're going have to get real about all the projects we are doing. The problem isn't that we're lazy or incapable-it's just that we're not doing the work that's going to enable us to thrive.

Luckily, you already know the doing you need to do to move you toward thriving. Yes, it's tied to the idea that's nagging you.

To get moving, we will need to find a place in our schedule for our best projects-the ones that make us thrive. The reality of finite time means we have to choose what is most important to us here and now. To make that happen, we need intention, awareness of ourselves in relation to our work, boundaries, the courage to move forward, and discipline. ( IABCD if you are into that) "Our innate talent, creativity, and drive combined with discipline are what make us forces of nature."

There are consequences to not doing our best work. We wither, and we begin to suffer from creative constipation.

Creative constipation is exactly what it sounds like. We take in ideas and inspiration that get converted into aspirations, goals, and projects, and at a certain point, if we're not pushing them out in the form of finished projects, they start to back up on us.

And like physical constipation, at a certain point, we get toxic. We don't want to take in any more ideas. We don't want to do any more projects. We don't want to set any more goals or plans. We're full and fed up.

That inner toxicity becomes the broth that flavors all our stories about ourselves and the world; your head trash gets more pronounced and intense, and what we see in the world goes from bright to dark. Creative constipation leads o behaviors in which we lash out at the world-and sometimes even more intensely at ourselves. We become resentful of other-even people we love-who are doing their best work.

Gilkey covers how to make space for your project and the obstacles that get in the way of that and how to work your plan.
Start finishing today.

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Eat, Sleep, Innovate

THE potential for innovation exists within our organizations. The problem is the culture doesn't support it. Our organizational cultures tend to prioritize today over tomorrow. How do you make innovation as natural as eating and sleeping? Just something you do; part of your organizational culture?

The authors of Eat, Sleep, Innovate-Scott Anthony, Paul Cobban, Natalie Painchaud, and Andy Parker-contend that the solution "requires focusing people's daily habits through a series of interventions, and then ensuring that the new habits stick and scale."

We have to change the culture. And that doesn't begin by copying the relics of highly innovative companies. We must deal with the source of the problem so that innovation and the manifestations of it arise organically from the culture of the organization.

Their definition of innovation is " something different that creates value." That's distinct from invention. A light bulb is just a light bulb until it creates value. "Until you have turned a spark of creativity into revenues, profits, or improved performance, in our eyes, you have not innovated."

What does the organizational culture need to support?

1. Curiosity. Innovators ask, "What if?" "Is there a better way?"

2. Customer Obsession. Innovators understand and are engaged with the potential customer.

3. Collaboration. Innovation occurs when different ideas and perspectives collide.

4. Adeptness in Ambiguity. Innovators focus on assumptions over answers.

5. Empowerment. An idea or invention is not an innovation until you do something with it-create value.

What holds us back is fear and inertia that often the outcome of our successes. This inertia becomes the shadow strategy that is ingrained in our culture. It undermines anything we might say or attempt to do otherwise. "The shadow strategy quietly tugs and budges a company down a path of perpetuation, even if circumstances demand something drastically different." And that kills innovation.

The antidote to all of this is to break old habits and form new ones-and in effect, change the culture. To this end, a team at Innosight began collecting examples of interventions that promoted better innovation habits. They gave this collection the acronym: BEAN or:

Behavior Enablers: Direct ways to encourage and enable behavior change
Artifacts: Physical or digital objects to reinforce behavior change
Nudges: Indirect was to encourage and enable behavior change

In Eat, Sleep, Innovate, they list 101 BEANs and cover, in detail, over 20 to help you design BEANs specific to your organization. There are six key ingredients to a successful BEAN:

1. Simplicity: Make it easy to adopt and remember. "Want to exercise more? Leave your running shoes by your bed before you go to sleep."

2. Practicality: Connect it to existing routines. "The fewer things you have to change, the better."

3. Reinforcement: Create physical and digital reminders. Create "visual cues-fun cubes that people can play with on tables and checklists on the wall-that serve as reminders" of your program.

4. Organizational Consistency: Ensure it links to objectives, processes, systems, and values. "Effective BEANs don't encourage people to do one thing if the company rewards them for something else or punishes them for that behavior."

