Jan Irons Harris—Balanced Leadership

[00:01] Justin Baeder:

Welcome to Principal Center Radio, bringing you the best in professional practice.

[00:06] Announcer:

Here's your host, director of the Principal Center and champion of high-performance instructional leadership, Justin Baeder. Welcome, everyone, to Principal Center Radio.

[00:15] Jan Irons Harris:

I am your host, Justin Baeder, and I'm honored to be joined today by my guest, Jan Irons-Harris. Jan is the director of the Principally Speaking Network at the Schools Foundation in Huntsville, Alabama, and the author of The Principal's Office, a Primer for Balanced Leadership.

[00:31] Announcer:

And now, our feature presentation.

[00:34] Jan Irons Harris:

Jan, welcome to Principal Center Radio.

[00:35] Jan Irons Harris:

Thank you, Justin. I'm glad to be here.

[00:37] Jan Irons Harris:

So on a day-to-day basis, your work currently, and I understand you're a retired superintendent, but your work currently is around supporting principal professional development. Could you tell us a little bit about what you do in the Principally Speaking Network?

[00:50] Jan Irons Harris:

The program started a few years ago before I joined the team at the Schools Foundation Program. So I can't take any credit for the program. I'm just honored to be part of it now. But recognizing that there was a need for an opportunity for principals to collaborate and learn together in our region, the leaders on the board of directors at the Schools Foundation decided to create this program. So it's grant-funded. And it provides an opportunity.

[01:25]

Usually we have about four big events each year. And we have, this last year, 18 school districts that participated in our programs. And so the principals, the superintendents, and the district ed leaders come together, learn, collaborate, and... It's a very uplifting opportunity.

[01:55]

They seem to enjoy it very much, and we try to have high-quality opportunities for learning.

[02:02] Jan Irons Harris:

Absolutely. Well, and if you're getting 18 districts to participate, I think that says quite a bit about the value that people are getting out of it. And I don't know about your experience as a principal, but for me personally, I found that there was always a tension between actual professional development and just all of the stuff that has to get done at the district level. And I think so often at district meetings, the agenda is so long. We have so many things we just need to handle. that often the professional development side of that gets kind of pushed to the back burner.

[02:34]

So it's impressive that so many districts have made that commitment. What kind of activities do you do to build principals' capacity when they are coming together away from their districts, away from their initiatives and duties, and coming together across districts for Principal PD?

[02:50] Jan Irons Harris:

Well, what we do is we plan our year based on input from our leaders, right? And, you know, King Solomon was said to be the richest and wisest man that ever lived. And he said, plans fail for lack of counsel. So we really like to get our people together in a room and talk about, you know, who they would like to hear from and what topics they would like to study the next year. So it all starts with a planning committee. And so yesterday we had that planning committee.

[03:27]

So we had some superintendents, some curriculum coordinators, assistant superintendents, professional development coordinators. And we just started listing different ideas until we came together at the end of the meeting with kind of a vision for what we wanted next year. So it really starts with a planning meeting. And during the year, we give the participants an opportunity after every session to give us comments and suggestions. So we've also extracted ideas from our principals throughout the year.

[04:05] Jan Irons Harris:

Absolutely. And I think having that kind of long-term vision is critical for getting buy-in from so many different stakeholders, from so many different districts who all have different directions that they're going in as far as specific initiatives. And what would you say is one of the outside sources of input? Because one thing I always found challenging in terms of my own professional growth is that I don't know what to ask for. when that's something new to me. I might be aware that I need to grow in a particular area, but as far as how to take those next steps, if I need to get better at a particular aspect of my leadership responsibilities, I don't always know what that looks like, and therefore I don't always know what to ask for.

[04:46]

So where do you see some of the input coming that gives you some of the best ideas for how to help people grow, even into areas that they're not as clear on what specifically they need to move into?

[04:57] Jan Irons Harris:

It's important. for us individually and collectively to constantly seek improvement and you know putting your finger on what is the number one area of weakness sometimes is difficult but of course right now we're in the age of accountability. I call it worshiping the accountability God, Justin. And so, you know, everybody is, um, wanting to focus on student achievement, student achievement and, and rightly so everything we do should be focused on student learning. Um, So we always try to have at least one event that is focused on student learning. And we want it to be inspirational, not just informational.

