Due: 16th May.
Waiho i te toipoto, kaua i te toiroa.
Let us keep close together not far apart.
Workplace Culture: Most people can probably tell you a few things about their workplace culture, but often it’s hard to know where it comes from or how to get the one you want. However, there is a strong link between successful leaders and strong workplace cultures. As a leader in your field, you contribute to deciding what the culture will be, and your actions and soft skills can bring this to life.
When choosing between two seemingly equal candidates, organisations are now prioritising ‘soft skills’ as the key differentiator. In Linkedln’s Global Talent Trends 2019 report, 92% of talent professionals reported that soft skills are equally or more important to hire for than hard skills. And, 89% said that when a new employee doesn’t work out, it’s because they lack critical soft skills.
At Growth Culture we believe that creating and growing organisational culture is one of the core functions of an effective leader. It is our belief that culture is: everything we say, everything we do and everything we allow.
Please take time to read and reflect on the two chapters from the required professional reading: Legacy, by James Kerr, before engaging with the provocation.
Provocation:
Culture is everything we say, everything we do and everything we allow.
What lessons can you draw from Legacy that if implemented, could contribute to enriching your team’s culture?
Please note: Your response should be between 150-200 words. This may require deep reflection to summarise and synthesise your thoughts and ideas into a few rich, meaningful and succinct sentences.
Resources:
Legacy – 15 Lessons in Leadership, by James Kerr (2013). Chapter 1 pp 2-19
Legacy – 15 Lessons in Leadership, by James Kerr (2013). Chapter 12 pp 142-155
9 Responses
My school has worked hard to develop our school values of: respect, empathy, active learner, courage and honesty. Our team recently reflected that our students ‘live by our values’ but not all of our adults do. This can sometimes result in staff not feeling respected, safe or valued. Kerr states, first we shape our values, then our values shape us. If we could implement the lessons from the All Blacks about shared values I believe that our team would be enriched through respectful, honest relationships that foster an environment of creativity and collaboration.
Unlike the All Blacks, a common challenge in education settings is that, as leaders we inherit people whom we might not choose to pick based on character; they may be resistant to change, lack passion or motivation but we do not have the ability to remove them from the team. This is not an easy fix, however, if we take the lessons from Legacy and lead with humility and live by our values we may inspire others to do the same which in turn will leave the team in a better place.
This chapter helped put some language to what we inherently want to develop within the culture at my school. I loved that simple question of “how can we do this better?”. The challenge for leadership is to expect, model and hopefully cultivate the ability within our teachers to ask themselves that question. Stale, uninspiring teachers are the ones who don’t ask themselves that question anymore. However we can’t make people do this. All we can do is model, inspire, and do ourselves any job that we would ask someone else to do – such as sweeping the sheds.
The language chapter provides solid building blocks for beginning to build a successful culture. When looking at a schoolwide belief system and approach within successful schools, it begins with vision & values. Every school has a vision, yet as Legacy says, vision is nothing without being converted to action. My goal within my school, along with my leadership team, is to develop and action a powerful, positive, and relevant school vision & values that resonates with our teaching team and wider community.
Also – character over talent. Teaching is tough, but it isn’t rocket science. Schools with the right people are the ones that flourish.
What lessons can you draw from Legacy that if implemented, could contribute to enriching your team’s culture?
As Vince Lombardi Model (pg 8) states, “Only by knowing yourself can you become an effective leader.” Enriching a team culture, when bringing together a number of new staff; including PCT’s and some who have been team leaders before, it has been important to me and still is, that I know who I am as a person, a teacher and a leader, and what my values and beliefs are so that I am able to lead my team with humility and integrity.
For my team it is important for them to know my character; that they can trust me, that I will follow through with what I say I will do, and that I will endeavour to do the little things right to support them and stand up for them. Together this all contributes to enriching a team culture that has a sense of belonging and togetherness.