5. Uniqueness: Create something fun and social and support it with stories and legends. "Sharing stories helps spread the idea."

6. Trackability: Build it in a way that it can be adjusted, measured, and scaled. Capture data that allows you to track and improve the program.

BEANs encourage behaviors that build culture. Build a culture in your organization where innovation is the natural result. A place where people can bring their best to the assets of the organization and create something new that has value and impact. BEANs help to "shrink the challenge" into " micro shifts of change."

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Leading Thoughts for January 7, 2021

I DEAS shared have the power to expand perspectives, change thinking, and move lives. Here are two ideas for the curious mind to engage with:

I.

Geoff Colvin on self-knowledge:

"The best performers observe themselves closely. They are in effect able to step outside themselves, monitor what is happening in their own minds, and ask how it's going. Researchers call this metacognition-knowledge about your own knowledge, thinking about your own thinking. Top performers do this much more systematically than others do; it's an established part of their routine."

Source: Talent Is Overrated

II.

Charlie Munger on turning yourself into a learning machine:

"I constantly see people rise in life who are not the smartest, sometimes not even the most diligent, but they are learning machines. They go to bed every night a little wiser than when they got up and boy does that help-particularly when you have a long run ahead of you."

Source: University of Southern California Law School Commencement Speech, May 13, 2007

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Teams That Work

N OT every problem can be solved with a team. But when a team is called for, it is important to get it right.

Teams That Work by Scott Tannenbaum and Eduardo Salas is a comprehensive look at teams and the drivers of their effectiveness-long term. Fairweather teams that crumble when things get tough or can't recover from setbacks quickly are not effective teams.

The authors say three components characterize effective teams: Sustained Performance (are able to generate positive results over time), Team Resilience (can work through challenges and can quickly bounce back from adversity), and Vitality (can maintain the energy, vibrancy, and resources needed for future success).

Before addressing the seven drivers of team effectiveness, they point out that all teams are not the same. And this is important to consider because helping your team succeed depends on the nature of your team. They highlight five team distinctions and place each on a continuum from low to high: Reliance. Membership Stability, Task Consistency, Proximity, and Similarity. For example, the Reliance Continuum:

For teams that fall toward the far-left end of the continuum, sometimes all that is needed from a team perspective is for members to be civil with one another and not get in each other's way. Perhaps all the team leader needs to do is provide individual feedback when deviant behavior emerges and occasionally host a social event, so team members see each other as real people. But for teams where team members must rely on one another a bit more, they need more than just being civil. They need to be able to pass the baton, know the planned plays, or adjust to one another on the fly. Teamwork and seven drivers become increasingly critical as we move from left to right on the continuum.

Where is your team on these five continuums?

The authors then get into the seven drivers of team effectiveness that consistently make a difference.

Capability

Fundamental question: Do we have the right people with the right mix of knowledge, skills, and other attributes?

If your team does have the necessary competencies, little will be accomplished. Consider both task-related capabilities and team-related capabilities. Team related capabilities include giving/receiving feedback, communicating, conflict resolution, leadership and interpersonal skills, and understanding how teams work.

Communication

Fundamental question: Do team members communicate effectively with each other and with people outside the team?

Quality is more important than quantity, and a breakdown in communication makes the team vulnerable, especially in crisis situations. "Quality communication means sharing useful information clearly, accurately, and on time to the right people."

What drives team effectiveness is communicating unique information and knowledge that others may not possess or fully understand. That builds shared awareness among team members. Unique information can be related to an area of expertise, the status of a situation, or an action that is needed. It doesn't need to be complex or highfalutin.

Cognition

Fundamental question: Do team members possess a shared understanding about key factors such as priorities, roles, and vision?

When a team has conflicting or unreconciled points of view on priorities, roles, or how to handle certain situations, it can adversely affect to coordinate and perform effectively. In contrast, when a team possesses what psychologists call "shared mental models," it often results in better performance. Another way to think about cognition is whether your team members are all "on the same page."

Conditions

Fundamental question: Is the context in which the team operates favorable for performing effectively (e.g., ample resources, supportive culture)?