[05:52]

We could read a manual about different guidelines from the State Department or laws and things like that. But we like to have living, breathing examples of excellence. So, for example, last year, Mark Edwards, who is a colleague and friend of mine, the National Superintendent of the Year, superintendent in Mooresville. You probably know his district was named, you know, the best district in America. Well, you know, he came and he has he had a book out and has another book now. Well, everyone loved him.

[06:33]

In fact. we asked them to score our speakers from one to four with four being the highest. He got 4.0 because he was a living, breathing example of excellence. This year, for example, Ron Clark came. Right.

[06:52]

And so he, again, 4.0 all the way across the board. So I think that for us, and I guess for everyone, we want to learn from people who inspire us. And so we start by trying to have someone who's in the educational arena who has proven himself or herself in the instructional area. So we start with that, and then we look for 21st century skills. We definitely want to sharpen our skills in that important area.

[07:37]

And then, you know, we look for ideas for internal improvement as leaders, like how to solve problems. We went through a personality assessment with a local psychologist called the Berkman assessment last year, and Dr. David Barnhart led us in that. So that we could understand ourselves better, how we act under stress, what is our normal behavior, and what emotional needs are triggered when we get stressed. And hopefully by looking at ourselves and having a better understanding of self, then we're able to lead others more effectively.

[08:25] Jan Irons Harris:

Yeah. And I think anytime we can find something from outside the kind of traditional education topics that really builds our capacity and challenges us to think in a different way, I think that can be a huge asset. And personally, one thing that's come up in my professional development as a principal, we had a great program that we called the Superintendent's Initiative for Leadership Development in Seattle Public Schools. It was grant funded, I think, for...

[08:52]

Maybe three or four years. And it was a two-year program and had different cohorts of people go through that. And I was very fortunate to be part of that. And one of the topics that we covered over that two-year period was polarity management, which was something that I hadn't heard. heard of previously, hadn't really come across all that much, except maybe briefly in my principal preparation. But it's not kind of an on-the-job thing that you hear about very often.

[09:18]

But it's such a powerful tool for managing a lot of the situations that we face every day as leaders and managing situations in tension between opposing viewpoints that each have pros and cons. I'm actually going to a conference on polarity management in the very near future and had a chance to interview Jane Kesey, who's the author of a major book on polarity management for schools. And that's just one of those things that, you know, if you had asked me as a new principal, you know, what do you need to take it to the next level? I would have had no idea that that was what I needed. But because of that network, because of that connection, and because there were people who were searching and asking those big questions and looking outside of, you know, the traditional instructional leadership topics, that was just a huge boost to my growth as an administrator.

[10:06] Jan Irons Harris:

You know, this is just a deep spiritual comment here, but I feel a responsibility to turn around and reach out to those people coming behind me. And I know I had people who helped me when I was coming up through the ranks. And I just think it's important for each one of us to help others. And like last week, I had a little lunch session called, so you want to be a superintendent. And we had about, I think there were about 13 of us in the room and it was just a, a safe environment to talk about what is it like, you know, to be a superintendent. And so we're doing another session in a couple of weeks.

[10:55]

Well, next month in June, early June called, so you want to be a principal. And so, you know, I really enjoyed, that time being a principal and a superintendent, and I want to encourage other leaders to go down that pathway.

[11:14] Jan Irons Harris:

Absolutely. And I think both jobs are seen as so difficult. And we tend to only think about them if we're not in those jobs when there's some sort of change or when we hear about some type of controversy. And I know superintendents are kind of constantly facing whatever the challenges of the city, the challenges of the district are. And I think just to see a positive example, and as you said earlier with the speakers that you bring in, to see a living example of of what it means to be doing this work in a way that you feel good about, in a way that allows you to continue to focus on your growth and build your capacity and build the capacity of the people around you. I think that's so inspiring, and I think that's what we need is to be connected to those examples.