With the ever changing teaching system at the moment and the requirements being put on teachers, another lesson I have learnt from Legacy is that in my leadership roles, it is important that the team sees me putting in the same hard work, time and effort that they are and that there is no job that sits beneath me; “never get too big to do the small things that need to be done.” (pg 18).
“…begins with humility; with a humble willingness to ‘sweep the sheds” – Being able to model to my team that I am willing to do the hard yards, support where needed and take on those jobs that aren’t the most glamorous, is important in being able to show them that I appreciate and acknowledge what they do in their roles as well. A team culture, where everyone feels appreciated, supported and acknowledged, brings together a team that will step up in the time of need and support each other through the good times and the bad times.
What lessons can you draw from Legacy that if implemented, could contribute to enriching your team’s culture?
This year our school focus is to rebuild a culture of trust and respect. ‘When leaders prioritize humility, they set a powerful example, fostering trust and respect throughout the organization.’ When humility guides the culture, success isn’t just measured by the bottom line, but by the collective growth and well-being of the entire team. Sweeping the rooms out in my school setting could mean helping with the less desirable jobs and duties.
All staff are trained in CPI Safety interventions and one of the positive effects we have found is the common language this gives staff across the school. Increasing this common language to other aspects of the school is something else we are developing. Using our school values and strategic plan to guide this common language.
As we focus on rebuilding a culture of trust and respect, embracing humility among our SLT will set a powerful example for the entire organisation. Additionally, expanding common language beyond safety interventions and integrating it with our school values and strategic plan can further strengthen cohesion and inclusivity. Through these efforts, we can create a workplace culture where collective growth and well-being thrive, ultimately leading to greater outcomes for ākonga.
Module 5 Provocation:
The lessons I can draw from Legacy that could contribute to enriching my team’s culture is to continue to ask and reask questions. We are a high achieving faculty, with a number of people involved in the Ministry of Education, NZQA and Head’s of Subject Associations. We are praised for our high achieving outcomes. Legacy talks about having humility, and continuing to learn even though “greatness” exists. Legacy talks about not being complacent – continuing to challenge assumptions, encourage open-mindedness, identify or redefine core values and goals, adapt to change, enhance understanding – learning never stops, it should be continuous, to ensure relevance and efficiency. This is a learning that I can benefit from in my leadership role. Sometimes we tend not to change it up because of the success that we have achieved with a particular teaching strategy – however we should continue to question.
We must be mindful that the tamariki in front of us are unique, and just because we are great one year does not mean if we continue to do the same thing we will be great another year. If I can create a culture of asking and reasking questions it helps us as a faculty to stay relevant.
Character over talent ….you are never too big to do the small things.
Another key learning from Legacy is that common language and effective communication are essential for building strong cultures. This ensures clarity, it builds trust, enhances collaboration, and reinforces values and goals. I can connect to this in relation to my own whaanau. The common language I heard as a young person in our whaanau was …there is never an excuse for rudeness/disrespect… I believe this fostered a culture of whaanau cohesion and collaboration, improved morale, encouraged effective conflict resolution – there was a solution for everything, supported a culture of inclusivity and diversity – common language like this in a whaanau contributed to helping everyone thrive. I think this can be easily applied to leading teams. Consistent common effective communication – vocabulary, mottos and mantras, metaphors, stories can reinforce strategic direction and enable a shared understanding of the role everyone has to play in achieving goals. Words start revolutions – there is truth in that! Building a motto that is unique to my faculty is something that I am willing to give a go.
The book quotes Eastwood: “ Leaders create and design an environment which drives the high performance behaviours needed for success. The really clever teams builds a culture that drives the behaviours that it needs”
Essentially, leaders establish the foundation for a high-performance environment, while it’s the collaborative effort of the team in fostering and nurturing a culture that genuinely drives the behaviours essential for success. Hence leaders and teams must work together to ensure alignment between the organisational environment and the desired cultural norms and behaviours. It is essential that to build the culture the leaders have to live the values of the organisation – it is about integrity – having personal integrity and expecting the same of the team.