Positive work environments create positive outcomes. There are some things that can't be changed in an organization to accommodate the team. In that case, the team should learn to work around it. "It is helpful to think about conditions as operating on two levels: the broader organizational or business unit level and the local, team-specific level."

What is the situational strength of the environment? "Some situations are so strong they essentially mandate behavior, others only offer hints or 'nudges' about what to do, and weak situations may offer no clues about expected behaviors."

Organizational policies and practices, including performance management and compensation practices, create expectations about teamwork. The climate in which the team is embedded also matters.

Coordination

Fundamental question: Are team members exhibiting the necessary teamwork behaviors for team success?

Coordination is about behaviors, not attitudes, and is at the heart of teamwork. Behaviors matter. The forms of coordination that matter the most are: maintaining situation awareness, providing back-up and support, learning and adapting, and managing team emotions and conflict.

Coordination is more difficult when team membership is frequently changing, task requirements are dynamic, people work in different locations, or team members have diverse capabilities and perspectives.

Cooperation

Fundamental question: Do team members possess the right beliefs and attitudes about their team?

Cooperation emerges from the other six drivers. Cooperation develops over time and is dynamic. "Cooperation isn't like a skill or personality trait that you take with you from team to team. And it isn't about your general attitude towards teamwork, but rather how you currently think and feel about this team."

Four forms of cooperation are essential: trust, psychological safety, collective efficacy, and cohesion.

Coaching

Fundamental question: Does the leader and/or team members demonstrate the necessary leadership behaviors?

Coaching is not just for the team leader but is more of an all-in driver. Others on the team can step in and help with these functions. There are seven essential leadership functions:

Task-focused:

1. Ensure clarity and alignment

2. Hold teammates accountable

3. Remove obstacles and garner support

Team-focused:

1. Manage team emotions and attitudes

2. Foster psychological safety

3. Encourage participation and empowerment

Team and task-focused:

Promote learning and adaptation

People in power tend to self-anchor. That is, they tend to think and feel the same way they do. When in power, we have a harder time reading other's emotions. We filter other's opinions and thinking through our own opinions and thoughts and create false assumptions. "And, due to self-anchoring bias, our natural inclination can be to assume we are 'reading the audience,' when in reality, we are merely reading ourselves."

What I have presented here is just a brief overview of the material they present. You will find in Teams That Work practical so-what-now tips and how you can use this knowledge whether you are a team leader, team member, consultant, or a senior organizational leader of teams. Unless you work in a vacuum, this book will provide many insights for you.

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TAKING AN IDEA and building it into something tangible. That's the entrepreneurial journey. Guy Raz interviews innovators, entrepreneurs, and idealists to create a narrative of their journey from spark to movement in a highly successful podcast on NPR and now a book entitled, How I Built This .

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The Power of Vulnerability- Brene Brown TEDTalk

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The Power of Vulnerability- Brene Brown TEDTalk

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There is something important about showing vulnerability and showing empathy towards others

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The Power of Vulnerability | Brené Brown | TED

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Texas Model for Comprehensive School Counseling

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Texas Model for Comprehensive School Counseling

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The Texas Model for Comprehensive School Counseling Programs (5th Edition)

The Texas Model for Comprehensive School Counseling Programs is a revision and expansion of the 2004 Pre-K-12th Grade Development Guide: A Model Comprehensive, Developmental Guidance and Counseling Program for Texas Public Schools. The revision was completed by the Texas Counseling Association (TCA) in collaboration with the Texas Education Agency (TEA). As in the 2004 guide, the Texas Model is based on the statutory description of Texas school counseling programs and school counselor responsibilities (Texas Education Code [TEC] §§33.005-33.007). The Texas Model is further expanded to address changes to statute related to school counseling since 2004.

The Texas Model for Comprehensive School Counseling Programs (5th Edition) (PDF, 9035KB)
https://tea.texas.gov/sites/default/files/Pub_2018_Texas-Model_5th-Edition.pdf
From TEA website

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Publication 2018 Texas Model for Comprehensive School Counseling Programs 5th-Edition

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The Texas Model for Comprehensive School Counseling Programs is a revision and expansion of the 2004 Pre-K-12th Grade Development Guide: A Model Comprehensive, Developmental Guidance and Counseling Program for Texas Public Schools. The revision was completed by the Texas Counseling Association (TCA) in collaboration with the Texas Education Agency (TEA).