[12:00] Jan Irons Harris:

Well, I'm committed to it. I mean, that's why I wrote that book on being a principal, and it's the reason why I'm working on another book about being a superintendent. Some of my colleagues are also participating in that. The proceeds of the book will go to an orphanage in Coleman, Alabama called Child Haven.

[12:26]

We just want to share. We've all learned lessons. Some were positive, some were negative. that we do learn a lot from each other.

[12:35] Jan Irons Harris:

So Jan, the book is The Principal's Office, A Primer for Balanced Leadership. And I wonder if you could give us some perspective on the core message that you share in that book. And I understand you have a four-part framework for balanced leadership. Could you take us through that?

[12:50] Jan Irons Harris:

Through the years, sometimes, I'm sure you can relate to this, people, you know, different groups will invite you to come and speak, and so I had several folders of information, and I just felt like I wanted to solidify that and have it in one place, and so I called my professor. I earned my doctorate at Peabody at Vanderbilt, and Joe Murphy was one of my favorite teachers, and so I called them, and I said, here's the thing, you know, I'd like to write this book, but I'm not interested in doing research and all that. There are so many scholarly books out, you know, with all of the data and all that. I'm just interested in sharing what I learned, and if someone can, you know, use that information and help them, then great, you know, and if not,

[13:46]

At least I've pulled all that information together. And so he encouraged me to do that because he said there really are not that many books out there from people in the work, you know, doing the work. Because you don't have time, you know, from being a principal how busy we were. I wrote a prospectus and then sent it to three publishers as he advised me. And so that's how the book came to be, really just out of a, a desire to share what I've learned and help other people. The book is about having balance in your life and the idea that we're more effective when we're balanced in the four parts of our being, the physical, the intellectual, the emotional and spiritual parts of our being, and how each part is very important in one's leadership role.

[14:39]

For example, if we neglect the physical side of our being, and I've seen people who've done this, they get into a high-stress position and gain a lot of weight and have health issues, high blood pressure maybe, or develop cancer or whatever, and they're just not taking care of themselves, not eating right, not exercising, because they're so busy at school and stressed. And so I talk about the importance of taking care of oneself, getting enough rest and eating properly. And then, of course, the intellectual domain is the one that we educators flourish in. It's learning. It's what we do to make a living, our trade. And, of course, it's important to stay current and be a lifelong learner and be strong in that area.

[15:39]

And then emotionally, in the emotional domain, that's the one that will get you fired, Justin.

[15:47] Jan Irons Harris:

Absolutely.

[15:48] Jan Irons Harris:

That's the one you better pay attention to. Because if you lose your temper, you say something or you do something, that's the one that can get you in a lot of trouble. So we want to have ways to... you know, release our stress and be really strong emotionally.

[16:07]

And one of my favorite parts of the book is an example that I gave about having Teflon mentality. How, you know, when you're in the principal's office, you have to always keep in mind that it's not about you. Just like if I'm making my husband's scrambled eggs in a Teflon pan, The eggs just slide out of the pan. I mean, the principles like the pan. You know, these problems come to you, and you've got to shake it up. You've got to figure it out and ultimately release it from the pan.

[16:44]

But if you don't have that Teflon mentality, you know, you can get angry if the parent gets angry or whatever, and you don't want to do that. You know, you want to have that Teflon mentality and be – thick skinned like a walnut, not thin skinned like a grape because you know, a grape, if you step on a grape, it's going to make a big mess. But a walnut, a walnut is not going to be damaged easily. And so we have to be mentally tough to be principals and superintendents too. And then the last part is the spiritual domain. And regardless of your spiritual beliefs, you know, I think it's important to know what you believe, what are your values.

[17:32]

And like, if you believe that it's important to be respectful, you know, you're going to promote that in your school or, you know, setting goals, having a vision for the future of your school, but also for yourself. So that's kind of what the book is about. The principal's office is about just being a balanced leader. in those four areas, the PIS areas, P-I-E-S, physical, intellectual, emotional, spiritual domains.