It is ultimately about building a collective character that is reflective of the school and its values. At my school we often speak about growing greatness and this is applicable to both teachers and students. As adults are we willing to take the necessary risks to grow and do we have the same resilience that we expect for our learners. A strong team culture as such reinforces the behaviours and attitudes that align with the school’s goals and values whilst knowing the importance of intentionally shaping the culture to drive specific behaviours needed for success. Having high expectations of self others also guides this process
Module 5 Provocation:
The word culture in Latin is cultura which means growing / cultivation. Reflecting on this module’s provocation it shines a light on the importance of growing.
Growing as a teacher, leader or organization, is taking responsibility for your growth in whichever area of the school you are working in. Being the best you can be for the students in your class, the teachers you work with and for the vision of the school you believe in.
Growing is not passive, it takes action and this has been shown in the selected chapters of the Legacy book. Culture means going first and showing the way.
Character trumps talent, not expecting someone else to do your job for you – taking responsibility because only you can do what needs to be done in the area you are working in. Fuller asked these questions ‘What is my job on the planet? What is it that needs doing, that I know something about, that probably won’t happen unless I take responsibility for it?’.
No person has all the answers, but asking questions challenges the status quo, helps connect with core values and beliefs, and is the catalyst for individual improvement. Again, it brings it back to growing through asking questions and learning from others in your team. Inviting each individual to contribute solutions to the questions / challenges being posed, being part of the solution to make it better for all stakeholders enables a team “growing together mindset”.
Being humble while being the best you can be, growing yourself and growing your team. Humility grounds a team / staff, it creates respect that has been earned, encourages curiosity and taking risks generates conversations / and bonds that solidify and grow the team that we are part of.
Strong cultures need a system of meaning which is understood by everyone, a shared language and vocabulary that binds the group together. This cultural growth language that forms part of the professional mindset must have as its foundation, the values of the group. In this way the story ( of growth and collaborative accomplishment) stays credible and relevant. Shared understanding of working together towards the same end goal as a teacher, a team leader and school creates a sense of contribution, which in turn builds a shared sense of purpose.
Environment is a cornerstone put forward by the book “Leaders create the right environment for the right behaviours to occur.” Environment is not only the physical workspace but more importantly the interpersonal relationships within it. Strengthening team culture and having a healthy environment is achieved by better understanding those around us, taking time to know people in and around the team on a more personal level. This will lead you to find strengths and interests, these can be used to not only aid the team but give that individual a more enriched and purposeful role within the team. Building this environment would be best done both on an individual level as well as a whole team level. When a person’s relationship with those in their team is at a good place they will be happy to work with that team.
The idea of personal knowledge and strength is encapsulated in quotes such as “Self knowledge develops character and integrity and from character and integrity comes leadership.” Beyond just a leader knowing themselves and developing their own character to better their leadership I believe that knowledge of others developed their character and pairs with building a strong environment and ultimately a strong culture.
Being a Christian school we are very grounded in our values and beliefs already which proves to be an empowering factor within our team culture.
Ideas for enriching the team culture at our school that I gathered from these two chapter:
-Instead of leadership giving a lot of instructions when things need to be improved or changed we could give all team members the opportunity to speak, share their views and ideas and then talk these things through together to come to a decision and action plan. Leadership need to ask themselves and their teams, ‘how can we do this better?
-When hiring new staff the focus needs to be more on the character of the person as this will determine their success as a member of the team.
-Leaders need to contribute to the small mundane tasks more, this shows humility and then they are leading by example for the rest of the team.
– Develop a motto – we currently use a number of statements that describe our school values and vision. It would be good to narrow this down to a succinct sentence that could become a quick reminder and empower staff and students of our ethos. “The best teams harness the power of these mottos and mantras to reflect, remind, reinforce and reinvigorate their ethos every day.”