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Downside of having too much Charisma in leadership

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Downside of having too much Charisma in leadership

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Executive Summary

Conventional wisdom suggests that the most charismatic leaders are also the best leaders. But research shows that, while at least a moderate level of charisma is important, too much may hinder a leader's effectiveness. Three studies - involving 800 business leaders globally and around 7,500 of their superiors, peers, and subordinates - suggests that as leaders' charisma increases, so does their perceived effectiveness, but only up to a point. The researchers also found that highly charismatic leaders were perceived to engage in more strategic behavior and less operational behavior. The findings suggest that leaders should be aware of the potential drawbacks of being highly charismatic.

Conventional wisdom suggests that the most charismatic leaders are also the best leaders. Charismatic leaders have, for instance, the ability to inspire others toward higher levels of performance and to instill deep levels of commitment, trust, and satisfaction. As a result, they are generally perceived by their subordinates to be more effective, compared with less charismatic leaders.

But our research shows that while having at least a moderate level of charisma is important, having too much may hinder a leader's effectiveness. We conducted three studies, involving 800 business leaders globally and around 7,500 of their superiors, peers, and subordinates. Leaders occupied different managerial levels, ranging from supervisors to general managers. Our paper is forthcoming in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology.

First, it's important to understand what charisma is. Traditional models of charismatic leadership state that charisma is not a personality trait, but simply exists in the eye of the beholder. In other words, charisma is attributed to someone, as opposed to being grounded in one's personality.

However, the observation that people tend to agree in their perceptions of others' charisma levels suggests that it is not only a matter of attribution, and that this agreement might result from a personality-based foundation underlying these perceptions. So the first goal of our research was to establish a measure of charismatic personality.

We gave leaders the Hogan Development Survey (HDS), a personality inventory specifically designed for work applications, and looked at how they scored on four personality tendencies: bold, colorful, mischievous, and imaginative. More-charismatic leaders score high on these traits, which is reflected in their high self-confidence, dramatic flair, readiness to test the limits, and expansive visionary thinking.

Next, we conducted a study to confirm this cluster of traits as a valid measure of charismatic personality. Using a sample of 204 business leaders, we showed that charismatic personality related to subordinates' perceptions of charismatic leadership. So leaders with a highly charismatic personality, as measured with HDS charisma, were also perceived to be highly charismatic by their subordinates. Using an archival data set from 1998 on a sample of 156 people, we further showed that HDS charisma levels could be predicted by people's charismatic behaviors (for example, being energetic, assertive, and generating enthusiasm).

Our second goal was to investigate the relationship between charismatic personality and leader effectiveness. In a second study, 306 leaders (65% of them men) provided HDS self-ratings of their charismatic personality, while their coworkers provided ratings of their overall effectiveness using a 10-point rating scale, where 5 is adequate and 10 is outstanding. Taken together, 4,345 of their coworkers participated in this study: 666 superiors; 1,659 peers; and 2,020 subordinates. An average of 14 people rated each leader in terms of overall effectiveness.

Consistent with our expectations, we found that as charisma increased, so did perceived effectiveness - but only up to a certain point. As charisma scores continued to increase beyond the 60th percentile, which is just above the average score relative to the general population of working adults, perceived effectiveness started to decline. This trend was consistent across the three observer groups (subordinates, peers, and supervisors).

We also asked the leaders to evaluate their own effectiveness. As shown below, the more charismatic the leaders were, the higher they rated their own effectiveness. This discrepancy between self-perceptions and observer ratings is in line with other research demonstrating that leaders with high self-esteem typically overrate their performance on a variety of criteria.

In a third study, we tested whether the effects of charismatic personality on effectiveness could be explained by looking at specific leader behaviors. To test this, we asked 287 business leaders (81% men) to rate their charismatic personality, and an average of 11 coworkers - including supervisors, peers, and subordinates - to rate each leader in terms of overall effectiveness. Additionally, coworkers now also rated leaders on two pairs of opposing leader-behavior dimensions: the extent to which they were forceful and enabling (tapping into the interpersonal behavior dimensions, or how they led), and the extent to which they were strategic and operational (representing the organizational dimensions, or what they led).