[18:05] Jan Irons Harris:

To give ourselves permission to value those things, I think is so important because, you know, and anytime we're taking time away from, you know, the email or being in classrooms or following up on one more thing late at night in order to focus on maybe staying fit or just resting a little bit and maintaining kind of an emotional and spiritual balance. I think often we don't give ourselves permission to do that, and we pay the price for that. I was seeing a study done pretty recently that said if you work more than about 55 hours in a week, the returns on that time are so diminishing that you're really, if you're working 70 hours a week, you're not getting any more done than someone who works 55 hours a week. And, you know, I don't know exactly how that holds up for principals, but, you know, it reinforces the point that we've got to take care of ourselves to bring our best.

[18:57] Jan Irons Harris:

That's a very good statistic. And we actually, when I, you know, do this exercise with principals in workshops, I have them do an analysis of their time. And, you know, just think about, you know, how much time do you spend in each one of those four quadrants?

[19:14] Jan Irons Harris:

So Jen, based on your experience as a principal, as an author, as a superintendent, and now as a provider and leader of principal professional development, what's one thing that you would like to see all principals do?

[19:26] Jan Irons Harris:

I'd like to see all principals take care of themselves and continue learning. Can I have a two-part answer?

[19:34] Jan Irons Harris:

Absolutely.

[19:36] Jan Irons Harris:

Take care of yourself and continue learning and growing every day. Because being a principal is a wonderful life. Having the opportunity to influence the future generation is an honor and a gift. And it's an important job. So you want to be at your best when you are, you know, humbled to serve in that capacity.

[19:56] Jan Irons Harris:

Couldn't agree more. Well, Jen, thanks so much for joining us for Principal Center Radio.

[20:00] Jan Irons Harris:

All right. Well, thank you, Justin.

[20:03] Justin Baeder:

And now, Justin Baeder on high-performance instructional leadership.

[20:07] Jan Irons Harris:

So high-performance instructional leaders, what did you take away from my conversation with Jan Irons Harris? One thing that really stands out to me is the importance of balance, which I think is a very often misunderstood concept. And lately, I've been actually keeping track of my time and how much time I devote to different areas of my life, like work and education. just kind of cleaning up around the house and personal time that's just kind of wasted, time I spend watching TV. In looking at that time, I know I'm not always going to spend the same amount of time on a given area from day to day. And there are going to be seasons when I'm intensely focused on one thing.

[20:45]

There are going to be other seasons when I'm devoting more time to family or other projects. So I want to encourage you to look at the issue of time and the issue of balance in in a way that reflects the complexity of your life. And I want to give you a specific example of something that I found very helpful that reflects something that Jan and I talked about around fitness. And if you're a member of the High Performance Instructional Leadership Network, you've heard me talk about this in our leadership letter, the idea of a treadmill desk. And what I have is just a regular treadmill that I got off of Craigslist, not very expensive, and a shelf that I rigged up to hold my computer while I'm on the treadmill. Now, I'm not going to clock in any seven minute miles on that treadmill and maybe walking at one or two miles an hour.

[21:31]

But what I'm doing while I'm getting that exercise is I'm answering email. And I found that there are a couple of benefits to that. First of all, I stick with the email. I stick with the plan. And if you've been through the inbox overhaul, I have a pretty specific methodology for handling email that gets me through all of my messages very quickly. But that doesn't work if I allow myself to get distracted.

[21:52]

And I found that nothing keeps me focused like being on the treadmill, putting one foot in front of the other mile after mile. And it's not uncommon for me to get in three or four miles in a day during time when I would otherwise just be sitting at my desk. So it doesn't slow me down at all on the email. It's not the world's fastest exercise, but it's a great way to stay focused, to keep moving and to get a little bit more fit while doing something that I have to do anyway. So if you work from home, if you do email at night, if you bring your computer home with you or you have a a laptop at home where you're processing email at night to get ready for the next day. Think about rigging up a treadmill desk.

[22:28]

You can find lots of instructions online for setting that up and giving yourself a little workspace that gets you off the couch, gets you moving, and still allows you to put the time in that your work demands.

[22:39] Announcer:

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