Although we did not find significant relationships between charisma and the interpersonal behavior dimensions, we found that highly charismatic leaders were perceived to engage in more strategic behavior and less operational behavior. But how can this explain lower effectiveness ratings for the most charismatic?

One explanation is that the costs associated with the desired trait (charisma) eventually come to outweigh its benefits. For highly charismatic leaders, we expected that the costs associated with a lack of operational behavior would come to outweigh the benefits delivered by strategic behavior when a certain level of charisma is exceeded. And that's exactly what we found: Highly charismatic leaders may be strategically ambitious, but this comes at the expense of getting day-to-day work activities executed in a proper manner, which can hurt perceived effectiveness. They failed, for example, in managing the day-to-day operations needed to implement their big strategic vision and in taking a methodical approach to getting things done in the near term. Further analysis showed that for leaders with lower levels of charisma, the opposite was true: They were found to be less effective because they lacked strategic behavior. For example, they did not spend enough time on long-term planning, and failed in taking a big-picture perspective, questioning the status quo, and encouraging innovation.

In terms of practical implications, our findings suggest that leaders should be aware of the potential drawbacks of being highly charismatic. Although it's difficult to draw a precise line between "just enough" and "too much" charisma, these are a few traits to look out for that can influence one's effectiveness. Self-confidence, for instance, may turn into overconfidence and narcissism in highly charismatic leaders, while risk tolerance and persuasiveness may start to translate into manipulative behavior. Further, the enthusiastic and entertaining nature of charisma may turn into attention-seeking behaviors that distract the organization from its mission, and extreme creativity may make highly charismatic leaders think and act in fanciful, eccentric ways.

For those whose charisma may be above optimal, coaching and development programs aimed at managing potential operational weaknesses, enhancing self-awareness, and improving self-regulation can be useful. Highly charismatic leaders would also benefit from receiving feedback from their coworkers on their effectiveness. That way, any gap between their perception and the perceptions of others will become clear. In contrast, coaching programs for leaders low on charisma might focus more on boosting their strategic behavior.

In sum, we found support for the idea that a leader can be too charismatic. Our findings suggest that highly charismatic leaders are perceived to be less effective, not for interpersonal reasons like self-centeredness but for business-related reasons that specifically relate to a lack of operational leader behavior.

We do want to point out that we didn't include situational factors in our study, which could influence the strength and shape of the relationship between leader charisma and effectiveness. Under certain conditions, such as in low-stress situations, this relationship may be strictly linear ("the more charisma the better"). However, we believe that high-stress and high-pressure situations are rather typical for a "normal" leadership context, enhancing the likelihood of finding a too-much-of-a-good-thing effect. Additional studies will be important to further investigate the specific conditions under which charisma is desirable or not.

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Too Much Charisma Can Make Leaders Look Less Effective

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Executive Summary Conventional wisdom suggests that the most charismatic leaders are also the best leaders. But research shows that, while at least a moderate level of charisma is important, too much may hinder a leader's effectiveness.

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A good objective of leadership is to help those who are doing poorly to do well and to help those who are doing well to do even better. - Jim Rohn, American entrepreneur.

Everyone on Samit's team knows that he's "there for them." He checks in with them often to see how they are, and he helps them develop the skills they need to advance their careers, even if this means that they may move on.

Samit also makes an effort to see situations from others' perspectives. He makes decisions with the team's best interests in mind, and ensures that everyone has the resources and knowledge they need to meet their objectives.

As a result of this, his team is one of the most successful in the department, with low staff turnover and high engagement.

Samit is an example of a "servant leader." In this article, we'll explore what servant leadership is, and the advantages it can bring you as a leader. We'll also look at situations where it isn't appropriate.

What Is Servant Leadership?

Robert K. Greenleaf first coined the phrase "servant leadership" in his 1970 essay, " The Servant as a Leader." However, it's an approach that people have used for centuries.

As a servant leader, you're a "servant first" - you focus on the needs of others, especially team members, before you consider your own. You acknowledge other people's perspectives, give them the support they need to meet their work and personal goals, involve them in decisions where appropriate, and build a sense of community within your team. This leads to higher engagement, more trust, and stronger relationships with team members and other stakeholders. It can also lead to increased innovation.

However, servant leadership is problematic in hierarchical, autocratic cultures where managers and leaders are expected to make all the decisions. Here, servant leaders may struggle to earn respect.

Important:

Remember that servant leadership is about focusing on other people's needs - not their feelings. Don't avoid making unpopular decisions or giving team members negative feedback when this is needed.

Also, do not rely on it exclusively - use it alongside styles like Transformational Leadership, where you develop an inspiring vision of the future, motivate people to deliver this, manage its implementation, and build an ever-stronger team.

How to Become a Servant Leader

According to Larry C. Spears, former president of the Robert K. Greenleaf Center for Servant Leadership, these are the 10 most important characteristics of servant leaders:

1. Listening.

2. Empathy.

3. Healing.

4. Awareness.

5. Persuasion.

6. Conceptualization.

7. Foresight.

8. Stewardship.

9. Commitment to the growth of people.

10. Building community.

Once you've decided to prioritize other people's needs over your own in the long term, you can work on developing your skills in each area. Let's look at how you can do this.

1. Listening

2. Empathy

3. Healing

This characteristic relates to the emotional health and "wholeness" of people, and involves supporting them both physically and mentally.

4. Self-Awareness

You can become more self-aware by knowing your strengths and weaknesses, and asking for other people's feedback on them. Also, learn to manage your emotions, so that you consider how your actions and behavior might affect others.

5. Persuasion

There are many tools and models that you can use to be more persuasive, without damaging relationships or taking advantage of others. You should also build your expert power - when people perceive you as an expert, they are more likely to listen to you when you want to persuade or inspire them.

6. Conceptualization

This characteristic relates to your ability to "dream great dreams," so that you look beyond day-to-day realities to the bigger picture.

7. Foresight

Foresight is when you can predict what's likely to happen in the future by learning from past experiences, identifying what's happening now, and understanding the consequences of your decisions.

You can use tools such as SWOT Analysis and PEST Analysis to think about your current situation and environment, while Scenario Analysis helps you understand how the future could play out. Use the ORAPAPA checklist when you make a decision, to learn from experience and make sure that you've considered all the angles.

Also, learn to trust your intuition - if your instinct is telling you that something is wrong, listen to it!

8. Stewardship

Stewardship is about taking responsibility for the actions and performance of your team, and being accountable for the role team members play in your organization.

9. Commitment to the Growth of People

Servant leaders are committed to the personal and professional development of everyone on their teams.

10. Building Community

The last characteristic is to do with building a sense of community within your organization.

You can do this by providing opportunities for people to interact with one another across the company. For instance, you could organize social events such as team lunches and barbecues, design your workspace to encourage people to chat informally away from their desks, and dedicate the first few minutes of meetings to non-work-related conversations.

Encourage people to take responsibility for their work, and remind them how what they do contributes to the success and overall objectives of the organization.

Tip:

See our article on Leadership Styles to explore popular leadership approaches and the advantages and disadvantages of each one.

And see this Expert Interview for a valuable discussion on the misconceptions and realities of servant leadership.

Key Points

You are a servant leader when you focus on the needs of others before you consider your own. It's a longer-term approach to leadership, rather than a technique that you can adopt in specific situations. Therefore, you can use it with other leadership styles such as Transformational Leadership.

You can become a servant leader by working on these 10 characteristics:

1. Listening.

2. Empathy.

3. Healing.

4. Awareness.

5. Persuasion.

6. Conceptualization.

7. Foresight.

8. Stewardship.

9. Commitment to the growth of people.

10. Building community.

Servant leaders are likely to have more engaged employees and enjoy better relationships with team members and other stakeholders than leaders who don't put the interests of others before their own.

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Servant Leadership: Putting Your Team First, and Yourself Second

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A good objective of leadership is to help those who are doing poorly to do well and to help those who are doing well to do even better. - Jim Rohn, American entrepreneur. Everyone on Samit's team knows that he's "there for them."

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The school counseling program is intense, but offers a lot of education and training for the preparation of becoming a school counselor.